Univ Birmingham improves HR with IT

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has launched an online staff portal – me@QEHB.

The service gives staff access to a complete work record, including information such as their holiday entitlement, sickness absence records, payslips, appraisals and mandatory training.

The portal was developed in-house by IT services in collaboration with human resources and went live last September.

Since then, 6,052 staff – or three quarters of its 7,500 employees – have accessed the service at least once.

Suzanne Hartshorne, deputy director of HR and me@QEHB project lead, said the system allows staff and managers to “view their information immediately by going to one place instead of lots of different systems to find what they need.”

“It is a one click process now and brings information from areas such as the staff directory, payslip system, and mandatory training into one place," she added.

“The portal also provides managers with information about all the staff in their team, such as annual leave entitlement and training, making it easier for them to be effective and responsive managers.

“And it is clearly proving very popular, with more than 300 staff an hour using the portal at peak times."

The staff portal has also been incorporated into HR’s staff recruitment process via a tracking system from Axispoint that charts the progress of job adverts and successful candidates. This has helped to reduce the regular 26 week recruitment period.

Staff using the system can access a variety of HR advice, book courses and update their personal information while managers can collect information regarding their teams and workforce dashboards.

Hartshorne said the trust had already started modernising HR through IT and that it was “constantly looking to find ways to streamline and optimise its operations.” 

The second phase of development for me@QEHB is currently underway and will include modules such as an electronic personal files system, HR case management system, and a health and well-being portal. The trust aims to have the updated system implemented by April 2013.