James Paget study day reveals biggest fears of e-rostering

A poll has revealed that fear of change and cultural resistance are the biggest barriers to implementing medical e-rostering.

Over 280 people from over 100 NHS organisations were polled at a virtual study day hosted by James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Allocate Software in July about their views on rostering software.

Findings included:

• 66% said the biggest barrier to the success of e-rostering was their organisation’s culture
• 43% named the biggest obstacle to engaging doctors was a resistance to change
• Just 8% agreed that their trust had fully progressed to where they needed to be.

The event was focused on James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s implementation of Allocate’s e-rostering software which took place over a period of 18 months and was rolled out to all 4,329 staff.

Laura Green, senior workforce project manager for the trust, said: “We helped our medics understand it wasn’t about monitoring, but instead about providing extra support by being able to see which colleagues were available and where to pick up theatre lists, clinics or respond to an on-call request.

“That level of visibility is good for patient experience and safety. It shows as an organisation that we have responsive clinicians who know where each other are and who is best placed to respond to a patient.”

The James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was one of five NHS trusts to recently announce the roll out of Allocate’s eCommunity tool – designed to help staff manage time and admin pressures.

By implementing e-rostering software, Allocate says extra resources can be unlocked, patient safety is improved, compliance with the European Working Time Directive is ensured and staff work better as a team.

Leigh Malyon, head of medics, Allocate Software, added: “Using e-rostering systems creates better visibility of the medical workforce across an organisation, revealing where shifts and activities need to be filled and who is available to fill them. In addition, the systems can be tailored to the needs of individual organisations, ensuring suitability for whoever needs to use it. Providing greater transparency and visibility of rosters leads to the creation of extra capacity, ultimately leading to improved patient safety and experience.”