Electronic rostering system improves nurses’ work–life balance

The University Hospital of Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust is piloting a scheme that will help nursing staff achieve and maintain a good balance between their time at work and their leisure or ‘family’ time — and potentially reduce staff turnover.

The solution, from Smart Human Logistics, includes a system for electronic self-rostering (where staff can choose their working hours).

Steve Abbotts, Staff Services Manager at the Trust, said that addressing the work-life balance issue is critical. “It is vital that our nurses feel in control of their lives and are achieving an improved work-life balance. This scheme empowers them to make their own decisions regarding when they work.

“If our nurses are happy they will work better and will stay with the health service, which in turn means we can provide better care to our patients.”

The new eHuman Logistics system will also allow ward managers to plan in advance how best to use the staff available at any given time, ensuring that individual shift patterns adhere to the working time regulations.

Eric Smart, CEO of Smart Human Logistics, sees the development of self-rostering and automation of workforce-management processes as the way forward for NHS trusts. “Today, these organisations are faced with the constant dilemma of having both to improve the working lives of their staff by offering more flexibility, and to improve productivity to deliver a higher customer service.

“eHuman Logistics’ solution automates back-office processes such as payroll, allowing staff to work more flexibly with more choice over working hours — ultimately helping them and the business to focus on improved public-service delivery”.