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Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Saves Close to �500,000 Annually with SMART

By Carolyn J Dawson
TMCnet Contributor

Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is now utilizing SMART’s, workforce management solutions to help organize processes that will help save both time and money. It will also be useful in the release of important resources into patient related care. Up until now, the Trust has made use of SMART’s e-Rostering, Time & Attendance and eExpenses software to provide support to 800 clinical staff which is inclusive of 1,500 nurses. Plans are afoot to extend the system to the entire organization by July of 2012.

Since the implementation of SMART, the Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been able to save close to $700,000 annually. Before SMART came into the picture, the organization was completely dependent on conducting their processes manually. Based on a detailed review of the market, SMART was selected for its feature that brought together e-Rostering and Time & Attendance functions in a single, simple-to-use package. SMART also offer the use of Software Europe’s eExpenses solution as a part of the package.

Currently more than 1,500 nurses use biometric hand readers to clock in. Their attendance is fed directly into SMART. This ensures that the central payroll system has correct and the latest of information. Management and staff can easily make a record of their annual leave. This is a huge advantage in places where there are constant changes and complicated shift patterns. 

In a release, Ian Child, Financial Controller at Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said, “The benefits of automated e-Rostering are clear to our nurses. They value the SMART system for its simplicity, openness and fairness. Most significantly, staff turnover is down. There are fewer payroll errors and our highly talented clinicians are free to dedicate more of their precious time to delivering the best possible care to our patients.”

In the one year since the deployment of SMART, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been able to save $130,000 in payroll administration time, $35,000 since the staff now works accurate hours, $24,000 since the staff is paid their due rates and around $200,000 simply by reducing their bank and agency related spend.

This move by Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has helped them support compliance with HR legislation.