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Lancashire Care employs around 3800staff, providing mental health servicesto the whole of Lancashire with 110sites. The personal files for those staffwere held centrally in the HRDepartment in Preston headquarters.Storage was a continual problem dueto the physical size of the records.Access was also difficult when fileswere needed by managers working inremote locations. The creation of electronic records in 2010, which canbe accessed from any location has nowsolved these problems and makes significant progress towards a greener,and paperless HR office. In 2011 theTransfer of Community Services willresult in almost 4000 community stafftransferring into the Trust and plansare being developed to convert theirfiles and add them to the new system.

Benefits include improved access, savings on storage, paper, files, filingtime and conveying files to sites awayfrom the headquarters. This is in addition to the benefit of more efficient and greener working.

• Access to electronic staff files(records) in any geographical location, covering all sites withinLancashire, wherever HR BusinessPartners are working.

• Removes the need for paperrecords so meets the Trusts aims tobe cleaner, greener and paperless

• Freed up space in the HRDepartment making it a betterwork environment. The storagerequirements for the paper recordshad resulted in a “Berlin Wall” offiles and the staff were so pleasedto see it go.

• Simpler filing and transfer of information. eg Recruitment data isnow moved straight over into theelectronic record.

• More intelligent working withimmediate access to information

• Minimal running costs for the system. Initial licence cost £2495with ongoing support at 15% perannum.

• No further storage challenges associated with the large numbersof staff transferring into the organisation as part of TCS.

SUMMARY

KEY OUTCOMES

LANCASHIRE CARE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

PROJECT ‘OSCER’ TOWARDS A

PAPERLESSHR DEPARTMENT

• Utilising technology to create arobust staff records system

• To establish a system that complieswith legislation and is secure –meeting information governancerequirements including confiden-tiality and data protection

• Remove the need for 1.5 tons ofpaper records and the storage solutions associated with 4000paper files

• Provide a section in the records thathave restricted access, including disciplinary and grievance records

• Allows access to staff files whereverthey might be working across thewhole of Lancashire.

• Create the minimum of disruptionwhilst the files were scanned andthe system set up.

• As an HR Department worktowards a greener and paperlessoffice

Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust was established in April 2002 and authorised as aFoundation Trust on 1st December 2007. The Trustprovides mental health and substance misuse services for a population of around 1.4 million people across Lancashire.

Clinical services are delivered through four networks:

Adult Mental Health

Older Adult Mental Health

Secure Services, which also take admissions fromSouth Cumbria

Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMHS),Substance Misuse and Early Intervention Services

The project, named “OSCER” set out to replace theexisting paper personal staff files by establishingelectronic records. This would help alleviate twomain problems, storage in the main HR Departmentand access to the records across the geographicallocations in Lancashire.

The Trust’s experience of using winDIP applicationsfor their patient records led to the development ofthe new electronic staff records and provided theconfidence to move forward to this paperless system.

BACKGROUND

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GOOD PRACTICECASE STUDY

PURPOSE

• The Trust had already introducedelectronic patient records using thee-winDIP Enterprise documentmanagement system and decided inearly 2010 to utilise this applicationfor electronic staff records toreplace personal files

• HR staff visited the medical recordsdepartment to see the system inuse for patient records

• The Trust’s IT department workedwith winDIP Enterprise to customise the system to meet HRrequirements

• Presentation of the new system toall HR staff

• Gateway Computing were commissioned to scan the staffpersonal files onto the system. Thisrequired the files to be boxed upalphabetically and records kept ofthe boxes so that if necessary filescould be retrieved at short noticeduring the scanning process.Scanning took approximately 4 months with files being takenaway in two batches. One memberof the HR department was taskedwith overseeing the process for thisperiod. Following quality checksthe paper records were destroyed

• Awareness training for all HR staff with a more intensive half day training session for all HRadministrative staff

• Purchased 2 scanners to accommodatethe transfer of documents to thenew system in the early stages ofthe project. Eventually it is expectedthat most information will be electronically transferred withoutthe need for scanners

• Initially only current establishmentstaff files were scanned andentered onto the new system. Sincethen the bank staff files have beenadded.

All staff personal files are now electronic and can be accessed by HRstaff via their own computer whereverthey are working. Immediate access to personal information on staff has created more efficient working formanagers and the HR team. Electronictransfer of information into filesreduces the need for hard copy filingand staff time associated with this. TheElectronic Staff Record System (ESR) isin place in the Trust which providesintegration between HR and payroll,managing the establishment and structural hierarchy across the organisation and enabling workforcereporting. This is now complimentedby an electronic personnel filing system, Oscer.

Following staff appointments therecruitment data is transferred straightinto the personal staff record by apaperless process. Further informationwill be added directly onto the electronic file or scanned in to beplaced on the record.

The winDIP application offers securearchiving and email capture. Indexingof sections in the record allowsenhanced retrieval and analysis of documents. An efficient and cost effective way of storing data andaccessing it.

• The project required the existing4000 personal files (paper records)to be scanned onto the new system.It was estimated that if the scanning was done in-house itwould take 2 full time staff 2 years.It was therefore decided to useGateway Computing who charged£30,000 to scan the 4000 files.

• The HR licence to use the applicationcost a one off £2495 with ongoingsupport costing 15% annually

• The project management costs ofsetting up the system and trainingwas £893

The total set up costs of £33,388, thecost of 2 scanners and an annual £374licence support cost was funded by theHR Department in order to realise thebenefits of the new system.

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RESOURCES HOW IT WORKSKEY STAGES OF SET-UP

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GOOD PRACTICECASE STUDY

• Packing and storing files for collectionprior to scanning took 6 weeks andhad to be carefully planned andimplemented to ensure files couldbe accessed and retrieved quickly if needed. Files were packed alphabetically and the boxesmarked up and records kept.

• At first some staff were not infavour of the new system as theyliked paper files so there had to bea period of winning over heartsand minds in the department. Thefact that the medical records project had been successful andthose records were robust, as wellas the benefits of storage and electronic filing, all contributed totheir confidence building in thenew way of working

• Staff were used to existing practicesand the recruitment team continuedto set up recruitment files whichthey then scanned into the system.Using Lean methodology it wasidentified as wasteful and resultedin duplication of effort. With reassurance and support the teamhave now adopted paperlessprocesses

• If files were sectioned then theywere entered into sections in theelectronic record and futurerecords will be set up this way.However many files were set uponly in chronological order and thiswas not rectified in the scanningprocess.

• Winning over the staff to supportthe electronic records is a reallyimportant factor. Although all staffutilise HR computer systems such asPersonnel files, the Electronic StaffRecord (ESR) and NHS on-linerecruitment, there can be initialfear in losing the paper personalfiles. Once training has been provided and the benefits of the

new system are recognised, this issoon overcome

• Due to time and resource constraintsthe files were not ‘stripped’ prior toscanning. This would have removedany unnecessary or out of date documents and reduced the vol-ume of scanned material

• The new system is set up to organiseinformation into sections in eachrecord. As many of the paper files were filed chronologically the scanned documents were transferred over in date order.Ideally files should be sectionedprior to scanning

• The project required all personalfiles to be available for scanning byGateway Computing over the 4 month period. Some files wereout of the system and had to bereturned and a small number weremissing and had to be traced. Latereturns then had to be scannedmanually

• Quality assurance checks need to becarried out to ensure the transferhas been accurate. Approximately200 files were randomly selectedand the contents compared withthe new records after scanning.

The project successfully transferred allthe staff personal records to the newelectronic system over a 4 month period and the old paper files weredestroyed. The filing cabinets havebeen removed creating more officespace and light which was welcomedby the HR team.

There are now no paper HR processesand the HR Department is proud of itsmore efficient and responsive recordkeeping.

Lesley made the following commentabout the new way of working

“The project has been a tremendoussuccess and has enabled staff withinthe HR Team to work more intelligentlyand meet the geographical challengesas access to personnel files is nowavailable from home or any locationwithin the Trust. The system has supported our LEAN journey withinthe recruitment process and has resultedin more streamlined and efficient waysof working”.

NEXT STEPS• OSCER stage 2 will see the transfer

of almost 4000 community staffinto the Trust in 2011 and the associated personal files which willneed to be scanned into the newsystem.

• Currently it is only HR managerswho can access the files, howeveras the Trust moves to self-servicethis will be changed to allow managers to access the files withappropriate security systems inplace.

The following resources are availableas an appendix to this case study

• Example of screens used for enter-ing personal data in the new sys-tem

• Details of sections available withinthe electronic staff record

Relevant Websites http://www.windip.co.uk

KEY CHALLENGES

SUPPORTING MATERIAL

FURTHER LINKS

KEY LEARNING

SUSTAINABILITY

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CONTACT FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

• Lesley Smith-Payne, SeniorBusiness Partner, Lancashire CareNHS Foundation Trust

Email: Lesley.Smith-Payne@Lancashirecare.nhs.ukTelephone: 01772 647144