ESR supporting the COVID 19 Vaccination Programme: Utilising the Applicant Dashboard

To support the vaccination effort against Covid-19, St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospital NHS Trust (STHK) was identified as the Lead Employer for the Large Scale Covid Vaccination Project in Cheshire and Merseyside. The Trust had to react quickly and collaboration across departments was going to be key to the successful delivery of the project.

On-boarding a significant number of staff effectively was paramount to the commencement of vaccinations in the region and so an urgent review of on-boarding processes was undertaken.  The challenge that we faced was recruiting and training over a thousand, clinical and non-clinical staff that would be based at St Helens Totally Wicked Stadium, for the first phase of public vaccinations.  We decided that the ESR Applicant Dashboard functionality would be key to this recruitment and training activity.

The Trust was already using TRAC for the recruitment of these additional staff and so it was important that the ESR and TRAC teams at the Trust worked closely together. All individuals with a status “Offer Accepted” in ESR would have access to the Applicant Dashboard allowing the pre-hire IAT and immediate access to e-Learning in ESR. Most of the first cohort of applicants were existing NHS Employees and the pre-hire IAT meant that we could check training records without applicants having to repeat existing statutory and mandatory training. This was a key part of the strategy as there were limited opportunities for face to face training due to the social distancing measures required.

Using ESR meant the cohort were able to access the online training covering the Oxford AstraZeneca and Pfizer modules before their pre-employment checks were completed. By allowing applicants to log on and complete the required learning (linked to competencies via a certification) prior to their start date meant that they were able to be deployed as soon as shifts became available. This not only decreased the time from application to deployment in our large vaccination centre it also improved the employee experience having a positive impact on the employer-employee relationship. 

The Trust also encouraged applicants to use the dashboard to amend personal information such as bank account details. As a large number of these applicants were current NHS staff the IAT functionality in ESR would pull through current bank details from the source VPD, applicants could then confirm or update the details. This increased the accuracy of payroll information but also assisted in reducing the need for new starter paperwork and therefore adapting current payroll processes to be more Covid friendly and secure.

 Nicola Trebicki, Vaccine Support Administrator, was one of the employees who took advantage of the Applicant Dashboard. Nicola said:

Prior to starting in my role I found it very beneficial to be able to access the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Portal. This not only allowed me to feel part of the trust before my first day but, it also gave me access to essential learning prior to starting. This was especially beneficial in my role of supporting at the Mass Vaccination Centre and being able to complete the vaccine training to be able to hit the ground running on my first day and provide vital support during the pandemic.

Claire Horrocks, ESR and Workforce Administrator confirmed how useful the Applicant Dashboard has been in ensuring staff are compliant before commencing work.  Highlighting this Claire said:

Working within a small team on the mass vaccination project, it quickly became clear how useful the ESR applicant dashboard was. Giving applicants this early access meant they were able to complete their online learning prior to starting and speed up the entire training process, which was paramount during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Due to lockdown procedures there was less opportunity for face to face interactions with new staff. The dashboard helped to support applicants in understanding the trust and gave them ready access to information about our organisation.

Over a 1000 staff were recruited and trained in various competencies in order to be ready to start supporting the vaccination project.

Overall St Helens & Knowsley Teaching Hospital NHS Trust found the Applicant Dashboard fundamental in the recruitment of over 1,000 applicants for the Covid-19 Vaccination Project and feedback has been excellent both from within the Trust and for this cohort of applicants. Following the successful utilisation of the Applicant Dashboard in the project we are now reviewing future plans and hope to implement the Applicant Dashboard across all future recruitment and on-boarding activity within the Trust.

For further information about our experiences using the ESR Applicant Dashboard please contact Julie Weeks, ESR Project Manager, St. Helens & Knowsley NHS Teaching Hospitals Trust: Julie.Weeks@sthk.nhs.uk