Future NHS Workforce Solution (including Electronic Staff Record (ESR) Services)

The Authority has procured a supplier to develop a new transformed integrated workforce management solution for the NHS in England and Wales. The current Electronic Staff Record (ESR) service includes HR and payroll; learning; talent management; Total Reward Statements and workforce reporting.

It is supported by a supply of systems, support and auxiliary services that enable its effective utilisation. ESR currently pays over 1.9m NHS employees every month, equivalent to around five percent of the UK workforce.

The future NHS workforce solution will fulfil the ambition of providing the NHS with a user centred digital workforce solution to empower people from both national and local organisations to carry out their roles effectively and efficiently, supporting them through their journey with the NHS. The supplier will manage the ESR service, transform, develop, implement and manage the future NHS workforce solution and once migration of user organisations completes, decommission the ESR service.

The ESR service is provided under a managed service contract which expires August 2026. Oracle eBusiness Suite underpins the current integrated HR, payroll, learning management and business intelligence capability.

The future NHS workforce solution brings the opportunity to transform the existing ESR service to respond to changes in the wider health and care system. It will support NHS strategic workforce objectives through new and improved functionality and provide data and insights to inform decision making.

The Authority has awarded one contract based on the Cabinet Office Model Services Contract v2.2 for a supplier to fulfil all the requirements below: Transition and takeover of current ESR service by 31 August 2026 including transfer of staff. ii.

Run existing ESR service from 1 September 2026 including ongoing development. iii. Design, develop, configure and test the future NHS workforce solution from contract award including pilot (early adopter) implementation. iv.

Implementation of future NHS workforce solution including migration of all user organisations from the ESR service to the future NHS workforce solution in advance of the ESR service support end date of 2035. v. Running the future NHS workforce solution including ongoing development. vi.

Decommission ESR following successful completion of the implementation and migration process. Functional domains will deliver the capability of the future NHS workforce solution to support NHS organisation’s workforce management needs:

Talent Acquisition: end to end hiring experience including demand identification, talent sourcing, job marketing, candidate assessment, applicant tracking and onboarding. ii. Core HR: employee lifecycle management including organisation management, grievance management, leave management, absentee management, self-service and exit management.

The future solution will reflect the NHS organisation structures and allow flexibility for mergers/de-mergers, TUPE and HMRC guidance. iii. Payroll: third party platform interoperability for time tracking, payroll administration, metrics and analysis.

Maintenance of national and local pay scales, allowances and deductions in line with terms & conditions, adhering to legislative requirements such as National Minimum Wage and HMRC thresholds. iv. Compensation and Benefits: compensation & benefits management, pension contribution deduction, health & wellbeing and recognition. v.

Learning: knowledge management, administration of learning, learning delivery management and development of business leaders. vi. Career Development: employee career experience covering career paths, coaching, staff mobility and succession planning. vii.

Performance Management: objective setting, performance management, competency assessment and metrics & analysis. Supporting the functional requirements are a series of non-functional and technical capabilities:

Standards and Compliance: adhering to NHS, national and international regulations, policies and standards. ii. Service Continuity: availability, maintaining and restoring service in accordance with service levels. iii.

Performance & Scalability: increase in number of users, records and demand without degradation of service, and future growth across the health and care system. iv. System Intelligence: dynamic, future-proof systems, responsive to change in line with workforce needs and technology advances. v.

Security: cyber-security management and adhering to appropriate security standards. vi. Interoperability: new capability to meet interoperability requirements and ensure ongoing current interfaces where required. vii.

Channels & User Interface: multiple channel access, with accessibility as a core consideration. viii. Data, Reporting & Analytics: person-centred data management including aggregation, segregation and storage enabling better insights and experiences. ix.

Service Management Support: Service Desk and Incident Management. Additional information: A Price per Quality Point (PQP) evaluation methodology was used where the PQP was calculated by dividing the Price by the Total Quality Score.