After awarding a contract to Indian outsourcer Infosys last month, the health service has now released further commercial details and information on implementation and intended functionality of ‘future workforce’ platform
The NHS has provided details of a wide range of functionality to be delivered by a £1bn-plus “future workforce solution”, which will incorporate core HR functions, as well as tools for attracting new talent and supporting staff career development.
It was announced last month that the NHS Business Services Authority – a government arm’s-length body that helps manage contracts between providers and health-service entities – has entered into a 15-year engagement with Infosys. The deal, which is valued at £1.4bn, inclusive of VAT, will see the India-based services giant “develop a new transformed integrated workforce management solution for the NHS in England and Wales”, according to a newly published commercial notice.
In winning the contract, the chosen supplier beat off bids from two other companies, the document reveals. Having secured the deal, Infosys expects that almost two thirds – 64% – of work in scope of the agreement will be provide by third-party contractors. This will include a range of specialist tech products and services, in areas including cloud, security, IT service management, and decommissioning – as well as Welsh translation services.
The new platform, which is expected to begin operating by the end of this decade, will replace the NHS’s incumbent electronic staff record (ESR) system – which is based on Oracle software and delivered via a managed service contract with IBM that runs until August of next year.
“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,” the notice says. “It will support NHS strategic workforce objectives through new and improved functionality and provide data and insights to inform decision-making.”
In the short term, Infosys will be tasked with “transition and takeover of current ESR service by 31 August 2026 including transfer of staff”, followed by the running of the “existing ESR service from 1 September 2026 – including ongoing development”.
This will involve operating a platform that is used to manage the HR records and monthly pay of the health service’s 1.9 million employees across England and Wales – equating to about 5% of the UK’s total workforce.
But, even before taking over provision of the incumbent services, Infosys is expected to immediately begin work to “design, develop, configure and test” the new system, and build towards pilot implementations with select organisations.
Once the platform is ready for wide-scale deployment, the chosen supplier will be expected to oversee “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”.
Infosys will be responsible for operating the incoming service, as well as managing efforts to “decommission ESR following successful completion of the implementation and migration process”, the notice says.
The document goes on to list the array of functions the platform will be expected to include, beginning with “talent acquisition” services, providing an “end-to-end hiring experience, including demand identification, talent sourcing, job marketing, candidate assessment, applicant tracking and onboarding”.
For existing NHS staff, the new workforce tool will include “core HR” services, such as “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,” the notice adds.
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Also included in the system with payroll programs, including “third-party platform interoperability for time tracking, payroll administration, metrics and analysis”, as well as “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”.
Alongside payroll will be “compensation and benefits management, pension contribution deduction, health and wellbeing, and recognition” tools.
The final elements of the NHS-wide workforce software will cover “learning… career development [and] performance-management” services.
Within these areas, specific services will include “knowledge management, administration of learning, learning delivery management and development of business leaders… employee career experience [tools] covering career paths, coaching, staff mobility and succession planning, [and] objective-setting, performance-management, competency-assessment, and metrics and analysis”.
Technically speaking
Across all services, the new system will be expected to deliver “a series of non-functional and technical capabilities”.
This will include meeting all standards and compliance requirements, as well as ensuring “service continuity… [and] performance and scalability”, to support any potential “increase in number of users, records and demand without degradation of service, and future growth across the health and care system”.
The platform will also be expected to demonstrate “system intelligence, [including] dynamic, future-proof systems, responsive to change in line with workforce needs and technology advances”.
Other listed technical requirements include “cybersecurity management and adhering to appropriate security standards”, in addition to the “capability to meet interoperability requirements and ensure ongoing current interfaces where required”.
The NHS also expects a system with “multiple channel access, with accessibility as a core consideration”, as well as “data, reporting and analytics, [including] person-centred data management including aggregation, segregation and storage enabling better insights and experiences”. The final stipulation is for full “service desk and incident management”.
