Plans are being made to replace the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) for England and Wales with a new NHS Workforce Solution.
NHS Business Services Authority (NHS BSA), the organisation that manages the ESR in a partnership with IBM, has launched a procurement for the replacement with the lure of a 15-year contract valued at up to £1.7 billion.
The market notice says NHS BSA wants a supplier to manage the existing service, beginning by August 2025, while overseeing the migration to the new solution then decommissioning the ESR by 2032.
It will be responsible for developing and running the pilot for the new solution, then supporting its future development.
Features will include: core HR functions such as booking leave and logging grievances; support for talent acquisition through job marketing, candidate assessment, applicant tracking and onboarding; payroll; management of compensation and benefits; learning and career development functions; and performance management.
Supporting strategy
“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.”
The ESR was fully rolled out in 2008 with the aim of producing efficiency and productivity benefits in the health service. It is currently used to pay more than 1.8 million employees and NHS BSA has said it has exceeded the benefits in the business case by more than 30%.
