NHS Jobs and ESR

This joint statement from the NHS Jobs and Electronic Staff Record (ESR) teams describes how information is shared across the two systems to provide an integrated electronic recruitment solution for the NHS.

NHS Jobs

NHS Jobs www.jobs.nhs.uk is the e-recruitment service for the NHS managed by NHS Employers. With over 460 NHS organisations registered, attracting over 4 million visits per month, it is the single most comprehensive source of job opportunities and applications for the NHS in England.

Trusts that have made the best use of NHS Jobs have reported a number of benefits including:

• Reduced advertising spend
• Lower recruitment administration costs
• Faster recruitment processes
• Facilitates best practice and equality

Electronic Staff Record Solution (ESR)

ESR is the national, integrated Human Resources (HR) and payroll system that will be used by all 600+ NHS organisations throughout England and Wales. It is one of the world's largest IT implementations. It will replace the 29 payroll and 38 human resource systems used in the NHS and will pay approximately 1.2 million employees when fully rolled out in Spring 2008, covering 7% of the working population in England and Wales. ESR will be rolled out in twelve waves and the rollout schedule is available on the ESR website.

The Interface

A growing number of NHS organisations are now using the interface between NHS Jobs and ESR to support their recruitment cycle. This two way interface enables vacancy and application data to be transferred between NHS Jobs and ESR. Vacancy information, created in ESR, is automatically transferred to NHS Jobs, when selected as an advertising route. Once the advert details, together with job pack information, are completed vacancies are published and managed through NHS Jobs. Employers can utilise tools on NHS Jobs such as pre-application and filtering questions in managing applications and the shortlisting process. At the end of the recruitment process on NHS Jobs, key information on all applications received can be transferred to ESR to enable the continuation of the recruitment process up to and including the creation of the new employee record. Data on all applications received is also used in support of reporting requirements.

Collaboration

The ESR project team and NHS Jobs service management team meet regularly to share information, review the use of the interface between the two systems, and consider issues and feedback from the NHS. Contact points between the two service desks have been identified and a joint inter-service agreement on service management of the interface is in place.

Training

The use of the interface is included in the training provided by the ESR and NHS Jobs teams. Further information about the interface will also be available on the NHS Jobs website.

Enabling the Interface

The interface from ESR to NHS Jobs is included in the ESR solution. To activate the link, Trusts need to advise NHS Jobs that they intend to use the interface by contacting the NHS Jobs helpdesk via the online support form. Trusts not yet registered with NHS Jobs should register their interest via the website prior to the planned ESR go live date.

Further information:

ESR: Please visit the website www.esrsolution.co.uk
Contact the ESR team at communications@esrsolution.co.uk

NHS Jobs: Please visit the websites www.jobs.nhs.uk/employers or www.nhsemployers.org/nhsjobs
Contact the NHS Jobs team via the e-mail above or call 0113 306 3046

May 2006