HMT - The home of RosterPro and Work Life Balance

RosterPro® is built on standard technology and is completely scalable. Modular in design, the system offers the following key options;

R-Roster - staff interface for input of shift and absence preferences, access to finalised rosters and all personal information

R-Manage - automated rules-based roster production, alert mechanism for shortages, time and attendance recording, maintenance of staff demographics, training history and contractual information

R-Report - powerful graphical reporting tool, examples : analysis of hours worked, staff request satisfaction levels, sickness and absence and other data

R-Train - management of all aspects of staff training, training resources and scheduling

R-Link - interface available for direct transfer of time and attendance and other data to payroll and HR systems

R-Bank - allows matching of staff shortages with a register of temporary staff availability

R-Monitor - an alert mechanism for automatic monitoring of user definable events such as certain episodes of sickness and absence, staff exceeding WTD limits etc.

For a technical overview of system requirements for RosterPro please click here

The R-Roster user interface allows all staff to access the R-Manage server via an Internet browser on any computer (where authorised to do so by the system manager). It is easy to use, even for personnel with limited computer literacy.

This interface is often used by staff to "self roster" i.e. to;

View all available shifts and input preferences for future rosters

View personal and colleague’s shift preferences

Request planned absences

Book availability to provide non-contracted hours cover

Externally available to staff working outside of the NHS, at home or abroad

R-Roster is a convenient means of self-service to information such as outstanding holidays and days in lieu, total hours worked etc. This means many questions are answered by the system that would otherwise require reference to a manager or supervisor. They can also check their current position in respect of the European Working Time Directive restrictions.

R-Roster will automatically notify individual staff when their qualifications or their PIN numbers are due to expire.

When requesting shifts and planned absences, staff can allocate a priority level. The R-Manage server then allocates shifts and deals with conflicting requests on a completely fair and equitable basis.

Once shifts have been completed, the R-Roster allows staff to enter actual hours worked ready for electronic signature/authorisation by the team manager. This can remove the time sheet paper process altogether, and allow for completely automated transfer of time and attendance data to the payroll system.

R-Manage module leverages the core services of the product. It automatically develops the planned staff roster and then allows changes to be recorded to reflect actual hours worked for Time & Attendance purposes.

Maintenance of user definable working rules – skill mix, numbers of staff by grade, contract working time limits etc

Automatic rules based roster production

Alert mechanism

Collection of actual hours for Time and Attendance recording

The R-Manage repository holds all staff and roster related information such as, training histories and contractual details. To initially set up the system, staff information can be easily transferred directly from any existing HR or payroll databases.

RosterPro® can generate the Planned roster automatically in either or a combination of the following modes :-

Shift based rostering – where staffing levels are based around the traditional fixed shift arrangements (early/late/nights etc.) and staff then self roster themselves broadly around these times

Dynamic rostering – where staffing levels required are assessed hour-by-hour by management and then staff are given total flexibility in the hours they request to work, within certain definable guidelines.

Group based rostering – where staff need to be rostered together, for example Ambulance Trusts that have to schedule staff into groups/teams for emergency and patient transport vehicles.

Regardless of how the staff are rostered, the roster manager can set up a number of user definable parameters such as;

RosterPro® then matches these criteria against staff requests for planned absences, contracted hours and automatically generates the duty roster. Under normal circumstances over 90% of staff requests are rostered automatically. Where there are shortages and/or conflicts, the roster manager can resolve them by manually making decisions on shift allocation.

Where the Bank and Agency module is in use the roster manager can notify bank office staff of cover requirements and staff can use the system to record their availability. The bank office can then fill those shortages directly via the R-Bank module. Integration with 3rd party Bank and Agency systems is also available.

Time sheets complete with electronic signatures for standard hours, and for bank staff hours worked, are produced automatically. They can be printed, or data can be transferred directly to payroll systems electronically via R-Link. This automation removes a huge burden on staff involved in filling out and checking timesheets, sickness and absence forms and other paperwork.

A powerful yet intuitive Web based reporting tool for analysis of hours worked, staff shift request satisfaction levels, sickness and absence dat.

The R-Report wizard guides the user through a series of set up and selection screens to final report production. These results can then be stored to be used later or amended by simply mouse clicking to select or de-select data items. Any applicable data can be automatically graphed using the in-built graphics function. R-Report is a complete solution for Ad hoc reporting over the organisation's Intranet. In addition a range of standard reports are available including duty roster prints which can be generated for 1, 4 and 6 week periods.

This module can be implemented as an integrated part of the RosterPro system or can operate stand-alone. It facilitates the set up of venues, courses, lectures, equipment and trainers and records their associated costs. Staff are scheduled onto these courses and if implemented as part of the RosterPro system, the roster is updated automatically. Training rooms can be set up to reflect special facilities available. All course activity can be displayed graphically in week, month or yearly views. Catering service requirements can also be accommodated within the system with the facility for direct access by the Catering Department. Analyses of courses attendances, cancellations, qualifications gained and resource utilisation can also be accessed.

Many RosterPro users are now looking to leverage their investment by interfacing directly with ESR.

ESR inbound interface
Time and attendance information including sickness and absence can be transferred directly from RosterPro to ESR via the ESR inbound interface. As part of this process RosterPro automatically calculates any supplementary pay and also handles overtime and temporary staffing pay data.

A huge amount of payroll administration can be eliminated through implementation of this link.

ESR outbound interface
Staff demographics and new starter data can be transferred from ESR into RosterPro via the outbound interface. This ensures that the two systems are synchronised and avoids wasted effort through double entry.

Both interfaces have been tested and approved by the NHS ESR Project Team and are available for use now.

Designed to work as a stand-alone system or as part of an integrated RosterPro system, this module provides a comprehensive temporary staffing solution. It identifies, allocates and monitors the use of in-house or agency staffing where additional resources are required to meet service needs. Using a Web based interface, managers can register when and where they need extra staff. Again, Staff can record that they are available to work extra hours via any computer. This information is then immediately available to the Bank Office staff who can allocate staff accordingly. A range of staff search facilities is available to ensure appropriately skilled staff are allocated. At any time managers are able to monitor the status of filled and unfilled shifts and together with a range of standard and ad hoc reports, management are able to comprehensively analyse the utilisation and cost of temporary staff.

R-Monitor is an alert mechanism for automatic monitoring of user definable events such as

These alerts are activated immediately the roster manager logs on to the system, providing real time information to enable corrective action to take place.

The minimum server specification is a dedicated Pentium 2Ghz CPU with 1Gb RAM and 2Gb of available disk space. Appropriate tape back up services are strongly recommended. This server doubles as the Web Server if the browser-based R-Roster module is required.

The recommended server operating system is Windows 2000/2003 Server with SQL Server database Version 2000. RosterPro will also run under Terminal Services or Citrix where a ‘thin’ Client configuration is required ideally under Windows 2003 to provide full 16 bit colour to the Client PC’s.

PC Clients can run Windows 98, Windows XP Professional or Windows 2000 Professional and hardware needs to be at Pentium specification level with 256 Mb RAM minimum.

The R-Roster module requires IE or Netscape Web browser Version 5.5 or above and is accessible from any PC connected to the organisation’s Intranet.

HMT on-line Technical Support requires a modem connection to carry out remote diagnostics and upgrades.