Doctors Rostering System (DRS) and DRS Realtime to reduce costs and support clinical safety

Developed with healthcare organisations across the NHS, the Doctors Rostering System (DRS) is an established, low-cost solution for junior doctors’ rostering. 

Doctors Rostering System (DRS)

The online tool helps healthcare organisations with the complex task of designing and monitoring legally-compliant junior doctor’s rotas, while also improving productivity and service quality. Using a system that doesn’t properly implement the rules exposes users to considerable financial risk. 

Benefits

  • Ensures compliance with New Deal and European Working Time Directive, avoiding financial penalties
  • Improves clinical safety by ensuring medical staff are working an acceptable length and number of shifts.

DRS Real Time

Developed with NHS North West, Realtime builds on the Doctors Rostering System to enable you to populate your junior rota templates with the staff in your service area. It’s the only system available in the UK that properly manages doctors’ time in respect of the Working Time Directive.

By predicting future staffing shortfalls, the system helps you to arrange cover in advance, reducing reliance on locums. The web-based system enables all permitted staff to view the latest situation in a secure online environment. Its communication capability also helps you to keep the whole service up to date with the latest roster changes, advertise available internal locum shifts and publicise and facilitate swaps via any web based device, including smartphones.

Benefits

  • Significantly reduces requirement for locums and associated costs
  • Predicts staff shortfalls and uses doctors’ time more effectively with fewer last minute changes
  • Promotes improved productivity and better staff management
  • Easily accessible real time updates for all permitted staff.

Flexibility for swapping helps deal with last minute unpredicted absences.

DRS Real Time + Scheduled Events

Scheduled Events provides a further level of functionality to the Doctors Rostering System which enables detailed planning for scheduled events such as surgical lists, clinics, ward rounds, programmed activities and locum shifts. 

Changes made in one system cascade to the others - for example, if someone books leave through DRS Real Time interactive e-rostering, the impact shows up in the Scheduled Events application. 

Benefits

  • Reduces the time consultants spend on scheduling, allowing them to concentrate on key tasks
  • More effective deployment of staff reduces agency staff costs
  • Helps job planning, leave management and rostering.

We offer specific training for every aspect of DRS, tailored to your needs.

Doctors Rostering System has enabled 140+ health organisations to save £1.6m a year each on Band 3 payments compared to eight years ago.

One cardiology department saved £20,000 on locum costs in six months.

“It’s brilliant - using the tool has been a revelation. Well done, you have done wonders for this department!”
Katie Elder, Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

“The tool has helped us reduce locum use and administration costs and as a result it has been adopted as one of the Trust’s QIPP projects.”
Andrea Padgeon, Medical Staffing Officer, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

To find out more about the Doctors Rostering System, request a demonstration or join a webinar, please get in touch with your local Skills for Health contact

For detailed information, please visit: www.healthcareworkforce.nhs.uk/realtime/

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