Hospices: Compton, Severn and St Giles: Case Study

Four Midlands Hospices purchased SDMS V HRPersonnel Software and established a Project Group with SDMS Ltd to develop the Software to meet their specific needs.

SDMS V HRPersonnel for Windows was initially presented to Katharine House Hospice in September 2003. Following this a presentation was made to a group of Senior Hospice Personnel as well as several meetings with individual Hospices. As a result it became clear that many Hospices were not only interested in purchasing a Personnel System but were actively looking for a Supplier who was interested in working with a small group of Hospices to develop its Software to meet the exacting and changing requirements of Hospices and Care Homes. This Software would not only need to provide the functionality required and respond to change but would also be very competitively priced and cost effective.

As a result SDMS Ltd, in response to a request from these Hospices, formed the Project Group involving: Katharine House Hospice, St Giles Hospice, Compton Hospice and Severn Hospice.

Each Hospice has been implementing SDMS Personnel Software for day to day management of their Staff, while at the same time being actively involved in the development of the additional features required. These included - a Criminal Records Bureau Module, extension of Staff and FTE Analysis as well as the development of a Staff Scheduling and Rostering Module. The development of each new feature has been based on meetings with Managers and Practitioners at a variety of levels in each Hospice as well as discussions within the Project Group itself.

It is intended that the Hospice Project Group will continue in the long term as a User Group for the Hospices themselves as well as providing a ‘focus group’ for further development of SDMS Ltd’s Personnel and Rostering Software.

St Giles Hospice, Lichfield:

St Giles is a centre of excellence and one of the best-known and most respected Charities in the region, with over 150 Staff, 900 Volunteers, Thirteen Charity Shops, the most successful Hospice Lottery in the UK and £4 million spent on providing care every year. The range of specialist services is provided free of charge to all who need it. Although St Giles receives some funding from the Government, the Charity relies heavily on donations and fundraising.

It has actively implemented SDMS V HRPersonnel over the last three years and has linked this implementation – like other Hospices in the Project Group to reviewing and improving its existing Personnel Administration procedures such as:

  • All basic Employee Records are maintained with SDMS V HRPersonnel for Windows
  • Posts and Jobs have now been clearly defined with the Organisation and Employee Contractual Details maintained
  • SDMS is in use within the HR Department and we hope to roll out Absence and Holiday recording to the Line Managers in due course
  • CRB Records are maintained
  • Reports are regularly produced to support Senior Management

Compton Hospice, Wolverhampton:

Situated in Wolverhampton, Compton Hospice is one of the larger members of the Project Group with some 260 Employees and 600 Volunteers. The implementation of SDMS Software within the Organisation will enable many of the basic Personnel Record keeping to be addressed and the existence of Compton as a Teaching Hospice opens up other possibilities of its usefulness with the Education Department. In the near future it is intended to encompass the Product’s use as follows:

  • All basic Employee Records will be maintained with SDMS V HRPersonnel for Windows
  • Maintenance of Employee Training Records, Qualification and Skills Records
  • Posts and Jobs will be clearly defined with the Organisation and Employee Contractual Details maintained
  • The use of SDMS will be extended to around 12 Senior Managers thereby enabling them to manage their Staff more efficiently and effectively.
  • CRB Records maintained
  • Reports will be regularly produced to support Senior Management

The focus of Personnel Systems development in the coming months will be further introduction of the basic system to other Heads of Departments whilst at the same time introducing the HRPRostering to various important aspects of our day to day Resource Planning and Management.

Severn Hospice, Shrewsbury:

Severn Hospice has centres in Shrewsbury, Telford and Newtown, and its HR Adviser is responsible for all aspects of Personnel with its 144 FTE Staff. The Hospice has played a leading role in defining and designing the Rostering Module of SDMS Software. Currently the Software is used to:

  • Maintain all basic Employee Records with SDMS V HRPersonnel for Windows
  • Posts and Jobs have now been clearly defined with the Organisation and Employee Contractual Details maintained
  • Monitor Pay and Annual Pay changes and increments before being passed to Payroll (the Hospice uses Sage Professional Payroll)
  • Line Manager Access to Staff Records
  • Records of Skills and Qualifications are maintained
  • Generation of Ad-hoc Reports for Management
  • Generation of Monthly Sickness Reports

With the opening of a second site at Telford, Severn Hospice will be using Windows Terminal Services to share the program across both sites.