Digitising expenses saves trust money

An NHS Trust saved 20% on its expenses spend after digitising its claims process using Expenses Health.

Deborah Saunby, Sales Director at Software Europe said that while much of the NHS is still paper-based, the focus on adopting technology tends to be on clinical systems such as e-prescribing and electronic patient records. However, digitising administrative processes can also deliver significant benefits and savings.

The NHS spends around 80 per cent of its expenses budget on mileage and the rules around what NHS employees can and cannot claim for can be quite complex.

The company’s software, Expenses Health, uses a bi-directional interface to send and receive expenses data with the national NHS Electronic Staff Record system and has mobile apps for staff to use.

It accurately calculates mileage which is often estimated by NHS staff and can easily be “rounded up”, explained Saunby.

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust saved 20% on expenses within the first 12-months of implementing the software.

At another trust, analysis of the data showed that many staff were claiming for driving between hospital sites. The trust had a shuttle bus service, but discovered that it was not frequent enough to accommodate the regular movement of staff, so it increased the service. In doing so, it saved £20,000 on mileage.

Software Europe administers more than £65m of expenses to more than 600,000 NHS employees across the UK.

Recent customers include: Devon Partnership NHS Trust; Burton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and Royal United Hospital Bath NHS Trust.