Accelerating NHS Workforce Transformation with AI-Powered Automation

With the ever-expanding horizons of healthcare, AI-powered automation emerges as a pivotal component within the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan to take full advantage of digital and technological innovations, such as generative AI. Its capacity to revolutionize efficiency is not just promising—it's limitless. However, for many healthcare organizations, realizing this potential quickly enough to meet the demands of today can feel like chasing a unicorn.

At the center of the discussion are unprecedented advancements stemming from NHS Trusts’ collaboration with Automation Anywhere, a partnership that has enabled the vision to infuse automation and AI within the NHS.

Unlocking value: AI-powered automation at work for Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust

There are a handful of NHS organizations that are paving the way for using automation and AI in order to change and optimize processes. Among them is Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT), where Sarah Hayden, Director of People Operations, is blazing the path forward for AI-powered automation. At an event earlier this year, Sarah shared the brilliant work being done in Kent on the automation of People Services, walking the group through the why, how, and what of their automation program in practice. She painted a clear picture of the value that attendees could unlock through AI and automation, noting, in particular, the cash-releasing and quality-improving benefits of the automations in place in Kent, aiding in propelling NHS operations toward the goals of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.

In the last year, the automation program at KCHFT tackled the radical overhaul of recruitment operations, including its processes and paperwork. Throughout the recruitment lifecycle, the integration of AI and automation has had a transformative impact on processes and people. It has liberated staff from the repetition of routine administrative tasks, freeing their time to dedicate toward more value-added activities such as initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

In 2023, the automation program at KCHFT transformed workforce administration, implementing automations that handle operationally critical processes. While cost savings and efficiency gains stand out as measurable results, the most exceptional impact of these automations has been on the employee experience. The newfound ability for the team to engage in more direct, one-on-one interactions has dramatically improved the overall employee experience, candidate experience, and team dynamics.

In fact, the impact and predictability offered by AI-powered automation have been so significant that the People Services team at KCHFT is now in a position to offer other NHS organizations the option to provide a number of services on their behalf. These include recruitment, workforce administration, ESR maintenance, and learning and development resources.

The implementation of AI and automation within NHS People Services exemplifies a successful model that other healthcare organizations can emulate. Strategically aligning with the NHS efficiency proposals that feature scaling of People Services, KCHFT is able to support utilizing automation templates built on Automation Anywhere. This offers organizations a path to immediate automation without the initial outlay for automation software and can be used as a proof of concept for delivering savings, improving quality, and other metrics to support future business cases for automation more widely across organizations.

Top lessons from KCHFT People Services’ AI + Automation journey

The journey into automation for healthcare organizations is not just about technological integration; it's about reimagining the way we deliver services to meet the demands of modern healthcare. Sarah Hayden's insights at the House of Lords event have distilled critical learnings to help lay the groundwork for other NHS and healthcare organizations as they embark on the journey of harnessing automation and generative AI:

Tips for getting started

• Standardization: Begin with standardizing forms and data, as this creates a solid foundation upon which an accurate and effective automation workflow can be developed.
• Strategic planning: Clearly outline the aspirations and map out strategic solutions. Automation is rapid to deploy, but precision in its execution is crucial for its success. Sarah articulated how delivering hard value is key, and the automation journey will take time and energy. However, when done right, the results can be transformative for not just the workforce but for the population as well.
• Executive buy-in: Garnering and sustaining executive support is paramount. Craft a tight business case highlighting the potential return on investment, reinvestment benefits, and cost savings to persuade and maintain the backing of finance teams and board members.
• Proof of concept: Identify and automate a process with a significant return on investment as a proof of concept. This not only showcases the tangible benefits of automation but supports your business case to secure further investment.

Think big to maximize the reach and transferability of automations

Embrace the art of the possible. Think outside of a single team to potentially create impact across the whole trust and share the value, as well as potentially distribute the cost of automation across various teams. The key lies in leveraging use cases to pique the interest of other departments, then identifying the primary business process or outcome that each department aims to transform and articulating how automation can make it a reality.

Make IT your best friend

Develop a strong relationship with IT and involve them in the process. Collaborating with IT can effectively address the potential questions, assessments, and decisions necessary surrounding cybersecurity and data management. Maintain open communication with them to understand the necessary architecture and service environment for successful and secure automation with generative AI implementation, ensuring compliance and safeguarding patient data.

The AI + automation journey needs your people

The path to AI-powered automation in healthcare is as much about people as it is about technology. The experiences shared by Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) underscore the profound importance of investing in the human element of transformation.

Pivotal to this endeavor is the concept of upskilling. Equipping staff with the relevant competencies to thrive alongside emerging technologies like generative AI is a commitment that resonates beyond mere operational efficiency—it is about nurturing a culture of adaptability and value creation. KCHFT has proactively addressed communication and training through a series of webinars and discussion forums to assuage fear and build excitement.

The journey requires not just digital proficiency but an acute focus on the soft skills necessary to navigate and implement change effectively. Sarah said it well during her presentation: “Do not underestimate the time it’s going to take and the importance of ensuring the team is brought along the journey—it has completely changed their way of working.”

Vital signs: The measurable value and impact of AI-powered automation

AI-powered automation is now becoming an integral part of the long-term strategy to drive efficiency at KCHFT. In collaboration with Automation Anywhere, KCHFT has achieved, to date:

• Implemented 164 live automations, resulting in over £700K in savings and freeing up 45,000 hours.
• Reduced time to recruit by 41% over the past 15 months, from 8.51 weeks to 4.99 weeks.
• Ranked as the best in the country for shortest time taken by managers to shortlist candidates.
• Climbed to 10th place out of 285 NHS organizations in the WoVEn ranking (up from 191st before automation).
• Improved ESR data quality ranking dramatically, rising from 191st to 21st.

Leveraging Automation Anywhere, KCHFT has developed an innovative fleet of ‘flobots,’ each uniquely named and assigned a staff profile, seamlessly integrating them into the team. The fleet of flobots includes automations and templates spanning processes from pre-employment checks in recruitment to ESR updates and reporting in workforce services. The templates created throughout KCHFT’s automation journey are transferable to any NHS Trust interested in beginning their own automation journey. KCHFT’s outstanding example of automation done well perfectly depicts the art of the possible in relation to the NHS and automation. It is exciting to imagine what is to come.

Charting the future of healthcare with AI and automation

Supporting KCHFT's groundbreaking automation success is the Automation Success Platform and the NHS' strategic partnership with Automation Anywhere in support of the trust’s We Care strategy. This collaboration has been instrumental in establishing and expanding the automation center of excellence (CoE) at KCHFT that exemplifies innovation and leadership in healthcare efficiency and progress, able to share a wealth of knowledge both internally and externally, allowing other organizations to reap similar benefits.

As the automation CoE for the Southeast, Kent is working with system partner organizations to support them in developing successful automation programs that harness the potential of AI and automation. People directorate teams have embraced Automation Anywhere to support with increasing workload demands.

The partnership between KCHFT and Automation Anywhere has also focused on demonstrating the scalability of AI-powered automation through tangible results and success stories. Their achievements go beyond significant business outcomes and ROI; they have empowered system partners in Kent and Medway ICB to provide their services to other acute organizations, supporting them in their automation journey.

Scaling automation has not only delivered operational efficiency but also fostered a culture of innovation that surpasses the limitations of healthcare operations. And it is paving the way for a future where healthcare automation is not the exception but rather an integral component of service delivery.