e-KSF / ESR Integration Resources (England & Wales)

Click here to access documents on the e-KSF / ESR integration

Over 200 NHS organisations in England and Wales now have the e-KSF/ESR link in place. The link allows these two central systems to share data, benefitting organisations by reducing duplicate data entry, minimising errors and making the most of local KSF and ESR workforce reports.

The e-KSF and ESR teams joint strategy is for all organisations in England and Wales to take advantage of the e-KSF/ESR link, so we have now added some additional rollout dates for the link. We implement the link in “batches” of organisations, and the following new batches are now available:

To go live with the e-KSF / ESR link in either of these batches please click here to complete the Confirmation Fax we require from you to be added to either of these batches. Alternatively read on for more information:

The technical work to build the link was completed in 2006, with central Department of Health funding. This means that there is no cost to organisations in taking advantage of the link, though there is potentially a small amount of data preparation to do on the e-KSF for organisations already using this system, before the link is activated.

Why take advantage of this link?

ESR & e-KSF are centrally procured, national systems which hold information about employees and their development.  The new interface has been built to realise additional benefits from both systems to better manage staff careers and development. The work on the interface has been centrally funded and the interface will operate with no additional cost to NHS organisations. The interface is now complete and was released on 4 November 2006 (ESR Release 3.10).

Julie Badon, Agenda for Change Lead at the Department of Health said,
"This is very positive progress which will ensure that NHS Employers and NHS staff can benefit fully from the functionality in both ESR and e-KSF."

e-KSF will continue to be the master system for recording KSF reviews, gateway outcomes and personal development plans. The e-KSF/ESR interface will enable the summary detail relating to the review, personal development plan, progression through the gateway and the employee’s current competency profile to be transmitted to ESR thus reducing the need to manually input changes to an individual's record. Post outline dimension and levels will also be passed from e-KSF to ESR, enabling the comparison of an employee's current KSF dimensions and levels to the positions they hold. 

Similarly, when a new employee is set up in ESR, the employee's basic data will be transmitted to e-KSF to set up the employee's e-KSF record. The transfer of data between the systems will improve reporting capability too, for example you will be able to combine gateway outcome data from e-KSF with gender and ethnicity data from ESR to give you useful equal opportunities information.

Organisations are finding that they need to schedule some time and effort to set up the link – not much, typically a few days to tidy up e-KSF data before the link goes live, and check the ESR data after the link goes live – but that this effort is quickly repaid in:

• Reduced administration on e-KSF (no need to manually update joiners, leavers and changes in information)
  
• Reduced administration on ESR (no need to manually record KSF reviews on ESR)
  
• Easier reporting (e-KSF data about reviews can be combined with ESR data about demographics – ethnicity/gender, pay band etc) to provide powerful equal opportunities monitoring

e-KSF / ESR Link Documentation

Below is a list of documents that are key information resources for you: -

A Director's Guide to the e-KSF / ESR Link - this document outlines what you need to know about the link between e-KSF and ESR, what should happen in each system and what data do they exchange, along with outlining how much resource you need to allocate to the e-KSF/ESR link, and e-KSF itself.

Initial Introduction to the e-KSF / ESR Link – this document, published in August 06, explains why this link is being built, and how it will work in practice to benefit NHS organisations in England and Wales.

e-KSF/ ESR Link - Introductory Presentation - this short presentation highlights the background to the e-KSF / ESR link and what steps you need to follow to proceed with the link.

e-KSF / ESR Roll Out Planning Schedule - this document shows when we plan to activate the link for your organisation, and when you’ll need to have completed data cleansing in e-KSF.

An Introduction to the Roll Out Planning Schedule - this covering note should be read in conjunction with the roll out planning schedule itself (the document listed above, on this page).

Roll Out Planning Document - you can read more about what your organisation will need to do, before the link is switched on.

Confirmation Fax - before your organisation can go ahead with the link you need to complete this confirmation fax.

Step by Step Data Cleansing For the Link - this document in aimed at e-KSF administrators who need to do “data cleansing” on the e-KSF system in preparation for the link. The e-KSF functions described in this document are activated by our support team, in line with each roll-out batch.

Running ESR Reports - this document describes how to run a report from ESR to help you with your data cleansing in e-KSF.

Managing the link Step by Step Data Cleansing For the Link - this document is aimed at e-KSF administrators who need to maintain the e-KSF/ESR link. You only need to read this document if the link is already activated for your organisation

Functional Specification for the e-KSF / ESR Link - this document describes how the e-KSF and ESR systems exchange data, in detail. It’s not necessary reading for the typical e-KSF or ESR administrator, but may be useful background in case of technical questions or problems.

e-KSF / ESR Link FAQs - this document lists the questions that we’re frequently asked about the e-KSF/ESR link. Please read this with the associated step by step guides above.

e-KSF Factsheet - this is an introduction to the e-KSF and outlines the e-KSF / ESR link functionality.

If you have any queries about the link for organisations in England and Wales, please do not hesitate to contact communications@esrsolution.co.uk or ESRlink@e-ksf.org