Overview
The electronic changeover form is a digital solution that has transformed anaesthetic rota planning, improving accuracy, speed, and transparency while reducing administrative burden and supporting safer staffing, better training opportunities, and workforce sustainability.
By moving to a secure web-based system, completion, submission, and data processing have become significantly faster and more accurate.
Anaesthetic trainees and rota teams use the system to generate reliable schedules efficiently and ensure training opportunities are optimally managed.
It supports clearer workforce planning, enhances transparency, improves user experience, and contributes to better service delivery and a more sustainable workforce model.
The challenge
The paper-based changeover form used by anaesthetic residents was time-consuming, often incomplete, and difficult to process.
Rota co-ordinators struggled with illegible or missing information, leading to delays and inaccuracies in rota production.
Training needs were not always captured consistently, resulting in missed opportunities for clinical development.
Additionally, tracking workforce changes manually created excess administrative burden and increased the risk of communication errors.
These challenges limited the trusts ability to plan effectively, optimise training, and ensure safe staffing levels, impacting both workforce efficiency and service delivery.
A more reliable, efficient, and accessible method was needed to capture and process changeover data.
The innovation
The innovation involved digitising the existing paper changeover form into an easy-to-use online platform accessible via the E-Changeover website.
The platform is used by anaesthetic trainees and rota co-ordination teams to capture workforce availability, working patterns, and training requirements.
The electronic system was designed with clinical and administrative stakeholders to replicate existing data requirements while improving usability, accuracy, and data capture.
Action
The system was trialled initially with doctors rotating to South Tees.
Following success across two rotations of doctors the Northern School of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine approached the Trust to ask if it could be rolled out regionally to support rotating of doctors more widely.
It has now been rolled out to multiple trusts within the north-east region.
Outcome
Since implementation, the electronic changeover form has significantly improved the accuracy, clarity and timeliness of data submitted by anaesthetic residents.
Rota production is now more streamlined, with reduced instances of missing or incorrect information.
The system supports clearer visibility of trainees’ requirements, enabling better alignment of rota design with training needs.
Early feedback indicates higher satisfaction among both clinical and administrative users, with faster processing times and fewer queries.
This has resulted in more robust workforce planning, enhanced educational opportunities and improved resource allocation, supporting safer staffing practices.
This has led to enquiries from the Deanery around what the options are to include other specialities.
The benefit
The electronic changeover form has reduced rota production timelines and improved workforce planning by replacing manual processes with a streamlined digital system.
Automated data capture and initial shift allocation enable rota teams to produce schedules more quickly and accurately.
The improved clarity and reliability of submissions have enhanced operational efficiency and user experience for both clinical and administrative staff, supporting safer staffing and better service continuity.
Partnership working
A strength of this project has been its partnership with the NHS England Education North East, enabling the innovation to deliver benefits beyond the host organisation and across the wider region.
Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria provided Intellectual Property (IP) support; in particular, support in connection with the type of IP which can be associated with the Electronic Changeover Form, and the ownership of that IP.
Sustainability
The move from paper to digital processes reduces printing, postage, and manual handling, contributing to lower resource use.
By removing the need for physical forms and associated administrative processing, the system supports more sustainable working practices and helps minimise waste, while also reducing staff time spent on paper-based tasks.