By Hafsa Hersi (NHSmail CoE), Joshua Anderson (NHSmail CoE), Stephen Doolan (Shropshire Community Health) and Andrew Hunt (Sirona Care & Health)
Introduction: What is the Desk Booking App & Who Did We Pilot with?
The Desk Booking App is a tool that enables staff from all levels to manage and book desks and parking spaces in the facilities they work at- all in one app! Further information on the app including videos explaining how it works can be found here.
The Workforce Experience Centre of Excellence (CoE) Team led the pilot for the Desk Booking App with two organisations:
- Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust: Stephen Doolan, N365 Local Admin & Senior Digital Training Lead
- Sirona Care & Health: Andrew Hunt, Head of Digital
Throughout the pilot process, 1-1 technical support was provided as well as regular check in calls. Both organisations were able to set up the tool and successfully share it with some users in their trust.
Interviews: Experience with Pilot & App
We spoke to members of the piloting organisations to capture what their experience was like being part of one of the first piloting organisations of the Desk Booking App, what challenges they overcame, and lessons they learned.
Shropshire Community Health
“There wasn’t time went by where we felt you weren’t talking to us; there was reassurance that we haven’t been forgotten about and that we are working together on this. We are geographically diverse, so we are reliant on other forms of communication rather than a bump in the office.”
Shropshire Community Health concluded that it has been a positive experience and they would like to be involved in any future pilots with the CoE.
Sirona Care & Health
What did the Surveys Show?
Three surveys were shared with Shropshire Community Health towards the conclusion of the pilot. These three surveys were for the individual installing the app; the Global & Building Admins as well as the end users of the app. Within all of the surveys, the aim was to gain feedback on their experience utilising or installing the app; any challenges they faced and additions or changes they would like to see for the app in the future
Both the installer of the app and the two users who responded to the survey rated the overall app a 5 out of 5. This was slightly lower for the Building Admin (rated a 3) and we have developed an Administrator guide to assist Building admins in the future and improve their overall experience
Installer:
Building Admin:
Users:
Both the installer and building admin rated the technical support received quite high. We have iterated on the installation guidance (as well as formed the admin guide as mentioned earlier) to assist organisations in future as much as possible.
Installer:
Building Admin:
Some of the suggestions for future improvements included:
- Booking desks by the hour or half day
- Make recurring desk bookings
- Option to search for specific desks
These improvements have been recorded to ensure that when the app is further developed, this feedback can help inform those changes.
Pilot Closure & Next Steps
We completed the pilot on the 15th July with both organisations continuing to share with their user base. Shropshire Community Health and Sirona Care & Health have been excellent to work with during this pilot, their feedback and participation has been invaluable.
To learn more about the Desk Booking App, please click this link: https://support.nhs.net/knowledge-base/desk-booking-app/
