Revolutionising security and efficiency in access management through Directory Manager

At a glance

CUSTOMER: Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (BTH)

SYSTEM: BDS Directory Manager

SERVICES: User access and experience

CHALLENGE: Automate door access based on employment assignment information

OUTCOMES:

• 500 transactions per month were automated
• 42 hours of a Band 4 agent's time per month, equating to approximately £7,500 of saved time per annum
• Improved security and compliance

SUMMARY: Automating door access at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals revolutionised security and efficiency by integrating ESR data with BDS Directory Manager. This dynamic solution significantly reduced admin tasks, ensured instant access updates based on staff roles, and elevated compliance, setting a new standard for access management in healthcare.

About the Trust

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides health services across the Fylde coast, Lancashire and south Cumbria area that is home to 1.6 million people, employing approximately 10,000 staff. A range of hospital services is provided to the 352,000 people living on the Fylde coast and the estimated 18 million visitors who visit each year. The Trust offers community health services to 445,000 residents of Blackpool, Fylde, Wyre and north Lancashire, and also provide specialist regional care for cardiac and haematology patients.

Challenge

• Manual door access management was time-consuming, with over 500 transactions monthly, leading to significant administrative burden.
• Access permissions were often excessive, with delays in updating roles or revoking access for staff who left the organisation.
• Inefficiencies in the process posed compliance and security risks making it difficult to ensure appropriate and timely access aligned with staff roles.
• The organisation required a scalable, automated solution to streamline operations and enhance security governance.

Solution

The organisation implemented BDS Directory Manager in 2017, integrated with the NHS Electronic Staff Record (ESR) system to automate the provisioning and de-provisioning of Active Directory (AD) and NHSmail accounts. In 2024, they integrated this with their PAC system via an API, resulting in:

• automated door access provisioning and revocation based on daily ESR updates,
• dynamic alignment of access permissions with staff roles and departments,
• immediate removal of access for leavers, enhancing security.

Determining which ESR positions/departments required access to hospital areas took about 15 months, with one Digital Identity Team member collaborating with department managers during this implementation period.

Outcomes

The implementation of BDS Directory Manager has resulted in approximately 500 transactions per month being automated, 42 hours of a Band 4 Agents time per month, equating to approximately £7,500 of saved time per annum.

The system improved security and compliance by dynamically aligning access permissions with staff roles and instantly revoking access for leavers.

Expecting to achieve ROI within two years of implementation after taking into account the manual effort to map out the required access levels.

Additionally, the ongoing benefits extending far beyond the initial ROI period. Quantifiable savings and time efficiencies continue to drive value for the organisation.

Testimonials

"The Trust is constantly striving to trailblaze with the use of cutting-edge technologies and automation, and introducing a process to automate for access has been significantly positive. Not only has it introduced efficiencies end consistency of applied door access, but also has improved security by ensuring only the right people have the right access at all times, thereby further protecting our patients."

Mark Singleton — Chief Digital & Information Officer, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation

"Automating door access has made our lives much easier as there are hundreds of requests per month that we no longer need to process resulting in reduced demand on the service and allowing us to focus on other activities."

Digital Identity Team, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation