The Rowebot
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, North East and Yorkshire, Acute
The problem
At the start of the pandemic, the AP team contacted suppliers to advise that invoices, where they were posted, must also be emailed to the AP generic mailbox. This was to ensure that the invoices would still get processed even if there wasn’t an office presence. This resolved the original problem and was also environmentally friendly, but it created a new problem of an overloaded mailbox.
The challenge
How might we deal with the volume of invoices so that suppliers are paid in a timely manner and staff are not overloaded and feel they can still successfully complete their role when working from home?
The outputs
- A streamlined process.
- Improved supplier satisfaction.
- Improved BPPC performance.
The outcomes
Benefits have been realised throughout:
- the AP team
- financial management reporting as invoices are processed quicker and better. The impact is seen in KPIs such as BPPC which benefit the reputation of the trust with suppliers.
The Innovation
Read the full innovation on the Rowebot
All the documents and resources relating to this innovation can be found in the downloads section at the bottom of the page.
Read nowWhat the peer-reviewers said
“The system allows greater processing of invoices and is environmentally friendly. The robot system would probably not require staff to be retrained to use it and it slots into their current way of working without much interference and change.”
“While bots are being implemented in the BI world NHS finance is only slowly recognising the potential benefits. This is a really good example of the positive impact for the team involved of automating a simple but potentially overwhelming repetitive task, without it being too intimidating.”
“This innovation is a reflection of the dedication and enthusiasm of the team. It provides a real improvement in financial transactional processes which leads to direct benefits for suppliers/ staff and the reputation of the organisation.”
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Here are all of the documents and resources related to this innovation