London - December 2008 – HEALTH SERVICE PROCUREMENT REVIEW:
Like much of the NHS, Camden PCT is undergoing change in many different areas. New services are being introduced, we are seeing a move to a commissioner / supplier model and the demand for performance information is gathering pace. To meet these challenges, an increasing number of projects and programmes are being run across the organisation. These projects were being run very well, but the quantity and diversity of the programmes posed a governance challenge – there was no central reporting function, which meant that there was no way of collating all the information on each project to analyse it and offer support. The other challenge was that projects were not being run in a generic way. There was no standard form of project management across the organisation.
We recognised that we needed a central resource to undertake these functions and initiate central governance for the many diverse projects underway across the PCT.
This resource should be able to: make certain that proposed projects and programmes have clearly defined business outcomes and are supported by a sound business case; make information available to those involved with the project to enable them to identify risk and make informed decisions; and improve the PCT’s ability to successfully run projects by training, supporting and mentoring project managers and sharing good practice.
It is usual in the NHS for projects to be run alongside someone’s day job. We wanted to ensure that people had the necessary knowledge to run projects and balance them with their day-to-day work.
To help establish the programme office, we decided that we needed to draw on experience from outside the NHS. We wanted to gain from working with people who had experience of setting up project offices, who could look at our situation with a fresh pair of eyes. While we have very capable people within the NHS, we wanted to approach this project differently.
Camden PCT undertook a tendering exercise and looked at four companies. Bestoutcome won the tender. The company has an extensive background in programme and project management and could also provide a specialised project management software tool, PM3, which would provide improved governance across the entire portfolio of projects being undertaken by the PCT. The programme office was set up in February 2008. It was important that it hit the ground running, as operating plan projects began in April and we decided that it would be involved in delivering the operating plan projects for this year. So we had to establish the programme office while getting people started on their projects. Together with Bestoutcome, we wrote a project strategy for establishing a PMO, with a project plan which included establishing processes to drive the project forward, communication of our aims and the roll out of PM3 across the organisation (factoring in training staff in its effective use).
Importantly, Bestoutcome introduced the organisation to a planning methodology called ODPM (outcome driven project management), which is driven by business outcomes – the final goal is carefully defined and then intermediate outcomes that are needed to achieve this final goal are identified. The company undertook training of key staff in this area and then one member of the programme office, an experienced trainer, took ownership of the training within Camden PCT and tailored it for an NHS audience.
In my time at Camden I have run several large projects for the PCT, but I have never before used specialist Project, Programme and Portfolio management software. Bestoutcome’s software, PM3, supports outcome-based project management and gives us an oversight of all 120 current projects – project office staff can see where project managers are up to in terms of workstreams and milestones, and can determine how projects will link to similar projects in other areas. This overview allows us to pre-empt risks and offer advice and help to those running the project.
PM3 can be set up to automatically send a monthly update report to all project sponsors which is something we have adopted. The software is also capable of generating a high-level financial report, which we will be using next year once the programme office is fully utilising the software – we felt that it was important to be up and running as an office and a service as quickly as possible, then implement the software gradually.
The software is customisable, which has enabled us to tailor it to suit our organisation. For example the value management criteria in PM3 were originally designed for the private sector, and didn’t necessarily apply to the NHS focuses of patient care, quality of service and value for money. Bestoutcome has given us the advice to enable us to use our NHS knowledge to tailor the software tofit our NHS needs. Being able to effectively monitor all of Camden’s projects has obvious governance advantages. We are able to focus on gaining the desired outcomes across the board and we can use this central resource to avoid duplication of effort. By next year we will be seeking to recognise projects that can be linked together rather than conducted separately.Working practices have already changed.
The project management process has been tailored for our organisation and standardised, to give us one way of approaching projects and programmes. Project managers are benefiting from the organisational overview, support and advice that the programme office offers. We’ve found that even in this short time people are already well engaged with the office, which heralds a big change in working practices. The programme office is enabling Camden PCT to improve the delivery of our projects and our relationship with Bestoutcome is really positive. It’s a two-way relationship, the company and our organisation have learnt from each other. The team is not part of the organisation, which means that they can take a step back from any issues we may have – we are able to bounce ideas off them and gain new insight.
We have found that employing an external consultancy such as Bestoutcome to support the development of the programme office has been highly beneficial. They approach a project and an organisation very differently than someone from the NHS would – and as they are willing to adapt they can ensure that their expertise is utilised in the best way for that particular organisation. In establishing an effective programme office we have begun to enable the organisation to work in a common way to achieve each project’s differing goals thereby delivering benefits to the NHS.
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