Verto Case Study: working with the South West Academic Health Science Network
The South West Academic Health Science Network (SW AHSN) is one of 15 AHSNs across England set up to deliver significant change in the way the health and care sector identifies, develops and adopts innovation. Each AHSN works to improve the health of its local population and generate economic growth in the area.
AHSNs have to regularly report on their plans and progress to NHS England. They also have to report to their own board on the progress they’re making delivering their strategic objectives and work programmes.
The SW AHSN has a mission 'to improve the health and patient experience of people in the South West by supporting and accelerating innovation and quality improvement'. To deliver this, they have three strategic objectives supported by ten work programmes encompassing a wide range of individual projects.
They work with 18 member organisations and a wide range of stakeholder organisations from health and care sectors in the South West and nationally.
What the SW AHSN wanted to achieve
The SW AHSN’s staff team comes from a diverse range of backgrounds including academia, frontline health and social care, research, IT, analytics and NHS support services.
This means, while they are all committed to achieving a common aim, they have a wide range of work practices. This difference was causing an inconsistent approach to project management.
The SW AHSN needed a way to easily and clearly report back to NHS England and their board on their work programme, in particular in relation to individual project outcomes. They also needed a system that would make sure they had the most up to date information in their reports. This would mean they could clearly evidence the impact of their work and identify and manage risk.
To move to this position the SW AHSN committed to go through a change management process, including a change in culture, to one where they had:
- A consistent approach to project management
- A commitment to clearly evidence impact
- Easy access to accurate information on individual projects and programmes of work
- Comprehensive, easy and flexible reporting
- Robust risk management
How we’re helping the SW AHSN achieve their goal
We started working with the SW AHSN in October 2016 and had their system live by February 2017. This rapid installation of the project management software helped them move smoothly through the changes they needed to make.
Because Verto is cloud-based project management software, the SW AHSN staff and its contractors can access the system. In the future their member organisations may also have access to the system, which will further help develop a consistent approach to project management across the network.
We tailored the Verto dashboard to match the brand colours of the SW AHSN. This familiarity helped their staff engage and feel more comfortable using a new system.
Verto has given them a shared database, which means they can generate reports at all levels. And Verto’s tagging facility means they can create reports from the data they choose.
“The team at TMI have been really helpful and Verto is proving to be an excellent project management tool. We now have a richness of information we didn’t have before. Being able to tag fields so we can tailor reports is a significant benefit. And we’re able to use Verto to quickly and easily create our quarterly reports and business plan for NHS England. All this has helped us to implement the change we needed to make in both our practice and our culture.”
Claire Higdon, Director of Corporate Services, SW AHSN
The benefits the SW AHSN is seeing
The SW AHSN have found Verto really easy to use. Some staff are happily using it without having had any training. However, those who have taken part in a short training session are, to quote Claire Higdon, ‘really flying.’
In particular, staff have found Verto is saving them time as they only need to fill in information such as project descriptions and objectives once.
The SW AHSN now has a much clearer understanding of how projects are allocated across the staff team and can clearly see who is working on what. They can also get an instant report on all the projects each member organisation is involved in.
They are able to capture more information on each project and programme of work. This is making it much easier to see what they’ve achieved and evidence progress. It also means they are better able to identify and manage risk.
One of the key benefits the SW AHSN has found is Verto’s tagging facility. This means users can tag the data they want to include to create exactly the report they need.
With Verto they can also produce reports as PDF documents. This has proved to be really helpful when staff need to take information to a meeting or share it with someone who doesn’t have access to the system.
“The strength of working with TMI has been how they’ve tailored our Verto system to our exact needs – making it part of our organisation, not a bolt on.”
Louise Witts, Interim CEO, SW AHSN
In March 2017, the SW AHSN sent their first quarter end report to NHS England using Verto. Claire Higdon told us it was really quick and easy to do. She went on to say:
“Although many of the changes we’ve seen since we introduced Verto seem fairly basic, they’ve really helped us to engage and motivate staff and members.”
We’re still working with the SW AHSN and are currently helping them use Verto to capture more information from their projects and develop more detailed reporting.
To find out more about how Verto can help your AHSN please call us on 0118 334 6200 or message us here.
How we can help you help your clients
Verto is widely used across both the private and public sectors.
For example, our clients include Capita PLC, Northgate Vehicle Leasing, NHS and councils across the country.
Many of our private sector clients also work with public sector organisations, helping them build shared services, deliver change and realize challenging efficiency savings.
Even when several organisations from different sectors are involved, Verto’s tools make it easy for them to work together. Because with Verto, everyone can work on the same platform and communicate with each other quickly and easily.
Here are some examples of how we’re helping our clients and what they have to say about us.
Capita
Capita uses technology to create and deliver smarter process management and professional support services across the public and private sectors.
They say:
“I have been working with the Verto team for the last 18 months and in that time we have built an excellent working relationship. The reason for this is that not only is VERTO an excellent PPM tool, but what makes the product stand out is the team behind it for their responsiveness, help, support and ability to go the extra mile in both promoting and delivering the tool to clients. The VERTO team understand real problems and issues and how to resolve them in a fit for purpose way and do so in a friendly and open manner that is very refreshing.”
Onesource
Onesource provides shared back office support services for local government and other public services. They use Verto to support their project and programme management.
They say:
“We have found Verto to be very flexible, especially when embedding our corporate methodology and workflow into a cloud-based application. [It] has enabled better collaborative ways of working and greater transparency in all aspects of project management and expenditure. Furthermore, TMI [Verto] has consistently provided an excellent customer service and [been] willing to support us at all times. We’ve enjoyed working with TMI to achieve our corporate PMO application requirements.”
Denbighshire Council
“The support from TMI Systems from day one has been outstanding, they are always willing to listen to new ideas and respond to all system enquiries almost by return.”
Wolverhampton City Council
“The support provided by TMI Systems has been brilliant to get the system up and running. The system enables us to have a cross directorate view of the projects and programmes currently being managed within the Council.”
To find out more about how Verto can help you and your clients please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.
How Verto is helping the NHS deliver improvements
Health services are under constant and increasing demand. So the best way for healthcare staff to respond to this demand and meet the needs of their patients is through partnership working. As experts in collaboration, Verto is well placed to support the NHS in these partnerships.
In 44 areas covering the whole of England, the NHS, local councils and other providers are working together to improve health and care. Each area has developed a proposal, called a sustainability and transformation plan (STP), that focuses on the needs of the local population.
We have been working closely with the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG) area.
The BNSSG STP
The whole of the local health and social care community in BNSSG has been involved in developing the STP. This includes hospitals, local authorities, community providers, mental health organizations, the ambulance service, GPs and other commissioners.
Their aim, under the STP, is to design and deliver health and care services that are affordable and sustainable. The different organisations are working together under one vision that focuses on keeping people well rather than treating illness.
We’ve worked in partnership with them to create a collaboration hub that makes it easier for them to work together and successfully deliver their STP.
The key numbers
1 vision
Covering 21 overarching projects
For 15 partner organisations
With more than 48,000 staff
Serving a population of nearly 1 million
Spending nearly £1.5 billion every year
What Verto is providing
We have created a cloud-based collaboration hub where staff can:
Manage projects and programmes together
Access their project toolkit
Read the STP and other project documents
Find information on new processes
Access a shared calendar with dates for events, meetings and workshops as well as key project deadlines
Find out the names and contact details of people working on projects
Complete standardised project management approaches
Complete and review reports
Share files and documents
Because Verto is based in the cloud it supports mobile working so staff can access the hub from any device, whenever they need to and from wherever they are.
It also means staff will receive real-time updates. These will keep them up to date with everything that’s going on. They’ll know when actions are complete and they’ll know if things start to fall behind. This will help make sure the STP stays on track to deliver its 21 key projects.
And Verto’s instant messaging tool means staff can communicate with each other quickly and easily. Whenever they need to they can chat to one person, a specific team or everyone involved in a project.
We’ll include a case study of our work with the BNSSG STP area in a future post. In the meantime, to find out more about how we can support your partnership working, please call us on 0844 870 8785 or message us here.
Our Top Ten Tips for Project Management Best Practice
However many projects you manage, no two will ever be the same. Even where projects share some aspects, they are unlikely to be totally alike. For example, the project team, stakeholders, funding streams or key targets could all be different.
However, some areas of best practice apply to all the projects you manage. Have a look at our top ten tips and make them part of the way you work. You’ll find your job will become easier and your projects will be more likely to succeed.
1. Plan your project properly
Thorough planning before the project starts will help you be clear and realistic about what the project is meant to achieve. This means you can set well-defined success criteria that you can measure and report on.
You’ll be able to make sure you have the right budget, the right resources and the right skills on the project team. It will also help you identify and plan for potential risks and set realistic timescales.
2. Start your project properly
To help set the tone for your project and create some energy around it, start it formally with a meeting or event.
Invite all your stakeholders and use it as an opportunity to remind everyone of the project’s aims and the part they’ll all play in its delivery – and ultimate success.
3. Keep in touch with all your stakeholders
Once your project is up and running make sure you communicate regularly with everyone involved. Let them know what’s going on, including any problems, risks and delays. Be sure to share successes too, like when milestones are reached, to acknowledge people’s input and say thank you.
How you share information can include anything from a simple message to one person right through to a formal report to the project board. What’s important is to make sure everyone is as up-to-date on the project as possible.
4. Ask for feedback
Alongside keeping in touch with everyone involved in your project, ask them to share information with you too. Encourage people to give their feedback, as this will help them stay involved with the project and keep you in touch with what’s going on.
You can also use feedback to help you learn and improve your own performance.
5. Keep an up-to-date and detailed work plan
A detailed work plan will help everyone know what they’re responsible for and will make it easier for you to measure progress, hit milestones and meet deadlines.
These days, cloud-based applications make it easy to share documents. So update your work plan regularly and store it in the cloud so everyone can work off the current version.
6. Record everything that happens
Make sure you record everything that happens on your project and use it to improve performance across the board. You can learn from what has worked as well as from what hasn’t. You’ll also build a valuable source of data to help with your reporting and future planning.
7. Learn to say no
When someone asks you to take on more work or responsibility it’s tempting to say yes, especially when you know that’s what they want to hear. But always saying yes can easily lead to overload and a reduction in performance across the board.
So only say yes to new tasks or commitments when they won’t have an adverse effect on the priorities you’ve already agreed. Even small changes can accumulate over time and have a significant impact on your project.
8. Always document and agree any changes to the scope of the project
It’s likely that at some point in the life of your project, its scope may need to change. This may improve the overall benefit of the project but it can also have a negative impact.
So, before you go ahead with changes to the scope of your project, make sure the project board understands their potential impact and agrees to them. Finally, make sure you document the changes and update your project plan.
9. Be ready to respond to risk
Risk is a normal part of any project so you should build risk analysis in from the start. You can manage risk and minimise its effect by having a clear view of all the project’s potential risks, and mechanisms in place to let you know as soon as one arises.
The quicker you respond to risk the less impact it will have and the more likely it is that your project will stay on track.
10. Take time to reflect on the project when it’s ended
When your project has ended, involve the whole project team in reflecting on how it went. Look back in detail on how the project ran, its key events and issues. Learn both from what went well and what could have gone better.
Ask, for example, if the project delivered what it set out to achieve? Could it have done more and delivered bigger benefits? What went wrong and how could you have avoided these problems?
Use this learning to improve your own practice and share it with others to help future projects succeed.
Verto’s cloud-based software makes managing projects easy for you. For example, its instant messaging tool, flexible reporting, instant updates, inbuilt version control and instant access to your documents and lessons learnt will all help you put these best practice tips into action.
For more information please message us here.
Who can benefit from Verto’s project management software?
You can benefit from Verto’s collaboration and project software, even if you don’t have the words programme or project management in your job title.
It doesn’t matter if you work in the public or the private sector either.
The benefits of our cloud-based software extend to a wide range of roles in a wide range of organisations, such as:
- Private sector companies from SMEs to large corporates
- NHS STPs
- Other NHS organisations and health authorities
- Local authorities including county, city and borough councils
- Fire and Rescue Services
- Government departments
- Shared services organisations
Any PMO, organisation or individual who manages a number of different projects will benefit from using our software. For example, Peterborough City Council was managing 70 individual projects when we started working with them.
And any organisation working in collaboration with others will benefit from Verto’s shared platform too.
Verto can help you with:
- Service delivery
- Performance planning
- Client and stakeholder engagement
- Programme control and governance
- Risk analysis
- Shared practice
- Managing resources
- Flexible working
- Costs and timesheets
- Measuring project delivery
- Business intelligence and reporting
We don’t just provide the software either.
We can train you and your team how to use Verto, and train you to train others in your organisation too.
We can help you move your operations to the cloud.
We can configure Verto to suit your individual requirements. For example, we can help NHS organisations run their QIPP reports and ISFE returns.
We can help you manage corporate transformation programmes.
We can help you manage your capital portfolio.
We can help you improve levels of governance and visibility across your projects.
And we can help you manage resources more effectively and make savings – to date we’ve helped our clients plan and track savings of £13.2 billion.
We could go on, but the best way to find out how Verto can help make your work easier is to talk to us. Please message us here.
How Verto Is Helping CCGs Manage Their PMOs And Achieve Effective Collaboration
Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for planning and commissioning health care services for their local area. They are responsible for the entire local population and are measured by how much they improve health outcomes.
In order to meet this broad remit CCGs work with a wide range of partners and deliver a wide range of projects.
What is a PMO?
A PMO (programme or project management office) serves as a central point for all a CCG’s projects. An effective PMO will help a CCG make sure it delivers its projects on time, on budget and in line with the project’s stated aims.
Because a PMO collates data from all a CCG’s projects, it gives managers the information they need to identify priorities and target resources. This data will also help the CCG show the tangible service and patient care improvements they are delivering.
A PMO will serve as a centre of excellence, providing control and governance as well as advice and guidance to project managers. This is particularly helpful for project managers who are not formally trained in project management.
Overall, a well-run PMO will help CCGs improve efficiency across the board, leading to savings in time and costs – essential for organisations that are under increasing financial pressure.
How Does Verto Help?
Verto’s project management and collaboration software is specifically designed to:
- Support partnership working by bringing together, on one secure platform, everyone involved in managing and delivering a project. This includes the project’s wider stakeholders.
- Make collaboration easier with tools such as instant messaging, file sharing, real-time updates and notifications.
- Improve practice by linking project outputs with performance outcomes and through best practice templates and controls.
- Strengthen governance and transparency with accurate data, flexible reporting and a clear view of all projects at any given time.
- Standardise practice with a range of templates for key activities in the project cycle.
“18 months on and with over 350 projects loaded we are reaping the rewards of our Verto application.”
NHS Thurrock CCG and Basildon CCG
Comprehensive Support and Training from Verto
We provide support and training to help you set up your PMO and get the most from it once it’s up and running.
We provide full onsite training for your PMO staff and Verto administrators. We can run either train-the-trainer or end-user courses, whichever you prefer.
We can create bespoke workflow and reports to suit the way your CCG operates. We can offer useful insights from our own experience of PMOs and put you in touch with other clients who can share with you what they have learned. We can even set up forums for you to receive valuable feedback from the people who use your projects and services.
And if you need any help once your PMO is in use, our helpdesk team are there for you.
To find out more get in touch. And look out for future blogs where we’ll take a more detailed look at how we support an increasing number of CCGs and now STPs.
Northgate Vehicle Hire, Aylesbury Vale CCG and Perth & Kinross Health & Social Care Partnership All Choose Verto
We are delighted to now include Northgate Vehicle Hire, Aylesbury Vale CCG and Perth & Kinross Health & Social Care Partnership to our list of Verto users.
Northgate Vehicle Hire
Northgate vehicle hire provide van hire and leasing options to businesses as an alternative to purchase, contract hire or lease. With a growing network of 75 branches from Aberdeen to Plymouth their business continues to grow. Their fleet is made up of LCVs from the UK's leading manufacturers, including Mercedes Benz, Ford, VW and Peugeot, and a majority of branches have their own workshops which enables maintenance to be planned and scheduled at times that will cause least disruption to customers. Northgate Vehicle Hire also have a partnership in place with the AA to provide breakdown support and recovery. Verto enables them to maintain communication with their suppliers, while supporting their PMO and the management and delivery of their key projects and programmes.
Aylesbury Vale CCG
Verto has proved popular amongst many CCG's and now Aylesbury Vale CCG has been added to our list of users. The clinically led membership organisation is responsible for commissioning local NHS services to meet the needs of local people. Supporting the development of partnerships between patients, healthcare professionals, social care, voluntary services and commissioners in North Buckinghamshire, Verto is also instrumental in helping Aylesbury Vale CCG support collaboration amongst their project teams and with partner organisations, allowing them to build effective working relationships with other CCGs including Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes.
Perth & Kinross Health & Social Care Partnership
An initiative of Perth & Kinross Council, this strategic commissioning plan has been designed to ensure that the needs of the local community and individuals are met. Perth & Kinross Health & Social Care Partnership use Verto to support their coordinated approach to the way in which care services are delivered. This includes working collaboratively with GPs, hospitals, health workers and social care staff forming integrated partnership arrangements.
Find out more about which organisations are using Verto here.