Successfully implementing a major NHS technology project is a tremendous challenge and recent history provides plenty of evidence that success is far from guaranteed.
Alongside the formidable technical hurdles facing any project, those charged with seeing the project through to its completion face the no less important task of convincing all stakeholders that change is necessary. These stakeholders can include staff at all levels of the organisation – from directors, to clinicians, to administrative staff – as well as patients, their families and a number of other interested parties, such as the local media. All of these groups have very different needs, wants and expectations. Keeping them all on board requires a complex combination of communication, encouragement and cajoling that is collectively known as "change management".
With this challenge in mind, Fortrus has teamed up with marketing and research specialist BFG Healthcare Marketing to develop an effective change management programme to ensure the success of these vital technology projects.
The development began with detailed research into the change management issues NHS trusts have historically faced when implementing major IT projects. The research showed that IT suppliers often left the hospital's own communications team to communicate the change, but very few of these teams had ever experienced a single change of this size and scope. All too often, the teams themselves did not have a full understanding of what the change would entail and therefore were unable to communicate it effectively to others. The inevitable outcome of such confusion was that stakeholders felt they had been forced into the change without any support, or that they had been left out of the loop completely.
Armed with the findings of the research, Fortrus and BFG Healthcare Marketing have created a model for effective change management that uses a multi-disciplinary team of experienced specialists to manage the project. The team includes members with expertise in change psychology, brand management, corporate communications, consumer care, information design, internal communications, organisational management and public relations.
How it works
The team identifies key individuals within the organisation and incentivises them to become part of the change management programme. Because these individuals, known as "change makers", represent a cross-section of staff within the organisation, their input helps shape solutions that fit staff requirements.
Meanwhile, the programme team acts as an independent monitor, able to highlight and understand the supplier's goals as well as the Trust's expectations. This position allows the team to focus on how the implementation is being perceived by both patients and staff. This data is constantly fed back to the supplier's implementation team to allow them to manage customer expectations efficiently.
The team also take responsibility for external communications to help avoid negative PR that can often be so costly for both the trust and the supplier.
The programme is available to all NHS organisations, including acute trusts, ambulance trusts and mental health trusts. Because every organisation is different, the precise details of the programme are tailor-made to suit the needs of each organisation.
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