Intranet and website discovery for merger WSH NHS Foundation Trust and BSUH NHS Trust

Description

Summary of the work Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WSHT) and Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust (BSUH) intend to merge on 1 April 2021. The two organisations are now seeking a partner to lead the Discovery phase of work to develop new digital platforms for the merged trust. Expected Contract Length 8 to 12 weeks Latest start date Monday 1 February 2021 Budget Range The anticipated value of this phase is Up to £30,000 Why the Work is Being Done The merger of WSHT and BSUH requires the development of a website and intranet/extranet for the new trust. We are seeking a partner to lead the discovery phase of this work to ensure all development is based on user and stakeholder need and supports key organisational objectives. Problem to Be Solved We need to understand the needs of our digital platforms’ users and stakeholders, and the options available to us in meeting these. In particular, we need the development project’s discovery phase to identify barriers to achieving the new trust’s digital objectives, find ways in which current user experiences can be improved and determine how more business processes can be carried out online. Our discovery partner will need to be able to express the issues identified in problem statement terms and present a range of potential solutions to them that can be taken forward into the alpha phase. Who Are the Users 1. Trust employees: Find information, complete some business processes online, access clinical systems/external apps 2. Patients: Find service information, get directions, self-refer to some services 3. Hospital visitors: Find visiting information, get directions 4. GPs: Access information about waiting times and referral criteria 5. Job seekers: Access information about employment opportunities and benefits of working for the new trust 6. Partners and stakeholders: Access corporate, performance and governance information 7. Trust members: Get news about the trust’s performance and plans We also need to understand requirements of key stakeholders around the functionalities in which they have a direct interest. Internally: 1. Document access/management: Clinical governance, HR, clinical divisions, libraries 2. Access to external systems/apps: Chief clinical information officers, IT 3. Administrative processes: HR, estates & facilities, IT clinical divisions 4. People information/contacts: HR, IT 5. Service information management: Clinical divisions 6. Corporate communications: Communications 7. P2P communication: Communications Externally: 1. Directions: Patients, visitors, patient experience, estates & facilities 2. Service information: Patients, visitors, clinical divisions, patient experience 3. Corporate communications: Communications 4. Recruitment: Job-seekers, HR 5. Self-referral: Clinical divisions, patient experience, IG 6. Enquiries/complaints: PALS, IG Early Market Engagement None Work Already Done A joint review of current digital assets and their usage has identified key objectives, priorities and use cases for the new trust’s digital platform development. The review also identified a number of specific issues the development of the new trust’s digital platforms will need to address, and which will need to be considered during the discovery phase. Detailed information about these is available at http://www.westernsussexhospitals.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Merger-Digital-Discovery-Spec.pdf The brand identity that will apply to the new trust’s digital assets is being developed as a separate project. Existing Team The two trusts’ existing intranets and websites are administered by a communications and engagement team that already works across both organisations. The supplier will be working with a digital project team from the communications department, which is managing this project. Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Ability to design and lead website/intranet user and stakeholder research activities that produce a robust understanding of digital needs and priorities • In-depth knowledge of a range of technical solutions that can meet the requirements identified by user/stakeholder research • Ability to assess the benefits and risks of these options and make recommendations as to which are most appropriate to explore further • Ability to present research findings and insights to a non-technical audience, including senior managers • Experience in use of agile methodologies Nice to Haves • Experience of working on digital projects for organisations undergoing merger • Experience of working on digital projects with NHS or other public sector organisations • An understanding of the NHS and its current ambitions and challenges • Experience of working on digital projects for organisations of a similar size and complexity to the new WSHT/BSUH trust • An understanding of the technical constraints that apply within the NHS IT environment Work Location The supplier can work remotely, with (if possible) occasional project meetings held on site, either in Brighton or Worthing. Working Arrangments Milestone meetings with the supplier will be held at least fortnightly, although the nature of the project means that contact will be more frequent through stakeholder meetings and workshops etc. Security Clearance No security clearance is required, however company identification will be required to be visible whilst on site . Additional T&Cs NHS standard terms: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-standard-terms-and-conditions-of-contract-for-the-purchase-of-goods-and-supply-of-services NHS Digital Service Standard: https://service-manual.nhs.uk/service-standard No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Proposed approach and methodology for user/stakeholder research (10) • Understanding of project objectives (8) • Knowledge of a broad range of digital technologies and their applicability to project objectives (10) • Understanding of technical constraints that apply within the NHS environment (6) • Planned activities, deliverables and milestones for these (8) • Proposed outputs and presentation of results and recommendations (8) • Estimated timeframes for completion of the project (6) • Identified risks and dependencies, and proposed management of these (4) • Experience of similar projects (merging organisations) or of working with similar organisations (size and/or sector) (4) • Team structure, knowledge and experience (4) Cultural Fit Criteria • Demonstration of an innovative and forward-thinking approach (6) • Ability to share knowledge and communicate recommendations with non-technical groups (8) • Ability to show data evidence for insights and recommendations (8) • Transparency and collaboration in working practices (6) Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method • Case study • Work history • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. I appreciate this is a Discovery phase, but do you have any technology preferences for the end solution e.g. Umbraco, SharePoint etc. No preference as yet. 2. SharePoint Online is a viable intranet platform but is not suitable for public internet sites. We would propose to use another platform for the internet and use our prebuilt integration points to publish information from the intranet to the internet site (or vice versa) – is this an acceptable solution platform? We don’t have a commitment to any specific platform so willing to consider all options 3. Is there an incumbent supplier/tech partner at WSH / BSUH? Both trusts have site maintenance contracts with suppliers of their existing intranets and websites and buy development time from them as necessary 4. We typically deliver intranets using SharePoint and Office 3652. Do you have Office 365 licences with SharePoint Online access? If so, what plans are they on? If not, have you a budget to procure them?How many users do you have with these licences? BSUH and WSHT are both part of the national Office 365 shared tenant service, which provides all users with a restricted e3 licence that includes access to SharePoint. Use of Office 365 services post-merger is yet to be determined. 5. Do you have a current intranet platform? If so, which platform is in use? WSHT uses WordPress, BSUH uses EasySite 6. Who are the Panel Members? Head of Campaigns & InsightDigital Communications ManagerSenior Communications OfficerContent & Communications Officer 7. Can we supply additional information as part of our response or are we limited to the 100 word boxes? Please ensure your response is provided within the stated limit, additional information will not be assessed at this stage. 8. “An understanding of the NHS and its current ambitions and challenges” Do we need to use single case study to evidence this or can we use our broader experience to demonstrate this?” A summary of experience would be fine at this stage. 9. Does your team currently work in an agile way? Is the expectation that the supplier will provide skills as part of a mixed NHS/supplier agile team, or will the supplier manage their own agile team and be responsible for their own deliverables and outcomes? No - we would want the supplier to manage their own team and be responsible for their own deliverables. 10. What is the scope of technical solutions you are looking for the supplier to have knowledge of? For example are you looking for knowledge of networking, legacy tech, Oracle, ERP, CRM etc or is it mainly related to ‘digital’ – content management systems, document management, front end? Technical solutions would be digital - CMS, document management, directories, form-based processes, collaborative working, P2P communication, etc. 11. How much have the user needs already been identified and expressed as user stories? Are you looking for the supplier to uncover user needs or more to verify those already identified? User needs have been identified but not expressed as user stories so we will be looking to expand on what we know rather than start from scratch