ITQ-LA-1119-385 (updated 20.11.19) - NHS Healthcare Leadership Model Application

Description

Summary of the work Building on insights and a road map developed during 'discovery', a Supplier is required to develop a mobile app (Alpha, with Beta extension option) to support observation of, and reflection on, leadership behaviours in the workplace based on NHS Healthcare Leadership Model. Briefing Teleconference Scheduled: Friday 22 Nov at 14:00. Expected Contract Length 31 March 2020 for Alpha. An appropriate extension period shall be enabled for Beta option. Latest start date Tuesday 7 January 2020 Budget Range The budget for Alpha and Beta is not disclosed. The business case for this requirement is awaiting approval. Commencement of delivery is subject to internal and external approvals. As part of the proposal stage, shortlisted bidders will be required to submit a Fixed Price for Alpha and a Capped Time & Materials ROM cost for Beta. The Alpha submission will be the basis of the Price evaluation for this procurement. For the Price submission an appropriate breakdown will be required. Why the Work is Being Done Effective leadership of health services is increasingly recognised as essential to the delivery of high quality outcomes and there are both theoretical and empirical arguments to support the engagement of healthcare professionals in leadership. Recently, there has been a concerted attempt to embed leadership in pre-registration health professions education programmes but with some ambivalence about its place within a crowded curriculum and uncertainty about the timing and effectiveness of various interventions. As such, there is a need to consider how the skills, knowledge and behaviours required to lead change and improvement can be further developed within pre-registration programmes for all healthcare professionals. Problem to Be Solved Work is underway, led by the NHS Leadership Academy with national and regional partners, to increase the prominence of leadership development in the curricula of healthcare professionals. Stakeholders have identified that tools to identify, label, and reflect on, observed and enacted leadership behaviours in the clinical workplace are a useful adjunct to formal education and training. In tandem, the Leadership Academy, is also keen to better socialise the Healthcare Leadership Model in professional education and training, building on a self-assessment tool already available through the Academy website. A smartphone-based reflective tool based on the Healthcare Leadership Model was identified as a potential way of satisfying all these requirements. Who Are the Users As a student or trainee healthcare professional I need to learn to lead change and improvement in health and care. I spend a considerable time in the workplace observing what goes on and how others behave. My education or training programme requires that I evidence my understanding of what constitutes effective leadership and that I have reflected on what I have seen and/or done in this domain. I own a smartphone and tools to support my education and training are increasingly provided through this medium. I would be comfortable using a mobile app to prompt and record my observations. Early Market Engagement Discovery has been completed and the Discovery Report shall be shared with the bidders successful at shortlist stage. Following Discovery we are now commissioning development of a mobile app (alpha) to support observation of, and reflection on, leadership behaviours in the workplace based on the NHS Healthcare Leadership. Specifically three Key Requirements: • A minimal viable product (alpha) tool with enough core features to effectively deploy the product to a subset of early adopter users. • The evaluation of the MVP performance in real world settings. • The further development of a detailed specification for a Beta product. The anticipated procurement timetable (subject to Customer amendment is): •9 December - Notification of shortlist outcome and Request for Proposal & Interview/Presentation Brief issued to shortlisted bidders. •11 December (TBC) - Proposal stage Suppliers' Briefing Teleconference. •16 December - Deadline for Suppliers to submit RfP responses. •18 December (Leeds) - Bidder Interviews/Presentation. •20 December - Notification of Preferred Bidder/Contract Award (subject to internal governance sign-off). •7 January (Leeds) - Kick off meeting with successful supplier. Work Already Done A reflective tool (the mobile app) based on the Healthcare Leadership Model was identified as a potential way of satisfying the above requirements and to test this hypothesis a discovery phase was commissioned in 2019 from Leeds-based company mHabitat. Discovery strongly supported a smartphone-based approach to a tool to enable purposeful workplace observation and reflection. Smartphones are used widely in pre-registration health professions education with undergraduate medicine and nursing leading the way. Primary research and systematic reviews highlight positive outcomes in learning and confidence. Device ownership or access does not appear to be a barrier to learning. Existing Team The project will report into a steering and oversight group: • Tim Swanwick, Director of Clinical Leadership Development • Tracey Lonetto, Programme Lead, Healthcare Leadership Model • Jason Brewster, Distance Learning Advisor • Chris Witham, Digital Delivery Lead, NHS Leadership Academy Once the Alpha phase has been completed, further work to take the project to Beta will be required. At this point, either the in-house team will take forward the work, or a process of handover to the Academy’s digital teams will begin during the course of a Supplier delivered Beta development. The Supplier is responsible for all Alpha delivery. Current Phase Alpha Skills & Experience • Demonstrable experience and expertise of utilising Business Analysis, Product Management, Development & QA for successful Agile product development. • Demonstrable experience and expertise in user research and delivery of user focused products at scale and pace. • Demonstrable experience and expertise developing digital applications including the delivery of mobile applications. • Demonstrable experience and expertise in designing and conducting inclusive GDS aligned Alpha product development. • Demonstrable expertise and experience in synthesising work of a previous team in to successful development phase (particularly Discovery in to Alpha). • Demonstrable experience of and expertise in developing digital products for the healthcare and/or higher education sector. • Demonstrable experience and expertise in developing digital products to support learning and development. Nice to Haves Demonstrable experience and expertise in designing and conducting inclusive GDS aligned Beta product development. Work Location The primary location of the Customer is LEEDS at NHS Leadership Academy Offices (3 The Embankment, Sovereign Street, Leeds LS1 4GP) but it is expected that the work will be mainly conducted remotely providing there is no loss in user-focused design and agile working practices. Given the user centric nature of digital development, key resources will need to work alongside key customers, wherever they are based. Delivery may augment on-site resources with near/off-shore resources to provide an improved blended cost model. Working Arrangments Continuous improvement and agility through the application of agile tools and techniques in an environment where Quality Assurance is embedded in all processes from requirements gathering to development and delivery. Supplier staff in conjunction with the Existing Team (as appropriate) will be expected to work with and play a key role in implementing continuous integration and delivery pipelines and, where possible, automate any manual operations across the requirement. The supplier must ordinarily operate with agile business analysis and QA through the application of techniques such as BDD. Agile ceremonies and processes will be adhered to and continuously improved through retrospectives. Security Clearance Security Clearance is not required. Supplier resources are required to complete Customer Information Governance training and observe relevant policies when delivering our requirement and/or working with our systems or site. Additional T&Cs Subject to Supplier performance, requirements confirmation and Price we reserve the right to extend the contract in to Beta phase. The successful Supplier is required to enable effective transition into any Beta phase of development. The DOS contract will contain additional terms, including but not limited to the following areas: Behaviours, Liquidated damages for late delivery, Exit and Service transfer, IPR, Testing, Warranty. Information Governance & Data security. The form of contract shall be shared with shortlisted bidders at Request for Proposal Stage. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Provide details of the team members (Key Personnel) who will work on each key Requirement including roles, qualifications and experience. 15%. • Detail your proposed solution to meet each of key Requirements. Address the recommendations made in the ‘discovery’ report (mHabitat & Ayup, 2019) (pp54-60). 20%. • Detail your approach to project management, include your project plan, resource plan, risk register and project assumptions. 10%. • Explain how you will address relevant legal, regulatory and quality requirements. 10%. • Demonstrate, with a minimum of two recent and relevant examples of previous work, how your past experience will support successful delivery of our stated requirements. 10%. • Summarise your proposed approach to Beta delivery. Not Scored. • When responding to the Proposal Criteria, shortlisted suppliers must address the technical requirements and other relevant information provided throughout this notice and within supporting materials. N/A. Cultural Fit Criteria • Describe your approach to effective communication and how will this contribute to a successful relationship? 2.5%. • What is your approach to knowledge transfer and learning from mistakes and how will this contribute to a successful relationship? 2.5%. Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method • Case study • Work history • Reference • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 65% Cultural fit 5% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Supplier Briefing TeleconferenceDate 29 November 2019Time 14:00hrs – 15:00hrsSkype Details +44(0) 203 747 0333 - 913450# Supplier Briefing TeleconferenceDate 29 November 2019Time 14:00hrs – 15:00hrsSkype Details +44(0) 203 747 0333 - 913450# 2. Supplier Briefing Teleconference on 22 November 2019 Date: 22 November 2019Time:14:00hrs – 15:00hrsSkype Details:+44(0) 203 747 0333 - 913450# 3. Please can you clarify if there is a further supplier call on the 29th November? The briefing meeting was on Friday 22nd at 2pmThis Q&A log provides the Authority’s response to the questions raised.If you are successful at shortlist stage, there will be a further briefing for the proposal stage and we will be sharing further details then. 4. Is this a mobile solution for training? Yes. We expect this to be used by health professional students at undergraduate and postgraduate level to record their observations of the leadership behaviours of others, and themselves. 5. Device to be video accessible? There should be scope for users to add any kind of media (File, Image, Audio, Video) to support their observations and reflections, however we don’t anticipate users to film colleagues to support their observations. 6. Are students expecting to record information into their own private areas Students are expected to record their observations and reflections into the app. Some form of download will be required so that a summary of these observations may be incorporated within any portfolio that the student is required to keep as part of their pre-registration course. Please note these courses are not delivered by the NHS, nor are the users anticipated to be NHS staff. 7. Is there an expectation for off-line capability? Yes 8. Is there a degree of flexibility for what mHabitat has proposed at the Discovery stage? Yes. Suppliers have been invited to propose how they will address the suggested ‘route map’ proposed by mHabitat. Where there are significant differences of opinion, suppliers are asked to justify the alternative approach. We are not expecting to re-complete Discovery. 9. Will student’s portfolios be tracked? Not specifically relevant to this development as the app will not be part of a student’s portfolio, only a summary output of reflections recorded. 10. What are the parameters for sensitive/confidential info? Students will be advised, through the app, that no readily identifiable data about specific individuals should be recorded. They are used to doing this with reflections about patients. The same level of sensitivity should be applied and advised. 11. Have you seen similar functionality in the market that you want incorporated? No, although SmartPhones increasingly used in undergraduate education and a summary of the literature will be provided to bidders short-listed to proposal stage.Where possible, elements on gamification could be considered and capturing the HLM as an exploded 3D shape with the 9 aspects of the model interactable. 12. Is there a Business Case for this requirement? The business case is pending approval. The Discovery cost approximately £30,000 and with Alpha, Beta and Live we are anticipating the overall equivalent cost to be over £100,000 (and therefore external approval in line with spending controls). 13. Please confirm ownership of the IP and what are the available options? The ownership of the IP will remain with NHS Leadership Academy (NHS England and NHS Improvement) with a view to possibly bring the Beta phase of the project in-house to be managed by the Leadership Academy’s Digital team (preference) or work in collaboration with the Academy’s Digital team and the successful Alpha supplier (as a Beta extension to this contract). 14. Where will the solution be hosted? The NHS Leadership Academy hosts most of its applications in AWS or GCP and these would be a preferred solution for online components. A container-based, Kubernetes compatible solution would fit well with our tech stack. Native apps would need a suitable code repository and a pathway to app stores that could be adopted by the NHS Leadership Academy’s Digital Team and not rely on proprietary systems. Code should be stored in GitHub or an equivalent system.The most economical solution would be preferred, and we welcome any proposals that meets along the lines of above expectations or similar. 15. Are users expected to go through an authentication process? No, probably not at this stage but in future, it would be nice-to have a secure API framework (along the lines of LDAP integration) built-in to connect to our other existing systems easily and use a single sign-on process for authentication, if need be. 16. Is it a stand-alone app? Probably, but open to alterative suggestions; It could be a native app with a possible web version in Beta phase and flexible API framework or a progressive web app with offline capabilities that meets all the core requirements. 17. What technology do you have in mind to use? No preference, open to all suggestions; At NHS Leadership Academy, we are huge advocates of PHP based Open source technologies, Laravel sites, Kubernetes container-based infrastructure that are scalable and extensible to meet our growing future demands. The expectation is that the successful supplier would use a secure, robust technology/framework that is compliant with current web & accessibility standards, is GDPR compliant, that can fit into our online stack for Beta or future phases as well as have the flexibility to extend the app into a web version with possible API framework options in near future. 18. Will info be automatically wiped when students leave the University? No. This is up to the student as they will own it. We don’t administer the content or moderate it. 19. What are the Pricing requirements The Pricing requirement is anticipated to be Fixed price for Alpha, based on our requirements and contents of the Discovery report (shared with shortlisted bidders). The Pricing for Beta is to be a ROM cost for our review (but not evaluation). 20. Working History Criteria at Proposal stage – Is this for the individual or the company? As we are buying an outcome, we anticipate a team to deliver (not an individual specialist), therefore the work history should be at the company level, but we would expect that the team proposed for this requirement had contributed to the Skills and Experience demonstrated at Shortlist stage and work history. Your shortlist response will be validated against the expanded work history response at the proposal stage (but will not be scored separately). If the validation isn’t passed, we reserve the right to reject the proposal. 21. Are shortlisted Suppliers able to drop out at Proposal stage upon review of the Report? Although we hope this would not be the case, a decision to not bid would not prejudice a company being invited to tender in the future. 22. Will the company who commissioned the Discovery phase be part of this Alpha stage competition? If they are registered on DOS Outcomes we would expect so. This is a genuine competition and we are not predisposed to one Supplier. We welcome as large a field as possible, hence selecting this route to market. 23. Is the plan for the longer-term application to be a compulsory part of the curriculum, or is it always going to be an aid/companion? We anticipate the latter. 24. Detail your proposed solution to meet each of key Requirements. Address the recommendations made in the ‘discovery’ report (mHabitat & Ayup, 2019) (pp54-60). 20%." – Currently, the recommendations of the Discovery Report are not released in full, other than the requirement for a mobile app. Can you please elaborate on how we may be able to address the recommendations made within the report outside of the higher-level requirements for an Alpha solution, evaluation metrics and a BETA plan? This is a Proposal criterion and is not assessed at Shortlist stage. This will be clear at Proposal stage when the Discovery Report is shared (with the Shortlisted Bidders 25. Please could you confirm whether partnership/consortium bids are acceptable Absolutely, we require clarity of the company we would be contracting with by the Proposal stage bid submission deadline (i.e. made clear in your proposal). 26. In the context of the assessment criteria, how binary are the elements of “Essential skills and experience?” Is it a case of if no, then it is an immediate disqualification? Or, is it acceptable to either have similar, but not exact matching Where there is significant similarity of experience this should be sufficient to avoid a “partially meets” score and therefore disqualification. However as you will be relying on a degree of interpretation from a moderated evaluation panel, if your response contains several answers with similar but not matching experience, the chances of your submission missing the “meets requirements” threshold is increase. 27. In the context of the assessment criteria, how binary are the elements of “Essential skills and experience?” Is it a case of if no, then it is an immediate disqualification? Or, is it acceptable to either have similar, but not exact matching experience? Where there is significant similarity of experience this should be sufficient to avoid a “partially meets” score and therefore disqualification. However as you will be relying on a degree of interpretation from a moderated evaluation panel, if your response contains several answers with similar but not matching experience, the chances of your submission missing the “meets requirements” threshold is increase.