Procuring a comprehensive, ICS-wide policy management system

Background

James Paget University Hospital, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn have established the Norfolk and Waveney Acute Hospital Collaborative (AHC) to improve patient care in their locality.

The AHC has a collective vision and has created a joint acute clinical strategy to help integrate patient pathways and maximise the benefits of working together.

One of the key areas of focus was the management of policy and procedure documents. They had previously been managed differently across the three trusts, with approximately 10,000 documents and over 100 approval forum which resulted in a heavy administrative burden. The systems relied heavily on manual processes which were vulnerable to delays, inefficiencies and inconsistencies.

The AHC sought out support from the Hub to implement a robust policy management system across all three trusts to effectively manage and streamline the approval processes, reduce unwarranted variations and support the broader goals of digital transformation and unified patient care pathways. The aim of the process alignment was to ensure all clinical and procedural standards are consistently met, ultimately improving patient outcomes and workforce development.

The project

The Hub led the procurement process on behalf of the AHC to deliver a comprehensive solution which included key functionality:

1. Document Creation and Drafting:
   • Tools and templates for drafting new and reviewing documents, incorporating input from various stakeholders.
   • Guidelines to ensure consistency and adherence to organisational standards.
2. Approval Workflow:
   • Automated workflows to route documents through necessary approval stages, including initial drafting, peer reviews, and executive sign-off.
   • Notifications and reminders to keep the process on track and ensure timely approvals.
3. Centralised Repository:
   • Secure, centralised storage for all documents, providing easy access to the latest versions.
   • Version control to track changes, maintain historical records, and ensure transparency.
   • Access to archived versions for litigation and freedom of information requests, limited to certain roles.
4. Distribution and Communication:
   • Mechanisms for distributing documents to relevant staff, ensuring everyone is informed of new or updated policies and procedures.
   • Acknowledgment tracking to confirm that staff have read and understood the documents.
5. Compliance and Monitoring:
   • Tools to monitor adherence to policies and procedures, conduct audits, and generate compliance reports. Dashboards to see where documents are in their lifecycle.
6. Review and Update:
   • Scheduled reviews to ensure documents remain current and relevant.
   • Processes for updating documents in response to regulatory changes, organisational shifts, or feedback from stakeholders.

The Hub provided a range of support throughout the process including:

• Route to market recommendation and support with onboarding for interested suppliers
• Support with the creation of ITT pack
• Management of evaluation processes, including training documents and moderation sessions
• Co-ordination and chairing of supplier clarification demonstrations
• Management of final moderations and input into award justification
• Management of supplier outcome notifications and feedback
• Support and co-ordination of contract, through to contract signature

The outcome

Due to funding constraints there were tight project timescales that needed to be met. As this was a collaborative ICS project, input was needed from a wide range of stakeholders and approval required from multiple governance gateways across the three organisations.

The Hub team worked closely with the AHC’s project manager to coordinate the different stakeholder groups and plan for the multiple governance gateways. Consequently, all stakeholders across the trusts were fully engaged and committed to the process, working flexibly and at pace to ensure a successful procurement process that delivered the aims of the exercise within the required timeframe.

At the conclusion of the procurement, the winning bidder selected ranked first place on both technical and commercial criteria, demonstrating value for money. They were also able to provide assurance on technical requirements and capabilities, with a strong focus on continuous development and improvement through a partnership approach.