Stand-in Programme Management

An organisational “hero” was seconded to save the day elsewhere and Business Interim was asked to develop and run the change programme for 6 months, in his absence.

Hilary set up training workshops, project methodology and programme reporting.

New projects were brought in and several involved commissioning new services for the Council. The tendering process was revised and e-auctions were set up. The resultant savings were approximately £.5m in one project alone. 16 other projects took the benefits to over £5m. Close collaboration with other bodies was required to make improvements to hospital discharges, mental health care in the community and equal access to Borough services.
The key outcomes, which revolved around quality improvements, moved several services to the next quartile, in Government ratings.

Ambulance Service

A Trust which had undergone two mergers over recent years was performing exceptional ly well in some areas but was suffering from disparate systems, cultures, processes and management styles in others. There was a deficit which needed to be addressed.

Hilary undertook analysis to identify areas of improvement in: fleet operations, staff training, staff conditions, staff management, volunteer driver management, IT network capability and capacity,

She then worked with the Trust Board to agree outcomes and followed through by setting up the programme structure, workshops, and methodology across the Trust.
16 key projects with a delivery of benefits in customer service quality, increased revenue, reduction in operating costs and raised productivity were set up and handed over the AD to run the programme. The deficit was successfully reduced and the changes were owned by operational staff, unions and management.

An NHS Trust in a turnaround situation

Hilary was part of a team brought in to identify £11m savings.

We were the third team in 18 months. The other 3 were top business consultants. Recommendations had been made but once the consultants left, progress stalled each time.

Hilary set up a programme board and project structure to drive the delivery of over 20 projects to a focused, transparent and sustainable method.

Hilary set up consistent training workshops, project documentation and programme reports. Key stakeholders were brought into the Programme Board and, most important of all in this very battle weary environment, a listening and collaborative approach to bring the project champions and mangers to a positive and enthusiastic position about change. Lateral thinking and innovative ideas were used to resolve some of the sticking points. Collaborative working with key stakeholders broke down even the most entrenched resistance in certain areas.

Key projects were: Introduction of electronic rostering across 3 hospitals;
Improvement in theatre utilisation; Raised consultant productivity; reduced pharmacy costs and meeting the 18 week and 2 week targets.

A new FD was brought in and the team was able to handover the programme to a strong board, with assured continuity of information and structure.