2.11 First steps: Project planning

The most successful pilots were those where highly motivated people started out with strong and well thought out plans for managing their IP project and put in place project management and support arrangements.

If you are the project manager you need to:

be clear about what you are trying to achieve
know where you are starting from. Pilot sites produced baseline surveys, and you can find links to these here.
have well-developed project management skills
have thought carefully about risk management and included this in your plan. The NHS Insititute for Innovation and Improvement has developed a Scenario Generator resource which helps commissioners, service planners and clinical leaders simulate care pathways and evaluate the impact of service changes on population health outcomes. This could be useful when planning to introduce new processes such as IP.
hold frequent discussions with project team members and all prescribers, and dispensers and their managers
be willing to share knowledge and expertise within the project team in the areas of information management, IT, clinical and expert care and partnership building. The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement encourage the exchange of ideas between healthcare professionals and uses examples of innovative solutions to in turn provide more effective services for patients.

develop an effective strategy for communicating with everyone involved.

Here is a GANTT chart summarizing activities in the overall project of setting up information prescriptions, and an empty chart you may wish to use (Excel file) yourself.

We have included here an example of part of a project plan from one of the pilot sites, showing progress as the information prescription process moves along.

All of these documents will open a new window.

Experience from the pilots has shown that robust project management and co-ordination is needed. Identifying internal champions with sufficient influence to gain buy-in from partners and groups of staff is also important: you will need to think about the expertise you already have and what you may need to bring in. You will need to involve voluntary sector organisations, patient and carer groups and professionals in your project management and steering group arrangements: see, for instance, the pages on partnerships and developing ownership.

Project managers should be appointed to develop, agree and manage your project plan. In addition to project management skills, the IP prescribing and dispensing stages require a range of additional skills and competencies – such as information management, advocacy and counselling, capacity building, stakeholder engagement and multi-agency working – that you will need to take account of in your planning. This is illustrated in a table (downloadable PDF).

Learning resources

Learning resources to help you and your organization with IP project planning are available from a range of NHS and other governmental organisations. A brief summary of some of the resources is below, with links to further information.

The resources below briefly show some of the planning process models used in the NHS, reinforcing the principles set out above. The NHS Confederation identifies the project planning process in a 7-step 'route map':

Stage 1: beginning the process
Stage 2: developing a whole system vision
Stage 3: defining the limits of the possible (service redesign, workforce redesign and use of technology
Stage 4: options for change
Stage 5: identifying the best option
Stages 6 and 7: implementation strategies

From NHS Leadership, there is a useful section on planning in Chapter 3 of the NHS Leadership Qualities Framework (LQF Guidance,which, although designed for the LQF, its principles can be applied to a range of contexts. The core aspects of the guidance are based on asking “Why? What? Who? When? So What?”, and include:

The importance of identifying key people within your organisation who will make sure the programme meets its objectives, including:
- a 'champion' senior leader for the initiative. This person should be chosen because you are confident they will be in a position to secure 'buy-in' from individuals
- project coordinators and facilitators
- an administrator to improve communication
Identify whether you will need external help
Allow time for familiarizing your organisation with the initiative and think about ways to share learning amongst the team
Decide who (apart from the initial management team) will be involved in the programme
Consider the resources you will need (time, human resource, expertise, finance, IT etc)
Take into account 'what else is going on' and be aware of competing priorities
Develop success criteria against which to measure effectiveness – identify what you want the outcomes to look like

The importance of planning is also highlighted by NHS Employers as essential to the introduction of a new programme. Similar recurring themes such as engaging high-level leaders and encouraging discussion about implementation emerge as key success factors, alongside endorsement of the same process set out by other NHS bodies, starting with identifying aims and priorities, agreeing objectives, deciding on strategic outcomes and moving to agreed measures. It is also a useful resource in gaining understanding about employees' experiences of implementing initiative or change programmes.

See an example of PCT planning for Agenda for Change from a project manager's point of view.

Workforce planning strategies are also addressed by NHS Employers and you can read some case studies here.

See here for information on partnership working using a case study on co-located multi-agency working.

Lastly, Successful Delivery Skills – Skills Framework is a joint Cabinet Office and Office for Government Commerce publication for government departments which demonstrates 14 key skill areas in delivering successful project management at expert level, ranging from inception at business case management, to complying with regulatory requirements.

This brings us to the end of this 'first steps' section. On the next page we begin the next part of this resource, 'involving people': on the practical aspects of making your IP project a reality.

More resources

2.11 First steps: Project planning

Learning resources