photo: North Georgia Media; Carl Dwyer

W3C-validated transitional XHTML

2.5 First steps: Three questions

Not all 20 pilots went about introducing IP in the same way. At a subsequent series of action learning sets, reviewing successes and looking at areas for improvement, people concluded that the following three questions would help future sites think through what needed to be done. Don't learn the hard way. Answer these three questions that have emerged as essential wisdom for new project managers to follow:

• What information do our users want? Don't assume you already know. Holding workshops with users and carers and getting professionals to attend will help you motivate people and get clear in your mind what the specific IP requirements are for your service.
• What are the staff and partners able and willing to do? It would be unwise to assume that professionals have the time or commitment to take on IP. They need to be motivated by evidence and pursuaded of the benefits of IP.
• What information do we have or can we get? There is no need for you to reinvent the wheel. How much information already exists locally that can be passed on to you? Look at what other people are doing: in the local authority, in patients' organisations in your area and maybe even in your local PALs office.

These three questions, tackled in this order, are fundamentally important to the smooth implementation of IP. On the next few pages, we look at what these questions might raise for your organisation, starting with what information users want.

 

On the next page: looking at what information your users and carers want