The Challenge
To deliver a system across more than 1100 sites to standardise the existing management processes across several networks and develop a secure web application to plan and monitor spending by hospitals and NHS Networks on health research activity. To enable the collection and collation of data in a easy to use and familiar interface. To enable accurate real time reporting across the entire network of locations and disciplines.
About the Brief
The NIHR issued a tender for the procurement of an electronic tool, to manage and track the financial planning and spend on all NHS research undertaken through all NHS channels and academic institutions.
The tool was required to automate and standardise the process across multiple disciplines of research. Each discipline has its own hierarchical network made up of a central team, multiple regional teams, and many individual trusts and institutions.
With such an intricate network, it is imperative that the tool is fully secure, and allows users to only access relevant data according to their discipline and position on the national hierarchy. The tool had to provide management, planning and review tools to facilitate the new process.
The Department of Health is accountable for this sizeable budget and the supplied tool must be able to report the real time activity across the network as well as provide monthly, quarterly and annual report packs.
Key Wins
The system had to be hierarchical to accommodate multiple users spread throughout the UK. It needed to report activity, at all levels from individual trusts up to national level in a hierarchical way.
No-one should see information on budgets senior to their allocated role, but should allow full oversight downwards within disciplines where it is relevant to do so.
The use of Exbos' intelligent spreadsheets was a key big winner for this project. The system allows administrators to design financial returns with built in workflow using easy to use interfaces.
The system then uses IS to build secure spreadsheets on the fly, tailored to the each user and their permissions. This not only allowed the user the option to input data in a familiar interface, but also to delegate data input or maintain full control.
The reporting system accesses real time data and presents analysis of all predicted spend versus actual spend for up to 12 reporting cycles a year for each return.
It enables the same reports to be run at any level of the hierarchy and for any of the research channels. This allows for complete slicing and dicing of the data landscape.
Approach
The project was split into an analysis phase and three main delivery and test phases. During analysis Exbos worked with the central NIHR team to review the three different methodologies in place to identify best practise and to shape the new standardised process for the new system. Priorities were identified, requirements agreed and the project plan delivered.
The first phase was all about building the required network electronically and providing the ability to edit it. Once this was complete the ability to add and edit users and roles were added, and the ability to add these to the network, so that everything was securely locked down.
The second phase delivered all the return creation, task assigning, data entry, workflow, movement of data, and approvals required to enable the annual requirement for the NIHR to publish multiple returns, allocate funding, and then for the institutions to input their planned spends and actual spends throughout the financial year.
The third phase delivered the reporting element of the tool, this included standard reports that formed part of the reporting pack, a data export component and also a bespoke report designer that allows the user to design bespoke reports and graphs limited to the area that they have permissions for. As part of this delivery intelligent spreadsheets were included. This allows a user to download a dynamically created and secure data entry spreadsheet in excel format that is specific to the return type, time of year and the permissions of the specific user.
What Our Client Had to Say
"Being able to see the system as it was being developed meant that we felt very involved throughout, and this gave us to opportunity to feed back where any modifications were required"
National Institute for Health Research
Contact Us
We'd love to hear from you whether you're wanting bespoke development for your back end systems or you'd simply like to say hello!
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