Stakeholder management case study – the UK NHS
Stakeholder communication improvements in an IT system delivery project
Abstract
The NHS's National Program for IT (NPfIT) was the UK's largest IT project before its cancellation in 2010. Despite the ultimate cancellation of the program, there were many examples of exceptional stakeholder engagement prior to the project's closure.
Background
The NPfIT was a Department of Health (DOH) initiative to centralize electronic patient care records from across the UK to connect 30,000 general practitioners to 300 hospitals, providing secure and audited access to these records by authorized health professionals. As the program progressed from successful procurement through to delivery, a series of technical, political, social, economic, and health issues materialized. The number of stakeholders increased in both size and scope due to these issues and communication and engagement with these parties became an enormous task for the Connecting for Health (CfH) team.
The issues
To manage this workload, comprehensive stakeholder management tools, processes, and full-time equivalent (FTE) resources were put in place, but it never was going to be enough. There were too many issues, and the issues were too deep to enable a quick resolution. However, despite the ultimate cancellation of the program, there were some outstanding examples of proactive stakeholder engagement.
The solution
To help resolve some of the diverse range of issues facing the NPfIT program, an array of stakeholder techniques got implemented. These included workshops with stakeholder groups regarding the handling of sensitive data, and respected clinical representatives acting as an information conduit between the CfH/DOH/NHS groups involved to ensure clarity and co-operation between all parties. This also extended to within the CfH team regarding the success or failure of the project and the effect it would, therefore, have on the jobs of the employees.
The benefits
This clear, sensible, and pro-active management style is the simplest way to deal with any potential issues. Furthermore, whether in a workshop environment or through a formal review, the NPfIT program was constantly seeking opportunities for people to express what their view of success meant. This allowed for a continual assessment of the issues arising within the project and allowed it to effectively address some of the wide range of issues arising from the program.
The learning points
Despite the ultimate closure of the NPfIT program, many of the techniques used in stakeholder engagement were hugely successful and transferrable to other projects. However, this study also highlights the possibility that despite best efforts and a well-implemented stakeholder engagement program, the project may still become unviable in light of issues that can arise.
We have also just talked about the fundamental nature of relationships and how they underpin cooperation and collaboration in order to attain common goals and achieve mutual benefits.
Last but not least is compromise. This leads on to the next top manager skill of negotiation, and it arcs back to flexibility and adaptability. Compromise can have a negative meaning in some contexts, but in a real-world project scenario, compromise is simply a necessity. After all, the Triple Constraint of time, cost, and quality itself is a trade-off and compromise.