Case Study

Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust – Hardware Refresh

Refreshing vital hardware, specifically  targeting dated devices. Programme delivery by max20 Project Solutions.

This is the account of a Hardware Refresh/Kit Fulfilment Project, deploying several thousand devices, on behalf of the Northern Care Alliance (NCA), undertaken by max20 Project Solutions engineering team.

max20 Project Solutions worked closely with the NCA to deliver a comprehensive service for the refresh of a variety of device types, across multiple sites within a fixed timeframe. This was done all whilst guaranteeing minimal impact to the business and to other digital teams. The work ensured the Trust now has an up-to-date estate that is ready to meet the needs of increasingly complex applications in a demanding environment.

Key Highlights:

  • Rapid mobilisation of a skilled Engineering team
  • Full project management and continuous stakeholder reporting
  • Build room set up
  • Site surveys to identify in-scope devices
  • Laptop clinic set up and management
  • Deployment to clinical areas, without affecting patient services
  • Full logistical planning
  • Service from unboxing to disposal of recovered old hardware
  • Build room and team area clean down
  • Completed on time and on budget

In numbers:

  • 4500 devices

  • 4 months to deliver

  • 40 hospital and community sites

  • 98%+ devices successfully deployed

  • < 2% of deployments with identified issues

  • 100% issues resolved by the max20 Team

The Challenge

Replacing multiple devices without interruption to clinical services or digital teams

The main aim of the project was to provide a service that identified and replaced devices that were 5 years old. This needed to be done across multiple sites, and, importantly, with no impact to either clinical service delivery or the existing digital teams. There was a fixed timeframe and it was to be done at a fixed cost.

Multiple device types, including laptops, desktops, mobile phones, clinical carts, monitors, printers and UPS were in scope. Most devices were still in storage so additional transport and logistics issues had to be undertaken. Two build rooms were also required to ensure appropriate images were applied to devices, dependent upon install location.

The graph below shows the final deployment progress. This was presented on a weekly basis to the NCA.

The Solution

Ensuring a smooth transition from old to new hardware

The NCA partnered with max20 who provided a fully managed flexible team to deliver;

• Full logistical planning
• Unboxing and asset tagging
• Waste disposal
• Site surveys to ensure identification of replaceable devices
• Imaging and specialist configurations
• Scheduling and execution of deployment in clinical and non-clinical areas
• Laptop clinics
• 48-hour post-deployment support for all devices
• Recovery of old hardware
• Liaison with disposal company

This fully managed project provided appropriate resources to cope with the demands of each phase. Management on the ground controlled all activities including scheduling, logistics, imaging, deployment, post-deployment support and full reporting. max20 management liaised with Project Managers and reviewed ongoing progress and reporting with the team. This resulted in reporting to the Trust’s senior stakeholders to ensure a full understanding of progress. Any issues were escalated and remediated in a timely manner.

The team itself was flexed at times throughout the project to meet the demands at each stage. For example, we were required to bring in a support person to ensure logistics for the laptop clinics were managed and executed. Additionally, as is often the case, we added a junior to the team from the start to initially provide support, but also to train them in the technical tasks associated with refreshes within the NHS.

The project was delivered on time, within budget and fully met all Trust requirements.

Trust Quotes;

The Outcomes

Delivery of a comprehensive service for the refresh of a variety of several 1000 devices

4500 devices were delivered within 4 months, across 40 different hospital and community sites.
In addition to the agreed project specifications, towards completion, we also assumed responsibility for managing the third party company responsible for disposal of old hardware to ensure this was done to our high standards. This also included the provision of a full disposal report.

Upon completion, a full project meeting was scheduled with Trust stakeholders to ensure handover to BAU of the few remaining devices that were imaged and ready to deploy when needed. The full project closure report was discussed and handed over to the Trust.