NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board

Client

On behalf of the NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board, the former Derby and Derbyshire Clinical Commissioning Group (DD CCG), a member of the Joined Up Care Derbyshire (JUCD) partnership.

URL

Joined Up Care Derbyshire

Brief

To create, develop and project manage, a total of three website platforms: external, Intranet and a microsite with website accessibility, usability, performance, and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) being the primary requirements.

What did I do

I was initially hired by the DD ICB, the former DD CCG, to project manage the delivery of three website platforms: external, Intranet and a microsite for the JUCD Careers arm of the DD ICB. After completing the specification requirements document for the project, it was identified the website platforms could be done ‘in-house’ rather than using a 3rd party external supplier, saving the National Health Service (NHS) considerable time and money.

The new website platforms were created using the WordPress Content Management System with extensive use of a premium theme and Plugins; no bespoke development work was undertaken.

Unfortunately, time was against us. I was hired at the beginning of November, and the deadline was 1st April, which gave me and the team less than five months to deliver the external website. Time was extremely tight, and we were on track to deliver, but the Department of Health extended the deadline to 1st July. Phew. Due to the extra time given, this gave the team the opportunity to release the new Intranet at the same time as the external website.

The Joined Up Care Derbyshire website was created in three months, but the overall completion took six months as the team needed to transfer content from the old website, which unfortunately did not have an export function. The DD ICB Intranet and microsite were then quickly created using the external JUCD website as a template (all the development work was done).

As the DD ICB was the primary partner of the Joined Up Care Derbyshire partnership, which is an NHS organisation, I based the actual design on NHS Digital and the NHS design guidelines, saving considerable time and cost with regard to design workflows and user testing.

Outcome

The NHS Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board project was an outstanding success. The JUCD external and Intranet platforms were launched on time. The Joined Up Careers Derbyshire microsite was launched a month later. The feedback from users and staff was extremely positive and the JUCD website passed the UK Cabinet Office Accessibility testing.

Because the three platforms were done ‘in-house’, there was significant cost savings. The initial budget for the three platforms was £25,000 as at the start of the project, it was believed there would be a 3rd party developer. The total cost of the project was around £5,000. I like to think the cost savings was able to fund a junior nurse for a year.