A snapshot of some of our current projects

CIMS Contract for DVLA – Major framework contract award
In partnership with CMC, Methods Consulting has been successful in winning the “Consultancy & Interim Management Services” contract for the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) based in Swansea, the Department for Transport agency responsible for managing all aspects of people and vehicle licensing and registration in the UK.

This contract has been awarded initially for four years and is potentially worth in excess of £50Million over its life. CIMS is an exclusive arrangement encompassing all professional services that are not part of the current outsourced IT services contract - including project management, HR, finance, procurement, training and enabling change.

Eastern & Coastal Kent Primary Care Trust – supporting the implementation of Commissioning in the NHS
Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT is the sixth largest trust in the English NHS and serves a very large population in the south east of England. The new NHS operating framework continues to advance the need for PCTs to develop their commissioning skills and also to enable equitable access to services for all potential patients.

Methods Consulting has been selected to provide a team to support the changes needed to enable commissioning at the PCT. Expected benefits include much greater freedom of operation, and the ability to re-design the way in which primary care services can be delivered to the local community to improve access and value for money.

Tower Hamlets
Methods Consulting, in partnership with FRONT – a leading website and implementation company, were awarded the contract to design, develop, host and support a replacement system for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets interactive educational website. The challenges were to ensure that the solution is accessible to all across a multi ethnic Borough, that the data held is current and accurate and that the system is easy to use to ensure it generates an uptake of course enrolment.

Methods Consulting’s approach to the development included a thorough and exhaustive requirements capture involving consultation with a wide range of stakeholders, the early delivery of a prototype, the reduction of risk and allowance of rapid engagement with end users, high visibility of progress by working to a regular release schedule, being responsive to changing requirements to acknowledge that we operate in a changing environment and close, collaborative working, with short lines of communication. The system has recently gone live with initial client feedback being extremely positive.

Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC)
The IPCC offers a public service for citizens who wish to lodge a complaint against any member of the police forces across England and Wales. It has experienced significant growth in demand for its complaints handling services and has recently extended its jurisdiction. Methods has just completed the following three major assignments for the commission:

• development of their 5-Year Business Change Programme, covering their Strategy, Processes, Accommodation and Resources, developing all required programme governance documentation in line with professional best practice;
• a complete mapping and process review of their Complaints Handling Centre in line with the latest government best practice, making recommendations for substantial cost saving and efficiency improvements; and
• construction of their ‘Value for Money’ return to the Home Office for their plans, efficiencies and funding, in accordance with HO directives.

Value Wales
Value Wales has been defined as “a catalyst for change to seize VFM opportunities through smarter procurement, streamlining support functions and maximising value from capital investment”. The procurement arm of Value Wales is therefore responsible for delivering “smarter procurement” and to help them in doing so Methods Consulting is providing consultancy support for Value Wales’ e-procurement programme. This includes delivering the set-up of the programme; staffing the project management office as well as providing strategic programme assurance.

Ward Based Computing (Epsom and St Helier)
Methods, with partners HealthSystems, will be presenting the findings of their Ward based computing study at the HealthCare 2008 conference in Harrogate in April. The study details the findings of two surveys carried out across 32 London Acute trusts. The first of which explores the present day infrastructure and investment levels in Ward based computing across the trusts, while the second survey serves to collate the views of clinicians in the current and future use of Ward based computing and the types of devices that should be used.

HMRC - Programme Governance
As part of our provision of consultancy support to the Customs Service Transformation Programme Director the introduction of more robust and formalised governance has been paramount importance within this programme. To read the case study in more detail please click here.

To return to the Newsletter please click here