Large Acute UK Hospital

Creating a clear and intuitive methodology for tracking project success against key metrics and creating remedial plans to resolve current issues

Curshaw was appointed to undertake a review of a large, acute PFI Hospital Project, which provides an acute hospital facility with a several hundred bed capacity. The Project Co’s directors wanted to understand whether and where there were any areas of risk exposure, as well as any areas for improvement. 

The review was to be done using the Curshaw Operational Standard - this analyses the Project against over 300 individual lines of enquiry and evidential standards, to identify any aspects of contract delivery that could be improved when compared against best practice industry standards.

The outputs were to be an executive summary of the key findings, a single-page dashboard for the client to easily observe the operational status of the Project, and an Action Plan to address any identified shortcomings against the Standard.

The Process:

The first stage involved an in-depth review of:

  • all key contractual documentation related to the Project;

  • 12 months’ of performance reporting; 

  • recent technical reporting; 

  • Maintenance plans;

  • Helpdesk records; and

  • lifecycle plans.

We then engaged with the key stakeholders on the Project, including the Facilities Management team, the General Manager, and the Trust’s senior representatives to get their perspectives, understand the day to day experience and the relationships between the parties, and to test the findings from the documentation review. 

Both aspects of the process are then measured against the bespoke criteria for each individual component of the Standard, to determine adherence to both contractual compliance and best practice. Each of these criteria sit under categories called Subsidiary Measures, a collection of which sit beneath a Headline Measure. Each Subsidiary Measure and each Headline Measure is then rated Red, Amber or Green, using a proprietary set of logic-based rules. This allows the presentation of all aspects of the Project and the extent of their adherence to the Standard on a single page dashboard.

The Outcomes:

  • Objective analysis of the performance of the project and a single page dashboard providing the client with assurance of performance.

  • Implementation of over 75 targeted improvements delivered via a clear and actionable project plan over an intensive three month period following conclusion of the Review.

  • Actions prioritised in accordance with ease of implementation and impact. The high impact actions related to

    • Built assets - clarity on upcoming lifecycle works, clarifying the ambiguity around the definition of open jobs, absence of a helpdesk monitoring report, record keeping in relation to the management of historic defects.

    • Health and safety reporting and governance - annual report and terms of reference to support key meetings.

    • Contingency planning and risk management - business continuity planning.

    • Carbon footprint reduction - recording of emissions and no net zero pathway.

  • Fresh Project Co director insight into the key concerns and priorities of the NHS client Trust team.

  • Identification of five issues that apply across the client’s wider portfolio of PFI Projects, with individuals tasked with bespoke actions to address these centrally.