SPECIFICATION TO INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOBILE APPLICATIONS FOR THE EDUCATION OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

Transcription

1 SPECIFICATION TO INFORM THE DEVELOPMENT OF MOBILE APPLICATIONS FOR THE EDUCATION OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS 1. TITLE Published 4 th November 2011 Informing the development of mobile applications for the education of Healthcare Professionals 2. INTRODUCTION NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is inviting competitive written quotations (CWQs) from organisations/individuals with proven expertise within the field of new technologies to assist in the development of mobile applications to support education of healthcare professionals. The intentional consequence of this development, in the first instance, is as a means of raising awareness of the Effective Practitioner Initiative in a creative and engaging way particularly recognising that a number of the target audience are already engaging in mobile applications, Therefore we want to develop educational application(s) which serve as a marketing tool. The organisation/individuals will be required to provide a report detailing what mobile applications already exist for the education of healthcare professionals; a summary of evidence that such applications are used including the benefits and challenges; and recommendations of potential new applications which could be developed for healthcare professionals particularly nurses, midwives and allied health professionals providing direct patient care. 3. CONTEXT NES are responsible for the development and delivery of education and training for a diverse range of healthcare staff working in a variety of service contexts and settings within NHSScotland and are progressing the use of social media and new technologies in a number of ways. The Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions (NMAHPs) Directorate, through the Effective Practitioner Initiative, is exploring how mobile applications could provide innovative and accessible learning resources for professionals, to assist them to deliver person-centred, safe and effective care. The Effective Practitioner is a national initiative providing work-based learning resources and support for levels 5 and 6 (Career Framework for Health) NMAHPs across NHSScotland. See reference in Section 12 for further details regarding the Effective Practitioner Initiative. A key principle of the initiative is to support learning close to practice and the project team aim to Specification Scoping of mobile applications for Healthcare Professionals 1

2 maximise the potential of new technologies as a means of engaging this large and diverse staff group. The project team in NES already has some intelligence around the use of mobile technology and social media and would be looking to build on this. It is recognised that a large number of mobile applications are available for health assessment / health promotion purposes, but the focus of this work is with regard to the education of healthcare professionals. The development and delivery of all NES education and training is designed in line with NES s Inclusive Education and Learning Policy to ensure equality of access and take account of the varying educational needs of practitioners. 4. SERVICE TO BE PROVIDED NHS Education for Scotland seeks to appoint an organisation/individual to undertake this work to inform the further development of learning resources for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals through the Effective Practitioner Initiative. Services to be provided include: scoping of existing mobile applications which are used for the education of healthcare professionals summarise the evidence that such applications are used by practitioners and the perceived benefits of this technology make recommendations of potential new applications which could be developed for healthcare professionals. The target group are those NMAHPs who provide direct patient care; however, current applications and evidence may come for other staff groups. The organisation/individuals will be required to submit a report detailing the findings from this work. The changing nature of healthcare needs, emerging evidence and dynamic policy drivers all require up-to-date, relevant and accessible educational support and with this in mind the consultant should therefore be aware of the policy context in NHSScotland. 4.1 Scoping of existing mobile applications which are used for the education of healthcare professionals This should include details of the range of mobile applications currently available for use by health professionals for educational purposes. Consideration should also be given to the number of applications available, the platforms they have been developed for usage and their functionality. 4.2 Review of the evidence that such applications are used by practitioners and the perceived benefits of this technology The review of evidence should examine accessible published research papers, reports and literature. The section of the work should be succinct to inform decisions rather than an extensive output of this specification. This may include a summary of trends of mobile application development and usage within the healthcare sector; details regarding any published pilot programmes or studies conducted; Specification Scoping of mobile applications for Healthcare Professionals 2

3 emerging themes, benefits and challenges identified. The research report by NHS South Central (Norman 2011) is an example of the evidence in this field. Evidence from Scotland and the UK is of most interest; however, evidence from outwith can be included where it might have transferability to the Scottish context. 4.3 Make recommendations of potential new applications which could be developed to assist healthcare professionals to learn Outputs from 4.1 and 4.2 above should inform recommendations. These should be aspirational, but realistic, so that the project team can use the findings to progress the development of a small number of innovative, engaging and helpful educational applications to support NMAHPs in their role. As noted in the introduction, the intentional consequence of this development, in the first instance, is as a means of raising awareness of the Effective Practitioner Initiative in a creative and engaging way. Therefore, we want to develop educational application(s) which serve as a marketing tool, but has an educational function. 5. TASKS TO BE PERFORMED The tasks to be performed are: scope current availability of mobile applications for the education of healthcare professionals to assist them in the day-to-day care of patients and development of their knowledge review evidence of development and usage of mobile applications by healthcare professionals in the UK highlighting best practice examples review evidence and lessons learned of the effectiveness of mobile applications development and usage within the healthcare sector select from the identified applications examples of those which are freely available for download and which may be useful and relevant to nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (add these to a database noted below) produce a database of the above applications in the same format as the resources currently featured on the Effective Practitioner website i.e. with the title of app; the downloadable URL link and a brief summary to indicate why it could be useful ascertain whether specific platforms (e.g. Android, iphone, Blackberry, HTML5) are more widely used for mobile application development and usage within the healthcare sector, providing examples review the findings from this scoping to recommend the type of mobile applications NES might develop to support NMAHPs in their role. produce a succinct summary report answering the following questions: o what mobile applications are currently available for the education of healthcare professionals, particularly those delivering frontline care? Specification Scoping of mobile applications for Healthcare Professionals 3

4 o what is the evidence that mobile applications are being used within the healthcare sector, including details of what is being used, what platforms are they are on, who is using them and for what purpose? o what are the benefits, challenges and lessons learned identified in the effectiveness of the development and use of mobile applications in the healthcare sector? o what mobile applications would be useful to NMAHPs? (appendix database for uploading to Effective Practitioner website) o what applications do you recommend could be developed to support NMAHPs? ensure work completed as per timescales set out in Section 10 and to budget as detailed in Section RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS NES will provide funding to the successful consultant for the project on acceptance of a full breakdown of costs supplied in the proposal. It is brought to the attention of all potential bidders that NES will retain all Intellectual Property associated with this project and any subsequent reports and associated materials. The proposal should contain the following information: Proposed project costs Outline of the methodology to be employed A high level plan of how the project outcomes will be achieved, with timescales An indication of the anticipated number of days the work will take and full details of anticipated costs Names of individuals/project team members and their CVs showing evidence of previous experience Schedule of rates for each consultant along with any discounts associated with scale of project 7. BUDGET Up to a maximum of 5,000 excluding VAT will be allocated for this work. It is important to note that funding will be distributed on the basis of the proposal s quality and value for money. Prices and rates quoted should be on a fixed basis for the contract period and must be exclusive of Value Added Tax. Prices should remain fixed for ninety days from the CWQ close date. 8. MONITORING The consultant will liaise with the Effective Practitioner Educational Projects Manager and will submit the comprehensive report to the agreed timelines. Specification Scoping of mobile applications for Healthcare Professionals 4

5 9. SCORING CRITERIA AND EVALUATION Proposals will be evaluated against each other in an objective manner. Each category of questions and all business requirements have been carefully determined by NES. Meet all the Requirements of the CWQ Specification Experience and Reputation in Undertaking Similar Work Offers Best Value for Money. SCORING: 0 Question not answered. No evidence provided 1 Significantly fails to meet requirements. Inadequate evidence provided 2 Fails to meet requirements in some respects. Limited evidence. 3 Meets requirements in some respects. Moderate evidence provided. 4 Meets requirements in full with good supporting evidence 5 Superior proposal exceeding required standards. Exceptional evidence Fraction scores shall not be used. 10. TIMESCALES FOR COMPLETION OF OBJECTIVES Initial kick off meeting/discussion 9 December 2011 Commence work 15 December 2011 Submission of final report for review and feedback 16 January 2012 Submission of invoice for completion of work 23 January SUBMISSION PROCESS AND DEADLINE 11.1 Questions In the interests of fairness, all questions and answers will be shared with all Bidders. In order to facilitate this process, please submit questions by 13:00 on 14 th November Please do not provide any proprietary information in your questions. Please submit questions through the Public Contracts Scotland Quick Quotes website 11.2 Submission In order to allow appropriate time for analysis, selection, implementation, and communication of the selected bidders, your cooperation is requested in meeting all of the specified deadlines. Therefore, it is imperative to submit your proposal by 13:00 on 28 th November NES may reject any proposal which is late and does not fully comply with the stipulated requirements unless the bidder can prove that the bid was dispatched in sufficient time to meet the specified deadline. Please submit proposals through the Public Contracts Scotland Quick Quotes website Specification Scoping of mobile applications for Healthcare Professionals 5

6 11.3 Confidentiality Any material of a confidential nature submitted by a bidder should be clearly marked. NES will respect the confidentiality of material provided. Similarly, all material provided by NES in relation to this CWQ must be regarded as confidential. 12. REFERENCES Mobile Learning for the NHS: Research Report Norman (2011) NHS South Central al_report.pdf Healthcare Quality Strategy for NHS Scotland (May 2010) Career Framework for Health Effective Practitioner Web Resource Effective Practitioner Literature Review & Stakeholder Engagement Report NES Allied Health Professions Health Strategy: The Next Chapter Quality Education for a Healthier Scotland NES Nursing and Midwifery Strategy NES Inclusive Education and Learning Policy Specification Scoping of mobile applications for Healthcare Professionals 6