G-Cloud Services V Service Definition Adult Social Care Self-Service Platform Lot 4 SCS April 2014 At Agilisys we deliver success through innovation working with our clients to transform services that make a difference to millions of people across the UK 26-28 Hammersmith Grove, Hammersmith, London, W6 7AW P: 0845 450 1131 F: 0845 450 1132 info@agilisys.co.uk www.agilisys.co.uk Agilisys 2014. Commercial-in-confidence.
Table of Contents 1 Introduction... 3 2 Services Overview... 4 3 Information Assurance and Accreditation... 7 4 Back up, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery... 8 5 On and off boarding... 8 6 Service Levels... 8 7 Financial Recompense... 8 8 Ordering and Invoicing... 8 9 Termination Costs & Terms... 8 10 Data Restoration / Service Migration... 8 11 Consumer Responsibilities... 8 12 Technical Requirements... 9 13 Trial Option... 9 The enclosed material is copyright of Agilisys and must not be copied in whole or in part for any purpose without the express written consent of Agilisys. Page 2 of 9
1 Introduction Agilisys is one of the UK's most innovative IT and business services providers, helping Customers to transform their businesses. We have earned a strong reputation in both public and private sector and hold deep domain expertise within government, healthcare, third-sector organisations and technology. Please see www.agilisys.co.uk for further details of the products and services we offer. Agilisys Consulting has great expertise in both supporting the implementation of Software as a Service platforms, and in helping local authorities adult social care directorates to improve their efficiency and promote personalisation and self-directed support. Through this work, we have extensive experience of the rapidly growing range of Software as a Service platforms that provide enable on-line self-directed support for adult social care service users. These tools include: Information and advice directories Self-assessment, including Resource Allocation Systems Online support planning e-marketplace Electronic wallets Auditable records of an individual s Care Account. This specialist cloud service combines these areas of Agilisys expertise. We are offering technical consultancy support for the implementation of these Software as a Service platforms. While we are happy to support the implementation of any of the major platforms on the market, we have developed a suite of fixedprice packages of support for Quickheart s market-leading platform. Page 3 of 9
2 Services Overview 2.1 Our Approach The introduction of the Care Bill, and the continued drive to make efficiency savings in response to decreasing central government grants, puts increased pressure on Councils to enable social care service users to selfdirect their support. Web-based self-service platforms are a promising tool for this, allowing service users and their carers to identify, plan, and pay for the social care. This allows for more effective use of finite staffing budgets, as professional input can be focussed on key moments of budgetary and risk control. There is a risk, however, that the implementation of an on-line self-service platform provides citizens with an additional means of sourcing support without realising associated benefits for the Council. This happens when the introduction of web-based self-service is not linked to an associated change in the Council s ways of working meaning that it is not possible to re-focus staff time and effort on those people who are not able to self-direct their support on-line. The result of this is, at best, a missed opportunity. At worse, this can even generate an additional cost pressure for the Council. Agilisys has developed a range of support to address this, providing specialist experience and support to a Council to ensure that their implementation of an adult social care self-service platform is well managed and delivers the anticipated benefits. In summary: The platform developer gives you the tools to deliver on-line self-service for Adult Social Care. Agilisys provides you with the expertise to make this beneficial for both citizen and Council. Specifically, we provide the following 6 types of support: Project management Content management Policy management Resource Allocation System configuration Business Process configuration Target Operating Model configuration. Each of these types of support is detailed below. 2.2 Project Management Platform developers normally provide Councils with technical project management as part of the implementation of their self-service platforms. This will include the expertise to configure and turn on the platform that the Council has purchased. Complementing this, the Council needs to coordinate a wider change project to ensure that the platform s introduction is effectively embedded into the working practices of staff. To run such a project well, the Council needs access to: Expertise about effective means (and common pitfalls) of implementing self-service platforms Tried-and-tested tools ensure that the technical implementing is linked to real change in working behaviours. Many Councils do not have direct access to such expertise and tools. Agilisys provides these for precisely as long as the Council requires to make a success of the implementation of their self-service platform. Page 4 of 9
Specifically, Agilisys provides: A clear Project Implementation Document and Project Plan, both developed to align with the platform developer s technical project management approach Advice, and oversight of, key activities that need to be undertaken to ensure business change takes place parallel to the technical implementation of the platform Application of Agilisys tried-and-tested Change Readiness toolkit, which analyses the staff group s readiness to change their ways of working in response to the introduction of the self-service platform, and generates a targeted and practical Change Management plan Application of Agilisys robust Benefits Management toolkit, which supports the Council to define the benefits they wish to achieve from the introduction of the platform, measure baseline performance prior to the implementation of the self-service platform, and monitor the achievement of those benefits after it has been implemented A clear Project Closure document, providing the Council with assurance that key information and skills have been transferred to their officers. As a result of purchasing this support, the Council will be assured that its self-service platform is being implemented in manner which is stress free, efficient and effective at supporting real business change. 2.3 Content Management The sustained level of use of a self-service platform is highly dependent upon the quality of the content loaded onto it. Even a technically brilliant platform is not going be used, or of use to, service users and their carers if it contains confusing or jargon-laden information. Poor content drives people back to dependence on professionals for the organisation and management of their social care. Writing high quality content for a self-service platform can be difficult. There are often 100s of pages of content to write, and the people who know the most about what needs to be described to service users may have little or no editorial or content writing experience or training. To address this, Agilisys provides a team of specialist content editors and writers. This team leads the process of content creation for the self-service platform, providing the Council with: Best practice information on web content creation A clear action plan scoping the range of content that needs to be created, with each page having an identified owner Monitoring and management of that action plan, ensuring that content is being created to the timescales required by the Council Quality assurance of the content by specialist Content Editors. As a result of purchasing this support, the Council will be assured that its self-service platform will contain high quality content, ready by the platform s go live date. 2.4 Policy Management Implementing a self-service platform for Adult Social Care raises a number of policy questions. Common questions include: How does the Council ensure that the platform is compliant with the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts, and what consent to I need to get from citizens to hold their data on the platform? How does the Council balance the autonomy that service users get when using a self-service platform with the obligation to safeguard them? How closely should the Council monitor the content placed on a platform by third parties, such as care providers, and to what degree is it responsible for such content? Page 5 of 9
These are valid questions, but they should not be allowed to delay the implementation of a platform that supports a Council s strategic ambitions. Helpfully, a number of local authorities have now successfully worked through these policy considerations, and best practice exists. Agilisys takes away the pain of identifying and applying this best practice. Specifically, it: Reviews existing Council policies against a suite of self-service best practice, flagging key gaps or areas of misalignment Redrafts policies as required, and supports their sign off with the Council s Caldicott Guardian and Freedom of Information, Data Protection and Safeguarding leads. As a result of purchasing this support, the Council knows that it will have a policy suite that is aligned with best practice, and enables widespread use of the self-service platform. 2.5 Resource Allocation System Configuration One of the most complex elements of a self-service platform for Adult Social Care is the configuration of an on-line Resource Allocation System (RAS) calculator. This can be daunting, because it requires careful calibration with the Council s pre-existing (and normally unique) RAS system to provide indicative budgets that are trustworthy and can be used by service-users to develop their own support plans. As a result of this complexity, many Councils step away from implementing an on-line RAS. This is a shame, as it introduces a road block to self-service. People who have recently committed the time to self-assessing are at their most self-aware and ready to start developing a support plan. The lack of an on-line RAS means that they have to step away and wait for the Council to tell them what their indicative budget is. During that delay, many service users and their carers will have lost the commitment to self-direct their support. To address this, Agilisys provides specialists to support the Council in converting its existing RAS to work with the RAS functionality in the procured self-service platform. This process differs significantly from platform-toplatform, but will usually include an iterative process of testing the on-line RAS as part of real assessments, dual running alongside the normal RAS used by care professionals. As a result of purchasing this support, the Council knows that it will have specialist support to accelerate the complex process of calibrating a RAS to provide consistent indicative budgets on-line. 2.6 Business Process Configuration Revising business processes to reflect the existence of, and maximise the benefit generated by, an adult social care self-service platform is fundamental to the latter s successful implementation. Teams whose processes need to change to reflect the platform commonly include: Customer contact / access teams (including corporate customer service centres) Social work, occupational therapy and rehabilitation teams Brokerage teams Procurement and commissioning teams IT and Communications support teams Performance teams. Identifying which processes need to change is best done as a cross-cutting, consistent and dedicated exercise. This mitigates the risk that a lack of understanding of the potential of the self-service platform, or a fear of the impact of change, leads to business processes being changed on an ad-hoc or inconsistent basis. Agilisys offers a rapid but comprehensive review of existing business processes to identify which processes need updating, and to lead the revision of the most important processes. Specifically, Agilisys provides: An overview analysis of business processes, identifying those that need to be revised to reflect the introduction of the self-service platform, triaged by likely level of change required Page 6 of 9
Running as is and to be workshops to revise the top 5 processes most effected by the implementation of the platform Skills-transfer to Council staff to enable them to use the same method to revise the other business processes affected by the platform. As a result of purchasing this support, the Council knows that it will have a comprehensive understanding of how it needs to change its processes, an accelerated start to the development of new processes, and the skills to complete that work. 2.7 Target Operationg Model Configuration For some Councils, the procurement and implementation of an adult social care self-service platform is a first step in implementing a fundamentally different way of working. Enabling people to self-serve in social care requires the development of a different operating model for social care provision, in which: Service users and their carers play a bigger role in the management of their own support Social capital and universal services are a more significant part of the overall provision of support Professional staff are focussed on supporting people with the highest risk and level of need The Care Bill introduces a much closer relationship with many self-funders. Pushing forward with the implementation of a platform, and the associated business process change, without a clear articulation of that future operating model creates the risk of having a platform, and associated working practices, that quickly become mis-aligned with the Council s strategic direction of travel. To address this, Agilisys offers a proven and accelerated approach to developing a new Target Operating Model, which includes: A series of workshops with senior managers and a range of staff from across the directorate A focus on a comprehensive set of aspects of the operating model, including policy, process, staffing, systems and wider support arrangements. As a result of purchasing this support, the Council knows that it will be implementing the platform as part of a consistent change to its business model in the face of known policy and financial challenges. 3 Information Assurance and Accreditation The provision of the majority of the services offered here will not require Agilisys to access personal or sensitive data regarding employees, citizens or other stakeholders. In the large part, therefore, Agilisys would hold data our IL2 data centre, or (if preferred) on the Council s network. In order to provide RAS Configuration services, Agilisys may be required to hold personal data relating to service users. We recommend that this data would be held on the Council s network. If desired, we could hold this data in an Agilisys data centre that meets the official (sensitive) security standards. The use of this data centre is not included in the costs quoted for these services, and would be additional. All staff working directly with personal or sensitive data would be appropriately DBS cleared. We would agree the specific requirements for this with each Council on a case-by-case basis, reflecting variations in policy between authorities. All of the serviced offered would be delivered within the framework of the Agilisys Quality Management System. Page 7 of 9
4 Back up, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery All data held by Agilisys in the course of the provision of these services is held in Agilisys robust data centres. These include effective back up, business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements. 5 On and off boarding There is no technical on-boarding or off-boarding required for the delivery of these services. Agilisys proven project management methodology includes clear standards for initiating and closing projects. These would be followed to ensure that the Council received services which were exactly in line with its requirements, and was left with all key information and skills passed on to its own officers. 6 Service Levels All services offered here will be delivered within a closely controlled project environment. As part of this, all pieces of work will be subject to mutually agreed cost, quality and time tolerances. Agilisys will regularly report on progress, and will escalate any risk of exceeding those tolerances. 7 Financial Recompense No financial recompense is associated with the provision (or failure to provide) the services offered.. 8 Ordering and Invoicing Please contact gcloud@agilisys.co.uk indicating your area of interest and a member of the Agilisys Team will contact you to discuss how we can meet your requirements. Once an understanding of your requirements have been agreed a proposal will be submitted and once signed off an order form will be completed including a detailed cost breakdown. Agilisys requires Customer acceptance of the order and completion of a Call-off Contract in accordance with the G-Cloud framework prior to commencement of any project. Customers will be invoiced on a monthly basis. Standard payment terms are 30 days following issue of invoice using bank transfer to the Agilisys banking details provided. 9 Termination Costs & Terms Customers must give one month s written notice of termination. Agilisys Ltd. will provide one month s written notice of termination. 10 Data Restoration / Service Migration Data restoration and service migration is not applicable to the services offered. 11 Consumer Responsibilities The Customer shall be responsible for providing all agreed information and data to enable Agilisys Ltd to successfully deliver the service requirements. The Customer shall provide Agilisys Ltd with reasonable access to appropriate members of the Customer s staff, as may reasonably be required. Page 8 of 9
12 Technical Requirements All technical Customer side requirements, service dependencies and technical interfaces will be defined and agreed with the Customer at the beginning of any commissioned work 13 Trial Option Agilisys are unable to provide a trial period. Page 9 of 9