From: DHSC
Assessment Date: 13/07/2023
Stage: Beta
Result: Met
Service Provider: NHS England
Service description
A trusted, government funded, CARE branded site built specifically to provide guidance, advice and support to, and engage with the adult social care sector on digital and tech.
The service supports the digital journey of adult social care providers in England by:
- Hosting official information, advice and essential content to support digitalising social care
- Being accessible to all, regardless of care type, size or resource or level of digital maturity
- Providing essential information about central government policies
- Signposting and joining up with wider support and funding opportunities
- Hosting official information, advice and essential content to support delivery of national policy on digitalising social care
Service users
Primary users:
- People working in care provider organisations (Digital decision makers and influencers)
Secondary users:
- Local Authority commissioning teams (who support providers to offer excellent care)
- ICS / CQC representatives (who support providers to offer excellent care)
- Tech suppliers (who provide services and systems to care providers)
- Department Health and Social Care / NHS England Policy Teams
Report contents
- Understand users and their needs
- Solve a whole problem for users
- Provide a joined-up experience across all channels
- Make the service simple to use
- Make sure everyone can use the service
- Have a multidisciplinary team
- Use agile ways of working
- Iterate and improve frequently
- Create a secure service which protects users’ privacy
- Define what success looks like and publish performance data
- Choose the right tools and technology
- Make new source code open
- Use and contribute to open standards, common components and patterns
- Operate a reliable service
1. Understand users and their needs
Decision
The service met point 1 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has addressed recommendations around ‘users and their needs’ from the Alpha assessment. Of particular note is the work done around the Care branding
- the team has ensured a good number of users have been involved in research, their needs and pain points have been collected and prioritised
- the team has shown clear consideration to enabling those with access needs to use the service. User research has involved those with a range of access needs
- the team has carried out mobile device research based on user needs, changes have been made to the design as a result of this work
- the team has effectively embedded user research into the development team, this seems to have resulted in a broad understanding of user needs from the whole team
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue this same pace of research activity and team involvement throughout Public Beta
- continue to try to reach those with access needs, especially in the areas that your research has not yet covered, for example ADHD. It would be worth linking in with Lived Experience Networks, or similar organisations
- ensure that all access needs are captured, by asking the right questions. Again, Lived Experience Networks could offer some guidance on survey questions
- ensure that as you move through Public Beta, secondary users are regularly involved in research so that their needs are addressed by this service
- involve end users in user research activities to ensure the service is working for them and capture any user needs or pain points
2. Solve a whole problem for users
Decision
The service met point 2 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has ensured that the service remains consistently focused on the high-level user need. For leaders of independent care providers to have a place to get clear, up-to-date guidance about digital transformation
- the team provided detailed and documented evidence to show the importance of having separate CARE branding over NHS and GOV branding
- the team’s approach has embraced the intention of this point on the service standard. Rather than focusing only inward, they have looked widely and outward, to understand how their single website can operate as part of a complex and established ecosystem
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue investigating and testing the problem space, challenging themselves to both extend their research horizon, and deepen their understanding of the complexities and details of crossover points in and out of their service
3. Provide a joined-up experience across all channels
Decision
The service met point 3 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has expanded on previous work to understand how users are driven to the site via multiple pathways, pushing out into channels such as events and magazine articles
- the team’s approach has included analysis of quantitative data available from the helpdesk, which has allowed them to create robust hypotheses to test as the service scales in public beta
- the team has included work into the content of the external sites that this service signposts, illustrating a holistic end-to-end approach for the users’ journey
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- focus some research into the Helpdesk, as your digitally assisted route. This will enable you to understand and enhance the support offered by the Helpdesk to primary users. This is even more important if there is going to be a review of the Helpdesk resource next year
4. Make the service simple to use
Decision
The service met point 4 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has a mature understanding of design patterns. Demonstrated in the way that their user centred design team had formed hypotheses to test chosen patterns from NHS specialised repositories. Allowing them to solve the design problems they found, implement solutions, and retest to be sure the concepts were successful
- the team’s enthusiasm and confidence in their approach was evident across the professions, and it was a pleasure to draw that out in the assessment
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- consider how their research patterns might contribute to the body of work available to the design community, whether it could inform the design or improve the patterns and tools available, and how they can share findings to a wider audience
5. Make sure everyone can use the service
Decision
The service met point 5 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has carried out an external accessibility assessment, and corrections made to meet any points raised
- the team has put in place automated accessibility tests as part of their design process
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- continue testing with users with access needs or cognitive differences
- consider the longevity of the service. If the service is usable now, as a result of clear navigation structure and plain English, what processes and documentation might they need to put in place during Beta to ensure that continues?
- explore handover points to other services. How might the team use their work to influence the content on the user’s onward journey? Are there any priority areas for collaboration or change?
6. Have a multidisciplinary team
Decision
The service met point 6 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team consists of all the necessary and recommended roles as part of private beta
- the team, including both the NHS Transformation team and the supplier team, TPX impact, has developed good ways of working and has clearly developed an effective and efficient partnership to enable the delivery of the service
- the team has a long-term plan in place which considers the involvement of TPX impact and their ongoing support post Beta
- the team’s involvement of subject matter experts and commissioners is evident, with developed processes and ways of working to ensure their active participation
- the team has considered which roles they may need, or no longer need, when they move into public beta
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- ensure that the team have the appropriate User Centred Design roles in place as the service moves to public beta. There should still be an assigned content designer and UX designer on the team
- start thinking about what artefacts and documentation will be required when supplier roles offboard, and ensure that these are created and maintained on a regular basis to ensure a smooth offboarding
7. Use agile ways of working
Decision
The service met point 7 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has a very good knowledge and understanding of Agile processes, has adopted Scrum as their way of working and have all the relevant ceremonies in place
- the team has a defined method for prioritisation which the whole team are involved in and the team work together to recommend and agree their goals for the sprint
- the team has plenty of opportunities to showcase their work and gain feedback on it, for example through well attended show and tells
- the team has good communication tools in place to ensure regular contact despite not being co-located, and ensure good collaboration
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- consider whether a dedicated product role would be beneficial to the team. There are multiple ‘Leads’ and stakeholders, which while not necessarily a negative, could be difficult to manage once the service moves into public beta. It may be prudent to have a dedicated resource responsible for translating their needs and feedback into priorities for the team
8. Iterate and improve frequently
Decision
The service met point 8 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has processes and ways of working in place to analyse feedback from user research, user behaviour and evidence from data, to inform iterations to the service
- the team has identified Key Performance Indicators which will inform whether the service is performing as it should and is meeting policy intent. This data will inform whether any changes and iterations are required
- the team presented evidence of how and why they have iterated the service based on user feedback
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- gain further insight from secondary users and use this to inform whether further iterations to the service are required to improve and enhance the experience for these user groups
9. Create a secure service which protects users’ privacy
Decision
The service met point 9 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has considered and deployed Role Access Based Control (RBAC) for the back-end development team
- the team has given consideration of Multi-Factor Authentication for the backend team in production environment
- the team has deployed an open standard tool, LocalGov Drupal, which runs automated tests, database encryption and real time reports for administrators
- the team's choice of LocalGov Drupal appears to be a safe and established solution that presents less overheads for skills and budget
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- ensure that the NHS service team understands in some detail, the frontend and backend security information aligned to the service. There should be ongoing technical knowledge exchange between TPX and NHS Service teams
10. Define what success looks like and publish performance data
Decision
The service met point 10 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has a plan in place to capture the mandatory KPIs, and additional KPIs have also been identified
- the team has gathered initial data from private beta, which will be published to stakeholders via monthly and quarterly reporting
- the team has considered how they will identify any technical issues or downtime that has occurred on the service and the tools they will use to do this
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- explore whether a real-time user dashboard is feasible and assess whether this would be beneficial for the team and stakeholders
- implement Google analytics before the service opens into public beta, now that this has been identified by the team as the analytics software of choice
- refine benchmarks for all KPIs
11. Choose the right tools and technology
Decision
The service met point 11 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team's Content Management System is effective and an open standard tool, which is also collaborative
- the team has utilised tools and technology which are interoperable
- the team's technology options are modular and scalable with high cohesion and loose coupling. For example, Storybook allows for build and test components independently of the website platform
- the team has ensured there is flexibility to deliver frontend experiences using Java Script based platforms
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- consider an exit strategy and data migration process, “lift and shift” or system migration as part of the strategic plan
12. Make new source code open
Decision
The service met point 12 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has made the source code for the Service open and the repository is used actively for the deployment process
- the team has ensured there is an open and automated deployment strategy for adding new features to the service
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- ensure the service is continually managed in an open code approach and used actively for the iterative improvement of the system
13. Use and contribute to open standards, common components and patterns
Decision
The service met point 13 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the teams choice of LocalGov Drupal architecture pattern can be reused with the open standards tool in other projects
- the team has made sure the Service is comprised of open standard tools integrated effectively, both front end and back end. This model can be reused for similar projects
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- explore sharing the architecture pattern and diagrams in the remote repository for collaborative reuse with other public projects
14. Operate a reliable service
Decision
The service met point 14 of the Standard.
What the team has done well
The panel was impressed that:
- the team has considered the service availability and reliability and a high availability architecture has been deployed
- the team has a support model in place for maintaining the service
- the team has a reliable third-party Supplier in TPX, which developed and is supporting the service for a considerable period
- the team showed evidence of due consideration of the service level agreements, objectives and indicators
- the team’s accessibility test which was conducted for the service, ensured it is inclusive and meet public digital service accessibility requirements
- the team had a penetration test conducted and the identified issues are currently being resolved
What the team needs to explore
Before their next assessment, the team needs to:
- ensure that the Disaster Recovery (DR) exercise is completed prior to going live. The exercise metrics should be noted, and remediation actioned where required
- obtain DR metrics, RTO & RPO, from this process (see above)
- conduct performance tests prior to going live and any identified issue rectified
- ensure performance metrics should align with Service Agreements
- ensure that the frontend and backend deployment management are joined up. The system should be viewed in its entirety as an end-to-end system, not a decoupled system
- test the Support Model proposed, prior to going live
- ensure there is adequate knowledge and skills transfer prior to handover. A Technical Architect can be added to the NHS team to ensure there is effective capability within the team to understand the technical elements of the service
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