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The Care Quality Commission

INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGY

Final

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Contents:

1. Overview

2. Directorate Profile

People

Systems

Equipment

Buildings

3. The Future Infrastructure of CQC

Systems and Architecture

Mobility

People

Premises

4. Governance and Principles

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Section 1: Overview

‘We are committed to being a high-performing organisation and apply the same standards of continuous improvement to ourselves that we expect of others.’ CQC Business Plan 2014-16 1.1 The focus of this strategy is to support and drive changes to how and where CQC’s

people work; enabling them to provide the best regulatory engagement they can on behalf of people using care services, ensuring that the services people use are safe, effective, compassionate and of high quality and that providers are encouraged to improve.

1.2 Since its inception, the CQC operating model has supported home working for a

large proportion of its staff. It has divested itself of estate and this has led to a dispersed and, in some cases, remote workforce. Staff survey results have suggested that this arrangement has led to some staff feeling ‘disconnected’ from their teams and from the CQC as a corporate body. It is widely recognised that staff who feel engaged and connected to their organisation are more likely to be productive and effective and therefore it is crucial that this strategy brings CQC to a place where the workforce feels engaged, supported and valued and where teamwork is encouraged.

1.3 This strategy sets out the planned future direction for the infrastructure of CQC, for

how and where we work. Over the next three years we will invest in systems and estate which will enable CQC staff to work effectively in delivering the core business of CQC. We will align with the changes being made in our inspectorates and ensure that staff are supported in delivering the core business of CQC. This should therefore be seen as an enabling strategy for the delivery of the CQC Business Plan. It takes into account government guidelines for both IT and accommodation, providing a vision for the future and a 'road map' of how we will achieve this vision with the infrastructure directorate providing strategic and operational leadership. This strategy was developed following extensive consultation with face to face interviews with ten percent (circa 240) of CQC’s workforce, representing a range of grades, job functions and locations, including home based workers.

1.4 As CQC moves forward into a new era in which inspection teams spend most of their

time out of the CQC office environment there is a need to consider the best ways of working. This includes office location, support for working in remote locations, the hardware to enable this to be undertaken in the most efficient and reliable way and systems which support information processing and sharing as well as consistency of approach. This will facilitate an inspection regime which allows the CQC to keep and enhance its reputation as a credible and effective regulator.

1.5 Through the implementation of this strategy we will ensure that CQC’s infrastructure

aligns to supporting the achievement of the organisation’s core purpose. Whilst there will be an ongoing need for office based workers and therefore offices, it is envisaged that the overall space requirement will be reduced and will be very different from that which is currently in place. We will work on the assumption that a majority of our staff need to be mobile in order to be productive and effective and will ensure that they are equipped to do so. The mobile workforce will therefore be provided with mobile equipment, including laptops or equivalent which will provide the access and functionality that they need regardless of location, whether office, home, provider or whilst travelling: our staff will be enabled to work from any location on any suitable device. These moves will improve efficiency and reduce wasted time. This development will be reflected in our office environment which will be designed on the

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assumption that the majority of staff have mobile equipment. Hence, designated desks and desk top computers will largely become a thing of the past in the majority of offices. As a national organisation, office based staff are likely to visit other offices and regions and can expect in the future that the CQC office environment that they visit will be uniformly branded and provide the same platform for working as any other office.

1.6 We will manage the risk of project failure by re-using and adopting shared services

with other public bodies and we will reduce our dependence on expensive external contractors by building up the capabilities of our own teams.

What will this mean for our people?

1.7 In concert with the CQC Information Management strategy, the Infrastructure

Strategy will mean that in the future our people will be able to access, share and create the information that they need, wherever they are. They will be able to easily keep in contact with colleagues using personalised videoconferencing and easily and securely work with each other on shared documents, from any location. Our people will be provided with access to the right tools that can be used securely, supporting the delivery of the work of the CQC whilst safeguarding the information it has been entrusted with.

1.8 The Infrastructure Strategy will also underpin the Knowledge & Information Strategy.

It sets out the roadmap for the delivery of IT systems that will support both the delivery of the CQC Operating Model and the information flows described in the Information Management Strategy.

1.9 Through technology that allows them to interrogate and record information in a well-

structured manner on our systems while they are present at a care provider, we will reduce the need to take handwritten notes and then transcribe them onto our systems. As well as reducing the time taken by our Inspectors to record information about providers, it will mean that key information is available to colleagues more quickly. Being able to provide information in real time to our inspection teams should also enable them to have a more meaningful dialogue with providers.

1.10 By streamlining and personalising the delivery of the information they need, when

they need it to our inspectors and assessors, they will be able to better target registration, inspection and enforcement activity and make better, more informed judgements about the services that we regulate.

1.11 Systems are being designed to explicitly support how and where people work,

connecting them and designing usability in from the beginning, we will create tools for people that are inherently easy to use as they support the task at hand whatever people’s location at the time. This will include a roadmap for those tools and systems showing how they will evolve over time.

1.12 In addition to ensuring that our people can work from any location, we will ensure that

all our offices provide excellent facilities for collaborative working, training and development, we will increase the number of locations in which CQC staff can meet in a dedicated space to work and connect with colleagues, regardless of their home location or the providers they serve.

1.13 By putting people at the centre of what we do, by designing processes and tools that

are as simple as they can be, we will enable people to fully utilise their professional skills, judgement and time. Simple processes and tools need less change when

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circumstances change and so inherently provide better value for money and make sure that our people get the information they need, when they need it.

1.14 Although CQC has revised its core operating model in recent years, strategic

decisions regarding how and where people work, the numbers and types of staff who should be office based and where those offices should be are not apparent. This strategy therefore works on the assumption that significant numbers of staff will remain as home workers and that our current regional office locations will remain. In order to be compliant with the Government Estates strategy, discussions will need to take place over the coming years about which types of staff need to be office based, particularly in London. This strategy will therefore remain under review.

Achieving the Objectives of CQC 1.15 Our investment in infrastructure will contribute to CQC’s success in three primary

areas: Putting people first: As new systems are procured and developed they will

enhance the experience of CQC services for staff, providers and the public. We will prioritise:

Mobility

Communication

Usability

Productivity

Supporting an intelligence driven organisation: In line with the Knowledge & Information framework, as new systems are procured and developed they will enhance three areas where challenges exist:

Access including that for users of Assistive Technology (AT)

Analytical techniques

Culture & capacity.

Increasing our efficiency and effectiveness: As new systems are procured and developed they will:

collect and report on information about how we work

be integrated with other systems to enable the reliable and efficient processing and management of our information

enable us to identify areas for improvement

be accessible from a range of appropriate devices including smartphones and tablets as well as laptop PCs

1.16 As office relocations take place, Infrastructure will:

Provide fit for purpose accommodation with good transport links and close proximity to lunchtime facilities

Provide flexible and modern facilities capable of meeting future service demands and changes in working practices

Meet with the objectives of our new workforce model and enabling our teams to work better together

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Links to other Strategies: 1.17 This strategy sits alongside and complements other CQC and Government strategies

including the CQC Business, Information Management and Digital strategies and the Government ICT and Estates strategies.

1.18 In order to deliver these strategies a review of our enterprise architecture will be

needed. In this context enterprise architecture is made up of the following elements.

Element Definition CQC Team

Target Operating Model Describes the architecture of CQC’s business in terms of high level organisation and methods, directly linked to the strategic objectives.

The Target Operating Model team in PPP.

Business Process and Activity Architecture

Design of CQC’s business processes and activities that implement the operating model.

The Strategy and Business Improvement teams.

User Experience Design and Architecture

Design of the way that people work with our systems.

Digital Development

Enterprise Systems Architecture

Design of how our technology systems work, interoperate and are run.

Infrastructure and Customer and Corporate Services Development

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Section 2: Directorate Profile

The People

There are three distinct teams within the Infrastructure Directorate:

Information Systems Development

ICT Live Services

Estates and Facilities 2.1 Information Systems Development (ISD)

ISD is led by Paul Oliver and is responsible for the architecture, design, development, procurement and testing of new or enhanced line of business technology systems that support the work of CQC. There are 45 permanent staff in the ISD team, the teams are spread across a number of locations with the most significant numbers in London, Leeds and Newcastle. The annual budget for ISD is £3.4m. The team is responsible for delivering most of the capital investment in new or enhanced business systems, usually accounting for £6-8m each year.

ISD Team Structure

The Information Systems Development team comprises six distinct roles.

Programme and Project Management, which is focused on the delivery of technology solutions to support business driven projects

Systems architects, who are responsible for the overall design of technology solutions and the interoperation of those solutions

Systems analysts, who design the way that technology needs to work or be enhanced to enable specialist developers to build or make changes to systems

Application developers, who build the software systems that are used by CQC

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Outsourced system testers, who test the systems ISD develops, with the number of people carrying out system testing varying depending on the mix of skills required and workload

Business co-ordinators, who provide critical administrative support and carry out activities such minute taking, the management of meetings, managing financial receipting and the booking of rooms, travel and accommodation

During 2014 ISD have made progress in moving from a largely temporary, contract based workforce to a permanent team which has enhanced service provision and ensures that staff are fully conversant with the needs of the business.

2.2 ICT Live Services 2.2.1 ICT Live Services is led by Martin Pitcher and has a total of 23 staff. Within the team

eleven staff support IT service delivery, eight organise and deliver ICT training and three manage the commercial and contractual aspects of the IT service. The ICT revenue budget is £13M revenue pa and the IT capital investment programme is normally in the region of £2M-£4M pa.

ICT Live Services is responsible for all IT services delivered to staff at CQC including:

Design and maintenance of the IT infrastructure

Provision and support of personal IT software and equipment including remote connections to the CQC network including business broadband, smartphones, tablets and laptops

Fault resolution and problem management

Support for and integration of assistive technology tools and software

Provision of network services including authentication and access for users, access to shared drives and printing

Support and maintenance of enterprise systems;

IT security;

Training and exploitation of IT applications and enterprise systems including CRM

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2.2.2 The ICT Live team is organised to manage IT services in line with the best practice

set out in the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL). ITIL is an internationally recognised framework for IT service management that focuses on aligning IT services with the needs of business. The team comprises of three main roles although the full range of service management disciplines are covered:

Service delivery and management who are responsible for ensuring ICT services are aligned to the needs of CQC and that suppliers are delivering services to the quality set out in their contracts

IT training which focuses on supporting CQC staff make be the best use of the equipment and software supplied to them, raising the general level of IT skill across the Commission as well as designing and delivering programmes of IT training in support of major business initiatives

IT financial management which aims to give accurate and cost effective stewardship of IT assets and resources

2.2.3 ICT Live work with three main suppliers:

Atos who provide the core ICT facilities including helpdesk, desktop support, email, remote access & broadband and data centre hosting via the IMS3 contract. This is a shared service, led by DH and used by a small number of other arm’s length bodies (ALBs) including NHS England. There are currently 12,000 users of the service although it will eventually be used by DH and most of its ALBs, a total of around 18,000 users. This contract expires in July 2018.

Computacenter who host and support the Oracle Siebel CRM system and the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) data warehouse that underpin the delivery of the regulatory model for CQC. This contract expires in September 2015.

Vodafone who provides a converged voice, video conferencing and data network as well as mobile telephony services for phones, BlackBerrys and iPads. This contract expires in August 2015.

In addition there are around 40 suppliers who provide support and maintenance for software, applications and minor infrastructure components.

2.2.4 On a day to day basis, the ISD and ICT Live teams work in partnership to deliver high

quality and available IT systems for 2,600 CQC staff, wherever they work. They ensure that systems are reliable, working with suppliers to diagnose and correct any problems that occur. Alongside that they deliver new and enhanced systems to meet the needs of CQC staff.

2.2.5 A small number of systems used by CQC are supported by the Digital Development

team in Engagement. ICT will work with Digital Development to support the introduction of these systems and put in place robust arrangements for them.

2.3 Estates and Facilities 2.3.1 Estates and Facilities is led by Andrew Evans and has a total of 12 staff. The team

oversees the efficient running of the CQC offices in 7 locations. This includes the provision of all property and facilities services, business continuity, landlord liaison and capital developments. In addition, they undertake planning and project work to ensure that CQC offices are fit for purpose; seeking out new accommodation to

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provide an effective working space for office based staff and for mobile staff in need of office facilities. The Estates & Facilities revenue budget is £9M pa and the capital investment programme is normally in the region of £1M-£2M pa.

Estates and Facilities Team Structure

2.3.2 The Estates and Facilities team are based in both London and Newcastle and

undertake all related activities in those offices. They work closely with and oversee the estates functions in all other offices although at present a number of the facilities responsibilities are carried out by the office management teams in offices other than London and Newcastle, these functions are being reviewed as part of the business services review across CQC. The annual revenue budget is £9.3m.

2.3.3 Estates & Facilities is responsible for:

Managing the safety of our estate including buildings and employee statutory safety through maintenance regimes and arrangements; and property management, landlord and lease management

Development and implementation of the Estates Strategy while leading the project management of relocations, restacks, acquisitions and disposals

Managing building services including buildings maintenance, reception, internal security, catering services both for staff and external meetings, mail room services, space planning, cleaning services

Service and contractual management of external Facilities Management, Catering, Design & Project Management, Estates Professional Services, such as agents and surveyors, and Property Solicitors

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CQC Business Continuity Management administration and development of policy, strategy, systems and arrangements, including buildings emergency response plans, Incident management planning, exercise and training programme, business impact assessment plans and control of documents and records

BCM Policy and Strategy operational and implementation documents/plans which require alignment with actual business priorities such as the National Contact Centre, Inspection and regulation, our IT systems and the health & safety of our staff

2.4 The Systems 2.4.1 Shortly after CQC’s creation, a government moratorium was imposed on the

procurement of new IT systems. CQC therefore had to create its supporting business systems using technology that it had inherited from predecessor organisations. The moratorium was lifted after two years, following the implementation of extensive spending controls by the Cabinet Office and the release of a government IT strategy that provides clear guidance on the procurement of government IT.

2.4.2 As a result systems at CQC are often a mix of legacy applications, tactical solutions

and workarounds. Information is duplicated across systems or is difficult to share between them. Support for many important systems relies on ad-hoc arrangements or using contractors working on development to handle faults when they arise.

2.4.3 The following table lists the key systems in use by CQC and the teams that are

responsible for maintaining them.

System Purpose Responsibility

CRM Manages all of CQC’s regulatory workflows and information, focused primarily on operational staff.

ISD (development) ICT (Live)

Data Warehouse (OBIEE)

Holds CQC’s regulatory information, in a structure that is designed to produce reports by ISD, Intelligence or end users. Data Packs are currently produced by this system.

ISD (development) ICT (Live)

Intranet Provides the underpinning software that runs the Intranet. However, the content is provided by other teams in CQC.

ISD

SharePoint Provides a platform that is used to create a number of systems in use at CQC, such as the Interim Scheduling Tool.

ISD

Drupal Provides the platform on which the CQC website and Online Services are run.

Digital Development

Kofax Provides intelligent scanning of documents at NCSC and routing into CRM.

ICT

Data Collection

On line forms for external and internal surveys. ICT

SFTP Secure File Transfer Protocol service. Allows CQC to send and received confidential information.

ICT

Enterprise Service Bus

A recently implemented system that provides the tools to join up CQC systems.

ISD

Outlook Provides e-mail and calendar. ICT

Hi-Path Provides telephony call management for NCSC. ICT

Finance, HR Currently run as a shared service with DH via Shared Finance and

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& payroll Business Services. HR

Microsoft Office

Provides software such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint.

ICT

Shared drive The place where we store our documents in the absence of a dedicated system to manage documents and the knowledge within them more proactively.

Intelligence

2.5 The benefits and outstanding issues of those systems that are the responsibility of

Infrastructure and Corporate Services are outlined below.

CRM

Benefits Issues

Provides:

A reliable system that maintains strong control over the quality and access to CQC’s regulatory information.

A single tool that all operations staff use to carry out and record their regulatory engagement

CRM has been developed to deliver functionality beyond that of a Customer Relationship Management system. Whilst this has the benefit of all functionality being in one place and in one system, compromises have to be made in the delivery of functionality which has led to a system which is seen as cumbersome and difficult to use. Has a high cost of change. Perceived as difficult to change within CQC desired timescales.

Data Warehouse (OBIEE)

Benefits Issues

Provides:

A reliable system that maintains strong control over the quality of reporting on CQC’s regulatory and management information.

One of the three leading data warehouse tools

A single, flexible, reporting and query tool.

Automatic linkage with changes in CRM system.

The Information Management Strategy makes recommendations about the way that we store, reference and use information we hold about care providers. The way that information in the warehouse is structured will need to be changed to reflect those recommendations.

Intranet

Benefits Issues

Stable and reliable low cost platform that provides CQC’s Intranet.

The software is based on a product that has the 2007 version implemented, needs to be upgraded to 2012 to provide better editorial facilities and functionality.

Sharepoint

Benefits Issues

Industry standard collaboration tool.

As for Intranet. The software is based on a product that has the 2007 version implemented, needs to be upgraded to 2012 to provide better editorial facilities

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and functionality.

Kofax

Benefits Issues

Reliable and scalable system that underpins the delivery of automated scanning at NCSC. Has a variety of available modules that could be used in the future other functions such as the management of fax.

None.

Data Collection Service

Benefits Issues

Reliable and scalable system that enables CQC to perform surveys with external and internal sources.

None.

SFTP

Benefits Issues

Enables CQC to transfer large amounts of data securely between ourselves and any 3rd party.

None.

Enterprise Service Bus (ESB)

Benefits Issues

Industry standard systems integration platform.

None.

Outlook

Benefits Issues

Reliable and most commonly used email and calendar system. Integrates easily with most IT systems

None.

Hi-Path

Benefits Issues

Reliable and commonly used call centre management system,

There are outstanding requests for better reporting, greater integration with CRM and provision of support for workforce planning. Current contract expires in December 2015.

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Microsoft Office

Benefits Issues

Industry standard toolset. None

2.5.1 Although progress has been made to developing all of these systems, front line

delivery staff report that significant effort is expended constructing the information that we need to inform decision making. There are a number of reasons for this, including restrictions around the use of information and its disparate sources. Our current information structures do not easily support the provision of information that is closely matched to an individual’s needs, relevant to the activity they are undertaking and that is unambiguous in its meaning.

2.5.2 Part of the reason for this is that our processes and systems have been largely

driven by structures and processes given or implied by regulations, rather than focusing on the needs of people who use our systems. The Cabinet Office recommends that all systems design should be user centred and place the user experience at the centre of design.

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2.6 The Equipment 2.6.1 CQC staff currently have access to a range of equipment and services to support

their work. Following the move to the IMS3 shared service in 2013 equipment and software has been modernised. In most cases software is either the most current version or the one prior to it. Laptop PCs are 18 months old or less and there are firm plans to replace the desktop PCs. Access to specific software or equipment is generally driven by job role. In June 2014 CQC had around 1500 home based workers and a further 1000 based in an office. Equipment deployed includes:

- 1345 desktop PCs - 1900 laptop PCs - 1850 BlackBerrys - 130 iPads - 130 mobiles (non BlackBerry)

2.6.2 ICT expect to deploy an additional 550 laptops, 500 BlackBerrys and 50 iPads over

the next six to nine months as new staff join the Commission. Overprovision of equipment is common. Many staff have access to two devices and a significant number have access to a laptop, a desktop PC, a BlackBerry and an iPad. Each item has a monthly contract cost to CQC.

2.6.3 Driven by a combination of desk availability and desire for flexible working, the

demand for laptops, iPads and Blackberrys remains steady and the number deployed continue to increase. Feedback from CQC staff and managers has made it clear that equipment to support flexible working needs to be the default for almost all staff. Meeting this level of demand is not sustainable if CQC continues to duplicate provision of equipment, especially laptops.

2.7 Buildings 2.7.1 CQC currently has seven main offices. Of these, two house the majority of office

based staff: Finsbury Tower in London and Citygate in Newcastle. At its inception CQC actively supported moving a high proportion of its staff to be home based workers. Whilst this might have been expected to be conducive to enhanced productivity and reduced accommodation costs it has not helped to develop a cohesive CQC culture in which staff are supported to develop and collaborate in order to pursue an excellent and cohesive operating model. Staff have reported that the lack of a local place to touch down or meet with colleagues leads to a lack of engagement with the wider team and the risk of developing different working methodologies and practices. The nature of CQC’s business necessitates a mobile workforce which can be present at the providers that we regulate.

2.7.2 Over the next three years, the CQC workforce will grow significantly in numbers and

this must be considered alongside the accommodation changes necessitated by some current leases expiring and Government guidelines. New joiners to CQC also have an expectation of a modern working environment where mobile access is the norm and technology is used to its fullest potential to enhance productivity. The analysis below shows that there are already significant accommodation pressures at our London and Newcastle offices which will increase as more staff are recruited. However, there is capacity for growth at our Bristol, Leeds and Preston offices, and there will be space desks at our new Birmingham office, open in early 2015.

2.7.3 The Government estates strategy sets out maximum space standards to be achieved of no more than 8 sqm per FTE by the end of 2015. The current CQC overall space

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use is 12 sqm per FTE, but we expect to meet the Government space standard of 8 sqm per FTE by the end of 2015, as the table below shows. Private leases will no longer be supported by the Cabinet Office and it will be necessary for CQC to consider existing government estate for future office locations.

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Section 3: The Future Infrastructure of CQC 3.1 In section 2 we described the current state, outlining the scope and need for

improvement to how and where we work and the role of the Infrastructure Directorate within this. In this section we outline the vision for the future and the projects, programmes and developments which will help us achieve our vision which will improve our systems, communications and buildings to support our staff in delivering high quality, reliable and consistent regulatory activities.

Areas of focus and developments can be classified into four key areas:

Systems and architecture

Mobility

People

Premises 3.2 Systems and Architecture 3.2.1 In order to achieve our vision, CQC’s supporting IT systems need to be closely

matched to the needs of its workforce. Many of our critical activities are undertaken in our people’s homes, provider settings and other non-office locations which present a significantly different set of challenges and needs than those experienced by office based workers. Systems need to be in place to effectively capture, retrieve and report data regarding registration, inspection and enforcement and to support consistent and reliable reporting across all CQC functions. It is also crucial that CQC systems support excellent business processes including good financial management, fees and billing, HR systems, time recording, payroll, training and project management.

3.2.2 In order to make sure that systems are able to be used by mobile and home based

workers, we will ensure that they make use of web based technologies, which are inherently better suited to mobile use. Over the lifetine of the strategy, where possible and where we do not compromise our responsibilities for security and the governance of information, we will also look to procure these services in ‘the cloud’, which makes them independent of location and the technology used to access them. These systems and services will be developed or procured in a manner that closely supports people’s roles and they will be involved in their development, testing and implementation.

3.2.3 Alongside this we will place greater emphasis on the maintenance that our systems

need. Historically, this has taken place in a reactive manner, responding to increases in capacity that are needed or manufacturers support for software. This will involve investing in the continuous improvement of our systems to improve their currency and usability as part of the annual capital programme, ensuring that we give the people who use our systems the best technology support that we are able to afford.

3.2.4 We will evolve the way that we carry out our regulatory processes over time and

information, tools and processes must be agile enough to evolve with them. The pace of change in the technology and services market has also increased in the last three years. We need to be able to respond quickly to those changes and the opportunities and challenges they present.

3.2.5 As described in the last section, the majority of our operational functions are provided

by CRM and the Data Warehouse. These are effectively a single system, designed by the software manufacturer to work together. The integration with other systems is

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adequate, but basic and does not easily support real time or frequent exchange of data.

3.2.6 It is clear that some functions may be best provided through other commodity

systems which are designed specifically for the functions required. The key to success in the implementation of these other systems is how all systems work together. A critical success factor will therefore be the implementation of our Strategic Integration project which will ensure that whatever systems are used, they integrate with others, obviating the need for multiple entry of data and interrogation. Investments in strategic capacity, for example the Strategic Integration tool (the Enterprise Service Bus or ESB) will drive rationalisation allowing CQC to retire legacy systems and replace the ‘workarounds’ or tactical solutions that have grown up over time.

3.2.7 The vision for the future state is a move to a set of specialised and where possible

commodity systems or services. These specialised systems will be closely targeted to the functions that they support. For example there are many dedicated time recording and scheduling solutions on the market with richer functionality than can be made available in CRM. The consequence of moving to specialised systems is that they need to be integrated and able to reliably and securely pass information between them, often in real time. That capability is provided by the Strategic Integration project that is currently in delivery. This provides a common platform that other systems can 'bolt' on to and manages the movement of information between systems.

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Systems and Architecture Summary of Project Expected End State

Strategic integration (ESB) Deliver a system that enables the secure and reliable passing of data between all of CQC’s IT systems. To be fully completed, within a secure infrastructure and available for use by other projects by April 2015.

Secure mechanism available to projects to implement data flows. Project proposal to look at the costs and benefits of migrating existing integrations.

CRM Development / New system – see scoping study

Creation of a system to provide end to end support of CQC’s new approach to regulation primarily focused on Inspection and Assessment. The scoping study, which is jointly owned with Strategy and Intelligence, is due to complete by April 2015; its findings will determine the approach and timescale for this. The existing system is being updated to meet the critical requirements of the new approach to inspection and registration.

Operational staff equipped with tools that support CQC’s business processes and make it easier for staff to carry out those processes.

CRM and OBIEE Support – Adding functionality

Updating the system to responding to ad-hoc improvements in business process or changes to functionality. These system updates take place three to four times a year.

Our core systems are able to respond to changes in organisational process, structure or need.

Switch Maintenance and Refresh During 2014/15 begin the replacement of old local area network switches. Project may extend into 2015/16.

New equipment, fully supported by manufacturers and able to support wireless networking.

CRM Support By Oct 2015 put in place contractual arrangements for the application support, hosting and development of CRM & the data warehouse (OBIEE).

CRM and the data warehouse remain available and fully supported.

CRM Infrastructure By the end of 2014/15 upgrade, expand and modernise the underpinning CRM and data warehouse infrastructure.

Virtualised CRM and data warehouse infrastructure running on current versions of software with expanded capacity. Enhanced disaster recovery capabilities.

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3.3 Mobility 3.3.1 Changes in the way that we work and how we use our office space means that more

of our staff spend time working away from their normal place of work. This theme suggests that, rather than thinking about our processes and tools from the point of view of an office based worker, our primary view should be that of a mobile worker who needs to carry out their work from multiple locations. Live connection to the CQC network, cannot, however, be guaranteed at all times due to limitations present at the place staff are working. Future designs of processes and tools will take into account the fact that they may not always be able to be connected to the CQC network, or that connection speeds may be slow.

3.3.2 We are increasingly working with partner organisations and people who are not CQC

employees and who may not be in the same locations. We need to be able to support this change in approach and culture to ensure that communication and joint working on activities such as an inspection and its outputs is timely, efficient and supports the highest quality outcomes that we can deliver. This will involve looking at culture, capability, process, information and tools to ensure they are closely aligned.

3.3.2 We will provide a full range of teleconferencing and video conferencing facilities,

ranging from making better use of current desktop conferencing using Lync, to video conferencing for full team meetings, subject to the constraints of the UK public infrastructure. To support this we will look to ensure these services are available for remote workers. This will be possible within two years for those who live in a place where high speed, fibre optic broadband is available. We will also develop a range of mobile device options, linked to roles, to better support mobile workers.

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Mobility Summary of Project Expected End State

Collaboration Provides the capability for all staff, primarily Inspectors and inspection teams to share information and work on documents together.

Better co-ordination and communication between teams and individuals working with information and producing documents, resulting in better quality judgements and reports.

Lync In 2015/16 we will update the version of Lync so that it remains in support by Microsoft. We will also explore options to join the CQC video conference facilities and the Lync infrastructure together enabling people working from home to join team VCs

Minor changes to the look and feel of Lync with potentially some improvement to performance for home based workers. Ability for limited numbers to join full video conferences with colleagues.

Home based Broadband

During 2015/16 introduce an option for high speed broadband for home based workers. Where available and subject to business case upgrade existing connections.

Subject to local availability staff will experience improved stability and connection speeds for CQC business broadband.

Blackberry During 2015/16 carry out a review of requirements for a handheld device supporting mobile telephony, instant messaging, access to email and support for attachments (mainly MS Word and MS Excel). Identify options which may include upgrading the BlackBerry service or replacement with another smartphone. Project will be carried out in collaboration with other IMS3 users including DH.

A fully supported IMS3 service providing a functionally rich smartphone with secure access to email and good handling of attachments.

Email In 2015/16 Support the delivery of the Information Management Strategy by developing options for email archiving and attachment management (subject to business case approval and funding of the IM strategy)

Easier management of email and email quotas.

Mobility During 2014/15 roll out an option that allows remote access laptops to connect to wireless connections in hotels, coffee shops and other locations.

Improved wireless accessibility to the Internet for CQC secure remote access service (SRAS) laptops.

During 2014/15 produce and test a wireless local area network solution for office connections.

Supports flexible use of CQC offices and easier connections when in an office for laptop users.

From Q4 2014/15 support flexible working by beginning the replacement the majority of desktop PCs with remote access enabled laptops. The project will continue into to 2015/16 FY.

Most CQC staff will be enabled to work flexibly by default although the CQC Flexible Working Policy will still apply.

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3.4 People

3.4.1 It is implicit in the themes outlined above that people will be working in a way that is less governed by detailed process and more about making judgements within a framework of rules and principles. This implies that the tools and information people use will be less prescriptive and more open and flexible. That in turn means that people will need to develop the capability to make full use of those tools to effectively support their work.

3.4.2 We will train all of our people to enable them to perform at their best, through a

dedicated IT training team providing a mixture of classroom, distance and e-learning based training covering a range of IT skills and topics. To support the training and development of our staff, all main offices will have dedicated training and development areas which will allow collaborative working and breakout sessions to ensure that all staff are kept fully up to date with developments. We will support the CQC Academy by ensuring that areas are available for formal training and that, where appropriate on-line training packages are fully supported and user friendly to ensure the most efficient delivery of training. IS&ICT will also support making the best use of the Learning Management System by integrating with other systems via the data integration tool. We will also identify technical ways to make LMS more accessible by introducing single sign on and considering deployment of smartphone style apps to CQC staff.

3.4.3 In addition to supporting staff in the wider organisation we will ensure that full

opportunities exist for the staff in the Infrastructure Directorate. In the past, a significant number of our staff have been contractors, whilst this has served a purpose, it is not conducive to providing good opportunities for in house staff and does not lend itself to good knowledge transfer and on-going development of systems. We are moving to a sourcing model that makes more use of permanent staff to develop systems, ensuring the embedding of business knowledge and reducing costs. We are reducing our reliance on contractors and suppliers, except to meet short term capacity or to gain access to specialist skills. We will continue to provide regular review and appraisal of staff to ensure that CQC fulfils its ambition to be an employer of choice with good career opportunities.

3.4.4 In line with the requirements from the Department of Health, the hosting and support

of our core infrastructure will remain outsourced. We will also outsource other, commodity, services where CQC will derive a benefit from economies of scale. Outsourced services will be obtained from a range of suppliers to reduce lock in, increase responsiveness to business and technology changes and deliver the best possible value for money.

3.4.5 Our service management team will continue to be staffed by permanent staff to

ensure that services are delivered and managed by a team that works directly for and is accountable to CQC. We will also consider whether the impact of multi-sourcing suppliers and services will require ICT to increase its Service Management capacity, including the adoption of the Cabinet Office Service Integration and Management (SIAM) Framework.

3.4.6 We will develop robust, consistent and value for money support approaches for all

live systems. These will allow CQC to move away from ad-hoc support arrangements, ensuring that faults are identified and fixed quickly, that systems are maintained properly and upgraded when appropriate. We will discuss with Digital Development how they could make use of these mechanisms for systems and services they have developed.

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People Summary of Project Expected End State

Review of Contract support

Reduction in the use of contractors in the Information Systems Development team.

Ninety percent of the people developing our systems are permanent employees. Improved opportunities for career progression within CQC.

Workforce Change Throughout 2014/15 and into 2015/16 provide personal IT equipment, telephony and MS Office licenses for 600+ new staff joining the Commission.

New hires will have access to the tools and IT facilities to do their job.

Training The ICT Training team develops and/or sources appropriate training reference materials and hand-out materials, ensuring that course content and materials are valid and up to date with current software versions and applications. Training programmes are delivered to all staff, in a variety of settings using various media, for example classroom training, workshops, on-to-one tuition, e-learning and online webinars.

A comprehensive portfolio of training covering the full range of CQC systems, applications and devices. Wherever possible training will be accessible in a range of settings including classroom and online. ICT training will be integrated into the wider Academy training programme.

Provision of training and development areas within new premises

Between 2015 and 2017 we will be moving to new premises in Birmingham and London and will be introducing four regional ‘hubs’ in areas where home based staff currently have a long journey to the nearest office (Cambridge, Penrith, Plymouth and Southampton).

The new offices in Birmingham and London will provide excellent facilities for training, development and collaborative working, including video conferencing facilities. The hubs will provide local meeting rooms and workstations to allow local teams to meet and undertake development activities. Staff will feel supported by the organisation and more closely affiliated with a common CQC vision and culture.

Restructure of Estates and Facilities

The current structure will be reviewed to ensure that roles are closely aligned to the requirements of the business and that career progression is offered through the structure. In conjunction with the Business services review, the facilities functions in regional offices and the new hubs will be reviewed and fully incorporated into role specifications.

Staff will be supported in achieving excellent Estates and Facilities services across all locations and will feel valued and supported in pursuing career opportunities. There will be a uniform level of provision of facilities functions across all locations with a common branding, format and available resource at each office – enabling staff to move easily between offices and work from the location that is best suited to their needs.

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3.5 Premises 3.5.1 Through the implementation of this strategy we will ensure that all staff have a

supportive, facilitative and corporate infrastructure which enables staff to move easily from their home setting to collaborative workspace and provider settings.

3.5.2 Alongside our developments in mobile working, new office space will ensure that all

staff are able to move easily between locations, access systems and equipment, and that staff have access to an office desk when required. A variety of work settings will therefore be available to employees – traditional office, Hub office, at home, hosted by partners or mobile. The creation of good permanent office space with areas for training, collaborative working and development of CQCs products and services as well as the supporting corporate functions which will enable the functioning of an excellent public sector organisation

3.5.3 Major developments include the move of the London Office base from Finsbury

Tower to offices at Buckingham Palace Road and the creation of regional ‘hubs’ which will enable staff in remote locations to ‘touch down’ meet with colleagues and ensure that they feel ‘part of’ CQC.

3.5.4 The Government Property Unit (GPU) vision is to create an efficient, fit-for-purpose

and sustainable estate that delivers value for money and facilitates flexible working. To achieve this the GPU works collaboratively across the public sector, acting as a catalyst for change, to create an effective and efficient government estate, which provides value for money for the taxpayer, reduces our environmental impact and enables improvements in the way we work. The unit’s main objectives are to rationalise the number of properties in the central civil estate and to deliver maximum savings through:

policing the National Property Controls, which do not allow lease renewals, sales or acquisitions on new properties without the Minister for the Cabinet Office’s approval - these controls helped the government to reduce the running costs of its administrative estate from May 2010 to March 2013 by £454 million per annum

working closely with departments to provide place-based rationalisation plans across England for the central government office estate; setting out a plan to use our buildings more efficiently and bring office supply and demand into balance

3.5.5 CQC is therefore required to implement the GPU workplace standards whenever we

create a new office. These are:

Space to be allocated at not more than 10sqm/FTE

A variety of work settings are available to employees – HQ, hub, home or host (four Hs)

Fewer desks than FTEs - encouraging flexible working. 3.5.6 To support this GPU has developed an on-line web based application primarily for

Government Departments and ALB’S use, enabling:

the sharing and booking of meeting rooms;

the sharing and booking of workstations;

the finding of surplus government accommodation 3.5.7 Through ‘the way we work’ programme, GPU is leading on development of modern

workplaces in line with the Civil Service Reform Plan. This includes encouraging the large scale application of more agile forms of working, changes in work culture,

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technology and layout as well as providing more choice of work locations. In practice, this means:

work being done in a number of settings, not just at a desk, in an office desk-sharing and good workplace design to increase capacity and reduce costs IT that allows staff to work efficiently, in any location security and access arrangements that make it easy, yet safe, to work in a variety of

settings behavioural and managerial changes that support flexibility, productivity and

effectiveness in all work settings

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Premise Projects Project Summary Expected End State

London relocation

Government property controls require CQC to exercise the lease break and exit by May 2016. The challenge is to locate fit for purpose accommodation for CQC HQ functions and staff in central London location with good transport links and close proximity to key Health and Social Care stakeholders. The project must be complete before May 2016.

A flexible and modern working environment in central London capable of meeting future service demands and changes in working practices. Achievement of the objectives of our new workforce model and enabling our teams to work better together. Compliance with GPU guidelines.

Birmingham relocation

We are required to vacate the current offices in Birmingham as they are being demolished. New offices have been located in central Birmingham which meet with CQC criteria of flexible working space, good access to local amenities and travel links, disabled access and space for training, development and collaborative working. The move will be complete by February 2015

A flexible and modern working environment in central Birmingham that is capable of meeting future service demands and changes in working practices.

Hub office development

Estates and ICT will deliver four new ‘hubs’ in Cambridge, Penrith, Plymouth and Southampton, these will ensure that by March 2015 all our home-working staff have a ‘local’ office to; o Hold meetings o Use touchdown desks o Access the CQC network o Use welfare facilities

Each hub office being well used by regional staff and a reduction in the use of external meeting rooms. Regional staff will feel better supported by CQC in being able to access fit for purpose space in which to touch down and work collaboratively.

Leeds office relocation

Government property controls require CQC to exercise the lease break and exit by January 2016; We will work with DH, GPU and Leeds City Council to identify suitable future accommodation options by January 2015

Provision of a flexible and modern working environment in central Leeds that is capable of meeting future service demands and changes in working practices.

Citygate, Newcastle

Options will be explored to ensure that three is sufficient capacity in central Newcastle locations to accommodate our growing workforce.

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Section 4: Governance and Principles: 4.1 The Infrastructure Strategy will be owned by the Director of Infrastructure and

Corporate Service Development who will work closely with Director of Intelligence to ensure the fitness of technology solutions from a technical and business perspective and that government information, technology and estates strategies are followed.

4.2 Investment decisions will be assessed by CQC’s Investment Committee, ensuring

that sustainable, value for money investments are made. Business acceptance will take place through the testing of services and products by the people who will use them, as part of a user acceptance testing phase that will be present in all projects.

4.3 When investments are approved, the projects that implement those systems will

make use of a gated approach to delivery, ensuring that there are regular points in all projects where the people commissioning the projects and the people who will use them, review progress and what is being delivered and are able to effectively guide and direct the project. In line with Cabinet Office guidance, where possible an agile approach to the delivery of projects will be followed.

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4.4 Principles 4.4.1 The principles of this strategy are as follows

We will ensure that all investments in technology services, systems and premises

are subject to a robust value for money test and that, when procurement takes

place, it uses the most cost effective, competitive frameworks available to us.

We will seek to reuse before building or buying, where an existing service or

system can be demonstrated to be fit for CQC’s purpose and meet the criteria set

by how and where we work.

We will review our systems regularly and consider change and investment as a

result.

Where new technology investments are needed, we will seek to procure

commodity, consumer grade, products and services, where they exist and meet the

business need.

Where new buildings are required we will ensure full engagement with the

Government Property Unit and follow guidelines provided.

We will invest in services, technologies and buildings that closely meet the needs

of the people who will use those services and an infrastructure that enables them

to be integrated and provided wherever and whenever they are needed on any

appropriate device.

All technology investments and assets will be centrally managed to ensure they

are secure, well supported and able to integrate with CQC’s other systems.

We will ensure that the agility, adaptability and ease and speed of change are

agreed and made explicit in all technology investments.

We will ensure that the usability and security of technology investments are

explicitly considered and weighted alongside functionality and that the people

who will use systems are involved in their development and procurement.

We will ensure that all investments in technology and buildings are able to be

flexed to support changes in the scale of our activity and where possible and

appropriate, are able to be used by other regulatory partners.

Risks for the infrastructure team will be captured, mitigated and reported through

CQCs risk management processes and systems.