PHE Evaluation Discovery and a further programme of digital work

Tender description

Summary of the work To perform Discovery and potentially other phases of service development on a programme of work for PHE. This is likely to include, but is not limited, to the PHE Evaluation project. The Supplier may be required to run two or more Discovery phases simultaneously in the next couple of months Expected Contract Length 24 months Latest start date Monday 16 April 2018 Budget Range Up to £60,000 (including VAT) for each Discovery phase Why the Work is Being Done The Evaluation project will support the standardisation of how PHE evaluates the digital health tools it develops and any external products the organisation might endorse in the future. There is a wealth of data and experience within PHE; in existent research; and, within PHE’s delivery partners that can be used much more effectively. The Evaluation project will identify which processes, standards and metrics are appropriate for the digital services it develops or procures, and enabling digital project and products to use these. Problem to Be Solved As an evidence-based organisation, PHE should only be supporting and developing digital public health interventions that can prove their effectiveness and demonstrate value. Despite an urgent demand for evidence-based digital products, there are no standard guidelines on what should be measured, how, or by whom. This presents barriers to greater adoption of digital health because of a lack of standard metrics on effectiveness, data management and value for money. The problem to be addressed by the Evaluation project is how to effectively use this knowledge / data to evaluate digital public health interventions. Who Are the Users The public who use the digital public health interventions. PHE staff including those working in health programs and digital. External agencies and consultants working on PHE digital projects. Early Market Engagement None Existing Team The work will be with the PHE Digital team, PHE staff more broadly and a national network of stakeholders Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • E1) Recent and demonstrable experience in conducting the Discovery phase of projects relating to the use of digital solutions in the health sector • E2) Recent and demonstrable experience of applying the principles of user centred design to the development of digital solutions. • E3) Demonstrable experience of designing and/or assessing digital tools to attract and meet the needs of a diverse range of users. • E4) Recent and demonstrable experience of working with organisations to change their way of working including introducing service design or user-centred design methodologies Nice to Haves • N1) Recent and demonstrable engagement with public sector organisations, such as central and local government, particularly relating to public health. • N2) Experience of working with a group of stakeholders including healthcare experts, healthcare providers, digital development teams, and the general public • N3) Recent and demonstrable experience of working with interdisciplinary and cross disciplinarily project teams including clinical and research science project members • N4) Recent and demonstrable engagement with hard to reach groups and/or users inclusion of users with limited digital skills • N5) Recent and demonstrable experience of integrating insight from scientific disciplines such as health economics into the development of digital solutions Work Location The work can be performed from any location, but it will be co-ordinated by staff in PHE’s London Offices. Working Arrangments Work may be carried out from multiple locations including the Supplier’s offices. Attendance at PHE Offices in London and in other locations around England will be required for meetings. Supplier staff are expected to be on-site at PHE locations sufficient to manage relationships with senior stakeholders; the exemplar project team and users; and, stakeholders and users in other organisations so that the outcomes of the project may be met Security Clearance Not required. Additional T&Cs None No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • P1) Proposed approach to conducting the Discovery phase of a multidisciplinary public health project and capability to manage multiple projects. (max score 30) • P2) Proposed approach to applying the principles user centred design and user insights to the development of digital solutions. (max score: 30) Cultural Fit Criteria • The shortlisted suppliers will be invited to demonstrate cultural fit in in the following: • C1) working within the constraints of public sector organisations including budgets, timescales and change (max score 6); • C2) working with a range of stakeholders including ones that have little knowledge of agile or user-centred design (max score 6); and • C3) work with stakeholders that are from a range of disciplines including science, technology and policy that have apparently opposing interpretations of project goals (max score 8), • by way of presentation that outlines the suppliers approach to a brief scenario set out in the Request for Proposal. Suppliers may also summarise key points of their written proposal. Payment Approach Capped time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. You mention "applying the principles of user centred design to the development of digital solutions." Does PHE have an agreed/preferred methodology for user centred design? If so, can you share a copy? PHE does not currently have a preferred methodology for user-centred design. 2. "digital health tools it develops" - who, in your opinion, are the primary users of the digital health tools that you develop today? The general public. 3. Will a GDS compliance assessment be undertaken during the project? A GDS service assessment will be run at the end of the alpha and beta phases. An internal service assessment at PHE may be run at the end of the discovery phase. 4. Have existing third party suppliers been working with PHE to help shape your thinking on this project? If so, who has been involved to date? No. 5. Please can you clarify what will be the controlling scope that determines the completion against Discovery scope? The outputs of discovery will be determined by the PHE project team (in line with GDS standards) and agreed upon with the supplier before commencing. Please refer to the GDS Service Manual Discovery phase page for more information on expected outputs at the end of a discovery phase. 6. Is it PHE intention that digital health tools will require a GDS service assessment at the end of each stage e.g. Alpha, Beta, etc.? A GDS service assessment will be run at the end of the alpha and beta phases. An internal service assessment at PHE may be run at the end of the discovery phase. 7. How does PHE currently evaluate the digital health tools it develops - is this a manual process? There a number of teams across PHE evaluating the digital health tools developed by the organisation. This will be explored during the discovery phase. 8. Is there an agreed enterprise/digital architecture available for PHE that we can review? No. 9. As part of this process, will we be allowed to meet PHE stakeholders to understand what key decision makers see as a successful outcome for this engagement and how to best approach the project – both technically and commercially? Short-listed suppliers will have an opportunity to meet a number of stakeholders during the Presentation phase of the Further Competition. 10. Please advise if an official project plan is available with indicative timescales for delivery? No official project plan is available. The project plan etc. will be a joint piece between PHE and the chosen supplier. 11. Has any work been completed to map the required processes for the digital services? Similarly, can you please explain what methods and techniques have been used and the level of details completed e.g. processes mapped to APQC level 3? No. 12. Does PHE intend for the supplier methodology to align to the Digital Service Standard? All digital projects at PHE must align with the Digital Service Standard. 13. How long is each discovery phase expected to last? 6-8 weeks. 14. "The Supplier may be required to run two or more Discovery phases simultaneously in the next couple of months". Do you suggest these Discoveries run in parallel or concurrently, with each Discovery building on the last? To be determined. The discovery phases may run in parallel or at separate times. The discovery phases may be for various projects. 15. Will you be providing a Q&A session for prospective suppliers? If so, when will this take place? No. Any questions based on the advert should be asked within the relevant timeframe. Shortlisted suppliers will also have 1 week to ask questions based on the Request for Proposal. 16. During Discovery the creation of userstories will be stored where? Trello? PivotaTracker (as per GDS) if so who provides? The project team will use JIRA/Confluence provided by PHE Digital. 17. What constitutes a diverse range of users? (Question E3) Question E3 is open to interpretation. It is a chance for suppliers to showcase work they have done with different types or groups of users. A diverse range of users could be, for example, people with differing levels of education and digital literacy. It could also be users with varying socioeconomic status. 18. What is the success criteria ? What does a happy journey look like? How do we measure success? This is yet to be defined. 19. What tools and software from a Social collaboration and metrics perspective does the PHE have access to? The project team will use JIRA/Confluence provided by PHE Digital. The chosen supplier is welcome to suggest other social collaboration tools for the project. 20. What are the other projects that take up the twenty four months if the evaluation project only runs for a couple of months? Discovery for the Evaluation Project is scheduled to last 8 weeks. Dependent on the results of this, the successful supplier will potentially be offered the remaining phases of the project; Alpha, Beta & Live. It is estimated that the total duration of this project will be 24 months. The successful supplier may also work on the discovery phase for other PHE projects. 21. Given that future service development could potentially be a requirement, could we clarify if this would need to include creation / delivery of digital health tools and digital services (e.g. development / coding) as well as designing and/or assessing digital tools? Future service development may require the design and delivery of a digital solution during the beta phase. The capability to deliver a digital solution in the later phases of the project is not a requirement for the successful supplier for the discovery phase. 22. Are PHE able to provide examples of the kinds of digital health tools and digital services that are in need of new measurement standards please? No. Current PHE digital tools are openly available to the public to view. 23. We notice the expected contact duration is 24 months. Could some more information be provided as to why this contract would be estimated to span over 2 years? Discovery for the Evaluation Project is scheduled to last 8 weeks. Dependent on the results of this, the successful supplier will potentially be offered the remaining phases of the project; Alpha, Beta & Live. It is estimated that the total duration of this project could be up to 24 months.