Primary Care Smart Phone Roll Out-Programme

 

The Office of the Chief Information Office’s (OoCIO) Primary Care smart phone project, which began 2 years ago, officially closed in the second week in November having delivered the final batch of mobile phones two months ahead of schedule. In total 3,468 staff received new smart phones as part of a hugely successful national project which rolled out phones to front line Primary Care staff across all 9 x CHOs. The project team adopted a phased approach, moving through one CHO at a time until the entire country had been covered. The staff that received phones included Public Health Nurses, dieticians, physiotherapists, speech & language therapists, dental staff and occupational therapists. A mix of delivery options was used to ensure the timely receipt of the smart phones to staff throughout each area. On-site clinics in health centres and primary care centres around the country where staff were invited to collect their new devices and have them configured by specialist technical support. Where this was not possible, phones were delivered to staff’s own work address with follow up support provided subsequently. Staff who received phones were set up using one of three different connection types, depending on whether they were existing phone users or not.

1.        Port – Primary Care staff with existing numbers on Three and Eir were ported (moved) to Vodafone and received a new smart phone.

2.        Upgrade - Primary Care staff with existing Vodafone devices received a new smart phone.

3.        New connection - Primary Care staff who previously did not have a phone received a new smart phone and new number.

Fearghal Duffy Senior ICT Project Manager, David Maguire ICT Project Officer Change & Portfolio Management

 

Fearghal Duffy, Senior ICT Project Manager for the project said "Strong and enduring relationships have been established between the project team (OoCIO), CHO Primary Care service leads and local implementation leads (LIL) during this project and the previously completed laptop roll out project. Building on these relationships and on the support, dedication and hard work of the LIL’s was crucial to the successful completion of the project.

I would also like to acknowledge the support and guidance of Tom Molloy and the OoCIO PMO, Richard Keating and his technical operations team & Colm Quinn and the national service desk whose continued support during critical phases of the project was invaluable to successfully completing this project.

A special word of mention must go to David Maguire, project lead and coordinator, who led this project with good humour and whose attention to detail was crucial to completing the project within budget and on time. Thanks David."

 

Fran Thompson, Interim Chief Information Officer, HSE

Providing Front line staff with modern technology appropriate to their work is critically important and this project supports that aim. It also supports the SláinteCare initiative to deploy end user devices as part of Digital Workplace.

 

Mary Cooke ICT A/Delivery Director Community Health, OoCIO

 

Mary Cooke ICT A/Delivery Director Community Health, OoCIO

The Project Teams close working relationship with the Community Service Leads & the dedication of the Local Delivery personnel ensured the success of this project.

 

 

 

Des O’Connell, SEO, Business Operations Lead to the Project, OoCIO

 

Jacqueline Wilkinson, Project Manager, Vodafone Desmond O Connell, SEO OoCIO  Business Operations

The Project Team would like to acknowledge the work completed by Jacqueline Wilkinson, Vodafone Project Manager. 3,468 smartphones were set up and dispatched in site clinics across the country to facilitate collection by staff of their new smartphone. This provided a better end user experience for staff. Where staff had the smartphone dispatched directly to them, Vodafone gave priority to the changeover by having dedicated staff members from their national mobility team assigned to the porting of phones from Talk and text to Smartphones.  This was the largest roll out of Smartphones completed by Vodafone in 2018/2019.

The HSE OoCIO Regional Mobile Administrators along with Damien O’Reilly of the Community Health Delivery Programme, provided invaluable assistance to the Project team via Business Operations and their work is also very much appreciated.

 

 

 

Tadgh Buckley, GM Business Enterprise Solutions, OoCIO

The work across the different pillars of the OoCIO was a vital aspect to the successful roll out of these units. The Technology Office ensured that the devices being deployed met the business requirements ensuring compliance with HSE IT Polices. Business Operations project managed the technology roll out ensuring any issues arising were addressed and solved to complete the project.

 

Testimonials

 

Deirdre Bruce

I am involved in a number of projects including setting up a Primary Care Radiology Unit and Primary Care Ophthalmology service that requires me to leave the office frequently.

Emails are a huge part of all our working lives now and the ability to send and receive emails from my mobile phone where ever I am is invaluable. It gives me the freedom to communicate on the spot. It allows me to follow up on outstanding issues on site and as a result I am efficient and more organised when I return to the office.

I find my smart phone is an excellent way to organise my work tasks and I use the notes icon and calendar function for meeting reminders etc.

Having access to emails whilst on the move has been hugely beneficial to me.

Deirdre Bruce Network Administrator, Dublin South, Kildare & West Wicklow Community Healthcare, Tallaght Cross Primary Care Centre

 

 

 

 

 

Ger McCullagh

“Since I received my smart phone in August 2017, it has made a great difference to my ability to manage the Occupational Therapy team. There are 21 Occupational Therapists reporting to me, and each day there are many emails coming to me requiring a quick decision. Having the smart phone allows me to check my emails frequently and respond in an efficient way to the team I manage. This allows the Occupational Therapists to proceed without delay on a clinical question or leave issues etc. It makes me feel more in control when I am away from my desk for lengthy meetings, that I am responding to the important things and that there will be a lot less emails awaiting my attention when I return to the desk”.

 

Ger McCullagh Occupational Therapy Manager, DSW, Carbury Building, Tallaght Cross West