About us

 

Assignments

This page sets out a few synopses of recent assignments in order to provide a (very broad) overview of our service experience.

  • South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM)

    The Challenge: SLaM is a World Class mental health service provider. To maintain its position the Trust keeps its ICT strategy under constant review. This is particularly important in the context of the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT), as ICT developments must support business objectives whilst aligning with a number of other factors and initiatives.

    Mentis Response: Mentis has undertaken several pieces of work to support the development and implementation of the Trust’s ICT strategy:
    • Development of a strategy for the short and medium term development of the Trust’s electronic patient records system.
    • Feasibility assessments of the technical and functional “fit” of systems
    • Options appraisals for the development of the enterprise architecture
    • Development of Outsourcing relationships
    • Support and guidance for the development of the 2008 – 2011 strategic plan for ICT
    • Development of an ICT procurement strategy.

    Benefits Delivered: Mentis’ involvement has provided SLaM with a strong pragmatic approach to ICT strategy during a period of intense change in the NHS and supported the creation of a Biomedical Research Centre and the Academic Health Sciences Centre.  Mentis has contributed:
    • innovative thinking to solve business problems
    • an additional dimension of knowledge and experience to assist decision processes
    • independent assessments of technical direction
    • identification of risks and issues
    • sound financial appraisal
    • the expert resource input to achieve more aggressive timescales than the Trust could have met alone.

  • HM Prison Service

    The Challenge: To set up and run the Management Support Office for the Phoenix Programme, using OGC PRINCE 2 and MSP programme and project methodologies, standards, reports and quality control processes.

    Mentis Response: We have provided a senior managing consultant (OGC registered MSP and PRINCE2 practitioner) to lead MSO (processes, standards, templates, guides, governance, quality, plans, conventions and policies) and to provide continuing advice and guidance on the day-to-day management of the programme and constituent projects.  We also deployed junior consultants to run MSO processes and provide project co-ordination.

    Benefits Delivered: Phoenix programme governance and control structures set in place and run successfully by the MSO over the last three years are widely considered as best practice in central government and have been consulted on by the Cabinet Office and Home Office. Benefits attained by Phoenix through the MSO operation have been upheld by the OGC through several programme Gateway reviews.  The team has been so successful that they have been asked to fill a larger role in delivering the same control and support processes to all change programmes run by HMPS in 2007-8.

  • HMRC Aspire

    The Challenge:  HMRC ASPIRE provides managed ICT services to HMRC under a PFI contract. Within ASPIRE the Security and Risk Management team are responsible for ICT security architecture and infrastructure planning, design, implementation and optimisation as well as security risk management. One project required connectivity between key applications and external gateways for high volumes of business critical messages with short response times.

    Mentis Response: Mentis provided a security consultant to advise on provision of a domain service bus connecting legacy and new applications to each other and external gateways.
    The consultancy also involved accreditation of the De-Militarized Zone hosting gateway servers and the logical configuration of associated network devices. We advised on appropriate technical architecture and infrastructure controls.

    Benefits Delivered: The detailed ICT architecture and infrastructure planning, design and assessment analysis provided by the Mentis consultant contributed to the rapid accreditation and deployment of a secure ICT platform and portal in an iterative development environment.

  • PITO and ACPO Eastern Region Police Forces

    • The Challenge: The Home Office required Police forces to submit plans to improve their capability to respond to major threats to public safety, including terrorism. There was an expectation that the Forces would consider seriously options for merging with neighbouring Forces.  The merger of technology – computers, systems, networks and radio facilities - was likely to comprise a major element of any merger expenditure, but the area was also recognised as having the potential to release cash savings.

    Mentis Response:  Mentis undertook a pilot assessment, formulating and evaluating the practical aspects of merger across the six Forces in Eastern region.

    Benefits Delivered: The study provided a clear definition of the strategic options for collaborative working, including the key benefits, risks, personnel implications, technology impacts and cost indicators.  It identified the preferred strategic option for collaboration and the preferred route for achievement of the desired collaborative state, along with a work plan and methodology to achieve the preferred outcome.  These documents have been published by PITO and distributed throughout the UK forces.

  • Barking, Havering & Redbridge NHS Trust

    The Challenge: To provide support and practical management input for an early NPfIT implementation.

    Mentis Response: From early 2004, we worked with the Trust team and CCA to plan implementation of the core product and additional services ( Pharmacy, Pathology) and the PACS.  We developed plans for network infrastructure enhancements to support CRS and produced the Business Cases to gain approval.  We assumed an advisory role on the Trust's CRS Programme Board and local Care Community Deployment Board.

    Benefits Delivered: The Trust has successfully navigated these difficult waters as NPfIT timetables have extended, and has had a clear view of its options and direction throughout.  It has fully understood the risks at each stage, and has at all stages had an accurate financial view of its commitment and situation.

  • Hampshire Police – Project Oberon

    • The Challenge:  The Force wished to ensure the successful procurement and implementation of a cost-effective Records Management system to support operational policing.

    Mentis Response:  A small team of senior consultants provided practical support and guidance to the senior management team.  We helped the Force design an appropriate PRINCE2 structure and provided significant input to the preparation of the business case.  We supported all aspects of the procurement process  and continued to provide project management advice
    throughout the implementation, helping define and implement changes to working practices to achieve process streamlining.  Finally we analysed the process and outcomes to identify lessons learned.

    Benefits Delivered:  We achieved a shared view across the management team derived from the processes to develop the business case.  Our involvement at all stages of the project enabled an independent risk management approach to constantly tune risk mitigation activities.  Our knowledge of Police operational processes enabled rapid identification of opportunities for process improvements.