How Royal Papworth Hospital Maintained Momentum Across Competing Digital Priorities

How the Trust combined internal expertise with independent perspective to overcome operational challenges, strengthen capability and keep key digital programmes moving.

Overview

Maintaining momentum across multiple digital priorities is one of the biggest challenges facing NHS organisations today. The barriers to progress are rarely technical. More often, they involve balancing competing priorities, coordinating stakeholders and suppliers, and ensuring programmes continue to deliver value for clinicians and patients.

Since first working together on a regional Electronic Patient Record (EPR) options appraisal, Healthcare Innovation Consortium (HIC) has developed a trusted partnership with Royal Papworth Hospital (RPH), supporting a range of programmes and operational challenges across the organisation.

Acting as an extension of the Trust’s team, HIC has provided specialist expertise, additional capacity and hands-on support when it was needed most. From improving the remote reporting experience for radiologists to supporting innovative image-sharing initiatives and providing interim contract management support during a critical staffing gap, HIC has helped the Trust overcome challenges, strengthen capability and deliver against key digital priorities.

The Challenge

Like many NHS organisations, the Trust is balancing ambitious goals with the realities of delivering healthcare every day.

Digital teams are often required to manage multiple suppliers, support clinical priorities and respond to operational pressures, all while delivering new programmes and services.

Across several programmes, the Trust required support to:

• Improve the experience of radiologists working remotely

• Explore innovative ways to make diagnostic images more accessible to clinicians across the region

• Maintain continuity during a critical contract management staffing gap

• Coordinate stakeholders across multiple teams and suppliers

• Build capability and confidence within internal teams

The Trust needed a partner that could provide independent expertise, practical support and the flexibility to respond quickly as priorities evolved.

Our Approach

HIC's involvement extended beyond traditional consultancy support.

Working alongside internal teams, suppliers and stakeholders, HIC helped bring different perspectives together, align priorities and keep programmes moving forward.

Drawing on experience from both NHS and supplier environments, HIC acted as a neutral partner, helping the Trust navigate the people, process and organisational challenges that often determine whether digital initiatives succeed.

Rather than focusing solely on technology, HIC worked with the Trust to support adoption, improve ways of working, build capability and ensure change could be successfully embedded across teams.

Delivering Impact

Improving the Remote Reporting Experience for Radiologists

The Trust identified performance issues affecting some radiologists working remotely through its virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI).

For a specialist organisation reliant on highly skilled radiologists, providing an effective remote working experience was critical. It supports productivity, improves staff experience and helps attract and retain specialist talent regardless of location.

HIC worked alongside digital and clinical teams to investigate the issue, reviewing every part of the setup to understand why performance varied across a group of 10 radiologists.

The review led to a series of infrastructure improvements, including firewall configuration changes, designed to improve the remote reporting experience.

The first five radiologists migrated to the enhanced configuration have reported significant improvements, describing the experience as a "vast improvement" and saying that it feels "exactly the same as working in the Trust."

By addressing a long-standing frustration for clinicians, the Trust improved the experience of its radiologists while continuing to support wider workforce and service objectives.

Supporting Innovation in Diagnostic Image Sharing

HIC is supporting a pioneering programme designed to make diagnostic images more accessible to clinicians across the region through new image sharing infrastructure.

Historically, accessing diagnostic images outside of hospital systems has presented challenges for many healthcare professionals. The programme aims to improve how diagnostic images are accessed and shared across the region, helping clinicians make better-informed decisions and supporting more joined-up care for patients.

Bringing together clinicians, digital teams and suppliers, HIC has helped build consensus around a complex, first-of-its-kind initiative. This has included assessing technical feasibility, coordinating requirements and supporting implementation planning.

As the programme progresses, the focus is shifting beyond technical implementation towards successful adoption and day-to-day use. HIC continues to work alongside the Trust and its partners to help ensure the programme delivers lasting value for clinicians and patients, not simply a successful technical go-live.

Providing Interim Contract Management Expertise

When the Trust experienced an unexpected contract management resource gap, HIC stepped in to provide immediate interim support while a permanent replacement was recruited.

Over a six-month period, HIC helped maintain continuity across a portfolio of approximately 400 supplier contracts, helping minimise operational risk and ensuring key supplier relationships continued to be effectively managed.

The engagement also highlighted opportunities to strengthen capability within the organisation. Working closely with Trust leaders, HIC identified skills gaps and delivered training focused on stakeholder engagement, relationship management and the people skills required to manage supplier relationships effectively.

By combining immediate operational support with longer-term capability development, the Trust was able to maintain resilience during a period of organisational change while building stronger foundations for the future.

Working as an Extension of the Team

Throughout the partnership, HIC has provided more than technical expertise.

HIC has helped the Trust:

• Bring together stakeholders across organisational boundaries

• Navigate complex supplier relationships

• Identify capability, knowledge and process gaps

• Provide practical support during periods of change

• Maintain progress across competing digital priorities

Reflecting on the partnership, Andy Raynes, CIO at Royal Papworth Hospital, said:

"What we've valued most about working with HIC is that they quickly became part of the team. Whether supporting complex technical challenges, helping us bring stakeholders together or providing additional capacity at short notice, they have consistently brought a pragmatic, delivery-focused approach.

They don't just provide advice – they roll their sleeves up and help get things done. That's helped us maintain momentum across a number of important initiatives and turn plans into practical outcomes."

This practical, partnership-led approach has been a consistent theme throughout the relationship. Rather than providing recommendations from a distance, HIC has worked alongside Trust teams, suppliers and stakeholders to help turn plans into action and keep important programmes moving forward.

Looking Ahead

As Royal Papworth Hospital continues to deliver against an ambitious digital agenda, maintaining momentum remains critical.

Whether helping overcome operational challenges, providing additional capacity at key moments or supporting the adoption of new ways of working, HIC continues to work alongside the Trust to help turn digital ambitions into lasting outcomes for clinicians and patients.