NSW HEALTH INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM

BEN MACKEY, GENERAL MANAGER AT SJA SHARES THEIR APPROACH AND INSIGHTS INTO A $100 MILLION PROGRAM OF WORKS FOR NSW HEALTH.

SJA is engaged by NSW Health Infrastructure as the Program Project and Cost Manager for a $100m program of works, bringing together primary and community health across nine Local Health Districts (LHDs) in NSW.

The HealthOne Strategy Program arose from the NSW Government’s 2015 commitment of $100 million of capital funding under the Primary and Integrated Care Strategy. The sites in the program were selected based on areas experiencing an ageing population and an increased demand for community health services.

The project management function for planning and delivery of projects is held by the Local Health Districts with a budget under $10 million. SJA’s role, working with NSW Health Infrastructure, is to provide a program-level management framework and project assurance, to enable LHDs to achieve project outcomes. This role has required the ‘right sizing’ of project systems and controls, and related assurance activities, to avoid undue management burden on the Local Health Districts and their capital consultants.

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT GUIDELINES

At the outset of the program, guidelines were prepared to describe project management principles and processes to support scope definition, project planning as well as monitoring and control techniques for individual projects. This included narrative around project management process and templates to assist individual LHDs in the planning and delivery of their HealthOne projects.

While not intended to be rigid requiring strict compliance, it was designed to guide Local Health Districts on the expectations that NSW Health Infrastructure has for project control and assurance, to enable consistency of management and reporting across the program. The ongoing program assurance role has not been one of patrolling Local Health District compliance with the guidelines, but of reviewing LHD process and outputs and providing a feedback and an improvement loop to the LHD project teams. The guidelines presented approaches to WHS management and compliance but did not foresee the requirements of social distancing arising from COVID-19. The program team has worked with LHDs in addressing these new WHS requirements with works contractors.

PROJECT BRIEF PROCESS

While the $100 million HealthOne Strategy Program is funded via a program-wide final business case, governance required the LHDs to develop project brief documentation typically with respect to scoping and cost confidence consistent of a resolved schematic design. This compelled clinical service definition, functional briefing, concept, and schematic design supported by necessary interrogation of site conditions, planning approval pathway, as well as resolution of IT systems to support the model of care.

The detailed scoping addressed capital and recurrent costs, including managing multiple projects within a given Local Health District within the component budget envelope for that LHD. The program enabled the Local Health Districts to control their briefing and capital works planning, in addition to their clinical service planning, to the submission of a project brief. The use of standardised documentation from the templates enabled a degree

GOVERNANCE AND REPORTING

The program governance was similar to typical NSW Health Infrastructure projects however the Local Health District leadership of projects resulted in their chairing and administration of project governance and reporting processes below the Executive Steering Committee.

While a series of reporting templates, including cost planning and management templates, have been provided, the LHDs did not always consistently apply these templates, requiring review of outputs to confirm their general intent with the objectives of the guidelines. Monthly meeting attendance permitted the program team to understand progress at a project level and help where issues confronted the projects. Program governance has broadened WHS considerations to address COVID-19 requirements and now specifically addresses this in the review of works contractors WHS plans and processes.

REQUIREMENTS FOR SUCCESS

The key metrics to the success of the program assurance role working with the Local Health Districts, has been the alignment of objectives, clarity of governance, articulation of project brief requirements, and professional maturity of all parties to the program. While the value of these projects may exceed the capital works accreditation of LHDs, the LHD personnel running these projects are typically experienced and capable project practitioners. The challenge of managing this program is to:

• Support these LHD practitioners with a suitable project management framework.

• Provide consistent programlevel assurance and assistance when requested.

• Draw on the broader NSW Health Infrastructure capabilities for the benefit of the individual projects.

• Remain flexible to changes in project environment including impacts such as COVID-19.

Program and project success require acknowledgement and respect for the LHD project practitioners’ capability and experience, with support in a manner that is not perceived as interventionist. It requires genuine risk assessed involvement and not involvement for the sake of arbitrary compliance with the project management framework, processes, and templates.

As with all project management, the management of human dynamics is a key requirement for project success and the conduct of the program team in its interface with the project teams, in this instance the nine LHD project teams, is a crucial requirement to realise the benefits of the capital investment via an assured program model.

Author: Ben Mackey is a General Manager at SJA. He has over 23 years’ experience in the construction and engineering industries with extensive experience across a range of property sectors including public and private sector projects. His technical skills are complemented with a strong ethic towards collaborative project environments and optimising project outcomes.