Read more about it: what next for the CUI programme?

Microsoft and NHS Connecting for Health recently signed a new enterprise agreement (EA) for the NHS in England. As part of the deal, the innovative Common User Interface (CUI) programme will be continued and expanded.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has launched a new website that will make information and outputs from the programme available beyond the NHS in England.

The enterprise agreement signed between Microsoft and the NHS in 2004 included some innovative features - one of which was the Common User Interface (CUI) programme.

Microsoft committed to spending £40 million on the programme, which has two main aims: to help the NHS get the most out of its IT investment by making systems easier to deploy and maintain; and to encourage a common “look and feel” for NHS applications to make them easier and safer to use.

The latest enterprise agreement (EA), signed in June 2007, features a further commitment to the programme. Microsoft will spend an additional £10 million a year on CUI projects, while providing support for additional online resources for NHS staff and patients.

Services programme manager David Gay says the new deal will allow some CUI projects to continue, while others change more substantially. “There are more client software licences and more technologies - such as Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server and Microsoft Groove - that could have a real impact on how the NHS does its information sharing and collaboration."

Design guidance and components

For example, the CUI programme has been developing “design guidance” that specifies how things that often need to be displayed within NHS systems - such as patient information and medication details - should be displayed. This should make it easier for staff to use applications and reduce the possibility of errors.

The programme has also been turning the guidance into “components” that clinical application system providers can use - free - in their own NHS applications. Both projects will continue. About 34 pieces of guidance have been issued to date, with at least another 30 to come.

New help with deployment

There will be bigger changes to the elements of the programme designed to help the NHS get the most out of its IT investment. Up to now, these have focused on infrastructure and desktop deployment. But they will now be extended to helping the NHS to get the most out of the new technologies included within the latest EA.

“There are more client software licences and more technologies - such as Microsoft Office Sharepoint 2007 and Microsoft Groove - that could have a real impact on how the NHS does its information sharing and collaboration,” says Mr Gay. “NHS CFH is asking us to help the NHS to get the most out of this technology.

“It wants us to provide start up materials or guides, so that trusts that have the infrastructure to take this technology can get it out of the box, apply the guidance, and get it solving business problems quickly and efficiently.”

Even better research

The CUI programme has also been looking at how to add “NHS-ness” to the Microsoft Office suite. One of its projects has been looking at how to build NHS-specific research resources into Word and other Office applications and a deskbar that can sit on a standard desk-top.

As the CUI programme moves into its second phase, these resources are likely to become part of a much bigger project to create a new portal from which doctors, nurses and other staff can undertake a wide range of tasks connected with their day to day work.

“The idea is that this will be somewhere that NHS clinicians can go to do business,” says Mr Gay. “Let’s say a doctor fires up her browser, and goes to the portal. This is where MRS will migrate to. So if the doctor needs to do some research, this is where she will start. “Our criteria for success are not just to deliver to specification and to budget, but to create products that people want to use and will benefit from.”

“Or perhaps she wants to speak to some experts in her area. The portal might let her see what experts are available, or give her access to a forum to discuss the problem she has. Our doctor might also launch her email or other applications from the portal. It becomes the centre of her working world.”

The portal project, however, is not about creating a website in the traditional sense. Instead, it will look to create elements that staff can assemble into a personalised space.

“It is likely that there will be some things that people will have to have, depending on where they work and their role,” says Mr Gay. “For example, a doctor might have to subscribe to drug alerts. But there will be other things they will be able to opt not to have.”

The project is in its earliest stages. However, it will involve NHS staff. “The CUI programme has a history of involving the people its technology is aimed at in its development,” says Mr Gay.

“We are not out to create solutions that will not be used. Our criteria for success are not just to deliver to specification and to budget, but to create products that people want to use and will benefit from.” 

Microsoft has created a new website to spread information and outputs about the CUI programme beyond the NHS in England.

The new site, at www.mscui.net, is intended for interface designers, application developers and patient safety experts who want to find out more about the programme’s approach and the benefits it can deliver.

Users can also explore the programme’s “roadmap” for further delivery, download existing design guidance and provide feedback through a new Microsoft health CUI community project on CodePlex.

“We have given presentations about the CUI programme in a number of countries and we have found that it is addressing a common problem: how do we present clinical information in an unambiguous and safe way,” says services programme manager David Gay.

“We have also built a demonstrator to show what a clinical application might look like in the future. We have shown it to people in other sectors, and found that many of the issues that it addresses - such as how to show the stages of a patient pathway and to build in design elements that make sure each is completed safely and effectively - are issues for them as well.

“So the new website is intended to spread information about the programme and to pick up ideas and feedback from people facing similar issues.”