Tooling up: how the CUI programme is creating tools for NHS workers and IT managers

Microsoft’s Enterprise Agreement with the NHS includes a commitment to the Common User Interface programme.

Two of its strands are focused on creating “knowledge worker tools” to make the lives of NHS staff easier, and on “IM&T tools” to help trusts get the most out of their investment in IT and make managers’ lives easier. Mark Bower and Neil Slater talk about this work.



“Our job is to produce concise, ‘no nonsense’ guides and tools to make Microsoft deployments easy. We deliberately minimise the number of choices IM&T staff need to make, to reduce risk while saving time and effort.”


Through the Common User Interface (CUI) programme, Microsoft is working with NHS Connecting for Health and other vendors to streamline how technology is used - day in, day out – by healthcare professionals.

It is also providing a range of NHS-specific IT tools to help NHS bodies maximise the value of their investment in Microsoft technologies by making healthcare IT easier to roll out, maintain and use on a daily basis.

Since 2005, Microsoft has worked with both clinical and IM&T staff in trusts to identify common implementation challenges. These are then resolved through the provision of reliable guidance documentation or by building specialist software tools to make the lives of NHS IT managers easier.

More tools at the clinician’s fingertips

Microsoft Knowledge Worker Tools Lead Mark Bower’s job is to develop desktop solutions for healthcare professionals. “That’s all those who use computers in NHS trusts – doctors, surgeons, clinicians, nurses and administrators – not just IT departments,” he says.

“We’ve already delivered Medical Research Services, a software solution that aggregates authoritative information sources such as the National Library for Health, and we’re planning to add the British National Formulary (BNF) and other useful directories and medical search tools shortly.

“That will move these valuable information sources off the bookshelf and onto the computer screens of clinicians and other healthcare professionals via Office and the Windows desktop.

“We’ve also developed a SharePoint solution to enable individual departments within trusts to record all their processes and best practices in preparation for external audits by regulatory bodies.

“We’re now starting to work on applications for Groove 2007 and Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 - which are now covered by Microsoft’s Enterprise Agreement with the NHS. If we can produce useful and consistent applications, then the NHS as a whole is well placed to gain real value from these products over the next three years.”

Indeed, the KWT team is now focusing on five areas to help NHS staff work together more effectively and to meet policy and business objectives (see box).

And a simpler, standardised infrastructure

Neil Slater’s IM&T Tools team, meanwhile, provides best practice guidance for building and deploying a managed Windows desktop infrastructure with standardised deployment tools, processes and technologies.

“NHS IM&T departments typically spend much of their time fire-fighting and often have no centralised way of building their desktops,” says he says. “And whilst a lot of advice already exists on how to make life easier, many trusts simply don’t have the time to find it or the experience and training required to use it.

“Our job is to produce concise, ‘no nonsense’ guides and tools to make Microsoft deployments easy. We deliberately minimise the number of choices IM&T staff need to make, to reduce risk while saving time and effort.”

This standardisation obviously reduces deployment and maintenance costs. But it also serves to move individual trusts towards a more mature IT infrastructure; running efficiently today and better prepared for tomorrow.

To date, Mr Slater’s team has produced around 50 pieces of guidance: there is an interactive planning and deployment guide to them at http://nww.cui.nhs.uk.

Plenty more help on offer

In developing each desktop solution, Mr Bower works closely with trusts to define technical requirements and to ensure that what is delivered is going to be useful. This has generated plenty of experience from which trusts who are just starting out can learn.

“We recently released our Corporate Collaboration Strategy Guidance, a positioning paper to help NHS business managers make smart decisions about when to use Office SharePoint Server 2007 and when to use Groove 2007, both key products licensed to the NHS in the collaboration space,” he says.

“We’re currently working on Information Architecture Guidance – how to categorise information and structure web content to make it easier for users to find – plus a Search Quick Start Guide to enable departments to get up and running quickly with MOSS Quick Start Search.”

Since NHS trusts differ subtly from one another, the team is also working on Solution Enablers; software configurations that will require only minor customisation by individual organisations to help them solve problems and scenarios common to most trusts.

Collaboration Fundamentals, for example, helps to create collaborative workspaces in which information can be shared instantly with colleagues. Managing Meetings explains how to give participants online access to calendars, agendas, minutes and action lists. Scorecards are simple templates to help organisations track key metrics in order to meet local and national targets.

Opportunities to get involved

“The aim of our work is to create guidance and tools to make the new generation of desktops across the NHS easier to deploy and more consistent to use, thereby increasing patient safety and staff productivity,” says Mr Slater.

“Our part of the programme certainly isn’t set in stone, nor is it a one-way street. We welcome input and feedback from trusts to enable us to better serve their needs.”

It’s worth remembering that while IT challenges can sometimes feel insurmountable, someone, somewhere in an NHS organisation has probably faced something similar before. It’s the CUI project’s aim to deliver solutions which are practical, standardised and capable of adding value to all trusts.

Knowledge Worker Tools

• Read more about Medical Research Services

The Knowledge Worker Tools team is now focusing on five technology areas:

Collaboration and how people work together and share information: The Microsoft team is developing technology solutions to enable NHS departments and staff to operate bulletin boards, shared calendars and other forms of improved collaboration.

Unified Communications: Employees often spend valuable time trying to locate each other. Guidance from the CUI programme will help trusts bring together independent channels such as landline and mobile phones, email, fax and voicemail by integrating them into one unified inbox. It will also deliver solutions aimed at encouraging the adoption of web and video conferencing.

Business Intelligence: In meeting government targets, NHS organisations increasingly need to track progress against defined metrics on a daily basis. The Microsoft team is providing customisable solutions to help business managers develop performance dashboards, scorecards and reporting facilities.

Enterprise Content Management: Microsoft is developing solutions for managing web and document-based content effectively by applying appropriate version control and access restrictions whilst keeping the ability to search simple for everyone.

Enterprise Search: The team is customising search technologies to enable NHS clinicians and support staff to locate reliable information quickly and easily.

Related articles

Review an introduction to the CUI programme and its development 

More information

Mark Bower and Neil Slater will be among the speakers at the Microsoft CIO Summit at Thames Valley Park on 15 January. Find out more and reserve a place for free while you still can. Or talk to your account manager about your priorities for CUI guidance over the next 12 months.