The Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU), part of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in Great Britain, recovers from Insurance Compensators, on behalf of Dept of Health hospital costs for the treatment of injuries arising from road traffic accidents (RTA) under the Road Traffic Accident (NHS Charges) Act 1999. This was originally a high volume clerical processing operation, dealing annually with 350,000 forms (equating to 700,000 transactions) issued between DWP CRU and NHS Hospitals. CRU, working with DOH partners and IT service providers EDS, BT Syntegra, and Atos Origin initiated a project to automate the electronic transfer of data between the two government organisations. Through a pioneering example of cross government working, utilising an innovative solution, the full process has been automated over the Government Secure Intranet (GSI). The data previously issued in paper format from the CRU system is transferred to NHS Hospitals as an eXtensible Mark-up Language (XML) schema and displayed on their web server. The required enquiry data is input by the Hospital administration staff via a web browser and the response is transferred back to CRU for automatic update of its system at a much-improved turn around time. On receipt of the returned RTA forms, the CRU system automatically uploads the treatment information into the specific case held and issue an invoice automatically to the Insurance Company. This replaced the clerical process, which involved hundreds of CRU staff manually entering the data onto the CRU system. The project has been a resounding success within both operational environments. DWP and Department of Health secured joint annual efficiencies for Government of £1 million in return for initial DWP development costs of £320K. The project has been a genuine partnership; between not only government departments, but also IT service providers EDS, BT Syntegra, and Atos Origin working together to successfully deliver modernised business processes. Due to the achievements in terms of eGovernment interoperability, the project has been evaluated in this regard by the MODINIS Interoperability Study consortium on behalf of the European Commission and a good practice case study in interoperability has been created which is attached to this entry (see end of this webpage).

Main results, benefits and impacts

The project was a resounding success in that it completely terminated the need to have a clerical process in place between CRU and the 370 NHS Hospitals for obtaining details regarding hospital treatment. The turn around time in obtaining the data from the NHS has reduced significantly, indeed some invoices are now issued by CRU within 3 days of the initial claim being notified to CRU, whereas the clerical process averaged almost 2 weeks for invoices being issued. The risk of human error whilst entering the data onto the CRU system has been removed, as the data provided by the NHS Hospital is automatically uploaded into the CRU system, with no human intervention. This has had significant positive impact in reducing the amount of revenue lost due to typing errors etc. The quality of the data provided by the NHS Hospitals has improved significantly due to the extensive validation provided to ensure that the online form is fully completed before it is returned to CRU, resulting in the correct information being provided to CRU at the first attempt. The manual administration of forms was removed, e.g. post despatch, postal receipts within both Department of Health and CRU, abolishing the extensive paper chase that previously existed. There were also significant efficiencies secured with the related postage and stationery costs. The 22,000 clerical reminders that were issued under the old process were no longer necessary, as the enquiry was displayed online until the NHS provided the information required regarding hospital attendance. The working relationship between Department of Health and CRU was enhanced by working closely together to achieve a common goal, leading to improved communication, co-operation and understanding of each other´s business and specific roles. The moral satisfaction of generating efficiencies that directly improve NHS services for all cannot be overstated. The service providers? good working relationship was clearly visible and it was rewarding to see two commercial bodies co-operate to successfully deliver a project that they could quite easily have been competing against each other under different circumstances.

Return on investment

Return on investment: Not applicable / Not available

Lessons learnt

The success of this project was due to the joint efforts of two 'like-minded' Government Departments, who both had a clear steer to embrace electronic initiatives, as a means of modernising strategic government services. Each Department was committed to deliver the government steer regarding the introduction of electronic processes from the onset. There was ?buy in? at all levels, from the Department Heads, who funded this innovative project, the project teams who were charged to deliver the solution, down to the NHS staff who gave a commitment to utilise the system and fully embraced the changes being presented to them. There were improved cross government relations, a partnership that ultimately delivered significant efficiencies for Department of Health. This was particularly evident in seeing two Departments and two service providers work in partnership to develop an electronic link that would provide mutual benefits for all. The Service Providers utilised previously gained expertise in providing a technical solution that was acceptable to all, embracing a partnership and co-operative culture to deliver the clear objectives that were set from the onset. All Government departments, who are required to exchange high volume data to each other in a standardised format, e.g. Local Authorities, Inland Revenue, or indeed European Government Departments, should adopt this innovative approach. Each should take the opportunity to look at their own internal processes and embrace e-initiatives where the potential exists. The success of this project was reliant on the political steer to embrace electronic initiatives, thus creating the right environment to successfully re-engineer a high volume clerical process. CRU embraced this steer, looked internally at our services and approached the Department of Health, who responded positively to our proposal, as they were also working to the same Government steer. It required ?like minded? positive people who picked up this steer from Government Ministers and ensured that the correct messages were communicated to the Local Managers, who in turn gave their support to this innovative development. This support permeated into a genuine action plan to introduce the link, using up to date technology standards and a partnership culture. Good communications were essential throughout, bearing in mind the number of parties that had to come together to deliver the project objectives. As a consequence the full project was delivered on time, on target, within budget. In real terms it equates to £0.5 million pounds savings to CRU, which was subsequently passed to the Department of Health, plus £0.5 million pounds savings internally within Department of Health. In total £1million pounds per annum, was saved, funds which can be better utilised in enhancing NHS services provided throughout the UK.