The Smartest Workplaces in the Public Sector

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12 December 2024

The Government Property Agency recently hosted the fourth Smarter Working Live Awards, celebrating outstanding smarter working across the public sector.

The awards celebrate outstanding examples of innovation, creativity and dedication to smarter working across the public sector.

 

Watch the Video

 

 

Winner Highlights

 

Improving Spaces - Creating a Great Place to Work

 

Birmingham Prison is a Category B men’s prison in the Winson Green area of Birmingham. In partnership with caterer Aramark, the prison improved two spaces for residents and staff, to encourage healthy mindsets. 

The prison garden was improved with a reflection area, communal seating, and raised beds for growing vegetables. The staff wellbeing centre was also renovated, helping employees reset and refocus with wellbeing check-ups and yoga classes.

 

Future Focused and Sustainable Property

 

At Kent County Council, an innovative workplace-sharing scheme has been established. The shared workspace project means partners across Kent can use space in each other’s offices, supporting collaboration, flexible working, and improved efficiency.

The Kent Connects project has numerous benefits, including ensuring secure internet access at each site and enabling all public sector staff to access their systems and work documents securely.

 

Innovation as a Service

 

In Walnut Close, West Berkshire, the local council alongside a team of volunteers redeveloped unused space in a former care home to provide a venue for court-mandated family contact time, including bedrooms and shared cooking and washing facilities.

The team at the council are are now converting more space within the building into temporary accommodation for families facing homelessness.

This project also took home the award for “Beyond Smarter Working”.

 

Digital Innovation as a Service

 

Project BLUEPRINT is a digital project which aims to make the Royal Air Force Police paperless, storing all police knowledge in a database.  

It uses an application on a portable secure device to aid the police in monitoring, investigating and recording security matters, with every document that might possibly be needed in any situation available.

 

Picture: a photograph of two RAF service people, and a service dog, using a tablet to access paperwork. Image Credit: RAF Astra

 

Harnessing the Value of Data 

 

University Hospitals Dorset used process mining technology and human-centred design to direct improvements in the outpatient department. The project immediately cut waiting times and delivered productivity gains at a cash equivalent of £7.9 million annually.

 

Customer Experience 

 

The winning project at the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Council saw the implementation of an AI-powered solution to capture, transcribe, score and report on the hundreds of thousands of calls the council receives annually. 

The contact team had been overwhelmed with enquiries about missed bins and waste collection, but the AI solution meant these enquiries were being automated, saving the council tens of thousands of pounds.

It has also helped improve staff mentoring and identify and support vulnerable callers.

 

User Experience 

 

The project involved replacing the Environment Agency’s case management system with a solution tailored to their needs. Legacy systems, which once managed over 90,000 investigations, five million data entries, and 50,000 intelligence records are now housed in a more simplified manner.

The judges were impressed with the way that Hitachi Solutions helped the agency to modernise regulation and leveraged data analytics to protect the environment.

 

Building Collaborative Communities 

 

The Darlington Economic Campus brings together nine government departments as part of the government’s strategy to move civil service roles out of London into regional hubs, aiming to move 22,000 government roles out of the capital by 2030.

The site fosters community through collaborative spaces, welcome sessions for new employees, an events programme and school and university outreach. It’s helped to break down silos between departments and build a new collaborative community in Tees Valley.

 

Smarter Working Special Recognition

 

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust identified that patients often struggled to retain information after day surgical procedures. After carrying out a survey of patients undergoing knee arthroscopy surgery, they found that almost 25 per cent of these patients felt they were not alert enough to discuss their surgery aftercare post-surgery. Almost three quarters were unable to recall post-operation instructions.

The project team designed a digital service that included personalised aftercare videos and signposting to rehabilitation content. Since the introduction of the multimedia solution, only 15 per cent of patients who have received it have felt they would need a further follow-up appointment.

Picture: a photograph of the exterior of the current DEC building at Feethams House. Image Credit: HM Treasury 

Article written by Ella Tansley | Published 12 December 2024

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