Gold Coast University Hospital

The Gold Coast University Hospital in Queensland, Australia was a brand new state-of-the-art facility accommodating 750 overnight beds and 241 same day beds.

From the outset it relied upon a complex Information, Communication and Technology programme to deliver a robust, secure and scalable environment for optimal connectivity, flexibility and collaborative working across the Queensland Health District.

Forfusion was approached by implementation partner Frame Group to assist in the Unified Communications pillar of the ICT provision.

Digital Infrastructure from scratch

The Hospital required a complete digital environment encompassing data centre, wired and wireless networks, security, Unified Communications, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure, contact centre, audio visual, digital signage, real-time location services and mobile duress.

An extensive programme of requirements gathering had begun ahead of Forfusion’s involvement. This spanned several technology pillars, and multiple public and private sector contractors, vendors and systems integrators.

A multitude of workshops and meetings were held, all of which had to be documented within compressed timeframes.

Resolving siloed working

Steven Forrest, Forfusion’s CEO and lead consultant on the GCUH project says: “Whilst the design and procurement phases were very comprehensive, a huge void was left regarding document control and relationships between proposed solutions and project objectives.”

“Attention to detail and due care were taken for each individual technology pillar and work stream; however, the production of hundreds of documents via siloes meant the project document repository quickly became fragmented and unmanageable.” Steven Forrest CEO, Forfusion

Plugging the Leadership Gap

Steven continues: “To further compound the challenges of developing a well-structured, coherent documentation set, the absence of a suitable commercial and technical lead began to present a significant risk.”

“The Board was genuinely concerned. The programme required leadership experience across multiple technology pillars with specific focus on virtual desktop infrastructure and unified communications.”

Alignment of Multiple Vendor Solutions

GCUH needed a third party that could hit the ground running and immediately become part of the team.

They needed a partner who would be entirely responsible for the design, ratification and best practice alignment of the virtual desktop infrastructure and unified communications solutions.

They also required expertise to oversee all the interdependencies between the other technology pillars, and to manage a diverse group of vendor-aligned technology specialists.

Forfusion could not have arrived in Queensland at a better time!

Technological GAP Analysis

Steven explains: “As soon as we got off the plane we got stuck in to an independent peer review of requirements, solution design, and partner engagement processes across the whole array of technologies and vendors.”

“We conducted a detailed gap analysis phase to identify discrepancies between customer requirements and systems integrator deliverables, including risk definition between key design disciplines.”

Forfusion’s strategists and technologists were supported round the clock by its highly qualified, accredited, and multi-disciplined in-house engineering and consultancy teams. They offered expertise and guidance in respect of the interfaces to all technologies.

The result was a comprehensive, joined up, multi-discipline design and strategic road-map, supported by a detailed and well organised documentation set, delivered by a well-versed team working in unison with multiple parties.

Risk Mitigation

Forfusion’s team often worked through the night to deliver within aggressive timeframes and managed to get an unwieldy project back on track, in turn mitigating operational and financial risk, by ensuring all commercial and technical objectives were captured and addressed.

Commercially-minded Product Selection

Steven says: “We further assisted GCUH to take advantage of its in-house capabilities and to capitalise on economies of scale, whilst maximising innovation and autonomy for the hospital.”

“Our vendor-agnostic design and vendor analysis exercise resulted in product selection at the right price.”

Project Execution

Steven concludes: “With product selection complete, Forfusion continued for the next 18 months to deliver a comprehensive programme of works encompassing all technology pillars.”

Client Feedback

Andrew Latham, Solutions Architect with The Frame Group, who introduced Forfusion to the GCUH project, says:

“Forfusion react quickly and go the extra mile to achieve what many cannot.”

“I worked with Forfusion during a challenging and demanding project that not only required meticulous attention to detail, but also required the persistence and tenacity to achieve the right outcome.”

“During the project Forfusion’s team demonstrated experience and expertise in areas of design, commissioning, risk management, project management and gap analysis, specialising in all manner of technologies, focusing on providing a secure virtual desktop infrastructure and unified communications endpoints to the hospital bedside.”

Forfusion provided invaluable technical and commercial expertise, ensuring findings and output were articulated and documented to the highest standard.”

“Perhaps most importantly, Forfusion quickly became an extension to the customer’s delivery team, leveraging in-house expertise, adjusting to internal politics, and where required, challenging decision making at the very highest level.” Andrew Latham Solutions Architect with The Frame Group