Plexus Digital is a boutique consultancy specialising in transforming digital products and services.
What We Do
We work with executive leaders and their teams across the digital transformation landscape.
Starting with developing visionary strategies, via procurement, implementation or invention of technology,
through to supporting adoption and deployment to help an organisation deliver a digital transformation.
Through decades of experience and successful delivery we can be your transformation partner.
Plexus Digital has a dedicated team of professionals with experience in designing, improving, and delivering products for commercial industries and the public sector. We explore technologies and innovate to develop strategic, long-term, scalable solutions, which can deliver benefit to drive business success through end user satisfaction. Whether the focus is on improving a product feature, connecting disparate systems, or designing a brand-new national standard, we have the expertise to provide the business transformation.
Technique
Plexus Digital operates with a product-led focus. Emphasis is placed on initial research, to truly understand the context in which a solution functions and, when combined with fostering community engagement and commercial awareness, projects quickly gain enviable reputations under our direction. We adopt a range of agile methods to ensure flexibility, responsiveness, and iterative value. We allow transparency and feedback to encourage continuous improvement so that projects to flourish.
The adaptable skill set we offer allows us to take on complete projects (running from inception or re-energising one) or work to guide an existing team. We also mentor in the use and adoption of the techniques we utilise.
Expertise
Much of our experience lies within interoperability, where we excel in designing and delivering solutions that seamlessly integrate with existing systems and technologies. We understand the complexities interoperability often brings; multiple systems attempting to communicating with each other, with varying workflows and data schemas. Standardising information exchange, whilst retain the semantic meaning, is key (and a common challenge) but with thorough discovery phases issues can be mitigated and systems seamlessly connected.
There are decades of product experience at Plexus Digital. We have been involved at every level from planning and strategy, research and development through to deployment and delivery of software products. Followed by benefits realisation, we encompass the full product lifecycle.
We have worked with many clients and we always like to hear they come out from the cooperation happy and satisfied. Have a look what our clients said about us.
To support the Long Term Plan, NHSE planning guidance and Recovery Plans for UEC and Pharmacy there was a need to have a standardised way to make appointments and referrals across the NHS.
There are multiple different interoperability standards for referrals
There are multiple different interoperability standards for booking
There are deprecated technology and interop standards that are being used
IT suppliers need to develop against different interoperability standards
Legacy interop standards do not support current ways of working based on user-need
How we helped
The team from Plexus provided strategic, product, delivery, business analysis and technical skills to form a rainbow team with NHS England. Our solution included:
Creating a ubiquitous booking and referral standard
The standard was endorsed by the NHSE Architecture Board and backed by an Information Standard Notice
The standard used FHIR UK Core 4
Gaining support from IT suppliers, providers and commissioning bodies
A signed of clinical safety case and hazard log
Used GDS phases to deliver an alpha, beta and live stages for the product
Completing and signing of a Private and Public Beta involving IT suppliers and Service Providers
Outcome
The standard was published as a live version supporting booking and referral into Emergency Departments
The standard allow services to book appointments for patients and send concise referral information to Emergency Departments
The standard was expanded to support 15 use-cases over two years
It can be iterated to support many more use-cases across the NHS
It established a new blueprint on how to use a standards-based approach to digital transformation to deliver change to the NHS.
Rapid Deployment of a Covid Clinical Assessment Service
The challenge
As part of the response to Covid 19 it was agreed to extend the safety net service for the CRS (Covid Response Service) by mobilising existing registered GPs and retired GPs to perform triage and assessment remotely for symptomatic patients.
GPs at home would need to access national telephony systems to be able to contact patients
GPs at home would need to record their consultation notes electronically on a national EPR system to ensure there was a full audit
Ensure that the EPR system was able to access national interoperability capabilities
Delivery a solution in a compressed time frame
How we helped
The team from Plexus provided digital, delivery, training and stakeholder (including supplier) management to form a rainbow team with NHS England and external IT suppliers Our solution included:
Define the scope for the work
Setting up ways of working with internal and external teams (including weekly planning session, daily stand-ups)
Used a product mindset to deliver a minimal viable product which was iterated weekly
Supported training of users
Supported and designed onboarding activities
Created comprehensive test plans
Tested and rollout UEC interoperability standards including; electronic prescribing, patient demographic searching, referrals using ITK and booking using Care Connect standards
Outcome
A digital and telephony solution was created
GPs were able to use the solution
Pressure was taken away from other 111 / Clinical Assessment services
Patient’s received call backs earlier then they would have without this solution
A great example of cross organisation, public and private sector working
During the lockdown period from March 2020 there was a substantial reduction in attendance at Emergency Departments, and a significant increase in the use of NHS 111 online. However, the number of patients attending EDs has been climbing towards pre-COVID levels. There was an urgent clinical and operational need to reverse this trend and ensure that during the forthcoming winter we do not experience the levels of overcrowding in EDs that occurred during winter 2019/20.
Two key elements needed to be delivered in under 16 weeks:
Direct patients using 111 (online and telephony) to attend a particular ED within a specified timeslot, to reduce overcrowding and long wait times.
Transfer relevant personal and clinical information to the ED in a secure and accessible format
How we helped
The team from Plexus provided strategic, product, delivery, business analysis and technical skills to form a rainbow team with NHS England, NHS Digital, NHSX and a software development delivery partner.
Our solution included:
Taking a lead on the multiple work streams needed to deliver booking and referrals from any 111 service into any ED
Create a modern agile delivery methodology; working in the open, setting up an agile Product board (where decisions were made weekly) and light weight reporting
A web-based product was created in 12 weeks that could be deployed within each ED. We used GDS phases to deliver an alpha, beta and live stages for the product
The product was iterated based on additional requirements and user feedback
We managed the IT supplier relationship nationally to support the managed deployment and testing with each provider
Outcome
The ED product was deployed into over 150 emergency departments within 16 weeks
111 online, all 111 and CAS providers were able to book and refer to the EDs
All learning was used to feed into the national NHS Booking and Referral Standard (see Case Study 1)
Weekly Show and Tells were delivered to support working into the open
The ways of working model we created is still be used by other teams in NHS England as a blueprint on how to deliver a successful programme of work
I have worked with those in Plexus Digital over many years during a merger and acquisition of a healthcare software company, and have always been impressed with their output, and the current combination of technical and delivery expertise is focused and totally results orientated for the client. I highly recommend Plexus Digital to any organisation seeking a partner for digital transformation initiatives. Their delivery-focused approach, combined with their technical expertise and commitment to customer satisfaction, make them a trusted partner for driving innovation and growth.
Name:
Vin Murria OBE
Position:
Chair, CEO, Founder, NED and Investor
Sam Shah
I have worked with the Plexus Digital team for almost a decade. They bring deep expertise of problem solving within healthcare and the application of technology. They’ve worked on projects with me ranging from implementation of national solutions such as NHS111 Online all the way through to building the infrastructure for direct booking solutions. They’re extremely capable and focussed on delivering results. Their team is progressive and familiar with the latest developments in healthtech whilst bringing a pragmatic and accessible approach to customer requirements.
Name:
Sam Shah
Position:
Professor of Digital Health, NHS Consultant, Chief Medical Officer and Former NHS Director of Digital Development
Jim Chase
I have had the pleasure of working with many of the Plexus team over many years. These guys have deep healthcare technology and systems experience plus the understanding of how to make impactful change happen in a clinical setting. They are trusted partners to clinical and health infrastructure providers alike. If you need to deliver healthcare technology effectively and safely, talk to them.
This privacy notice for Plexus Digital Ltd. describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share your information when you use our services, such as when you: visit our website.
1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?
We do not collect sensitive information, and we do not knowingly collect information from people less than 18 years old. The information that we do collect is as follows: a. Information automatically collected. Some information - such as your Internet Protocol (IP) address and/or browser and device characteristics and location - may be collected automatically when you visit our website. This information does not reveal your specific identity (like your name or contact information). This information is primarily needed to compile statistics about how our website is being found and used, and also to maintain the security and operation of our services.
In all cases, the data collected is only the minimum required to conduct our business in a way that has a valid legal basis (see below).
2. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?
Technical data that is automatically collected may be used by us to analyse how the website is being found and used, and to evaluate the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. It is not used by us to build a personal profile.
3. HOW DO THIRD PARTIES PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?
Although we do not use automatically collected visitor data to build a personal profile on you or identify you personally, Google, which provides the analytics service that collects the data, will do this. If you are logged into a Google account on your device, it will associate your data with the identity details that you have given to Google. What is done with that data will depend on the preferences you have expressed in the privacy settings of your Google account. If you are not logged into a Google account, the data will be associated with a unique identifier given to your browser or device.
For further details about how Google uses your data please see Google's privacy policy and this statement about Google Analytics Privacy.
4. WHAT LEGAL BASES DO WE RELY ON TO PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and UK GDPR require us to explain the valid legal bases we rely on in order to process your personal information. As such, we will always rely on one of the following legal bases to collect and process your personal information:
Consent. We may process your information if you have given us permission (i.e. consent) to use your personal information for a specific purpose. You can withdraw your consent at any time.
Performance of a contract. We may process your personal information when we believe it is necessary to fulfil our contractual obligations to you, including providing our services or at your request prior to entering into a contract with you.
Legitimate interests. We may process your information when we believe it is reasonably necessary to achieve our legitimate business interests and those interests do not outweigh your interests and fundamental rights and freedoms. For example, we may process your personal information for some of the purposes described in order to: Analyse how our services are used so we can improve them to engage and retain users Evaluate our marketing activities
Legal obligations. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations, such as to cooperate with a law enforcement body or regulatory agency, exercise or defend our legal rights, or disclose your information as evidence in litigation in which we are involved.
Vital interests. We may process your information where we believe it is necessary to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of a third party, such as situations involving potential threats to the safety of any person.
5. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
We may share your data with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents ('third parties') who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. We have contracts in place with our third parties, which are designed to help safeguard your personal information. They commit to protect the data they hold on our behalf. The categories of third parties we may share personal information with are as follows: Data Analytics Services
We do not sell your data to third parties or allow third parties to contact you without your permission.
We may also need to share your personal information in the following situations: Business Transfers. We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
6. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?
A cookie is a small file that might be placed on a computer or similar device when you visit or interact with a website. We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information about visitors to our website.
The following table indicates which cookies we are using and what they do.
Cookie
ID
Purpose
Google Analytics
_utma
Google Analytics
Google Analytics
_utmb
Google Analytics
Google Analytics
_utmc
Google Analytics
Google Analytics
_utmz
Google Analytics
These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors find and use our site, which we use to help improve it. Cookie warning cc_cookie_accept This simply stores your acceptance of the warning about cookies on the website home page. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to reject cookies or install a browser extension to reject cookies. Your browser will also have a tool to remove cookies that have already been set. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect the functionality of parts of our website. To opt out of interest-based advertising by Google, see the privacy preferences in the settings of your Google account.
7. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?
We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting, or other legal requirements).
When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymise such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
8. IS THE INFORMATION ACCURATE AND UP TO DATE?
We are legally obliged to ensure that the information we have on record is accurate and up to date. If your details have changed since we were last in touch with you, you are kindly requested to notify us of the new details so we can update our records.
9. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?
We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organisational security measures to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorised third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our services is at your own risk. You should only access the services within a secure environment.
10. BREACH NOTIFICATION
If we hold records of your personal data and we become aware of a data breach, we will endeavour to inform you of this within 72 hours.
11. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right (i) to request access and obtain a copy of your personal information, (ii) to request rectification or erasure; (iii) to restrict the processing of your personal information; and (iv) if applicable, to data portability. In certain circumstances, you may also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information. You can make such a request by using the contact details provided below to contact us. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
If you are located in the UK and you believe we are unlawfully processing your personal information, you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office. You can find their contact details here: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/. If you are located in the EU and want to make a complaint, see this list of European Data Protection Supervisors. If you are located in Switzerland, here are the contact details of the Data Protection Commissioner. Withdrawing your consent: If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us using the contact details provided below. However, please note that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal, nor will it affect the processing of your personal information where there are lawful grounds other than consent.
12. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?
If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO), David Ruddy, by email at [email protected], or by post to:
50 Seymour Street, London, England, W1H 7JG
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