Testimonials
1. Rollout of the National Immunisation Register (NIR)
As NIR Project Manager for Hawke’s Bay District Health Board Alan worked with many stakeholders. In this case key stakeholder included Ngati Kahungunu Iwi as well as Maori providers, GPs, midwives, IT staff, Ministry of Health, public health and project members. Alan’s advanced written and verbal communication and facilitation skills progressed the project planning and implementation quickly.
Alan’s skills and knowledge of IT systems were crucial to the success of this project. Alan kept me informed at all stages of the project and was very good at identifying risks and managing through to solutions. He trained my staff fully so that the transition to normal operations went smoothly. The project was implemented on time and within budget.
Alan has real strength in operational and strategic management, always willing to pass on his passion for project management to a wide audience. I have enjoyed working with Alan and learned from him.
Wietske Cloo, Public Health Manager, Hawke’s Bay District Health Board
2. Improving Access to Quality Palliative Care
Alan brought professional leadership and project, relationship and change management skills to this project. Along with these key skills he always worked with energy, enthusiasm and most importantly the perseverance necessary to complete the significant packet of work within five months. The project deliverables were a demographic report, stock take of services report, gaps and barrier report, recommendations, and a high-level implementation plan.
Alan made a significant impact on the people involved in this project. He introduced us to professional project management practices. His relationship and change management approaches brought key stakeholders together to work collaboratively benefiting the organisations involved, the staff and most importantly the patients and their families. Alan’s report provided 49 recommendations for improving palliative care services.
As a result of Alan’s recommendations, a palliative care advisory network was established and the key recommendation of a district wide palliative care provider education programme was approved with other prioritised recommendations being implemented. The work of this project was accepted for presentation at an Australian Palliative Care Research Conference.
After the completion of the above project, Alan accepted a position within Planning and Funding of Portfolio Manager Strategic Projects. He incorporated programme management into the way Planning and Funding worked in order to get traction on a significant work programme involving many proposed projects. I was appointed to the position of Programme Manager and consequently was closely involved with Alan in both project and programme work.
Alan has not only brought to this new position the same qualities and competencies that he displayed on the palliative care project, but led and mentored the Programme Managers, the Planning and Funding team and staff within and outside the organisation. He has set up and taught learning sessions for our organisation, teaching us new skills and techniques in the fields of project and programme management. During this time, Alan has gained the OCG, Prince2 Practitioner certification and recently has established shared learning sessions based on the OCG methodology, “Managing Successful Programmes.”
As a Portfolio Manager, Alan has been involved in planning and executing a number of projects including Macro Health Services Planning, Maternity Services, After Hours Primary Health Care, and Oral Health Services reorientation. In addition Alan contributed to a number of other packages of work including the development of the District Annual Plan.
Alan was a very popular team member and interacts well with others at all levels. On a personal level I enjoyed working with Alan and admire his energy, integrity and drive for improvement.
Trish Turner – Programme Manager, Health and Disability Support Services, Nelson Marlborough DHB
3. Re-orientation of Oral Health Services, Nelson Marlborough DHB (NMDHB)
This project was a large undertaking with the project team working within tight deadlines to submit a business case to the Ministry of Health (MoH) for funding to upgrade and re-orientate oral health services to a more community model. After significant previous slippage Alan was assigned to bring this project back into line.
Working with the team Alan quickly established a framework to get the project back on track, assisted team members with their work and also importantly worked with the services to reduce the stress associated with major change. His use of visual tools to illustrate concepts and promote change had a really beneficial effect in terms of building the team’s confidence and performance. Alan’s expertise as facilitator and project manager was a major factor in bringing together a conceptual model of oral health care, a prioritised set of development options, and the business case for a bid of $5.6 million of funding to the MoH for the recommended development option.
The bid was successful and implementation is now under way.
Mark Garisch – Team Leader Funding and Contracts, Planning and Funding, NMDHB