Case Study: Ombudsman (N Ireland)


Customer

The Northern Ireland Ombudsman deals primarily with complaints from people who believe they have suffered injustice as a result of maladministration by government departments and public bodies in Northern Ireland.


Business Issues

Their staff needed an IT system to support the management of enquiries and investigations. Key requirements were:

  • Monitoring performance against business objectives
  • Providing tools to support staff productivity
  • Assisting with good communication with its stakeholders
  • Highlighting trends to allow early actions to be taken
  • Monitoring workloads to improve resource allocation

CAS solution

CAS worked closely with staff throughout the organisation to ensure the Complaints Handling application was tailored to the Ombudsman's needs, data migrated from an existing system and training was completed in order that the system could be 'live' by 1st April. The solution provides:

  • A powerful Management Information System
  • A case-centric application which integrates document handling and workflow to support the investigative process
  • A system which is intuitive to use for non-IT professionals
  • A solution which is cost-effective to implement and maintain
  • Remote support from CAS offices in Edinburgh

Benefits

The Complaints Management System has a powerful management reporting capability to provide management with case-related information. This allows performance to be monitored against the Ombudsman's KPIs. Workload monitoring allows management to optimise the use of staff, increase productivity and turnaround times. The system supports staff at all levels within the organisation, providing structured storage of case documents electronically, with all ingoing and outgoing correspondence related to an investigation stored on ONE place. This standardises practice, supports business continuity and aids compliance with the Data Protection Act.


"As Chair of the Project Management Board I have been impressed by CAS' ability to look at the 'bigger picture', understand the challenges of our 'business' and not focus purely on technology delivery. Despite the Project commencing two months behind schedule, through no fault on the part of CAS, CAS staff worked tirelessly with staff at all levels in this Office to meet the agreed implementation target date and ensure the success of the Project." commented Ivan Houston, Director of Corporate Services, Office of the Northern Ireland Ombudsman.

Lindsay Rainey, Office Manager adds "Staff at CAS have demonstrated extensive IT knowledge of all aspects of technology important to the successful deployment of any new software application - understanding our requirements, systems development, PRINCE2 project management, security, data migration, training and support. It is a pleasure to work with CAS' highly motivated, experienced and friendly team."


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