Edition 1

March 2015

Welcome

MEDIC
Forward
News
Consultation and
Engagement Update:

It is some months since the launch

of MEDIC Forward and the Senior
Management team have recently
completed the phase 2 staff
briefings where proposals for the
future School of Medicine structures
were shared with colleagues from
across the school.
Thanks to all of those who have contributed
to the process so far by engaging with
the team and submitting questions and
suggestions that have helped shape the
proposals to date.
Im pleased to be able to confirm that the
key foundations of the School structure have
now, through consultation, been finalised.
The future structure of the school will
have 4 Research Divisions and a Centre for
Medical Education. In addition we will host
a new Clinical Innovation Hub on behalf of
the college. This is an endorsement of the
innovation demonstrated within our School.
In the move towards creating the future
structure of the school we have also
announced proposals around areas of
disinvestment. Whilst the impact on colleagues
of any disinvestment is regrettable, it is

The original 90 Day consultation

commenced on the 14th November 2014.

undoubtedly necessary to ensure we have

the resources available to invest in growing
areas of strength in the years ahead. We do
remain in consultation around these areas
of disinvestment and very much welcome
constructive feedback and alternative ideas
from colleagues across the school.
Our next staff briefings are planned for
late May 2015 when we hope to be in a
position to announce the more detailed
design for the school and we may
then be in a position to seek closure to
consultation and look forward to planning
the implementation phase. In the interim
however there will be lots of opportunities
to engage with the project and contribute
to shaping your School of Medicine.
Professor John Bligh
Dean of Medicine & Head of School

In the intervening period we have held

several collective consultation meetings
with Trade Union Representatives from
UCU, Unison and Unite. During these
meetings we have agreed to extend
the original consultation period by a
further 45 days (to 31st March 2015)
and in order to ensure we have allowed
sufficient and reasonable time to properly
consult on proposals without unduly
rushing important decisions we may seek
a further extension of consultation in the
coming weeks.
Colleagues from the Institute for
Medical Education recently attended
an Away day with representatives
from all areas, including students and
wider stakeholders to understand past
and current issues. This away day has
been followed up with multiple group
sessions focused on the specific areas,
highlighted at the away day, and the
team are making excellent progress on
their plan for the future.
Colleagues in the Post Graduate Taught
(PGT) team have also commenced a
round of workshops to finalise their
proposed strategy for the future.
The Director of PGT, Professor Aidan
Byrne commented, we now have
over 60 people signed up to nine
consultation groups set up with
clear objectives and timeline to
produce completed reports. With the
continued support and engagement
of all our staff we can look forward
to some exciting proposals.
Institute Directors and Institute &
Operational Managers from across the
School have attended several away day
events to plan the strategic direction of
the school. In the coming weeks there
will be the opportunity for colleagues
from an even wider cross section of
school staff to engage in the project.
If you have thoughts and ideas around
how to improve the school please take
every opportunity to get involved

MEDIC
Forward
News

Edition 1
March 2015

School of Medicine Proposed Structure

FAQ

College of Biomedical & Life Sciences

Will this restructuring be enough to

fix the school for the long term?

School of Medicine

Research
Divisions

Centre for Medical

Education

School Management
Offices

Clinical
Innovation Hub

Infection & Immunity

(I&I)

Assessment

Finance Office

TBC

Admissions

Research PGR Office

C21

IT Office

Cancer & Genetics

(C&G)

Quality Assurance

Estates & Technician

Office

Population Medicine
(PM)

PGT

International
& Engagement

UG

Planning & Projects

Student Support

Governance
& Compliance

Psychological
Medicine and
Clinical
Neurosciences
(PMCN)

In the draft structure above the areas shaded blue have, through the consultation process now
been agreed. Over the coming weeks we will continue to consult regarding the areas in the
structure that are currently shaded grey alongside the more detailed structures that will make
up the new Divisions.

Our strategy is to create a school

that is sustainable for the future.
No restructure alone can deliver the
excellence we aim to achieve. MEDIC
Forward is about transformation
and this means reviewing what we
do, how we do it and changing our
working culture to be more cohesive
to a point that we function seamlessly
as One Team.
What are the criteria for selecting
an area for disinvestment?
As part of our due diligence we
reviewed current areas of strength
and found there were several key
factors of success such as:
Larger cohesive teams creating
critical mass allowing high levels
of resilience & succession planning
Strong financial discipline Grant
capture both historic and in pipeline
Innovation in translating research
into impact
Strategic vision where teams
all work together towards a
common goal.
These characteristics were all
considered when writing the school
strategy and therefore areas working
on research that doesnt align to the
school strategy are under review and
are currently proposed as potential
areas of disinvestment.
If I would like to be considered
for VSP when will I know if my
application has been successful?
This will depend on your current role
within the school. By necessity we
need to define our academic structure
before we can accurately define
our Professional Services structure.
Therefore we will first be considering
applications from academic colleagues,
before considering those from
Professional Services staff. For this
reason some colleagues may receive a
decision sooner than others. We will
communicate clearly with all applicants
to set realistic expectations regarding
when a decision might be available.

MEDIC
Forward
News

Edition 1
March 2015

Phase 1:
Initiation

Phase 2:

Today

Proposals
Feedback
Sessions

Recruit Division
Directors &
Managers

Finalise all
proposed
structures
and new Job
descriptions

Phase 2:
Discovery and Consultation

Seek to close
consultation
All school
update Briefings

Phase 3:
Validation

To 31st May 2015

Upcoming Proposals
Feedback Sessions
Whilst Medical Education and PGT
are already undertaking workshops
to scope their plans for the future
we also plan to hold a number of
Proposals Feedback Sessions to
learn from colleagues in other areas
of the school . These sessions will
be a great way for you to feedback
on the proposed structures and help
the project team with ideas and
suggestions on how we can ensure
the implementation of change is as
smooth a process as possible.

Sharing
Information and
Engaging with
Feedback
As part of our commitment to Consult
Engage Feedback, we wanted to
establish an online shared space to
make documents and information,
relating to MEDIC Forward, available
to all staff within the school.
We reviewed various options and
felt that Connections would work
particularly well for our project we
are therefore launching a Cardiff
Connections Community.
Initially, copies of the project Launch
Booklet, this Newsletter and an up
to date version of the FAQs will be
available on the community page for
you to view and contribute further
to. Please give us your feedback on
this facility and we can develop it
over the coming weeks to best meet
your requirements.
In the coming days you should receive
an email invite to join the MEDIC
Forward community. If you dont
receive this invite or have any issues
accessing the space please contact the
team via the MEDIC Forward email
MEDICForward@cardiff.ac.uk.

New structures
go live

Phase 4:
Implementation
July December 2015

Phase 5:
Embed One Team Initiative
January June 2016

What happens next

I am a

What happens next

for me

Grant Holder/Senior member of an area

of proposed disinvestment

You will receive a letter via email inviting

you to attend a one to one meeting to be
held over the next two weeks.

Research colleague in an area proposed

for disinvestment

If, following further discussion with the

grant holders, the research area remains
an area of disinvestment you will be
invited to attend a one to one meeting
to discuss impacts and possible options.
These invites are expected to be issued in
Early April 2015.

Colleague in Professional Support Service

(PSS) role (MPSS/TECH/ADMIN)
Regardless of alignment/non-alignment
to an area of disinvestment.

We need to have a clear picture of

the planned academic structure of the
school in order to understand our PSS
requirements for the future.
We will therefore review PSS structures as
a whole likely to be during May 2015
and will make information available as
soon as practical under the consultation
process...

Key Contacts:
Should you have any specific questions or queries regarding the MEDIC Forward
project please contact:
Email feedback to MedicForward@cardiff.ac.uk
Speak with your Trade Union Representative
Open door policy with Dean of Medicine

You are invited

Although there will be several opportunities to engage with the project over
the coming weeks our next planned all school briefing is being scheduled for
Tuesday 2nd June 12:00.
Individual invites to school staff will be issued shortly confirming the venue for the
briefing. Please make every effort to attend as the briefing will include important
MEDIC Forward updates.