Since 2018, Health Innovation West of England has used Verto as its project management platform of choice.
The organisation operates across a large and complex health and care landscape, covering Gloucestershire; Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire; Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, supporting varied teams including clinicians, innovators, researchers and academics, and system partners with different levels of experience and backgrounds.
With such diversity, the team needed a platform that could offer consistency without limiting autonomy. Verto has provided the structure needed to plan, monitor and deliver this work, becoming the backbone of their project delivery lifecycle, offering a single place to plan, deliver and monitor programmes.
As early adopters, the organisation recognised that Verto could support far more than governance.
“It enabled colleagues to understand the stages of delivery, work collaboratively and build confidence in project management approaches regardless of their professional background. Even staff who were new to project environments found themselves developing skills and moving into new roles as a result of knowledge development and using the system. An example is where one of our Personal Administrators interested in becoming a project manager, supported the build and rollout of our Verto system. They learnt about project management on the job, became our system administrator, before themselves developing enough to move into a project manager role.”
Kevin Hunter, Head of Planning & PMO
A New Chapter of Innovation
The organisation, previously called West of England Academic Health Science Network, and now known as Health Innovation West of England, is always looking to improve how they do things and could see opportunities for tailoring Verto to support future strategic ambitions.
Rather than starting again, the team reviewed the benefits Verto continued to provide and reflected on how it could better support the next stage of delivery. The question changed from “Is Verto still the right system for us?” to “How do we maximise the value it offers?”
One of the most significant steps forward was the move to Verto 365, which introduced capabilities that support clearer reporting, flexible working and enhanced stakeholder engagement.
“The move to Verto 365 has opened up a whole new world of opportunity for us.”
Kevin Hunter
Rebuilding Foundations for Success
To ensure the system met current organisational needs, Health Innovation West of England reintroduced structured ownership of Verto via the Programme Management Office. Instead of one person supporting the system on the side of their day job, a dedicated approach was created with resourcing and capability building, alongside clear expectations from leaders.
Leadership engagement has become a defining feature of the new phase. Business leaders are now familiar and interacting with the data directly within Verto as dashboards are used within performance meetings, and Teams now see Verto not as another system to update but as a practical tool that helps them put in place a delivery framework, understand progress, priorities, and resourcing conversations across the business.
“Verto helps us have real conversations about our work, not just produce reports.”
Kevin Hunter
The organisation also simplified its project lifecycle from six stages, into four clear stages: Planning, Delivery, Review, and Closure, making it easier for users to follow and understand what is required at each stage. Governance reports such as project proposals, highlight reports, and closure reports, have all been reviewed to meet the changing needs of the team and organisation. Teams now find it easier to move projects through the system and have seen efficiency savings of several hours per project, based on the removal of two gateway stages.
Supporting Culture, Capability and Confidence
A renewed culture of engagement now supports adoption. Changes are introduced gradually and accompanied by short, recorded demonstrations, newsletters and staff meeting updates. People are shown how Verto makes their work easier and why it matters, not simply told to complete tasks in the system.
This shift has improved confidence among users, especially those without a project management background. Verto is now regarded as a supportive tool that clarifies expectations, enables better conversations and reinforces the collective mission of innovation and improvement.
“We recognised that Verto could take people on a journey. Alongside other associated processes and support, we have built our system, so, it doesn’t just provide governance, it coaches and supports our teams to deliver better projects.”
Kevin Hunter
Looking Ahead
Health Innovation West of England remains on its Verto journey. Work continues around dashboards, reporting, the development of the resourcing module, and ensuring the system mirrors the organisation’s vision for future transformation.
As Verto became embedded into day-to-day ways of working, the PMO is also planning to move away from 100% in-person training for every new starter or refresher. By recording their onboarding and training sessions, they are creating a reusable video library that allows colleagues to self-serve support when they need it. This approach is expected to save around 20 hours of PMO time each year, while also ensuring consistent, high-quality use of Verto as teams evolve.
What has changed is the mindset. Verto is no longer seen as a system to maintain but an investment in capability and future delivery. The organisation is confident that the platform will continue to evolve with them and remain central to how they plan and deliver innovation.
“We’re pleased we invested in Verto as it’s the perfect tool for our organisation. It provides structure, assurance and the flexibility to grow, and we’re confident we’ll be working in partnership with Verto for many years to come.”
Kevin Hunter
