Following the merger of GSTT and RBHFT in 2021, the newly formed Trust faced a critical challenge: its 35,000 staff were operating across two separate, legacy email systems. This division created significant operational and strategic issues: 

• Regulatory & Cybersecurity Risk: The on-premise platforms were not fully compliant with the DCB1596 standard, posing a high-priority cybersecurity risk.
• Limited Collaboration: Staff could not easily find contact details for colleagues across the merged organisation, hindering communication and teamwork.
• Operational Inefficiency: Maintaining two email systems incurred substantial costs and diverted technical resources from other strategic objectives. 

After a rigorous options appraisal, the recommended solution was to migrate all staff to the central NHSmail platform, using a single @nhs.net naming convention and implementing Microsoft Office 365. This approach offered the best balance of flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and alignment with national standards, providing access to centrally funded components like Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. 

To ensure success, we developed a robust, evidence-based Five Case Model business case, securing strategic and financial buy-in. This detailed the project's strategic alignment, economic benefits, commercial viability, financial affordability, and management approach, giving decision-makers confidence in our delivery plan. 

Our focus on the "human element" was central. We adopted a phased, people-centric implementation, developing a comprehensive stakeholder engagement and communications plan to address change fatigue and ensure a smooth transition. This included providing 12 additional service desk staff and 22 floorwalkers to support users. The project was managed by a dedicated Veracity project manager using Prince2 best-practice methodology. 

A key strength was our blended resourcing model, combining Veracity’s external expertise with the Trust’s internal teams. This allowed the Trust to increase capacity at peak demand while embedding knowledge into business-as-usual functions. 

The project successfully delivered a unified email platform, enabling staff to work more securely, collaboratively, and efficiently. 

Key Migration Statistics: 

• 33,413 Users migrated 
• 200 TB of email data migrated 
• 25 TB of Office data migrated

Key Benefits: 

• Secure & Compliant Platform: Full DCB1596 accreditation was achieved, closing a major cybersecurity risk and enabling secure data sharing. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) was also implemented. 
• Substantial Financial Savings: The project is on track to deliver approximately £921k per annum in savings through reduced license costs and the retirement of a third-party security solution. 
• Enhanced Collaboration: A single email suffix and access to the unified NHS global directory have enabled seamless communication across the organisation and the wider NHS. 
• Improved Cybersecurity Resilience: Responsibility for email security was transferred to the NHSmail platform, ensuring security measures remain up-to-date. 
• Sustainability Gains: Decommissioning on-site servers has reduced power consumption, contributing to the Trust's "Carbon Zero" goal.