How Priory Group Rolled Out Optima Across 250 Sites: Lessons in Implementation, Adoption and Return on Investment
Rolling out a workforce management system across hundreds of sites, spanning hospitals, residential care and supported living, presents significant implementation challenges for independent health and social care. In this session from the Connected Health & Care Summit 2025, Ingrid Loh, Head of Projects at Priory Group, and Johnny Newsham, Head of Independent Health and Care at RLDatix, walk through the full Optima implementation journey, from vendor selection and pilot sites through to adoption reporting, KPI tracking and the Nelson House case study.
Watch Priory Group’s Head of Projects share the full story of implementing Optima across more than 250 healthcare and adult care sites, including what worked, what was painful and what they would do differently.
What the session covers and the headline outcomes
This session walks through a three-year implementation programme covering vendor selection, phased rollout, team design, adoption challenges and measurable return on investment. The headline outcomes were:
- Over 200 adult care sites fully rolled out, with 15 of 50+ healthcare sites remaining
- Nelson House, a healthcare site with 40 to 50 colleagues, reported saving several hours per week on roster management and five hours per month on payroll processing after going live
- Loop Locate now in wave two, rolling out 40 to 50 sites at a time
- Time savings are being redeployed to front-facing patient care, not used for staff reduction
- Adoption reporting is now being embedded into healthcare and adult care operating boards, with the CEO asking about Optima at every board meeting
