The National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (NICOR) partnered with NHS Midlands and Lancashire and NHS Arden and GEM collaborative Communications and Engagement team to develop a new, user-friendly website. The site features clear navigation, advanced search capabilities, and a customisable CMS, ensuring improved accessibility, content management, and user engagement. Launched in March 2024, the new website showcases NICOR’s expertise and commitment to cardiovascular care.

Background

The National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (NICOR) is dedicated to helping organisations enhance cardiovascular patient care. NICOR collects and analyses data and completes national cardiac audits to inform healthcare providers and research organisations about the quality of care. The Institute currently manages ten national clinical audits and health technology registries. Recognising the value of sharing information about the Institute and the national cardiac audit program, a new website was developed to showcase the ten sub-speciality audits and host interactive reports.

The new site would also provide the NICOR program team and communications lead with full administrative access to the content management system (CMS) and analytics. NHS Midlands and Lancashire’s Communications and Engagement team were commissioned to build the new website.

Our team of creative and digital experts worked closely with NICOR to develop a new website design, conducting concept testing with stakeholders. During the build, the website was fully tested and refined to ensure it met the client’s original vision.

Action

The goal was to create a user-friendly platform with clear navigation to help users find information, supported by an effective search feature. This involved:

– Implementing easy-to-use functionality for uploading reports and case studies.

– Integrating an advanced search feature with content tagging and filtering capabilities.

– Developing a streamlined and clutter-free design in line with NICOR’s brand guidelines, vision, and values.

– Including clear signposting to high-traffic areas and calls to action, with appropriate supporting images.

– Using a fully customisable WordPress CMS to make site content management intuitive for the client, supporting their internal team and future growth potential.

– Creating easy-to-populate landing pages to reduce reliance on PDFs and encourage the use of on-page content to increase traffic and engagement.

The team employed a six-stage approach, including developing interactive website concepts, engaging stakeholders for feedback, and reviewing content for migration using a dedicated site mapping tool. Over sixty pages of content were transferred to the new site, with Yoast SEO integration to enhance search engine optimisation (SEO) for page content and performance.

Impact

Launched in March 2024, the new NICOR website showcases their expertise in the field. It focuses on the user journey with clear navigation and a powerful site search feature, while the enhanced CMS functionality ensures site content can be easily managed by the client. The content relating to the  National Cardiac Audit Programme Annual Report 2024 was built in HTML for better accessibility, utilising Power BI software to display interactive reports. The website’s responsiveness ensures access across all devices, complemented by built-in accessibility features to accommodate diverse user needs.

The new website not only addresses previous content management limitations but also delivers a professional, fresh, and modern design interface. It improves accessibility to meet the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 success criteria. Weekly meetings between our team of digital experts, dedicated project managers, and the client team ensured the project timeline was well-managed, allowing us to complete the website ahead of schedule.

Feedback

“I would like to acknowledge the CSU for the exceptional work done by the digital team in creating our new website. Their professionalism, expertise, and dedication were evident throughout the entire process. From initial concept discussions to final implementation, they exceeded our expectations. The team’s attention to detail ensured that every aspect of the website was not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing. They were responsive to our feedback and made adjustments promptly, resulting in a website that is both modern looking, meets our needs and perfectly represents the programme of work we undertake.”

Nadeem Fazal | Head of Systems Development | Data Services & Analysis | National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research

 “The CSU digital team were a pleasure to work with and delivered our fabulous new website ahead of schedule and with much enthusiasm. Throughout the project, we had regular progress meetings and were able to see first-hand how our brand-new website was shaping up. From our initial scoping meetings right through to delivery, they demonstrated professionalism and expertise and were a pleasure to work with. They fully understood our requirements and were always happy to receive our feedback whilst providing us with ideas and suggestions that has resulted in a fantastic new NICOR website that has gone above and beyond our expectations. Thanks guys!”

Anthony Bradley | Senior Project Manager | National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research

For more information

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