When and how can working collaboratively as a system deliver benefits not available to single organisations?

Leaders in the health and care sector are responding to a growing policy emphasis on taking an integrated, whole-system view of population health and care needs. 

There is an increasing evidence base that co-ordinating plans, integrating delivery and aligning incentives across currently separate organisations and sectors presents opportunities to make transformational improvements in health and care outcomes, through higher quality and more efficient services. 

This move towards systems thinking is a change from recent policy history, with its emphasis on competition and market mechanisms. In the commercial sector, too, collaborating within a defined system (e.g. a supply chain) is commonly replacing simplistic ‘win-lose’ competition. 

We support the economic and ethical rationale for this but also believe a systems approach cannot be a ‘cure-all’. Local partners need to be judicious in determining when and how the benefits of collaboration will exceed the costs. In particular, we see risks relating to:

  • Focusing on organisational forms rather than on specific opportunities for improving quality, outcomes and efficiency (both allocative and technical);
  • ‘Cutting and pasting’ of novel interventions or enabling mechanisms (e.g. risk/gain share) from one system to another, without adequate evidence of effectiveness or sensitivity to the specific circumstances of each locality; and
  • Failing to recognise that systems are not static and that the ‘right’ partners will vary depending on the opportunities and challenges in question.

The Strategy Unit has a history of supporting clients realise the potential of collaborative working - making better use of scarce resources and improving outcomes for their populations.

We know from experience that the delivery of transformational change is a long-term project requiring clear, evidence-based logic and relentless focus.

We understand that, to take advantage of the opportunities of system collaboration, all those with a role in system leadership and transformation – both clinicians and operational, strategic and financial managers - face a range of similar challenges:

Work with us

Working with us as a strategic partner

The Strategy Unit is born from the NHS and our team is committed to empowering NHS and other system partners to make wise, well-informed decisions that make a real and lasting difference to their local populations.

We can help you to address complex and enduring challenges in your system, and to conceive and realise new opportunities. We do not offer pre-packaged ‘solutions’ but work with systems on bespoke, locally appropriate approaches across the three core phases of transformation: diagnosis; development and delivery.

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