Strategy Unit and The Health Foundation logos

We are delighted to announce a collaborative partnership with the Health Foundation, a leading, independent, charitable health and care organisation. 

Our partnership is a natural fit. This partnership brings together our collective data analytics expertise to address important questions regarding health and care. Part of the Strategy Unit mission is to improve the use of analysis in decision making and The Health Foundation’s track record in using data analytics to tackle real world problems in health and social care, can enhance this mission further. 

Our shared ambitions to provide evidence and analysis to improve heath and care and reduce inequalities means bringing our skills together will enhance our approach to this. Our specialist teams in the Strategy Unit will support The Health Foundation tackle complex real world problems sharing our expertise in data science and analytics, including complex modelling, evidence reviews, qualitative research, problem structuring and evaluation, as well as our deep knowledge of the health and care system. 

This formal partnership is not an entirely new collaborative effort from us. The Strategy has long collaborated with The Health Foundation on a number of projects, and always valued each other’s expertise informing our work. A couple of our earlier efforts include: 

  • In the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020-2021, The Health Foundation joined us in an analytical collaboration set up to bring together organisations to provide combined analytical support to the health and care system in the fight against COVID-19. 
  • In October 2020 we supported the detailed modelling that underpinned The Health Foundation’s REAL Centre’s first report ‘the bigger picture’ that aimed to learn from two decades of changing NHS care in England. 

Whilst continuing to support each other’s work over the years, our collaborative partnership aims to be responsive to emerging analytical needs, as well as enabling longer-term pieces of analytical work. It will involve a pipeline of three to five projects during the first year. We have already started on several projects:

  • In April 2023 we collaborated on a report on NHS care delivered by the independent sector, where we undertook analysis of Secondary Uses Services data, on behalf of the Health Foundation.
  • More recently in October 2023, we supported the development of an interactive calculator in The Health Foundation’s analysis exploring the future size of the waiting list.  
  • And we are now collaborating on projects including: the international collaborative on costs, outcomes and needs in care, developing research resources and minimum data set for care homes’ adoption project and supporting the Networked Data Lab.