The impact of social care on demand for urgent hospital care: have we reached a consensus?

The care home COVID crisis and the effects of longstanding staffing and funding shortages has meant that social care has featured heavily in the media over the last 12 months. 

Decisions to admit patients are not solely determined by clinical risk

Whether or not to admit a patient is one of the most routine yet important decisions a doctor in an Emergency Department

Emergency Department attendances reach new high – August may bring new challenges 

Earlier this year, the Str

Localism and the NHS: a case in four stories

In this blog, Fraser Battye makes the case for localism in the NHS. He tells four short stories. He suggests that these stories highlight an opportunity as the NHS enters a period of reform.  

Some positive news for integrating GP practices with hospital trusts

The drive for greater integration of health and care services has been the central theme of UK health policy for most of

Strategy Unit analysis published showing changes in use of emergency departments under lockdown

We know that patterns of access to healthcare have changed during the pandemic.

Is ‘Integrating Care’ bold enough?

In this blog, Fraser Battye leaves the Strategy Unit’s usual careful and empirical view of the world. He reflects on NHS England and Improvement’s ‘Integrating Care’ paper from the perspective of wider ideological and societal trends. In doing so, he suggests that there is scope for bolder reform – and that localism is the way to go.

What might ‘Integrating Care’ mean for analysts?

In this blog, Fraser Battye looks at NHS England/Improvement’s ‘Integrating Care’ paper. While not looking forward to another NHS re-organisation, he sees a lot that analysts will like. Fraser also notes the potential advantage that the Decision Support Unit model gives systems in the Midlands. What can analysts do to seize these opportunities?

Why are deaths set to rise?

In our recent analysis of healthcare use in the last 2 years of life, we point out an important change that’s taking place to life and death in the UK. 

The bigger picture

Today, the Health Foundation launched the REAL Centre (Research and Economic Analysis for the Long term), an incredibly important initiative to imp

The Strategy Unit have been awarded funding from the Health Foundation to improve analytical capability in health and care services

The Strategy Unit have been selected to be part of the latest round of the Health Foundation's Advancing Applied Analytics programme.

Population Health Management Analyst Development Programme: An overview

The Population Health Management (PHM) Analyst Development Programme will introduce analysts from the Midlands CCGs, NHS Trusts, CSUs, Local Author

System Leaders Symposium on Population Health

Population Health Management support

Have cuts to public spending on social care for older people led to more emergency hospital admissions?

Cuts to council social care budgets are often cited as a cause of pressure on NHS urgent and emergency care services. Much of the evidence supporting this link, however, is anecdotal. We set out to try and quantify the effect of cuts to social care on older people’s use of emergency healthcare services, and our research has just been published in BMJ Open.

Simple tools for improving healthcare - Tool 3: The naïve question

This is the third in our short series of blogs on ‘simple tools for improving healthcare’.

Simple tools for improving healthcare - Tool 2: A clear theory of change

At heart, the Strategy Unit has a very simple belief.

New Perspectives on the Perennial Problem of Urgent Care

Waiting times in A&E are never far from the headlines.   It threatens to become the defining healthcare performance issue of our time

Brief reflections on Dudley's journey as a Vanguard

With the end of the New Care Models programme there is an opportunity to reflect on what has been learnt at local level.