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Our work

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  • Better use of analysis and decision making
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  • Abeda Mulla
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  • Zaheera Teladia
Impossible Stairway Maze
Blog post 09/10/2025

Making sense of failure demand in the NHS

I must be an unpleasant creature to share a room with. I snore. I smell. And I’m seemingly addicted to my way of doing things.

Blog post 27/03/2025

‘Internal Consultancy’: INSIGHTS from evidence and experience

In this blog, our Head of Policy, Fraser Battye, shares his reflections on a recent ‘SU INSIGHTS’ event on the ‘Internal Consultancy’

Blog post 11/03/2025

Are ‘Internal Consultancies’ a good option for the NHS?

Ahead of a SU INSIGHTS event on the topic, Fraser Battye, our Head of Policy suggests ways the NHS could make better use of consultancy support.

Long read 05/03/2025

From ‘right drift’ to ‘left shift’?

Our Head of Policy, Fraser Battye, looks at the challenges facing the intention to shift care ‘from hospital to community’. He suggests that we have missed a critical part of the explanation for why this ‘left shift’ hasn’t taken place following previous initiatives.

Blog post 14/02/2025

Charisma

In this long read, which first appeared in the HSJ, Fraser Battye - our Head of Policy – looks at the role of charisma and innovation in the way that NHS resources are allocated.

Report 13/12/2024

‘To risk stratify or not risk stratify, that is the question’ (At least, it should be)

Risk stratification tools are ubiquitous in healthcare. The concept is simple and seductive.

Report 15/10/2024

What are the downsides of digital?

What are the downsides of digital?

Blog post 10/10/2024

Ara Darzi, Wes Streeting and English health policy. Part 2: cutting the knot

Following on from part one, Fraser continues exploring the Gordian Knot of English health policy.

Blog post 04/10/2024

Ara Darzi, Wes Streeting and English health policy. Part 1: the Gordian Knot

Health policy is not at a crossroads, it is in a bind. Strands so entangled, so complex they resemble a Gordian knot. Can this knot be untied?

Old medicine bottles
Blog post 16/07/2024

The risks of risk stratification

Medical history is full of bizarre and gruesome procedures.

Confused man
Blog post 20/05/2024

Want to ease pressure in urgent care? Simply cut community services!?!

What should decision makers do with analysis that challenges deeply held assumptions? In this blog, Fraser Battye reflects on a surprising recent finding about community services.

Gartner Hype Cycle
Blog post 14/05/2024

Outcome-based commissioning: can we rescue promise from the rubble of hype?

The first effect of policy is on expectations. In every case I can think of, the effect is inflationary.

Blog post 26/10/2023

How data makes things worse

All light brings shade. My list of ‘changes that have been all upside and no downside’ is short and debatable.

11/10/2023

Leadership training and support for organisational development: an offer from the Strategy Unit

The Strategy Unit has long been known for the quality of its analytical work, and the clear, critical thi

ICS intelligence functions graph
Report 21/03/2023

ICS intelligence functions – a toolkit to support the implementation of NHSE guidance

In 2020, NHSE

graphic showing inequality being erased with eraser
Report 04/11/2022

What are the ethical challenges in addressing inequities?

Produced by Angie Hobbs - the world’s first Professor in the Public Understanding of Philosophy – this paper examines the ethical questions raised by our report outlining strategies for reducing inequity.

Blog post 08/06/2022

‘Might’ is right

A good idea can be ruined by over-selling.

Report 28/10/2021

Advancing the analytical capability of the NHS and its ICS partners

The Strategy Unit were asked by the Strategy and Development Team in the Directorate of the Chief Data and Analytics Officer, NHSE/I, to make recommendations for advancing analytical capability across the health and care workforce.

Report 22/06/2021

Less noise and more light: using criteria-driven analysis to tackle inequalities

Reducing health inequality is a long-standing aim of health policy. Yet the gap between policy aim and population outcome has grown in recent years: on most measures health inequalities have got worse.

Blog post 11/03/2021

A framework for understanding policy change

A new policy, strategic direction or major programme is announced.

Pagination

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