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Sarah Cumbers (RSS) presenting Florence Nightingale Award to Strategy Unit staff Tom Jemmett, Jac Grout, YiWen Hon & Chris Beeley
News 16/07/2025

Strategy Unit demand model wins prestigious Florence Nightingale Award

Our open-source demand model, developed in collaboration with the New Hospital Programme, has been named the 2025 winner of the Florence Nightingale Award for Excellence in Health and Care Analytics.

Stock image showing big data visualisation: numbers 0 and 1 in coloured blocks
Blog post 09/04/2025

Transforming Hospital Planning with an Open-Source Demand and Capacity Model​

​​We are proud to announce the open-sourcing of a demand and capacity model, developed with the New Hospitals Programme, to transform NHS hospital planning with transparency, collaboration, and efficiency. ​

Image of shocked goose
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’

Man wearing suit adjusting cuff
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.

Image of female carer leaning over elderly female patient and holding her hand
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.

Stock image of red first aid kit with contents spilling out: stethoscope, tablets, ear buds, tweezers, plasters
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.

Change NHS logo
Long read 12/12/2024

‘NHS 10 Year Plan’: Strategy Unit consultation response

The Strategy Unit’s response to the Government’s current consultation on the ‘10 Year Health Plan’ for England.

Image of two young children wearing VR headsets
Report 15/10/2024

What are the downsides of digital?

What are the downsides of digital?

Sword floating in water with rope around it
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.

Blue tied rope
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?

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.

Black image with slither of light and man holding bag walking through it
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.

Image of flower from bud to full bloom
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

Face mask and magnifying glass
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.

10 min review
Mental health words in scrabble letters on white background
Report 19/10/2021

Estimating the impact of the proposed reforms to the Mental Health Act on the workload of psychiatrists

In January 2021, the Government published a White Paper, setting out its plans to reform the Mental Health Act.

Looking through a camera lens held by a hand at view of countryside
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.

Three graphs showing population, crude mortality rate and deaths
Blog post 30/10/2020

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. 

Group of hands holding wrists to create a circle
Report 05/10/2020

Socio-economic and environmental impact of Herefordshire and Worcestershire STP

Anchor institutions are large, typically non-profit, public sector organisations whose long-term sustaina

Pagination

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