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Our work

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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.

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.

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?

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.

02/04/2024

Ghosted by an old friend

“…personal contact was a vital element in general practice from the beginning. By 1959 50% of people in England regarded their GP as a personal friend.”

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

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.

Tool 28/09/2019

Learning and Development of Problem Solving Techniques

What is innovation?

Report 30/07/2019

Clinical Workforce Scenarios for the Black Country

The future is highly uncertain.

Blog post 18/02/2019

Emerging from the silos: how the NHS can support economic growth

The Strategy Unit has been leading the way on supporting local NHS bodies to consider the wider economic impact of how they operate. Here, David Frith highlights what a shift this is for the NHS, along with the range of opportunities NHS bodies should consider exploring.

Blog post 18/12/2018

Let’s face the music and (not) dance

David Frith leads our strategy consultancy work with NHS and third sector organisations.

Pagination

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