Urgent Community Response – What Works?

The Strategy Unit, with our partners Ipsos, has been commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) to provide a long-term national evaluation of the Urgent Community Response programme rolled-out across England. The programme aims to shift resources to home and community-based services as part of the NHS commitment to providing the right care, to the right people, at the right time. And there are a range of outputs from the early work that provide learning for local systems as they develop their services.

Bringing patient flow modelling into general practice

With general practice appointments hitting the highest numbers on record (34.8 million in England alone in November 2021), careful organisation and planning for patient appointments is increasingly important.

What do we know about the benefits of digital social care records?

The pace of change in the development and use of digital technology is astonishing. The use of such technology has been an essential element in the health and care services response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In many cases, the previously unthinkable became commonplace.

Securing the future of domiciliary care

The Strategy Unit is embarking on an exciting project with WM ADASS, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care Services in the West Midlands to explore the challenges facing domiciliary care and the opportunities that exist to transform and improve the service.

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. 

Increasing vaccine uptake

The purpose of this work was to identify the key features of local initiatives which encourage vaccine uptake in different population groups, and share these for others to learn from.

Evidence review: Early diagnosis of cancer

Detecting cancers early is essential to saving lives and reducing the need for invasive treatments.

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 releases opensource model for planning vaccine centre capacity

The UK is running its largest ever vaccination programme. The stakes are enormous.

Primary and Community Qualitative Insights

The COVID-19 response required rapid change and innovation across health and care.

Key opportunities for eye health and well being

Eye health and sight loss services have historically had a lower profile in service provision compared to many other specialities. There is a view that the importance of eye health has been underrepresented in many Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) plans.

Lessons, Evaluation and Learning from the Dudley MCP

Learning from Dudley MCP

New care models - what's the evidence

High level findings from a series of evidence reviews on new care models.

Let’s face the music and (not) dance

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

Why community alternatives to hospital admission don’t (typically) reduce total admission levels

Repeatedly, published evaluations show that community/primary care services interventions with a stated intention to reduce total (or forecast total) emergency admissions to hospital don’t achieve the expected result**

Lessons from the Vanguard: Innovation and Evaluation

The problems facing health and care services are so well known as to be documented in the media most days.

Lessons from the Vanguard: Procurement

Evaluation of the Dudley New Care Models Programme

This is the final system-wide report from the evaluation.

Integrating health and care services - what works? It’s complicated…

Coinciding nicely with the NHS 70th Birthday celebrations and the parallel discussions of ‘where next and how to do it better’ for the NHS, last we