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Our work

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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’

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.

Image showing people graphics to depict how much your intervention costs per person
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.

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.

Blog post 03/12/2024

Evaluating NHS England’s national approach to tackling healthcare inequalities

NHS England have commissioned the Strategy Unit to evaluate the national Core20PLUS5 approach for reducing healthcare inequalities.

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?

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.

Graph showing loss versus surplus
13/05/2024

Contracting for health outcomes: from concept through theory to implementation

In this new report, jointly authored with colleagues from the University of York and The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, we set out in detail how an outcomes-based contract for elective knee replacements might be constructed, and the potential implications for commissioners, providers, and policy-makers.

Feet walking
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.”

Two graphs with a magnifying glass lying on top of one
Report 04/03/2024

GP services: new analysis and fresh insights

In our latest analysis for the Midlands Decision Support Network (MDSN), we explore the long standing problem of access to GP practice consultations we consider the implications, and explore potential solutions.

Summary of findings from the study
Report 18/10/2023

Menopause and the NHS workforce

The impact of the menopause on the NHS workforce. The Strategy Unit and Health Economics Unit report on their mixed methods findings.

River winding through grass and trees
11/10/2023

Rural Health Inequalities

The UK Government (2016) define rural areas as those which

Waiting line
Report 29/09/2023

Learning about what works in urgent community response

The initial report from the national urgent community response (UCR) evaluation, along with an economic modelling tool to help service providers and systems understand the impact of UCR, is now available.

Diagnostics
Blog post 12/05/2023

Diagnosing harms?

All medicines are poisons. Everything that cures could kill if administered in the wrong doses, to the wrong people, at the wrong times, in the wrong ways.

Senior Patient Lady Signing Papers With Doctor In Hospital
Long read 10/05/2023

Inclusive Elective Care Recovery

These case studies present the key features and learning from local initiatives which championed inclusive approaches to elective care recovery.

Cropped Hospital Scanner
Report 03/05/2023

How is growth in diagnostic testing affecting the hospital system?

Diagnostic services, such as medical imaging, endoscopy, and pathology, have grown substantially in recent years and at a faster rate than most other healthcare services. Increased diagnostic testing brings benefits to patients, but rapid growth of this service area within a complex, adaptive system such as the NHS is likely to have had unintended consequences. Midlands ICBs wanted to understand the impact of diagnostic growth on hospital services.

Pagination

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