Publications | The Strategy Unit

September 2020 Service improvement

How can we learn from changes in practice under COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen rapid changes in ways of working. We have seen an increase in collaboration, particularly through digital platforms, the sharing of data, and people describing ‘true system working’. So how do we capture innovations and changes in practice? How do we learn…

September 2020 Mental health services | Secondary care

Accessibility of perinatal mental health services for women from Ethnic Minority groups

Barriers to accessing mental health care during pregnancy and the first postnatal year (perinatal period) seem to be greater for ethnic minority women.

July 2020 Capacity and Demand

Modelling the impact of covid on waiting lists for planned care

Working with the national collaboration to coordinate covid-related analysis, and the NHSE/I Midlands region, the Strategy Unit has produced a ‘systems dynamics’ model of waiting lists for planned care. The model is freely available for non-commercial use across the NHS. Here, Steven Wyatt and Mike…

July 2020 Integrated Care | Primary Care

Primary and Community Qualitative Insights

The COVID-19 response required rapid change and innovation across health and care. As part of a wider package of evaluation support, from April to June, the Strategy Unit led some qualitative work (training and supporting CCG staff to conduct interviews) across an STP to capture learning from…

April 2020 Service improvement

Outcomes based commissioning: A framework for local decision making

This local decision-making framework aims to empower systems as they look to design new contracting approaches aimed at improving outcomes.

January 2020 Secondary care | Integrated Care

How will we know if Integrated Care Systems reduce demand for urgent care?

The implications of a blended payment system are far reaching: Decisions about planned activity levels will determine the total funding envelope for urgent care within a system and will influence the behaviour of healthcare providers and the services they deliver to patients.

December 2019 Service improvement

Opening the ‘black box’ of scenario planning through realist synthesis

Scenario planning is recognised as an effective aid to strategic planning in complex, uncertain conditions. It is an approach that the Strategy Unit is increasingly building into its work with health and care systems and third sector organisations.

November 2019 Mental health services | Secondary care | Capacity and Demand

Exploring Mental Health Inpatient Capacity

This report explores the pressures on inpatient mental health services across Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships in England, drawing on a wide range of datasets, published research and interviews with staff working on mental health services. The report was commissioned by and includes…

July 2019 Service improvement

Clinical Workforce Scenarios for the Black Country

The future is highly uncertain. Unless we consider the diverse factors that could affect health, our plans will lack creativity and sustainability. The challenges facing NHS systems are headline news: NHS structures are frequently the subject of organisational change; new policy directives; funding…

July 2019 Service improvement

PHM Core Team - 2nd July 2019

PHM Academy - Core Team Event 2nd July 2019 We held our first Core Team event on the 2nd July 2019 which was a huge success. All STPs arrived in high numbers and were given the opportunity to hold talks with some of the leading experts, which included:

February 2019 Secondary care | Capacity and Demand

Waiting Times and Attendance Durations at English A&E Departments

In March 2019, NHS England is expected to report the outcome of its review of constitutional waiting times targets. This report reviews the factors that have led to the decline in performance against one of these targets - the 4-hour target for Accident and Emergency Departments. The analysis…

February 2019 Integrated Care

New care models - what's the evidence

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

January 2019 Integrated Care

Evaluation of Building the Right Support: findings to date

Building the Right Support is a national plan to provide better support to people with a learning disability or autism. It says what services and supports are needed to help people whose behaviour challenges services or who have mental health problems. This is because too many people are living in…

November 2018 Impact assessment | Secondary care | Service configuration | Service improvement | Capacity and Demand

The Potential Economic Impact of Virtual Outpatient Appointments in the West Midlands: A scoping study

The Strategy Unit was recently approached to examine the case for a shift from traditional outpatient services to the use of virtual and remote access technologies for appropriate outpatient appointments. An essential part of this assessment was broadly scoping the potential socio-economic impacts…

October 2018 Mental health services | Service improvement

Evaluation of an Integrated Mental Health Liaison Service (Rapid Assessment Interface and Discharge Service) in Northern Ireland

A high proportion of patients treated for physical health conditions also have co-morbid mental health problems; and there is growing acceptance of a need to raise awareness of mental health issues in acute hospitals and improve the experience of care and treatment for this group.

October 2018 Integrated Care

The Status of Electronic Palliative Care Coordination Systems in the West Midlands

Commissioned by NHS England, this report describes the state of electronic palliative care coordination systems in the West Midlands. It draws on a review of the literature, interviews with local NHS staff and responses to information requests. As people approach the end of their lives, care…

October 2018 Service improvement

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. These problems arise from a mismatch between need and provision: a mismatch where there is no reason to assume fundamental change. So innovation – in both product and process – is needed. Yet…

October 2018 Service improvement

Making a priority of mental health and wellbeing in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire has been an early mover in the transition from Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STP) to Integrated Care Systems (ICS) within the NHS in England. As part of that transition, it made a conscious commitment to prioritise the transformation of mental health and wellbeing…

September 2018 Service improvement

Lessons from the Vanguard: Procurement

Dudley was unique within the New Care Models programme for using a large-scale procurement exercise. This exercise therefore offers lessons for both policy and practice. These lessons are set out in a short ‘lessons from the vanguard’ paper, joint-authored by the Strategy Unit and Dudley Clinical…

September 2018 Service improvement

Intelligence-driven health and care: phase two

Following on from the Design Summit in May, the Strategy Unit has continued to work on how Intelligence-driven health and care can improve outcomes for patients and local communities. The project, commissioned by MLCSU, aims to explore the emerging intelligence needs of the health and care sector…