We place a high value on sharing our work – here, you’ll find some examples of reports and other project outputs which demonstrate the work we do.  If you’re interested in topics which aren’t listed here, please get in touch.

October 2020 Service improvement

COVID-19: breaking the cycle of deprivation and ill health

Promoting whole-system action on the wider determinants of healthy life expectancy in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic

 October 2020 Strategy Unit information

Health service use in the last two years of life

Health and care services get just one opportunity to support people at the end of their life. When this support is compassionate and appropriate, unnecessary suffering can be avoided and grieving can be eased. When this is not the case, harm and distress can result. The difference in these…

 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…

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.

 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.

 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:

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 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…

September 2018 Service improvement

Evaluation of the Dudley New Care Models Programme

The Strategy Unit led the evaluation of the Dudley Vanguard programme. This is the final system-wide report from that work. It draws on in-depth interviews with over 20 strategic level stakeholders from the Dudley system. The report looks at both the large-scale procurement process and the…

 July 2018 Strategy Unit information

Neighbourhood Network

The Strategy Unit wants to support Neighbourhood Working. We want to help make a success of different services – health, social care, voluntary sector (etc) – coordinating their efforts to improve health outcomes for local populations. To do this, we have initiated a learning network.    We held …

 December 2017 Service configuration | Service improvement | Integrated Care

Scoping study: the economics of caring

There is a clear moral case for supporting unpaid carers. They play an essential role in the lives of the people they care for; they often do so at a cost to their own wellbeing.  But what is the economic case for supporting carers? And to what extent does the evidence base support this case? Where…

December 2017 Service improvement | Integrated Care

Evaluation and complex change

  Feedback is a vital component of any complex change programme. Without feedback, it is impossible for policy makers, programme and frontline teams to learn, adapt and improve. The Strategy Unit therefore sees evaluation as a vital part of the mix in making large-scale change. Evaluation is all…

 November 2017 Service improvement | Integrated Care

Logic Models for Complex Programmes

Logic models have become a standard tool for planning and evaluation. This short presentation offers a step-by-step guide to assembling logic models for complex programmes. The Strategy Unit is well known for its use of logic models. We use them to help programmes and organisations – including…

March 2017 Service improvement

Commissioning Healthcare Analysis for Complex Problems

This document is a guide to commissioning healthcare analysis for complex problem which has been developed by the Strategy Unit.

November 2016 Impact assessment | Service configuration | Service improvement

Integrated Impact Assessment for Major Hospital Reconfiguration

The Strategy Unit worked as a strategic partner of the NHS Future Fit Programme in Shropshire and Telford and Wrekin from its initiation and until it was able to move to public consultation. A key output was a comprehensive Integrated Impact Assessment of acute hospital options that enabled…