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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
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…
Risk and Reward Sharing for NHS Integrated Care Systems
Risk and reward sharing is a simple and attractive concept, offering a commissioner the opportunity to co-opt and incentivise a provider to moderate growth in healthcare demand by sharing in the savings or cost over-runs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a US government agency…
Horizontal or Vertical: Which way to integrate?
In 2011, Primary Care Trusts faced a difficult choice. The Transforming Community Services policy required a complete break of commissioner and provider functions. But what should PCTs do with the community health services they delivered; vertically integrate with an acute trust, horizontally…
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…
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…
July 2017
Impact assessment
Economic impact of NHS spending in the Black Country - Full Version
The Strategy Unit is a strategic partner to the Black Country and West Birmingham Sustainability and Transformation Partnership. Our innovative work has built on the local appetite for focusing on transformations that can make a real different to local populations. As well as our national work for…
June 2015
Secondary care
Using logic models in evaluation
Logic models are increasingly being used to support the design and evaluation of complex change in the NHS. This briefing provides a brief introduction to logic models and how they can be used to support evaluation of change.