The Midlands Analyst Network was created to provide a space for analysts to share information, ideas and resources, as well as seek advice and guidance from one another.

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.

How Does Access to Community Health Services Vary Across the Midlands?

Community health services provide invaluable support for older people with a range of health care needs. These services also keep local health systems working efficiently.
Despite this importance, comparatively little is known about the scale and distribution of community services. The NHS may consequently fall short when it comes to monitoring and planning these services.

There are many challenges in translating the findings from insights into action. These may include poor access to evidence, poorly contextualised insights, low levels of capacity and capability to act upon findings, a lack of supportive structures and processes, variance in the perception of the value of evidence, and knowledge not being shared between practitioners.

The quality of the analyst-decision maker relationship really matters when it comes to the translation of insights to action. Too often we hear of analysts feeling stuck in a corner, asked a question but not really knowing what it’s going to be used for. Alternatively, decision makers asking for data but then finding it doesn’t quite give them the right answer.

Now this is a call for both analysts and decision makers (I use both terms in the broadest sense) in organisations – get to know one another!

“Solving complex problems requires new approaches to problem solving…To do this, organisations and communities need to become skilled in mobilising intelligence of all kinds – data, information, insights and ideas. In the 21st century, we believe this will matter as much as mobilising money or power” Nesta (2019).[1]

GP Practice productivity, efficiency, and continuity of care

The gap between need and supply of GP practice consultations

GP practice consultations are, by some distance, the most common interaction between the NHS and the population it serves.  During these consultations, patient’s acute conditions are diagnosed and treated, their long-term conditions are managed, preventative interventions are delivered, and referrals to secondary care are made.  Patient satisfaction with access to GP practice consultations is a long-standing problem, but this issue has become more acute since the COVID-19 pandemic.