Learning is one of the joys of teaching. And I’ve learnt a lot while helping people develop their decision making skills.

Some of these lessons have been encouraging. Inspiring even. It has then been a privilege to share them through the Decision Support Network’s education and training programme.  

But some of the things I’ve learnt belong on the negative side of the ledger. I’ve heard about constraints on decision making that are serious enough to require broader, more systemic change.

Some forms of leaders’ power are obvious. Leaders hire and they fire. They grant resources and they withhold them. They require some things and they prohibit others. These are the ‘hard’ powers that most of us think about when asking how leaders get things done.  

There are two main routes for health and care services to improve the health of the populations they serve. They can: 

1. Decide what to do.  
2. Do it well. 

Obviously, both are needed. But do services make the most of both routes? Or do they pursue one and neglect the other? And if they do, where is the room for improvement?  

The future looks incredibly promising for analysis and analysts in the NHS.  I can’t remember a time when the environment looked so conducive.  Over the next few years, analysts will get plenty of opportunities to make a real difference to the NHS and the people it serves.  And at the moment, the NHS needs all the help it can get. 

The future of healthcare analytics. What do analysts need to be able to advance and what do they need like a hole in the head?

A discussion between:

Smarter decision-making for your population

NHS England has identified Population Health Management (PHM) as a core strategic aim for Integrated Care Systems, but what does this look like in practice? With complex systems, finite resources and multiple organisations delivering care and interventions, how should decisions be made, and who should be making them? 

Decision-making in the 21st century NHS – how does it really work?

The NHS Long Term Plan placed an emphasis on better use of data in decision making, and before that the Five Year Forward View outlined a future of empowering and engaging patients and communities. But what has been the reality of decision-making in the 21st Century NHS?

How the science of systems thinking can support the craft of wise decision making – A GP practice case study

If you had a magic wand what decisions would you take to help make a ‘better world’ for GP practices? Would fixing a seemingly obvious ‘problem’ really make things better, or could you end up causing waves in the complex system in which GP practices sit? 

‘Systems thinking’ can be hugely valuable for complex decision making, taming complexity and bring decision makers to a shared understanding.

Understanding the links between delayed discharges and hospital congestion

In January 2022 NHS figures showed that more than 12,000 patients occupying hospital beds in England no longer met the ‘criteria to reside’.  

Eric Wolstenholme suggests that the potential savings to health from reducing delays to discharge are being significantly underestimated in current solutions but that realising these savings is very challenging …