Working in partnership with ICF, we undertook an evaluation, at pace, of service innovations, which was very well-received, informing the Partnership Board on next steps for a new care model

Background

Dudley CCG was appointed as a ‘Vanguard’ in the NHS’ flagship ‘New Care Models’ programme. Moving to a new care model meant innovating at pace – with a range of new services and new ways of working planned. But not all of these ‘innovations’ were expected to work; some would need to be stopped and some would be scaled. Evaluative evidence was needed to inform these decisions.​

Action

Working with our partners ICF, NHS Midlands and Lancashire’s Strategy Unit undertook a rapid evaluation of nine service innovations. These covered a varied range of interventions, from social prescribing, to enhanced pharmacy services, to virtual ‘avatar’ nurses.​

To allow comparison across such diverse innovations, we gathered evidence against a common template. This looked at design, implementation, costs and benefits. Results were summarised in a comprehensive report and presentation to Dudley’s Partnership Board.​

Read more about advancing rapid evaluation.​

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Impact

The evaluation was highly well-received. We provided comparable evaluative information for each innovation. ​

​We helped the Partnership Board work through the findings of our work and make decisions about which innovations to stop, which to refine (and how) and which to scale. Because these decisions were evidence-based, the Board could be more confident that better outcomes and a better use of resources would result.

Feedback

“The Strategy Unit ran a session on developing a vanguard evaluation strategy at our national new care models event. The presentation was captivating and insightful, and brilliantly articulated the challenges that almost all other vanguard evaluators were facing.”​

Charles Tallack, Head of Operational Research and Evaluation Commissioning​ Strategy, NHS England​

Further information

If you would like more information about our services, you can contact us on strategy.unit@nhs.net