We supported the East of England Cancer Alliance through a complex organisational change process, ensuring a smooth transition, stakeholder engagement, and a restructured workforce aligned with strategic cancer service improvement goals.

Background

As part of the ‘Creating the new NHS England’ change programme, all Cancer Alliances hosted by NHS England transitioned their hosting arrangements to NHS ICBs or provider organisations. The East of England Cancer Alliances transferred to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board (CPICB) on 1 April 2024 and merged to form a single alliance aligned with the six East of England Integrated Care Systems. This formalised a way of working that had been in place since March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The region faced significant challenges in delivering consistent and equitable cancer services, with variations in performance across different areas. While some best practices existed, there was a need for a restructured workforce to align with the East of England Cancer Strategy: Improving Cancer Services Together (September 2022).

This strategy outlined three goals supported by five high-impact priorities:

• Prevention and early diagnosis – increasing public awareness and early identification of cancer risks.
• Access – improving flexible diagnostic pathways and streamlining patient transfers.
• Sustainable capacity – building workforce resilience through infrastructure and digital innovation.
• Patient focus – ensuring personalised care and reducing variation in diagnosis and treatment.
• Innovation – using data, research, and best practices to scale national improvement programmes.

To enable the workforce to effectively deliver these priorities, the Cancer Alliance sought to realign its team structure and processes. Our Organisational Development team was engaged to support the development and implementation of this new workforce model.

Action

We worked closely with stakeholders, management teams, trade union colleagues, and in-house HR teams to guide the change process and address challenges proactively. Our actions included:

• Engaging with key stakeholders to define workforce design and structure aligned with service objectives.

• Developing a detailed project plan, including milestones, deliverables, and stakeholder analysis.

• Providing project management oversight to monitor risks, escalate issues, and track progress.

• Advising on the business case for change, ensuring alignment with board and stakeholder priorities.

• Building relationships with stakeholders to ensure smooth change implementation.

• Drafting a consultation document and communication plan to support staff through the transition.

• Providing administrative and operational support, including equality impact assessments, job description updates, and recruitment guidance.

• Managing communication materials, including PowerPoint presentations, staff letters, one-to-one meetings, FAQs, and a dedicated inbox for staff queries.

• Introducing support interventions, such as assessment centres, interview training, coaching, and preference panels.

• Recommending future workforce development strategies, including workforce planning and cultural transformation.

Impact

The Cancer Alliance valued NHS Midlands and Lancashire’s People Solutions teams’ expertise, structured approach, and adaptability in navigating this transformation. Key outcomes included:

• New workforce structure implemented, enabling effective delivery of strategic goals.

• Seamless transition with strong stakeholder engagement, including trade union and ICB colleagues, ensuring there were no appeals or grievances.

• High staff morale and commitment maintained, with staff involved and supported compassionately throughout the change.

• Increased efficiency and productivity through streamlined structures and processes.

• Senior management empowered to lead the change, with confidence in risk management and administrative support.

• Robust recruitment and redeployment processes, supported by training and guidance.

• A clear roadmap for future workforce and cultural alignment, ensuring long-term sustainability.

Feedback

“Working alongside the CSU has enabled us to successfully deliver the Management of Change programme for the EoE Cancer Alliance. We have been well supported strategically. The flexibility of the wider CSU resources also providing practical, tactical support to enable a complex multifaceted programme to be delivered on time and within budget. 

The team was well led and adaptive to our requirements – unafraid to challenge our thinking, improving the programme in doing so. Highly recommended.”  Amanda Pleavin | Managing Director | East of England Cancer Alliance

For more information

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