NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit

30 March 2023

Improving risk management in an Acute Trust: A case study of streamlining internal processes

We undertook a diagnostic review that optimised the underutilised features of a risk management system and simplified data capture,…

23 March 2023

Transforming healthcare: Developing Integrated Service Models for the Shrewsbury Health and Wellbeing Hub

We supported the development of a new Health and Wellbeing Hub in Shrewsbury by designing and agreeing on integrated…

20 March 2023

Evaluating a digital tool to manage caseload and care in community mental health​

We helped reduce mental health crisis rates and optimise user flows by introducing a new data capture tool, evaluating…

16 March 2023

Maximising value for limited funding: Efficiency analysis for COPD pathway

By analysing the results from stakeholder decision conferences along with the STAR tool, we empowered ICSs to efficiently allocate…

14 March 2023

A pledge to being green: MLCSU staff share personal and professional pledges to reduce carbon…

Empowering MLCSU staff to make personal and professional pledges for a sustainable future A staff campaign to mark the…

9 March 2023

Our Way Of Working: Embedding a new agile and flexible organisational culture at the CSU

Through extensive engagement and consultation processes, and a robust communications strategy, we successfully fostered a culture of agility and…

6 March 2023

Implementing the NHS smoking cessation service at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

We provided support to the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, enabling them to become an early adopter of…

3 March 2023

Developing shared values for a new PCN

We helped a primary care network create and establish a new set of shared meaningful values developed by staff…

2 March 2023

Improving the process for managing domiciliary care placements

Clinical commissioning groups in Staffordshire wanted to address the lack of a contractual structure for Health-Funded packages of care…

26 January 2023

Using automation to reduce waiting lists across two ICSs

Using a combination of automated chatbot, robotic process automation and human call agents, we helped trusts within two integrated…

15 August 2022

Improving health outcomes using our population health management tool

Using our population health management tool, we have helped identify people with clinical and social issues across Lancashire and…

2 August 2022

Implementing financial reporting tools at the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust

Our support has resulted in a significant improvement in the quality of financial information held. Background The Finance Department…

22 July 2022

Pharmacy support to Lancashire and South Cumbria COVID-19 vaccination programme

We provided insight to clinical enquiries, produced reports and worked to develop standard operating procedures to help improve patient…

20 July 2022

Improving high-dose opioid prescribing

We helped Greater Preston and Chorley & South Ribble Clinical Commissioning Groups significantly reduce high-dose opioid prescribing, bringing it…

18 July 2022

Cost saving and wider expertise with HR services at scale

We provide a centralised HR function to five integrated care boards which ensures that better quality and a wider…

8 July 2022

Digitally enabling blood pressure monitoring at home

We helped the Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care System increase patients measuring their blood pressure at home, delivering a…

7 July 2022

Improving medicines safety in Wirral care homes

Our medicines management and optimisation team improved safety and care for elderly Wirral care home residents, helped to prevent…

1 July 2022

Facilitating wellbeing conversations with health and care staff: Be Well Midlands

We helped health and care leaders in the Midlands to take a transparent, collaborative approach to uncovering opportunities for…

24 June 2022

Increasing referrals to the National Diabetes Prevention Programme

We engaged with primary care providers to streamline the process for referrals into the National Diabetes Prevention Programme, and…

1 June 2022

Enabling remote healthcare monitoring in Black Country and West Birmingham

We designed and implemented a programme of transformation to enable remote monitoring across healthcare in the Black Country and…

27 May 2022

Improving care for people with learning disabilities and autism

We codesigned and delivered a transformation programme for the improvement of care for people with learning disabilities and/or autism.…

24 May 2022

Achieving the best from primary care network pharmacy teams

We provided a tailored package of strategic and operational support to a newly formed pharmacy team at a primary…

18 May 2022

Discovering efficiencies and service improvements in Leicestershire

We helped an NHS trust analyse and visualise data on key performance indicators with the aim of releasing efficiencies…

17 May 2022

Recovering hospital utility costs

We are helping hospital trusts identify the potential to recover energy costs from telecom devices mounted on the roofs…

10 May 2022

COVID-19 vaccine safety at primary care network vaccination centres

We ensured that vaccination centres functioned with safety at the highest level by training staff and providing ongoing senior…

25 April 2022

Helping a COVID-19 vaccination programme provide an efficient and equitable service

Our business intelligence experts helped the Lancashire and South Cumbria COVID-19 Vaccination Programme to provide an efficient and equitable…

7 April 2022

Informing COVID-19 vaccination centres’ geographical planning

Our dynamic heat maps showed where vaccine uptake was lower, where there was a higher concentration of social care…

5 April 2022

Increasing the uptake of health checks for patients with severe mental illness

We helped integrated care systems increase numbers of annual physicals health checks for patients with severe mental illness by…

4 April 2022

Helping North Staffordshire trust pay suppliers

We quickly mobilised financial services helping an NHS trust to process and pay supplier invoices. Background In April 2021,…

31 March 2022

Integrating data for the Combined Intelligence for Population Health Action (CIPHA) platform

We helped key stakeholders in the Cheshire and Merseyside health system see combined intelligence reports on capacity and demand…

22 March 2022

Support to tackle bullying, harassment and discrimination in the workplace

We facilitated the design of and implemented a bespoke online tool to make it easier for staff to report…

18 March 2022

Success in setting up community pharmacy services

We helped commissioners with medicines management expertise in setting up and maintaining community pharmacy services, freeing up capacity across…

15 March 2022

Embedding equalities and inclusive decision making in the LLR system

We helped an integrated care system implement a framework for making decisions that addresses bias and improves how equality…

10 March 2022

Improving equity and equality in maternity and neonatal care

We combined national metrics and local NHS, council and third sector data to help health systems understand where there…

2 March 2022

Improving use of medicines across Merseyside – Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee

We had another successful year in 2020/21 at the Pan Mersey Area Prescribing Committee promoting the safe and efficient…

11 February 2022

Assessing demand for COVID-19 LAMP testing

We helped an integrated care system to evaluate demand and capacity for COVID-19 LAMP testing to ensure labs could…

7 February 2022

Evaluating the national Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes programme

We evaluated the impact of the national Medicines Optimisation in Care Homes programme. Background The national Medicines Optimisation in…

7 February 2022

Taking an integrated approach to equality and inclusion planning

We helped the council and clinical commissioning group in Trafford to develop a joint five-year equality, diversity and inclusion…

4 February 2022

Leading a hospital transformation programme

We developed a strategic outline case setting out the ambitions and next steps in one of the NHS’s largest…

2 February 2022

Incontinence medication reviews offer major patient benefits

We enabled medication reviews of patients with long-term prescriptions for urinary incontinence medication which enabled clinicians to recommend ‘drug…

2 February 2022

Boosting GP community pharmacy consultations

Our work supporting implementation of the GP Community Pharmacy Consultation Service in the East of England led to a…

28 January 2022

Improving health and wellbeing for NHS workers

We developed resources and videos and provided expert advice and evaluation to help NHS England and Improvement gather, develop…

27 January 2022

Supporting redesign of acute services

Our Transformation Unit helped develop a new model of care for acute services at a health and social care…

25 January 2022

Using automation to reduce waiting lists

We have helped a hospital trust to tackle the backlog of waiting lists while maintaining quality of care by using…

21 January 2022

Ensuring a COVID-19 vaccination programme met the Public Sector Equality Duty

Our experts ensured that the Lancashire and South Cumbria Vaccination Programme met the Public Sector Equality Duty. Background Lancashire…

20 January 2022

Advancing engagement and shared learning for COVID-19 support programme

We helped deliver the strategic engagement and created opportunities for shared learning in the development of a national programme…

19 January 2022

Supporting development of national digital strategies

Our Transformation Unit was commissioned by NHSX to support in the development of its national digital strategies for ambulance,…

14 January 2022

Supporting infection prevention and control with analytics

We analysed data and provided insight which informed a national programme for improving infection prevention and control about where…

11 January 2022

Making a difference through Equality, Health Inequality Impact & Risk Assessments

Our Equality & Inclusion Team supported development of a hot hub service managing COVID patients in Leicestershire. Background At…

11 January 2022

Identifying and providing efficiencies for a mental health trust

Our finance experts helped North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust to find significant savings. Background North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare…

10 January 2022

Meeting pandemic demand for oxygen and ventilators

Staff from across the Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit was deployed to support a national programme for oxygen,…

23 November 2021

Supporting infection prevention and control safety during COVID-19

We managed a programme of implementing infection prevention and control safety principles to reduce infection rates and provide better…

22 November 2021

Saving time in the core invoicing process

We saved time from data processing by introducing a new tool to streamline data entry when invoicing key customers.…

3 November 2021

Financial process automation saving up to 50 hours per month

Our Corporate Finance team has saved up to 50 hours per month in financial reporting and invoicing after introducing…

29 October 2021

Data warehouse cuts financial reporting time in half

We reduced the time it takes to process essential financial planning templates by 50% and established a data warehouse…

20 October 2021

Better efficiency in uploading the financial forecast

We halved the time it takes to load the financial forecast into the ledger and reduced the risk of…

20 August 2021

Supporting a successful launch of proxy medicines ordering

Our Medicines Management and Optimisation team worked with the Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group, GP practices…

11 August 2021

Quick and easy patient referrals for post-Covid illness

Our Data Quality team developed a custom data input template to streamline referrals of patient with post-Covid illness, saving…

5 August 2021

Database supports national CHC workforce recovery project

We designed a national database to record, monitor and report the onboarding, training and development of continuing healthcare (CHC)…

19 July 2021

UBook transforms room booking at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust

We created a single online system which allows staff at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust to book…

1 July 2021

Working with Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent STP ​to improve service quality and reduce costs in planned…

We worked with commissioners, providers and other stakeholders across Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire to improve the quality of service for…

30 June 2021

Using expertise to help the Sue Ryder charity improve its medicines management

MLCSU supported the Sue Ryder charity to improve its management and governance of medicines Background The Sue Ryder charitable…

30 June 2021

Improvement Unit leads work to transform NHS continuing healthcare across England

MLCSU’s Improvement Unit set up and managed a successful programme management office (PMO) for the National NHS Continuing Healthcare…

30 June 2021

Helping health and care services across Cheshire and Merseyside to plan five-year programme of improvements

MLCSU are proud to have supported Cheshire and Merseyside Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) with development of their five-year…

30 June 2021

Providing key support to two clinical commissioning groups as they merge to create a single…

We created an effective programme management office (PMO)  to support Shropshire CCG and Telford and Wrekin CCG during their…

30 June 2021

Meeting the challenge of bringing England’s cervical screening programme back within the NHS

In 2019 England’s CSUs were tasked with bringing the National Cervical Screening Programme back within the NHS in a…

24 June 2021

Responding to the challenge of discharging patients during COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak placed an unprecedented strain on the health and social care system. A coordinated and well-managed response…

24 June 2021

Working with partners to create a faster, more efficient payment system for joint-funded care packages

The objective of the project was to streamline payments for joint funded packages between the Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning…

23 June 2021

NHS Digital Weight Management Programme uses technology to help hard-to-reach patient groups

We strongly believe that improving patient experience is at the heart of all that we do. In creating the…

22 June 2021

Rapid recruitment and training of expert CHC nurses to tackle the assessment backlog caused by…

Our programme helped the NHS to restore, recover and renew following the enormous disruption caused by COVID-19. It has…

22 June 2021

Boosting consultation and engagement through accessibility friendly innovation: Digital easy-read surveys

By producing easy-read versions of our questionnaires we can improve participation in our engagement and consultation exercises with people…

21 June 2021

Providing rapid recruitment services to NHS trusts in support of COVID-19 vaccination drive

Our work supported the recruitment of the bank and volunteer staff working at vaccination centres, at a time of…

9 June 2021

Providing Media Management Training for CCG Senior Leaders

Background – When NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) became a single organisation, a need for…

9 June 2021

Stepping in to support strategic public health communications during the pandemic

Background – As part of the ongoing response to the Coronavirus pandemic, St Helens Borough Council and NHS St…

9 June 2021

Providing a Central Integrated Care System Media Office

Background – Lancashire and South Cumbria Health and Care Partnership (HCP) is an integrated care system where there is…

9 June 2021

An accessible approach to explaining deaths of people with learning disabilities

Background – The Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent CCGs’ Learning Disabilities Mortality Review (LeDeR) annual report 2019/20 was not written with…

9 June 2021

Managing an acute trust’s annual report from start to finish – during the pandemic

Background – The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust asked us to project manage their 2020/21 annual report…

9 June 2021

Summarising a complex and high-profile consultation

Background – The North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) requested support to summarise a complex public consultation…

21 May 2021

Clearing a 5,000-patient backlog of continuing healthcare assessments

We worked in partnership with local authorities to successfully complete retrospective assessments of individuals supported via COVID-19 funding arrangements…

10 May 2021

Coordinating five CSUs to support national CCG mergers programme

We led a collaboration between the five care system support services in England to provide a range of programme…

7 May 2021

Trailblazers in the North West help implement patient-clinician shared decision-making

We have been helping the recovery of elective care activity in the North West region, using innovative techniques to…

27 April 2021

Building a low-cost high-value website for GP surgeries

Using our website design tool, PrimaryWeb, and our tailored support, a GP partnership developed a purpose-built website to bring…

23 April 2021

Supporting the outpatient transformation programme in North East and Yorkshire

Our Improvement Unit supported the implementation of the outpatient transformation programme, optimising virtual consultations, increasing the rollout of patient…

21 April 2021

Providing workforce resource and expert pharmacy support to Nightingale hospital

We successfully redeployed two existing members of staff at short notice to provide pharmacy onsite support at Manchester’s NHS…

19 April 2021

Rapidly developing a bespoke booking system for flu jabs

We developed a tailored booking solution for Wirral University Teaching Hospital’s staff flu jab programme when COVID-19 made it…

26 March 2021

Mobilising a “Gold Command Room” to ease system pressure

We set up a “Gold Command Room” in collaboration with partners from across the Lancashire and South Cumbria health…

25 March 2021

Supporting the deployment of interim scheduling software for COVID-19 vaccinations

We facilitated the implementation of SimplyBook, an interim solution for COVID-19 vaccinations scheduling, until the national system was operational.…

25 March 2021

Managing local delivery of the national vaccination programme

We provided programme and project management support to implement the national COVID-19 vaccination programme in Herefordshire, Worcestershire and the…

9 March 2021

Improving medicines safety in care homes

Through structured medication reviews, we supported the proactive management of individual care home patients needs, saving over £149,000 in…

25 February 2021

Developing management and leadership skills with a focus on compassion

We created and delivered a tailored management development programme of training for South Sefton and Southport and Formby CCGs,…

18 February 2021

Using chatbot technology to improve referral management

Using chatbot technology for our referral management service has resulted in increased efficiency and a better experience for patients.…

8 February 2021

Enabling two Merseyside based CCGs to block book beds with ease

We helped our clients in Merseyside to identify and commission the most appropriate block contract of intermediate care beds,…

3 February 2021

Improving Hard to Source Items (HTSI) supply chain resilience during COVID-19 surge

Following the COVID-19 surge in demand for clinical consumables and services, we were tasked with finding alternative ways to…

3 February 2021

Ensuring successful implementation of a PCN Directed Enhanced Services Contract

We planned and supported the implementation of services in Southport and Formby GPs, in accordance with the latest Primary…

2 February 2021

Improving PPE procurement data quality for NHS Supply Chain

We managed a project with NHSEI to standardise data and improve the quality of the NHS Supply Chain database,…

10 November 2020

Rapidly rolling out video consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic

MLCSU’s change management specialists have ensured the rapid introduction of video consultations across the north of England to improve…

3 November 2020

Delivering a wave of rapid improvement challenges

We delivered a wave of rapid improvement challenges in elective care specialties across the North Region. Background In response…

29 October 2020

Coordinating a primary care apprenticeships programme

We successfully coordinated the primary care apprenticeships programme in Lancashire and South Cumbria. Background The five locality training hubs…

2 October 2020

Supporting the rapid procurement of ventilators during the COVID-19 pandemic

MLCSU seconded over a senior member of staff with specialist procurement expertise to support the government’s ventilator procurement programme.…