Helping NHS services address complex challenges through evidence-based insights
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, providing system-critical tertiary and local secondary Cardiology and Cardiothoracic care to 1.7 million people, faced immense strain. Challenges included rising demand, workforce shortages, cultural breakdowns, and operational inefficiencies, resulting in longer waiting times, disengaged staff, and misaligned governance.
The leadership team needed a bold, evidence-based approach to address these challenges and secure the service’s future.
“As a Trust CEO, many things keep you awake, but nothing more than a clinical service in difficulty. Staff come to share their anxieties, sometimes with the one solution that will fix it all. It is always more complex, and understanding the reasons for the challenges from within can be impossible.
We had just such a service in difficulty. We could have turned to a royal college, speciality body, or peer service to review our service. We needed a rounded analysis that took in all the data over several years, from workforce, finance, quality, and performance, underpinned by the human stories. We needed one version of the truth.
We commissioned Strasys to apply their unique analytic, triangulating, objective approach to get us to that one version of the truth. The recommendations were wide-reaching, from service to system solutions, supporting and developing leaders and managers to be the best they can be to serve our population’s needs.”
What sets our approach apart?
Strasys employs a proven methodology for Clinical Service Reviews, integrating multi-sourced data-driven insights with real-world clinical expertise. Our approach avoids biases from royal colleges and peer specialties, ensuring objective, innovative solutions.
Each speciality we support is unique, whether Cardiology, Emergency Acute Medicine, Nephrology, or Community-Based Care. However, common themes include:
- Rising demand outpacing capacity.
- Workforce pressures affecting morale and effectiveness.
- Operating model gaps hindering team alignment.
- Cultural challenges revealed through personal stories.
We collaborate with leadership to uncover root issues and deliver tailored, impactful solutions.
Challenge
Despite a legacy of clinical excellence, the Trust’s Cardiology and Cardiothoracic services faced:
- Increasing patient demand and complex care pathways.
- Workforce shortages leading to disengagement.
- Misaligned governance causing decision-making delays.
The leadership required an objective, unified understanding of the root causes to drive actionable change.
Solution
Strasys conducted a three-month Clinical Service Review to reimagine care delivery around population needs. Key elements included:
- Data Analytics: Triangulating performance, workforce, finance, and quality metrics.
- Stakeholder Insights: Incorporating perspectives from the boardroom to the bedside.
- Unified Perspective: Providing a clear, evidence-based view of challenges and opportunities.
This approach delivered a future-proof roadmap aligned with local and national care priorities.
Outcomes and recommendations
While every service faces distinct challenges, innovative, practical solutions are always possible. For this Trust, the leadership team is taking steps to implement recommendations that include:
- Reducing Waiting Times: Optimising resource utilisation, such as bed and theatre capacity.
- Cultural Transformation: Rebuilding trust among leadership and engaging teams.
- Strategic Alignment: Positioning services within the broader integrated care system.
- Enhanced Decision-Making: Equipping leadership with clear, actionable recommendations to overcome biases and barriers.
For a tertiary cardiac service serving 1.7 million people, even marginal improvements in theatre utilisation and bed capacity represent significant financial value. The review gave the Trust board a single, evidence-based view of where resources were trapped and how to release them, directly supporting the Lancashire and South Cumbria ICS productivity agenda.
“Working with Strasys on the clinical service review of our Cardiology and Cardiothoracic division was an excellent experience. The clinically led Strasys team brought a highly collaborative approach, connecting data across finance, activity, workforce, and people stories, presenting one version of the truth. This comprehensive view allowed us to make informed decisions with clarity and confidence. The insights and solutions provided by Strasys have been invaluable in shaping the future of our service.”
Do these challenges resonate?
Whether in Emergency Medicine, Nephrology, Community Care, or other specialities, common issues persist: demand exceeds capacity, workforce morale declines, and decision-making stalls.
Strasys delivers innovative, tailored solutions to overcome these challenges. Examples include:
- Streamlining care pathways to reduce waiting times.
- Redesigning services to better align with patient needs.
- Creating leadership coaching programmes to drive cultural change.
