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In May 2015, the Richmond Group of Charities joined forces with Public Health England and Mind to undertake a project known as Doing the Right Thing.

The project was borne of our collective determination to seize the opportunity of the Five Year Forward View (5YFV) and our concern that the full potential of the Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) to contribute to health and care system transformation has yet to be fully understood and tapped. 

We want to demonstrate this potential both in theory and in practice. Following the successful launch of our 2016 report, Untapped Potential, we have been working on the ground in the Somerset area to scope out and develop genuine collaboration between the voluntary and community sector and health system partners.

  • The report:
    Untapped Potential
  • Tapping the potential:
    our work in Somerset
  • Our national
    steering group

The report: Untapped Potential

We commissioned the think tank NPC (New Philanthropy Capital), as an independent researcher to bring together our evidence, to create new frameworks for understanding how the VCS contributes to the health and care system, and to undertake qualitative research to understand the barriers – including how charities can work better -  and enablers to replicating successful interventions at pace and scale.

Taken together our evidence shows that charities are not just doing the right thing by their beneficiaries, but also what works to deliver the improvements in health and wellbeing and in productivity and efficiency that the health and care system desperately needs.

Too often discussions about service improvement and innovation remain in the abstract, invoking principles and ideas. This collection showcases what we, as leading health and care charities, have realised on the ground. These approaches if mainstreamed, could help create a system that is easier to navigate for patients, would improve people's health and wellbeing, and would provide a much better experience for patients, carers and professionals.

These case studies outline the evidenced interventions which were fed into NPC’s review. The studies can be filtered in line with the frameworks NPC produced, and include a wealth of information about the individual interventions, how they work, and how they make a difference.

We hope that these examples are useful, and that you want to find out more.

View all Case Studies

Tapping the potential: our work in Somerset

To follow up on the successful launch of our ‘Untapped Potential’ report and to build upon its insights, we have since been developing plans for a practical and collaborative piece of work with voluntary sector partners and health providers in the Somerset STP area.

 
We aim to demonstrate genuine collaboration between the charitable and voluntary sector and health system partners, bringing to bear our insights and experience to the challenges the Somerset health system faces. Together, we are committed to deliver more than just help in clearing immediate blockages, and relieving pressures but will also support transformational service redesign and delivery which offers people support which is meaningful to them.

In order to achieve these aims we have appointed Aimie Cole and Chloe Reeves to lead this project on a local and national level.

  • Aimie Cole has come to us from the NPC Associates Programme, and has a background in HM Treasury. Aimie is working locally in Somerset to scope out and develop potential partnerships between voluntary and community organisations and the health system.
  • Chloe Reeves has come to us from the British Red Cross. She will provide national support to this project, managing and supporting the steering group, and disseminating the insights gained in Somerset on a regional and national level. 

Our national steering group

  • Charles Alessi
    GP and Senior Advisor to Public Health England

    Charles has extensive experience of the NHS in a variety of senior positions in both primary and secondary care, as well as PCTs and Health Authorities. He was Chairman of NAPC from January 2012 to January 2015 and was also Chairman of NHS Clinical Commissioners.

    In July 2012, he was appointed Adjunct Research Professor at the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada for the MBA in Health Innovation and in July 2013 was also appointed Adjunct Research Professor in Clinical Neurosciences at the Schulich school of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.

    As an Executive member of the NAPC, which represents the out of hospital sector in the NHS Confederation, Charles is very active in the development of policy in healthcare and internationally, and has been active in advising Governments and international organisations. He also has experience of military medicine until recently acting as Director of Medicine and Clinical Governance for the British Armed Forces in Germany.

  • Charlotte Augst
    Partnership Director for the Richmond Group of Charities

    Charlotte came to London in 1997, after completing a law degree in Germany, to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of London. She holds a PhD in law and medical ethics. She now lives in Balham with her British husband and two children.

    Charlotte has held senior positions in health and research policy for over a decade – in Parliament, for national regulators, and in the charitable sector. She has been a Trustee of Mosaic Clubhouse, a Brixton based mental health recovery charity, since 2015.

  • Bridget Bergin
    UK Director for Life After Stroke Services at Stroke Association

    Bridget has spent over 20 years in a range of management positions across Health and Social Care organisations in both London and Northern Ireland.

    As Strategic Commissioner in the Western Board of Northern Ireland she led work on integration of Health & Social Care and commissioning for Older Peoples services and long-term condition management. She was part of a team developing the Northern Ireland Strategy for Health & Social Care and also Director in the Regional Telehealth Programme in Northern Ireland.

    Bridget subsequently worked in Harrow Council in Adult Social Care, leading on Commissioning for Older People Services and Partnerships.

    Bridget is currently leading a substantive change in the model of Life After Stroke services across the UK, with a focus on Recovery and the development of an Outcomes Framework. These developments are being taken forward in co-production with people affected by stroke and with the support of Stroke Association volunteers.

  • Jo Bibby
    Director of Strategy at the Health Foundation

    Jo has worked in health care at local and national level for 22 years, including 10 years at the Department of Health. As Head of NHS Performance, she oversaw the implementation of the policy agenda set out in the NHS Plan. At the NHS Modernisation Agency, Jo led an international quality improvement initiative – Pursuing Perfection.

    Before joining the Foundation Jo was the Director for the Calderdale and Kirklees Integrated Service Strategy where she led a major service reconfiguration programme to deliver improvements in quality, safety and patient experience.

    In June 2013, Jo was appointed a Non-executive Director of Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust with a specific remit for innovation and improvement science. She is also an independent member of the National Information Board.

    Jo has a PhD in Medical Biophysics.

  • Aimie Cole
    Somerset Programme Manager for Doing the Right Thing

    Aimie has over 15 years’ experience of working within the private, public and non-profit sectors. In recent years she has managed projects for the UK Cabinet Office on purpose-driven businesses and the Chair of the G8 Taskforce on Impact Investment on recommendations to policy makers. She is also actively involved in the B Corp movement in the UK and a Trustee at a community nursery.

    From 2007 to 2013 Aimie worked at The Portland Trust – a British non-profit ‘action tank’ with offices in London, Ramallah and Tel Aviv - first as a Project Manager and then as the Director of Projects. From 2003 to 2007 Aimie worked in the UK Treasury in a variety of roles, including as private secretary for international affairs to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Middle East policy adviser and analyst of public services. Prior to this she worked as a graduate consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers Consulting. 

    Aimie has an MSc. in Global Politics and a BSc. in Maths and Spanish and is based in Dorset. 

  • Alf Collins
    Clinical Lead for Person and Community Centred Care for the Somerset STP

    Alf is also a Clinical Advisor to NHS England. He is a doctor, commissioner, researcher and national policy advisor in person-centred care.

    He has researched and published widely on self-management support, shared decision-making, care planning, co-production, patient activation and patient engagement.

    Alf has worked with others to develop a number of measures of person-centred care, including the ‘clinician support for patient activation measure’.

  • Saffron Cordery
    Director of Policy and Strategy at NHS Providers

    Saffron has extensive experience in policy development, influencing and communications and has worked in the healthcare sector since 2007. Before moving into healthcare, Saffron was head of public affairs at the Local Government Association, the voice of local councils in England. Her early career focused on influencing EU legislation and policy development, and she started working life in adult and community education.

    She has a degree in Modern Languages from the University in Manchester and is the chair of the corporation of a 16–19 college in Hampshire.

  • Paul Corrigan
    Adjunct Professor of Health Policy at Imperial College & CQC Board member

    From July 2001 Paul was Special Adviser to Department of Health, first to Alan Milburn and subsequently for John Reid, the then Secretary of State for Health. Over the four years in this post he developed the reform of the NHS and led the creation of NHS Foundation Trusts. At the end of 2005 he became the senior health policy adviser to the Prime Minister Tony Blair, working at the core of No. 10 to continue the development and implementation of health reform policy for the NHS until 2007.

    Most recently Paul has supported the development of GP Commissioning Consortia with NHS Cumbria and Cumbrian GPs. Before this Paul was Director of Strategy for the London Strategic Health Authority, where he steered the health reform strategy for London written by Lord Darzi.

  • Dan Corry
    Chief Executive of New Philanthropy Capital

    Before joining NPC in 2011, Dan was Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit and Senior Adviser to the Prime Minister on the Economy from 2007 to 2010.

    He has been Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Treasury, and has worked as a special adviser to the Secretary of State in the Education Department as well as at DTI and DCLG. In 2011 he was a Director in the Economics segment of FTI Consulting.

    Dan ran the New Local Government Network think tank between 2002 and 2005, which was voted Think Tank of the Year in 2004 and was Senior Economist at the IPPR in the 1990s. He is a member of the Early Action Taskforce, the Advisory Boards for Big Society Capital, Impetus – PEF, and the Centre for Public Scrutiny and is a trustee of 19 Princelet Street and the new What Works Centre for Wellbeing.

  • Matthew Dolman
    Lead for Engagement within the Somerset STP & GP Partner at the Axbridge and Wedmore Medical Practice

    Matthew was a Somerset Local Medical Committee (LMC) representative for nine years prior to developing a commissioning interest and joining the practice based commissioning consortia, WyvernHealth.Com. 

    He is the CCG’s clinical lead for championing flexible healthcare, working on pathway design for a number of clinical areas.  He has a special interest in a system approach to service design in the complex NHS environment and has an interest in leadership development. Matthew recognises the importance of working with patients and the public to improve healthcare services and has played a key role in developing the Patient Participation Group at his Practice and the North Sedgemoor Health Forum. He strongly believes that self-care and informed decision making underpin a strong commissioning philosophy to move care into the community.

  • Stephen Dorrell
    Chair of the NHS Confederation & Chair of the European Movement

    Stephen is also Chairman of Laing Buisson Ltd, a healthcare market intelligence company, and of its sister company Public Policy Projects Ltd, which provides public policy advice.

    Stephen was a Member of Parliament from 1979 to 2015 and a member of the government from 1987 to 1997, serving as a minister in the Treasury, the Department of Health and the Department of National Heritage. He was a member of the Cabinet as Secretary of State for the National Heritage from 1994 to 1995 and Secretary of State for Health from 1995 to 1997. 

    Stephen led Conservative Mainstream from 2001 to 2005; from 2005 to 2010 he was chair of the Conservative Public Service Improvement Group and from 2008 to 2010 he was a member of the cross-party Commission on Public Service Reform convened by the Royal Society of Arts. 

    Between 2010 and 2014, Stephen was the first elected chair of the House of Commons Health Committee, developing the role of the Committee as an authoritative cross-party voice on health and care policy. 

  • Halima Khan
    Executive Director of Health Lab at Nesta

    Halima works with innovators across public services, civil society and business to develop and scale new responses to ageing and health. Nesta's Health Lab aims to create a people powered health system.

    Halima has spent fifteen years working on public service reform and innovation, mainly in central and local government. She was previously a Director in Nesta's Innovation Lab. Prior to joining Nesta in December 2010, Halima was Deputy Director at the Strategy Unit, Cabinet Office, providing policy advice to the Prime Minister, No.10 and Cabinet Office ministers on a range of domestic policy issues.  

    Halima studied at Oxford and the Harvard Kennedy School, where she was a Knox Fellow. Halima was previously a member of the Council of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and Trustee of Diabetes UK. In 2015, Halima was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Health Sciences from Anglia Ruskin University. 

  • Norman McKinley
    Executive Director of UK Operations at the British Red Cross

    Norman joined the Red Cross in 1997 as Regional Director and subsequently held a number of other senior positions across the organisation. As the Executive Director of UK Operations, he successfully led a large-scale change programme across the UK in 2016.  

    Norman is also a Non-executive Director with the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Trust. Prior to joining the Red Cross, Norman had a successful career within the Personal Health and Social Services in Northern Ireland.

  • Liam O'Toole
    Chief Executive of Arthritis Research UK

    Liam has played a leading role in many of the major changes that have taken place in the UK’s health and medical research landscape over the last decade. Between January 2007 and November 2009 he was head of the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR), a joint office funded by the Department of Health and the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, set up to develop a more coherent strategic approach to publicly funded health research.

    Before his role with OSCHR Liam spent three years as chief executive of the UK Clinical Research Collaboration and was the first administrative director of the National Cancer Research Institute following 16 years’ experience of research management at the Medical Research Council and the British Diabetic Association (now Diabetes UK).

  • Chloë Reeves
    National Programme Manager for Doing the Right Thing and Director of London Road Health & Care

    Chloë was the inaugural policy and advocacy lead for health and social care at the British Red Cross. Her advocacy campaigns included ‘Prevention in Action’, which secured amendments to the Care Bill and continues to support local leaders to implement the Care Act’s prevention duties. She was a member of the Care and Support Alliance’s Coordination Board and chaired their Care Act Implementation Group.

    Chloë was previously a researcher for the International Longevity Centre, where she focused on end-of-life care. She has also worked in local government policy, commissioning and project management roles. She has an MA in the Philosophy, Politics and Economics of Health and was an Honorary Research Associate at UCL’s Crucible Centre for Lifelong Health and Wellbeing

  • Fiona Russell
    Senior Advisor at the Local Government Association

    Fiona leads the LGA’s improvement work in relation to health and care integration, which includes supporting councils and their health partners to find solutions which improve citizens’ health and wellbeing, their experience of care, and system sustainability. She also leads the LGA’s work on NHS sustainability and transformation plans, and on implementating the Better Care Fund, as well as representing local government’s views to national government and partners to influence integration policy developments.

  • Heidi Stewart
    Executive Director of Enterprise & Innovation at Rethink Mental Illness

    Heidi has worked in Business Development in both the private and third sector for over twenty years.  She has led large scale international bids and funding opportunities in housing, welfare, skills, and Health, in the UK, USA and Australia securing contracts that range in value from £1m to £200m+.  As a founder of a mission led business she secured £1m social venture capital investment to set up a business creating employment for disadvantaged young people.

    She was previously a Trustee of the Big Issue, is a Qualified Social Return on Investment practitioner and has designed and developed Social Impact Bonds for outcome based contracts that create social positive benefits.  Early in her career she was winner of Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur for 2 years running and one of the first Princes Youth Business clients – setting up first business at 16 years old. 

  • Tom Wright
    Chair of the Richmond Group of Charities and Group Chief Executive of Age UK and Age International

    Tom chairs the Richmond Group of Charities. He is Group Chief Executive of Age UK and Age International, and has been since it launched in 2009. 

    Tom is also chair of the Fuel Poverty Advisory Group (FPAG) and a Trustee of Go ON UK, the cross-sector digital skills charity. Tom previously sat on the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and was Chair of the British Gas Energy Trust, among other voluntary roles.

    Tom decided to work for Age UK because of a keen interest in the challenges and opportunities of an ageing society and a real passion for making later life better – both in the UK and around the world.

    Tom was awarded a CBE in 2007.

Featured Case Studies

Royal Voluntary Service
Care Bank
View
Age UK
Winter Warmth
View
British Lung Foundation
Breathe Easy
View

Project partners

Please note that these case studies have been produced by project partners, using wider information than that assessed by NPC – more information on this can be found below.

In each study you will find information about the evaluations and research methods which were fed into NPC’s evidence review – and which were used to allocate the case studies into different categories. The outcome categories for each case study relate to the outcomes which were the focus of the evaluations submitted—not necessarily the full range of outcomes an intervention might achieve.

As this information was necessarily limited to information in the documents provided for review, partner organisations have provided supplementary information to give context. These case studies are not, therefore, independent in the same way as the evidence review.