Data Integration Archives

What is InView?

Posted on: 26 July 2023

InView is CACI’s data platform that is specifically designed for the NHS. It is modular by design with over 30 modules out of the box, and makes data sharing for ICS simple and efficient through its standardisation and safety in data management. The flexibility, maintenance and content provided by a standard data platform built in-house can only go so far. Considering the many pressures faced by NHS Trusts daily, they need a data platform that supports—rather than hinders– them.

InView empowers NHS Trusts nationwide to enhance their reporting and unlock the potential of their data by ensuring that all data reporting is correct, consistent and complete within a singular integrated solution that will transform patient care outcomes.

But how exactly does InView work? And what makes it so beneficial for the NHS? This blog will dive into everything you need to know about InView so you can make informed decisions about your own data platform.

How does InView work?

To meet the high volume of mandated statutory changes and local reporting requirements, your Trust should be equipped with a solid data platform that is easy to use and fully maintained. InView is risk-free*, robust and easily maintained, ensuring that you and your Trust can meet these requirements by providing all key statutory outputs and fully maintaining them in line with NHS change notifications as part of core product releases.

Designed and built in a way that promotes rapid implementation of a solution within a Trust, InView secures you with plenty of pre-built content from all disparate data sources in one unified, trustworthy solution. Each of InView’s 30 modules is built from a sophisticated, layered design that will keep future maintenance costs down and future proofing up. Its layers include:

Acquisition Layer: This layer accepts the data from incoming data sources and is designed to accept data in a raw format prior to any data checking.
Integration Layer: As the middle ground between the Acquisition layer and the upcoming Translation layer, this layer moves data from one source to the other and performs matching between data sources. Trust-specific business rules are implemented and dictate how incoming data affects the information stored in the data warehouse.
Translation Area: Data quality and integrity checking are carried out during this layer. This part of the processing also restructures data into a “star schema” model.
Data Model: The aforementioned “star-schema” model is created at this layer, which is optimised for ad-hoc querying and historical data storage. It supports the historical storage of fact data, manages changes to dimensional data and hierarchical structures and ensures historical reporting is conducted effectively.
Serving Layer: This layer interacts with the InView user graphical user interface (GUI) to simplify configuration. Database views can be created at this layer to support reporting with minimal effort required from the end user. Real time data can also be presented at this layer, and non-InView data can also be combined to supplement any data you need to report on.
Compliance Layer: This layer is where all statutory outputs are maintained and released to the Trust.

Where can InView be deployed?

InView can be deployed either on premise, in the Cloud, or hosted in CACI’s HSCN environment. Once deployed, our highly skilled technical experts forming the Managed Services team will work alongside you to ensure that you and your Trust are constantly supported after InView goes live. We will support you throughout the entire project implementation through fully transferring the necessary skills that will help you and your Trust feel more self-sufficient when using InView.

Benefits of using InView

NHS Trusts need accurate, reliable and readily available data for critical reporting and decision making. While this is crucial, it can be one of the biggest challenges for data professionals across the NHS to overcome. InView’s range of benefits can help you and your Trust overcome these challenges through its:

Consistency: As a proven in-house solution that promotes a single version of the truth
Availability: As a maintained product that can supply end-to-end reporting and can be implemented with all local rules correctly applied to incoming data
Efficiency: As a partner that is committed to continuously enhancing its solution
Flexibility: As an easy-to-use, extendable solution that is tailored to your Trust’s requirements and ensures your Trust will adapt to changes quickly
Reliability: As a modern, interactive solution that allows for sharing not only within your organisation, but with ICS partners and NHSE too.
Volume: As a solution that reduces the onus of statutory changes on the Trust
Low cost of ownership: As a low total cost of ownership solution with maintained product content and changes that a Trust can action themselves.

InView use cases

InView produces a single, governed version of the truth that will drive consistent numbers that will enhance decision making, financial measurement, forecasting and information sharing across your Trust. By leveraging InView, you can present data for all purposes from one cohesive source to your Trust’s existing BI Toolset, which will simplify the reporting process and minimise the training needed for your Trust’s analysts.

To get a sense of just how streamlined these processes within your Trust can be, take a look at some our of client case studies:

CACI as your InView provider

CACI has been providing Trusts with a solution that evolves and meets the demands of NHS reporting for over 20 years. Our very own data platform, InView, integrates all disparate source systems to optimise reporting across your Trust. By removing the statutory maintenance burden and time-consuming running of mandated reporting datasets, you and your Trust can focus on achieving priorities while meeting requirements and responding to any ad-hoc or urgent changes as they arise. To top it off, you will gain access to a user community for collaborative content and idea generation and learn how you can further enhance your own InView experience through other users’ takeaways.

To learn more about InView and how our data warehouse solution could help your organisation, visit our InView page.

*Risk-free for mandated statutory requirements

How Synergy revitalised Dorset HealthCare’s costing team

Posted on: 23 June 2023

Background:

Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust offers a range of mental health and physical health services to people of all ages from children to elderly. These services are delivered in both hospital and community-based settings.

The costing team at Dorset HealthCare has long used CACI’s patient-level costing solution, Synergy, to reach various goals due to its high-quality outputs and proven abilities in easing the National Cost Collection submission process. According to Chris Badminton, Head of Income & Costing at Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust, “I couldn’t see how another provider could compare with its capabilities.”

Challenge:

As long-time Synergy users, Dorset HealthCare’s costing team knew that CACI’s patient level costing solution would help them navigate their most pressing challenges, such as:

Acquiring the necessary patient level costing information that would inform decision-making about clinical care at Dorset HealthCare, which had been exceedingly difficult.

The team was previously equipped with indecipherable data. It was input manually into spreadsheets and could not supply the necessary intelligence to overcome hurdles. “Without Synergy4, we’d never be able to generate outputs to support the challenges that we faced,” Chris explained.
They struggled to get results out to stakeholders or present the results in a dashboard format that could be shared internally.
Limited engagement from the necessary stakeholders became a blocker when trying to make the most of data and tools available to the costing team.

Solution:

Through Synergy, Dorset HealthCare has been overcoming challenges and revitalising their costing teams’ capabilities in several impactful ways. For example, consultancy and support from CACI in the form of a help desk has helped keep the costing team up-to-date and running smoothly.

“I access the helpdesk quite a bit. [The help desk] is always incredibly helpful and we always get the solutions and the answers that we desire,” Chris explained. “I also have regular customer care meetings and they’re really useful as well.”

CACI’s Synergy User Group has also helped inform Dorset HealthCare’s clinical care planning and patient engagement strategisation through knowledge sharing opportunities with other NHS organisations.

“The Synergy User Group is also a great space for sharing and understanding how other [NHS Foundation Trusts’] challenges are being dealt with and for idea sharing,” Chris continued. “This has been really useful not only for the use of the product, but for understanding what the outputs need to be in order to get that engagement internally to support how we deliver clinical care at Dorset HealthCare.”

Synergy has also bolstered the costing team’s management abilities ahead of annual National Cost Collection (NCC) submissions.

“With regards to the National Cost Collection of the mandatory element of the functionality, that has far exceeded my expectations,” Chris continued. “The piece of work that’s been developed by [CACI] makes our management process on an annual basis incredibly easy.”

Results / Benefits:

Overall, the costing team’s evolution as a result of Synergy has been, as Chris stated, “over and above”.

“The speed of [Synergy] and the way that you can calculate and produce results is phenomenal… including its usability and how intuitive it is,” Chris continued. “It’s above what we would’ve expected.”

Equipped with Synergy data, Dorset HealthCare’s costing team is now developing analysis to support decision making for their improved access to psychological therapies (IAPT) service. Currently, the data that Chris has presented back to the organisation through Synergy is being deciphered, and the costing team is finding ways to reiterate the analyses for other areas of the Trust.

“I think [this service] is going to become something that is rolled out across all services within our mental health function to enhance the care that an individual could receive,” Chris explained. “It’s on the cusp of becoming something big for good evidence that has been supported by Synergy.”

Outcomes/Future:

Going forward, Dorset HealthCare hope to receive a regular analysis that can be used across the organisation to guide the way that clinical care at Dorset Healthcare should be delivered and further improve patient outcomes. Not only would a regular analysis enhance patient experiences, but it would also encourage the costing team’s conscious, intelligent allocation and spending of funds.

In the meantime, the costing team will continue focusing their efforts on health inequalities. They are currently looking into deprivation data, a process that involves manually exporting data from government and other websites to generate data that can be compared against or linked to existing patient level activity data used for Dorset HealthCare’s costing submissions and costing reports. The goal is that the costing team will eventually be able to use or link the data to compare results to other NHS organisations. This would help them better understand what a patient’s pathway looks like, the costs associated with specific types of care and how Dorset HealthCare can learn from other organisations to apply best practices to their own.

How InView enhanced Stockport’s data collection & processing capabilities

Posted on:

Background:

When Stockport NHS Foundation Trust first looked to procure a data warehouse, they were adamant about choosing a provider with a proven track record and experience of delivering products and services to the NHS. Following recommendations and success stories from other users of CACI’s NHS data warehouse solution, InView, it was clear that a partnership with CACI would guarantee Stockport a smooth process with a mature and established provider.

Challenge:

Stockport needed one platform that would contain all data in one place to simplify the collection process and help the team regain control of their data. Over the years, numerous reporting database tables evolved to the point that multiple individual servers were created. This resulted in many duplications with multiple databases across multiple tables, data not being consolidated or structured, analysts having to work across servers and inconsistent information being produced. Having one unified platform would ensure that everyone would pull data from the same source and would avoid analysts working in silos and creating their own new sources of data. A consolidated data platform would provide much needed resilience and structure.

Stockport also wanted to take control of their statutory data processing and reporting. They needed flexibility and control over their own data developments, including more automated data submissions and reporting.

Solution:

CACI’s InView equipped Stockport with a mature data platform that has defined all statutory returns and commissioning datasets. It supports the team’s existing grouping and pricing processes and significantly reduces their month end manual processing, freeing up their time to dedicate their efforts to additional data analysis instead.

Through InView, the team also gained access to a unique support desk headed by a team of CACI’s technical experts, ensuring that any issues arising at Stockport could be mitigated precisely and timely.

“You don’t normally get someone that could just as easily have developed the product on a support line. [Our CACI support lead] knows InView inside out… not only does he know the products, but he also knows NHS data quite well,” Rory MacDonald, Lead Analyst at Stockport, explained.

“We have a lot of confidence in the fact that CACI’s [team of customer care individuals] understand NHS data and keep up to date on policy decisions to be able to respond quickly to changes,” Debbie Hope, Chief Data Officer at Stockport, continued.

Stockport was also able to identify gaps in the recording of patient observations, with a customised InView module specially developed by another one of CACI’s delivery support leads to enhance Stockport’s reporting capabilities. Through InView, the team could rest assured that all statutory elements would be addressed and that building any added functionalities within the platform would be done quickly and easily.

The latest enhancement that CACI’s delivery support lead is developing for Stockport is for their audiology data extraction and collection, whereby data is extracted from their system and data quality reports are being created to find any issues. This helps Stockport streamline some of their diagnostic waiting times reporting.

Results / Benefits:

According to Rory, CACI’s consultancy and support has far exceeded the organisation’s expectations. “The consultants were all really good in terms of both their technical expertise and dynamic advice,” he commented.
A noticeable reduction in the overall time spent processing overnight. After setting up a delta load, Stockport realised that every piece of information in their system dating back from the 1980s was being copied over. This process took progressively longer each day because the amount of data being copied over was continuously increasing. They worked with CACI on setting up a delta load where they could identify using interface messages, pull any necessary information and load it into the data warehouse, which significantly sped up the processing time.
The availability of data. “It’s available to be reported on from early in the morning,” Rory explained.
The enhanced data warehouse solution allowed Stockport to produce their own national CDS extracts. “We were reliant on and restricted to the pace of our PAS supplier previously for the development of those extracts when there were national changes,” Debbie explained. “We’ve removed that reliance and taken full control of those national extracts.”
Moving away from manually processing commissioner assignment within the PAS system. “It was a very manual process for using the contracting functionality within our patient administration system to assign the Commissioner for who pays for a particular piece of activity,” Rory explained. “Now that we’ve got all the national commissioner assignment method (CAM) rules written in the data warehouse, we’ve been able to switch off the functionality on the PAS system and transform the work of our data quality team.”

Outcomes/Future:

Stockport’s future ambitions include completely switching off all of the old servers with the legacy reporting databases so that the organisation can have only one development server and one production server for the data warehouse. They are also keen to increase the provision of real-time reporting. CACI will continue to support Stockport by analysing patient flow and frequently refreshing in-patient data to help Stockport understand exactly who is in the hospital at that time, what service they may be waiting for and how waiting times can be reduced, and overall support with the maintenance of their data warehouse.

How to find the right IT outsourcing partner

Posted on: 17 March 2023

Looking to work with an IT outsourcing provider? Finding the right partner to deliver your requirements can be a tricky and time-consuming process. But, done right, a successful outsourcing relationship can bring long-term strategic benefits to your business. We asked our experts to share their top tips on how to find the right IT outsourcing partner.

Evaluate capabilities

Having the right expertise is the obvious and most essential criterion, so defining your requirements and expectations is the best way to start your search.

When it comes to narrowing down your vendor choices, it’s important to consider the maturity of an organisation as well as technical capabilities. “The risk of working with a small, specialised provider is that they may struggle to keep a handle on your project,” warns Brian Robertson, Resource Manager at CACI. Inversely, a larger organisation may have the expertise, but not the personal approach you’re looking for in a partner. “Always look for a provider that demonstrates a desire to get to the root of your business’s challenges and can outline potential solutions,” Brian advises.

Find evidence of experience

Typically, working with an outsourcing provider that has accumulated experience over many years is a safe bet; however, Daniel Oosthuizen, Senior Vice President of CACI Network Services, recommends ensuring that your prospective outsourcing provider has experience that is relevant to your business, “When you bring in an outsourcing partner, you want them to hit the ground running, not spending weeks and months onboarding them into your world.” Daniel adds, “This becomes more apparent if you work in a regulated industry, such as banking or financial services, where it’s essential that your provider can guarantee compliance with regulatory obligations as well as your internal policies.”

So, how can you trust a provider has the experience you’re looking for? Of course the provider’s website, case studies, and testimonials are a good place to start, but Daniel recommends interrogating a vendor’s credentials directly, “A successful outsourcing relationship hinges on trust, so it’s important to get a sense of a vendor’s credibility early on. For example, can they demonstrate an in-depth knowledge of your sector? Can they share any details about whom they currently partner with? And can they confidently talk you through projects they’ve completed that are similar to yours?”

Consider cultural compatibility

“When it comes to building a strong, strategic and successful outsourcing partnership, there’s no greater foundation than mutual respect and understanding,” says Brian. Evaluating a potential provider’s approach and attitudes against your business’s culture and core values is another critical step in your vetting process. As Daniel says, “If you share the same values, it will be much easier to implement a seamless relationship between your business and your outsourcing partner, making day-to-day management, communication and even conflict resolution more effective and efficient”.

While checking a company’s website can give you some insight into your prospective provider’s values, it’s also worth finding out how long they’ve held partnerships with other clients, as that can indicate whether they can maintain partnerships for the long-term.

However, Daniel says, “The best way to test if a provider has partnership potential is to go and meet them. Get a feel for the team atmosphere, how they approach conversations about your challenges, and how their values translate in their outsourcing relationships.” Brian adds, “Your vision and values are what drive your business forward, so it’s essential that these components are aligned with your outsourcing provider to gain maximum value from the relationship.”

Assess process and tools

Once you’ve determined a potential outsourcing provider’s level of experience and expertise, it’s important to gain an understanding of how they will design and deliver a solution to meet your business’s needs. “It’s always worth investigating what tech and tools an outsourcing provider has at their disposal and whether they are limited by manufacturer agreements. For example, at CACI, our vendor-agnostic approach means we’re not tied to a particular manufacturer, giving us the flexibility to find the right solution to meet our clients’ needs,” Daniel explains

Speaking of flexibility, determining the agility of your potential outsourcing provider’s approach should play a role in your selection process. “There’s always potential for things to change, particularly when delivering a transformation project over several years,” says Brian, adding “that’s why it’s so important to find a partner that can easily scale their solutions up or down, ensuring that you’ve always got the support you need to succeed.”

Determine quality standards

Determining the quality of a new outsourcing partner’s work before you’ve worked with them can be difficult, but there are some clues that can indicate whether a vendor’s quality standards are in line with your expectations, says Daniel, “A good outsourcing partner will be committed to adding value at every step of your project, so get details on their method and frequency of capturing feedback, whether the goals they set are realistic and achievable, and how they manage resource allocation on projects.”

Brian also recommends quizzing outsourcing providers about their recruitment and hiring process to ensure that you’ll be gaining access to reliable and skilled experts, “It’s easy for an outsourcing provider to say they have the best people, so it’s important to probe a little deeper. How experienced are their experts? How are they ensuring their talent is keeping up to date? What is their process for vetting new candidates? All these questions will help to gain an insight into an outsourcing provider’s quality bar – and whether it’s up to your standard.”

Assess value for money

For most IT leaders, cost is one of the most decisive factors when engaging any service; however,
when looking for an IT outsourcing partner, it’s critical to consider more than just a provider’s pricing model. “Contractual comprehensiveness and flexibility should always be taken into account,” says, Brian. “A contract that is vague can result in ‘scope creep’ and unexpected costs, while a rigid contract can tie businesses into a partnership that’s not adding value.” He adds, “Ultimately, it comes down to attitude, a good outsourcing provider can quickly become a great business partner when they go the extra mile.”

Daniel agrees and advises that IT leaders take a holistic view when weighing up potential outsourcing partners, “Look beyond your initial project, or resource requirements and consider where your business is heading and whether your shortlisted providers can bring in the skills and services you need. After all, a truly successful outsourcing partnership is one that can be relied on for the long haul.”

Looking for an outsourcing partner to help with your network operations? Contact our expert team today.

Why NHS costing systems can’t stand still

Posted on: 18 November 2022

The NHS landscape is constantly evolving – it’s the responsibility of trusted solution partners to keep pace with NHS organisations and contribute expert data knowledge to help them on their journey

Everyone’s talking about finance collaboration in the new Integrated Care System (ICS) structure, but it’s not easy for anyone to make headway in this unfamiliar landscape. It’s not as if the decks have been cleared to make time and space to understand and address the opportunity: NHS leaders and finance teams are still grappling with everyday pressures and priorities within their own Trust. ICS is another challenge to add, albeit one that offers excellent opportunities to improve patient care and experiences.

Up to now, costing data has been used by NHS Trusts for national cost collection (NCC) and internal service line reporting. Solutions like CACI’s Synergy 4 help Trusts to make this happen in the most efficient and integrated way possible and to gain greater value from their data for service design and improvement. But now, there’s a new challenge level. How can Trusts also share and embrace costing data from other Trusts within their ICS?

The rewards of understanding and analysing patient pathways across organisations

In principle, it’s clear that a holistic approach to analysing patient pathways – spanning acute, mental health, ambulance and social care organisations and community settings – has the power to greatly improve patient outcomes and experiences as well as delivering better value and efficiency to ease the burden on NHS care teams. But the practical processes and channels for sharing data and insight are far from clear.

CACI’s NHS engagement team has been working closely with our NHS clients to understand the complex considerations around sharing data between Trusts in a secure way that produces reliable and meaningful information that can help develop patient-centric services and make the most of NHS resources.

Trusts are engaging with a range of new data challenges for ICS

Information Governance (IG) for shared data is a key concern for NHS finance teams. Data must be anonymised, in order to protect patient confidentiality, but Trusts must be able to match patient identifiers to understand the end-to-end pathway through multiple touchpoints and organisations.

Finance teams are also keen to understand more about the quality of data that could be shared by other Trusts. Data formats may be an issue: there are multiple systems and data sources in use, even within individual Trusts, which can make it hard to match data and adopt a holistic approach. With clinical decisions and budget allocation potentially riding on the analysis, it’s critically important that pooled data is accurate, de-duplicated and in comparable formats, to avoid inaccuracies. Reporting on insight from shared data can produce unfamiliar results in the broader ICS context: for NHS leaders to trust the integrity of the data and analysis, these results need to be clearly presented and explained.

These are uncharted waters for NHS Trusts, for the new ICS organisations and for data solution partners like CACI. It’s not surprising that most efforts to launch costing data-sharing projects have so far been tentative. We’ve talked to finance managers who have shared data to explore the opportunity – generally they’ve done this in manual and fragmented ways, such as emailing manually created data files. This is clearly not a scalable approach for time-poor NHS finance teams, even if the attendant data protection and security issues could be resolved.

Operational finance teams can see the potential, but many are worried about IG, concerned about undermining their own Trust’s financial priorities within the ICS and don’t have the time or the mandate to focus on unpacking the issues. It’s already creating frustration. Some NHS leaders have a management accountancy background: they don’t yet have the data literacy training or experience to champion or direct a completely new costing data-sharing approach with confidence. This is a challenge we’ve also recognised: CACI’s Healthcare Insight Success Cycle (HISC) includes data literacy training modules which can help increase knowledge and confidence.

Collaboration with solution partners can enable ICS collaboration

How can NHS Trusts and ICS organisations break down these barriers and access the resources they need to unlock the potential of data-sharing? Partners like CACI can help to shoulder some of the load by ensuring that technology and data solutions are continually evolved and adapted to handle the emerging opportunities and challenges. Driven by the feedback and hands-on experience we gain from our NHS colleagues, we’re working on our Synergy proposition to develop the data-sharing, analytics and IG capabilities that will support the emerging ICS data-sharing requirement.

We know that ICS organisations are at different stages of their thinking about Trusts. They also have diverse levels of capability, resources and experience in producing Trust-level service insight from costing data. Everyone has a different starting point for their new ICS data-sharing journey.

How does your Trust’s approach and experience to date match up with our current understanding of the ICS landscape? At CACI, we’re highly aware that priorities, issues and opportunities are constantly evolving within the NHS. We’re rising to the challenge of delivering a costing proposition that’s built for the complex demands of today and tomorrow, supporting better outcomes for patients, better decision information for clinicians and better use of resources for the NHS. We want to support Trust finance and analytics teams by sharing our NHS data knowledge to help build data literacy among NHS leaders, so they can champion ICS from a position of understanding.

That’s why we are working alongside our NHS colleagues, engaging with their current challenges and offering data strategy, process and capability insight to help them move forward on the journey, as we evolve our Synergy proposition.

Please join the conversation through our user groups and round tables or get in touch directly to share your priorities and issues and pose any questions that we could help you answer through our NHS data experience and expertise. Contact consultant Susan Brooks in CACI’s NHS team.

Integrated care systems – is your Trust maximising opportunities?

Posted on: 21 September 2022

Since 2018, the NHS has seen Trusts building closer relationships with local councils and other important strategic partners such as the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector.

The 2021 NHS Long Term Plan cemented an integrated care system (ICS) that would build on lessons learned and invest in keeping people healthy, while setting future social care priorities.

The introduction of ICS throughout the NHS, along with the government’s new Health and Care Bill, brings health care under one umbrella, and highlights the importance of data sharing to enable joined up support across the NHS, local councils, and other partners.

ICS is helping change attitudes to data sharing and how data can be used to improve service provision. This presents a huge opportunity for NHS organisations to improve services and accelerate elective care activity. It enables better use of data by consolidating, managing and sharing it more efficiently and easily, resulting in better care through more easily pinpointing where problems or hurdles exist.

While Trusts will have a wealth of organisation and patient data, bringing it together to produce meaningful insight that can drive decision making and improvements, and access additional funding, is crucial.

Joining up health services

The Health and Care Bill changes how the NHS is structured and puts ICS on a statutory footing, enabling partnerships that better join up health and care service, improve the community’s health, and reduce health inequalities. Benchmarking across Trusts becomes possible, enabling more effective and consistent patient outcomes.

Each ICS is led by an Integrated Care Board (ICB), which will have responsibility for NHS functions and budgets across the ICS. The system sees 42 new ICBs replace Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), with a change from 106 CCG geographic areas to 42 ICBs.

Currently, much of the work with data in the NHS focusses on delivering upon statutory requirements. But moving forward, data will also become a tool for planning and measuring, informing decision making for improvements to clinical practise and leveraging data to improve the cost of care and the patient experience.

Sharing information across Trusts enables benchmarking of services, while patient pathways remain the priority at all touchpoints. Technology can be used to leverage knowledge of the environment and constraints and provide a proactive view of activity. This will allow Trusts to have a much clearer view of the entire patient journey, and will be the start of the changing future of healthcare.

It will help ICS to look ahead at long-term population heath needs based on demographic data, and better understand future problems – enabling a next level of planning that may not previously have been considered.

The current state of integrated care systems

The NHS Confederation, which supports and speaks for the healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, has carried out a review of ICS progress in 2021/22.

In the first of what will be annual reports into the evolution of ICS, it highlights what is working well and where it feels improvements are needed. These include:

ICS leaders may not have sufficient time and space to deliver the radical changes needed.
ICSs should make decisions at the most local level possible and be empowered to define what metrics they will be assessed on based on local priorities.
One of the biggest strengths of ICS so far has been improving joint working between partner organisations. Around 90% of system leaders believe they have been able to effectively improve joint working.
System leaders are committed to the principle of subsidiarity and 90% say this principle already applies to their system.
Another strength of ICS has been local workforces. ICS leaders feel they are making significant contributions to mitigate workforce pressures and improve working culture, with nearly 80% confident to deliver a ‘one workforce’ approach by July 2022.
More support is needed to help systems contribute to local social and economic development.
There is uncertainty about how the experiences and insights of leading primary care services at neighbourhood level inform system-level planning and strategy.
The biggest obstacle to further progress is national workforce shortages. The NHS Confederation is seeking amendments to the health and care bill to strengthen the duties of the Secretary of State for workforce planning, and has asked the government to develop and publish a health and care workforce strategy as a priority.

Taking the next steps forward

Data insight is crucial to help Trusts improve patient outcomes and drive cost savings. But finding the best approach to accessing the right funding and realising your digital strategy presents its own challenges.

CACI’s NHS services portfolio demonstrates our ability to support data projects at any stage of the data lifecycle, helping Trusts determine local priorities, accelerate timelines, maximise staff resources, improve joint working, and plan strategically for the future. And we combine all this with our wide experience of healthcare customers.

Data can become the building blocks of your solutions, showing you where services are at capacity, how to redesign them to avoid bottlenecks, and how to meet challenges and maximise opportunities.

Plan a call with one of our NHS experts today and take the first step towards optimising your organisation’s data provision.

Read our latest blog ‘Challenges facing NHS Trusts – and how to tackle them’.

And for more expert insight, download our essential whitepaper – Elective Care, how NHS changes are bringing opportunities for Trusts and patient care.

Challenges facing NHS Trusts – and how to tackle them

Posted on: 1 September 2022

Delivering better patient outcomes and value, while meeting targets and anticipating future needs, can be a challenge for NHS teams. There is constant pressure to do more with less, and with a high demand for service, quality is under intense scrutiny.

Even before the pandemic, waiting lists for elective treatment were growing. But by the end of 2021, 6.07 million patients were on waiting lists – the largest number since records began. As of September 2021, there were between 7.6 million and 9.1 million missing referrals of patients for elective care, and between 240,000 and 740,000 missing urgent referrals for suspected cancer.

“People will face serious health consequences as a result of delays in treatment, with some dying earlier than they otherwise would, and many living with pain or discomfort for longer than they otherwise would,” stated a March 2022 House of Commons report.

Tackling elective care challenges

The government expects the NHS to deliver around 30% more elective activity by 2024/25 than it was before the pandemic and has allocated £13.9bn in additional funding to tackle the elective backlog.

NHS Trusts are now exploring how they can access support to meet their targets, improve the patient experience and bring down waiting times. Digitisation is being seen by many as the silver bullet that will help solve their problems.

Over the past 20 years, elective care performance has been measured primarily through wait time targets, but changes to how the NHS monitors performance has seen the advent of new activity-based targets. The pandemic enabled a level of digital transformation that might otherwise have taken several years, and Trusts are looking to capitalise on this to deliver on these activity-based outcomes.

The Elective Care Recovery Fund is a £1bn pot of government money helping the NHS get back up to speed, and to aid different healthcare systems in working closer and more collaboratively.

Funding is awarded based on performance (i.e. increases in activity such as appointments or procedures). In order to utilise the funding, Trusts need to understand where there are opportunities to increase activity, make changes to create these increases, and be able to evidence them.

Data analytics can enable them to do this through forecasting, hypothesis testing and real-time analysis of wait times and patient journeys. Any activity above 95% of 2019/20 levels is reimbursed at 120% of tariff.

Digitisation of NHS services

Remote appointments are one key element of the patient journey where savings can be made. NHS England aims for up to a third of face-to-face outpatient appointments to be avoided by 2024 – saving £1.1bn and 30 million hospital visits.

In Norwich, a virtual ward launched in 2021 has saved nearly 2,000 bed days. The ‘ward’ enables patients to receive remote care from their own homes, with up to 20 patients a day being treated. Vitals such as temperature, blood pressure and oxygen are monitored via a strap around their arm and staff carry out virtual rounds through daily phone or video calls.

More than 80% of integrated care systems (ICS) now have a digitally-supported virtual ward, and these innovative forms of patient care are demonstrating how digital technology and data systems can enable Trusts to release capacity and deliver more efficient services.

Helping Trusts invest and utilise funding

Finding a different way through the pathways and exploring where the bottlenecks are and where there is capacity in the systems, is another crucial step forward, as is access to funding.

In April 2022, a new NHS payments system was introduced that enables an agreed local plan to be put in place between ICS members, targeting volume and case mix. A provider can earn a higher tariff for activity that exceeds the levels in the plan and for scoring highly on their CQUIN indicators.

Data insight is crucial to help NHS organisations plan, operate and continually optimise resources, services, and staffing – ensuring better theatre utilisation, staff rostering, waiting list reduction, capacity planning and operational management.

Advanced data analytics also enables NHS organisations to access the right available funding to help with a holistic recovery. Optimising data enables Trusts to explore opportunities, evidence these, and show changes being made – helping Trusts plug gaps and improve the patient outcome.

Next steps for Trusts

To meet the challenges currently facing the NHS, Trusts should be considering how to augment and optimise their data capabilities. A key step is to access and consolidate data from a variety of sources to inform deep and actionable insight about patients, services, and demand.

NHS Trusts will all be at different stages of their digital journey, but any additional funding they can optimise will be crucial. To do so they will need to understand where there are opportunities to increase activity, how to make changes to create these increases, and be able to evidence them.

CACI’s solution can help Trusts get the best outcome from the new NHS payment system and additional funding, and deliver the outcomes you need. We’re proud of our long-standing relationships with many NHS organisations across all care settings. We have hands-on experience of the pressures and opportunities facing your NHS organisation and the need for trustworthy information to support transformation and sustainability. Plan a call with one of our NHS experts today and take the first step towards optimising your organisation’s data provision. Visit our website.

And for more expert insight, download our most recent whitepaper – Elective Care, how NHS changes are bringing opportunities for Trusts and patient care.

The difference between reporting and insight

Posted on: 17 August 2022

Data is no use to NHS organisations without the expertise and tools to make it actionable

Data has become more and more significant in all industries and settings. The NHS is no exception. With a huge amount of patient, service and performance data at its disposal, there should be a wealth of insight available to help shape patient care and develop the best services in every community.

But there’s a very important caveat. Everyone knows that raw data doesn’t provide actionable information. That’s why it’s generally issued in the form of reports. But what do the reports tell you?

Reporting on data is not the same as generating meaningful and transformative insight from it.

It’s common for NHS organisations to produce reports that list statistics and objects without the context or perspective that could give them meaning as a basis for decisions. These reports can tell us what has happened and provide headline figures for costs, volumes and timeframes, but they don’t reveal insight.

Drawing insight from data means looking at it through a new lens. It could mean evaluating how past performance could influence future behaviours and decisions. It could mean modelling multiple hypothetical scenarios to decide the best approach from several options.

Data reporting is a valid exercise when you’re monitoring performance against fixed objectives. But it’s generally a historical, static activity. The data insight that NHS organisations need is about planning for the future and adjusting programmes in-flight to reflect the latest information and evolving patient needs. It’s about scenario modelling. It’s about bringing together different datasets, to gain more and more detailed and specific understanding of the causes of outcomes and what influences them. This kind of data insight is truly transformative because it allows NHS organisations to continually scrutinise, optimise and innovate in their services and care.

The impact of true insight on NHS services

Sarah Culkin, Interim Head of the Analytics Unit at NHSX, and Sukhmeet Panesar, Deputy Director within NHS England and NHS Improvement’s Data, Analysis and Intelligence Service describe the impact of data insight: “Knowledge is power. In healthcare, it is often life-saving. The NHS generates a huge amount of data which can be analysed and used to drive improvements in care and how services are run. Ultimately, data analysis results in improved patient outcomes and experience, as well as optimal use of NHS resources.”

Trusts and NHS service providers know that data is valuable. Many have already invested in data solutions and tools designed to store and analyse information. But not all are generating powerful and potentially life-saving insight. Digital insight for healthcare is a constantly evolving field, with new tools and technologies emerging to extract more relevant information. It can be hard to keep pace with the range of data resources on offer and to know how to prioritise system development and investment.

Acquiring and acting on insight demands data literacy in teams

Sarah Culkin and Sukhmeet Panesar highlight another key issue that affects many NHS organisations in their quest to use data to improve services: “In general, the NHS is failing to make the most of its data because there are not enough people with the right analytical skills to make sense of the information being collected.”

Data insight and analytics is a fast-evolving field. Without training, mentoring and support from specialists who understand the NHS environment as well as the potential of data, NHS managers and analysts cannot make informed decisions and harness the data they have to best effect. Education and skills are key – both for general data literacy in NHS clinical, management, operations and finance teams, and for analytics and technology in the data science teams who support them.

With all the data you collect, are you making the most of it to support crucial trust or service decisions and to deliver responsive, patient-centric care that meets real-time needs?

If you’d like to find out more about CACI’s Data Maturity Assessment service, or our data and analytics training, please get in touch. It’s all part of our HISC (Healthcare Insight Success Cycle) data optimisation approach for NHS organisations. Find out more by downloading our brochure Spearheading your data journey to improve patient outcomes.

Is knowledge and skills a barriers to transformative insight for your NHS organisation? Working with a specialist NHS data transformation partner could help you achieve best value from your data and budgets.

Find out how CACI’s healthcare team can provide advice on developing and maintaining your technology and offer staff training for data literacy and skills, so you can sustain your data journey from within. For further information, visit or website or get in touch with our NHS client team.

Managing patient data to guide you in the new ICS landscape

Posted on: 1 August 2022

How NHS organisations can prepare to access and contribute to a powerful pool of insight that will help them meet local needs better than ever before

When the new ICS framework rolls out, predicted for summer 2022, it should enable healthcare providers and bodies across the NHS to collaborate better than ever before, with a shared goal of providing improved patient care across the board. By moving away from fragmentation and competition, NHS services should be able to consider patient needs and pathways holistically and offer the best locally targeted overall care from a range of specialisms and organisations in a more coordinated and efficient way.

We have a real opportunity with the formation of the ICSs to change how we use data to better coordinate care and re-design our service based on the needs of our citizens… It’s a really exciting time to work in the NHS.
Ayub Bhayat, Director of insight and data platform at NHS England and NHS Improvement

NHS leaders and healthcare teams are excited about the opportunity to smash silos and break through frustrating organisational barriers to work more effectively together in this new, collaborative culture. But they’ll need the right information and tools for shared decision-making. That means bringing together data that was formerly held separately and unleashing its full potential as part of a comprehensive system of healthcare insight.

What should NHS organisations do to make sure they’re playing their part and will have access to the data and analytics they need to deliver excellent outcomes as part of their ICS?

Trusts and healthcare bodies will need to be certain they can share data securely and effectively. They’ll need systems that can bring together disparate data in actionable formats, so it can be compared and analysed at patient and pathway level. They’ll need reporting tools and dashboards that reveal insight to underpin operational and investment decisions, as well as to track the success of initiatives. They’ll need to continuously augment data, so planning and collaboration keep pace with real-time community and service needs.

Every ICS will have its own priorities, reflecting what the local community needs in terms of NHS care across the board. Different data and analysis will be needed to plan the best collaborative service provision in every area.

The overall vision is exciting, but to achieve it, organisations must identify practical steps to move from where they are today with their own data to the collaborative ICS data ecosystem. There’s an opportunity to exploit new and proven technology that manages and harnesses data to produce advanced, relevant and detailed insight.

We recommend a systematic approach to assessing where your organisation currently stands and how you can evolve your data strategy to achieve the best outcomes in an ICS. In CACI’s digital healthcare knowledge model HISC (Healthcare Insight Success Cycle), we’ve developed Discovery tools and processes that help NHS organisations do exactly that:

Describe and assess your current data strategy, systems and approach
Define your future data direction and destination as part of an ICS
Review your data security, storage and infrastructure
Build a strategy and roadmap for data insight that will improve clinical and operational delivery and performance in the ICS framework
Build a business case to connect investment in insight with tangible outcomes

CEO of NHS Confederation Matthew Taylor said in March 2022 that the use of high quality, real-time population health data will help “to shift from a system that responds to demand to a system that genuinely responds to need”, and that the NHS’ implementation of Integrated Care Systems (ICS) has the potential to “help create that enabling environment” needed to leverage data effectively.

Ruth Holland, deputy chief information officer at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, went even further: “ICS’ will stand and fall on their data capability in ten years’ time. I would sternly encourage digital and data leaders to look at the costings you are putting into plans [for staff and skills] that will support the ambition.”

CACI’s specialist healthcare technology team has the experience and knowledge to support your organisation with planning and delivering an ICS data transformation programme, including training and skills transfer for your staff.

If you’d like to find out more about CACI’s HISC model for optimising NHS healthcare data, download our brochure Spearheading your data journey to improve patient outcomes. It describes in more detail how you can take action to activate data insight to reshape health and social care in an ICS.

To find out more visit our website or speak to an NHS data consultant about the results we’ve helped other organisations achieve, please get in touch with our NHS client team.

Reshaping health and social care with data insight

Posted on: 14 July 2022

How data can help you improve patient outcomes in 7 priority areas

There’s constant pressure on NHS organisations to deliver better patient outcomes and value from public funding. Demand is high and service quality is under intense scrutiny.

NHS organisations have access to a wealth of organisational and patient data. But bringing it together to produce meaningful and trusted insight is a challenge. Decision-makers and clinicians must have access to analytics and reporting in clear formats. Data insight needs to be current and available in a timely manner. Data storage and usage must also be secure and compliant, to meet NHS and national standards for patient and citizen confidentiality.

Everyone’s talking about the fact that data insight is crucial to help your NHS organisation plan, operate and continually optimise resources, services, staffing and patient experiences. But what does that mean in practice? How do you unlock the insight to make a difference today? Amongst all the competing priorities for NHS managers, how specifically can data insight change the way your organisation operates, improve patient outcomes and tackle challenges like waiting lists and staff shortages?

Working with NHS Trusts and social care organisations, we’ve seen at first hand the difference that well managed data can make to efficiency and patient care. Actionable insight to influence real-time and future service design and planning is the holy grail for driving real value from your data to help improve the performance of your NHS organisation.

But to make it happen, where do you start? How can you achieve rapid and meaningful impact from an investment of time and budget in a data project?

We’ve identified seven high value activities that our NHS customers and partners have successfully optimised using data insight. By quantifying the benefits of one or more of these outcomes for your organisation, the case for prioritising your data project becomes clearer and easier to communicate with colleagues and stakeholders.

7 priority activities that NHS organisations can drive with data

1. Model and predict demand for services

Complete and accurate data and effective analytics tools give you the power to model and predict demand for services based on specific evidence relating to your patients and community. Produce relevant reports that decision-makers can scrutinise and understand with ease, so they can support your recommendations readily.

2. Put the right staff in the right place at the right time

Effective and accurate data about demand for services and availability of staff can help you roster more effectively – reducing wait times and giving patients better experiences in your clinical organisation. This has particular value when dealing with increased absence relating to Covid.

3. Review and respond immediately to current patient needs

If you have the capability to analyse patient data in real time, you can give clinicians the information they need to make fully informed decisions in the moment about care and treatment, to achieve the best patient outcomes.

4. Plan services effectively for better patient outcomes in critical areas

With a specialist NHS data platform like CACI’s InView, you can apply powerful analytics to dive deep into data and answer the most important questions for your organisation. Drive improved patient outcomes by tackling priority KPIs for your organisation – from waiting list monitoring, patient level costing and clinic usage to theatre utilisation and clinician availability.

5. Focus on frequent flyers

With a clear picture of frequent flyer characteristics and visit patterns from comprehensive and up-to-date reporting, you can proactively identify patients who need more support or information and help them to access the most appropriate services and treatments for their needs.

6. Integrate data to build a complete picture of demand for services

When you bring together local government and hospital data in a single, integrated data platform, you can access even richer insight into patients, services and demand. With one source of analytics and reporting, you can maximise the value of the information your organisation holds, including collaborating with other Trusts through data sharing within an ICS ecosystem.

7. Understand your patients more thoroughly and personally

Compliant data records and effective reporting gives your NHS organisation a clear picture of the demographic backgrounds of your patients. By understanding their backgrounds and lifestyles, you can shape your services and communications for better access and improved outcomes.

Every NHS organisation is different, with priorities and challenges that are unique to its community and resources. No matter where you are on your data journey or how you most urgently need to uncover and apply insight to your decision-making and planning, a tailored data transformation strategy can help you move forward. The most practical and effective approach is to outline a series of steps on that journey, making sure that you drive value from your data project as early as possible by accessing insight that supports your most pressing tactical requirements.

If you’d like to find out more about how data helps you deliver tangible improvements in key areas of your NHS organisation’s patient care, download our brochure Spearheading your data journey to improve patient outcomes. It describes in more detail how you can take action to activate data insight to reshape health and social care. It explains how CACI’s Health Insight Success Cycle is specifically designed to drive maximum value from data for NHS organisations.

To find out more visit our website or speak to an NHS data consultant about the results we’ve helped other organisations achieve, please get in touch with our NHS client team.