Delivering a White Paper to highlight national variation in care, and propose solutions for improving care across the NHS

Our client sought to explore the national variation in care for their target disease area and present the research in a White Paper. The publication needed to highlight the challenges and potential solutions faced by the health service, largely around the variation in current care across the country. Our client aimed to use the publication to outline potential solutions for this variation, as a first step towards improving equity of care and ensuring all patients get seen in a timely and appropriate manner across the NHS.

Our approach for developing the White Paper was comprised of three key phases:

• First, we submitted a freedom of information (FOI) request to NHS England for data on quality standards in adults and reviewed the data to confirm it supported the national variation in care in the target disease area
• Next, we facilitated an advisory board with a range of Health & Care stakeholders, during which we tested the FOI evidence and assumptions, explored potential solutions for addressing the variation in care, and scoped the proposed content/structure for the White Paper
• Finally, we developed the White Paper, summarising key themes and outlining the challenges and potential solutions for national variation in care and produced a 1-page ‘Executive summary’ to act as a briefing document to accompany the White Paper

Throughout the development of the White Paper, we worked in collaboration with the clinical experts who attended the advisory board, to ensure the content was accurate, impactful, and representative of the current landscape. These experts were named on the publication for their contributions and their endorsement.

The client reported their delight with the successful collaboration with clinician experts and the final White Paper. Since finalisation, several plans have been put in place:

• There are plans for a leading Consultant to present the document at an upcoming forum/meeting to help launch the proposed initiatives and solutions
• The client plans to use the White Paper as a pre-read for a clinical/policy commissioning group
• Finally, a leading charity asked to host the White Paper on its website

Following this success, our client asked us to continue partnering with them to produce further iterations of the White Paper, with the aim of using it at UK Parliament level to influence policy and improve the provision of care across the NHS.