Background

Four key questions for our members and stakeholders #

How has the NHS-R Community contributed to the system thus far? #

The positive contribution of the NHS-R Community was shared by all stakeholders and included the following highlights. For analysts: a safe, trusted, supportive space to learn and share together, a badge of honour, joy, confidence, upskilling, networking, working across organisational boundaries without needing permission. For leaders: signposting to a trusted brand and community that can influence policy which is underpinned by two value systems - NHS and open source. For the wider system: NHS-R has shifted thinking on how to secure analytic needs in the future and is perhaps the world’s first open-source community focused on health and care with admirers across the globe.

What is the need in the system given the change in the health and care landscape? #

The system has evolved, and progress has been made since the NHS-R Community was established. Still, some common themes persist regarding the needs of the system; skills gaps, infrastructure needs, better collaborative working and more structured peer learning, and the development of analytical leadership. Specific examples include: methodological training for analysts, setting professional standards, equipping leaders with analytical thinking skills, supporting the use of operations research methods, building links with social care and researchers, quality assurance processes and more. There was consensus that the NHS-R Community should focus on its strengths and not duplicate or drift from this because this may undermine its impact (perhaps because it becomes less relevant to its core members who are flourishing in the freedom of NHS-R). Below is a summary of what the “NHS-R Community” can do to support the system.

What can the NHS-R Community do to support the system? #

The following areas were identified.

  1. Engage with NHS leaders to help them appreciate the potential of the NHS-R Community as a resource.
  2. Work with NHSD/Transformation Directorate to remove barriers/create resources for IT departments to make open source tools readily available for analysts.
  3. Provide an ‘Ask us’ hub where leaders and analysts can refer their questions or issues so that they can get a “grass roots” view from the NHS-R Community on how these might be best addressed.
  4. Scaling local solutions nationally and vice-versa
  5. Myth busting on “open-source” analytics including addressing security and information governance concerns.
  6. Increased collaboration with national bodies such as NHS Transformation Directorate.
  7. Set up an NHS Data Science Event (say over 3 to 5 days) for the NHS to identify common problems and develop shared solutions.

We asked a pre-mortem question - imagine the NHS-R Community has died, what led to its demise? #

The following were identified.

  1. The NHS-R Community was too reliant on volunteers who were unable to sustain their input.
  2. The NHS-R Community lost its values and was no longer a brand that was seen as safe, trusted, welcoming, especially to newbies.
  3. The NHS-R Community got too pre-occupied with contributing to the centre and so lost touch with grass roots analysts.
  4. National data science teams/bodies did not feel as if they had a stake in the NHS-R Community and so disengaged with it and could not see its relevance.
  5. R lost out to Python or some other open data science tool.
  6. The NHS-R Community did not offer enough “attractors” to analysts (eg wider training, support, development opportunities, etc).
  7. The NHS-R Community did not have adequate funds to continue to support it.
  8. The NHS-R Community lost its central organising team and so disintegrated.

This should inform our approach to risk over the coming years. We should focus on resilience, being forward thinking and responsive, maintaining our values, broadening the organising team, actively seeking & cultivating new members, and finding funding solutions and partners that can support our activities.

So, what next…? #

We would like to invite you to comment on this, to share your suggestions and help shape the future of the Community.

  • What have we got right?
  • What have we missed?
  • What would you like to see the NHS-R Community offer you, as an analyst or a leader, in the future?