We began by speaking to stakeholders across the organisation to understand the Trust’s existing commercial strategy and how this was perceived and understood by people in different roles.  The project began at the onset of COVID-19 so, to mitigate the pressure on clinical and operational staff, we undertook this work in two parts.  We first engaged with the Executive Team, Non-Executive Directors and staff in corporate roles to understand the corporate view of the strategy.  Once pressures on frontline staff had begun to ease, we then engaged with the medical, nursing and operational teams to learn how they interpreted the strategy and its relevance to their roles. 

At the same time, we undertook a detailed analysis of the local healthcare market.  This included developing a clear picture of an incredibly complex and fragmented local commissioning landscape, with services commissioned by seven CCGs, three local authorities and NHS England.  We analysed contracts registers and commissioning forward plans for all of these organisations and built up a comprehensive picture of how services were provided.  This allowed us to produce a strategic forward plan for the Trust, based on local commissioning intentions and contract expiration dates, supported by detailed competitor analysis of incumbent providers, identifying their strengths and weaknesses and how the Trust should position itself to regain market share for each service in each local area. 

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We also looked at the national picture, assessing both the existing policy context and political direction of travel for the NHS.  This led us to recommend to the Trust that it reframe its commercial strategy as a commercial and partnerships strategy, which would best position it as the provider of choice in an Integrated Care System model.