20 Balancing act: supporting finance leaders to deliver on short- and long-term priorities
It wasn’t a linear trajectory towards success, with several bumps in the road. There was constant tension between juggling the pressure to meet in-year targets, while tracking progress on a multi-year programme. This was particularly challenging when the time to deliver benefit was quite protracted – it required the benefits realisation group to hold its nerve at a time when it would have been very easy to be distracted by lots of ‘in-year’ noise. Benefits tracking can be challenging, particularly with a programme of this size and complexity. The difference here was that the assessment provided a baseline for each of our metrics, and agreement from every organisation involved to provide the data that was required to track progress against these. The combination of accurately tracking benefits, alongside case studies of the impact changes were having on patients, provide a powerful driving force to continue. As of January 2025, the outcomes achieved as a result of the programme translate to around £17m annual financial benefit for Coventry. This benefit was split across UHCW and CCC spend. As of January 2025, the programme is having the following impact on outcomes across the UEC pathway in Coventry: • 18% reduction in older adult admissions to base wards with people being better supported by primary care or the urgent community services • a reduction of 1.1 days in length of stay for patients who return to their usual place of residence (20%) • 50% reduction in the number of people moving to a long-term bedded setting • reduced demand for short-term bedded care from 85 beds to 39 beds, with this group having more independent outcomes in their own homes • successfully moved 158 members of staff from 8 different services into one new organisation • built a care record that hosts a case load of 700+ people and connects community, adult social care, and acute data. The programme provided a platform for the Coventry place partners to unlock organisational boundaries, improve relationships across the system, and create a more integrated model of care.
What challenges did you encounter in getting things off the ground
and how did you overcome them?
Impact
What financial benefit was achieved?
What was the impact on patient outcomes/quality?
Was there any other impact (for example, on staff, system partnership)?
The programme started in January 2023 and reached target run rate in November 2024.
In what timeframe were these benefits realised?
Finance leadership mindset What one piece of advice would you give to finance leaders embarking on a similar scheme?
‘It’s essential that finance leaders are involved with this sort of change from the outset – it’s not something that can be joined halfway through. They also need to commit to it for the duration, holding operations teams to account on the milestones that need to be met over the course of a number of years.’
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