Smarter State: Smarter Health - Boosting Analytical Capacity at NHS

Abstract

Informed by both a literature review and analysis as well as over fifty interviews with NHS and other experts, this paper offers a multiplicity of proposed recommendations for meeting the data analytic talent gap and achieving greater institutional readiness without full-time hiring. These recommendations complement those made by the Health Foundation in its December 2016 focused on improved training and cross-organisational teams to enhance data analytical insight. No one approach alone will be enough.

These recommendations fall into four categories. ► Using new technology to coordinate distributed talent already present in the NHS, including project marketplaces. ► Using new technology such as talent banks and skill finders, to find talent hiding in plain sight — namely those with the relevant skills but who are not classed as analysts and match them to projects. ► Using expert networks to connect with empirical expertise outside the NHS. ► Creating cost-effective incentives to bring talent in from outside, including prize backed challenges and foundation-funded fellowships.