Leak reveals management consultants’ role in recovery plans

Consultants will set strategy, provide analytics and help lead the creation of integrated care systems’ elective recovery plans, a leaked document reveals.

HSJ reported that seven management consultancy firms would be paid up to £21m to “support” every ICS design its elective recovery plans by April. According to internal NHS documents, leaked to HSJ, the firms will provide “tailored skills and expertise” to help ICS teams develop their plans.

The document, shared with ICS and regional chiefs in a presentation by NHS elective care chief Sir Jim Mackey, states the consultancies will work alongside ICS teams to “ensure” the ICS plans achieve many objectives.

These objectives include:

• Delivering or exceeding the expected performance ambitions… and are “triangulated across activity, finance and workforce capacity”;
• Making “full use of transformational opportunities” to manage demand, increase capacity or improve productivity; 
• Having a clear link to the health inequalities agenda; and
• Maximising elective activity through all available options including making use of the available independent sector capacity. 

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Source: HSJ, 10 February 2022