ITT: Trends in health and care supply

The health and care system is under intense pressure, with persistent workforce shortages, and patients and service users struggling to access the care and support they need. To ensure the health and care system remains financially sustainable, we need a better understanding of the changing configuration of health and care services and trends in the volume and mix of supply across the whole system.

At the same time, the UK has greater regional inequalities than most comparable countries on multiple measures, including productivity, pay, educational attainment and health. To address this, the UK government has set out an aim to level up the country, promising to increase prosperity, widen opportunities and ensure that no region is left behind.

Invitation to apply

The Health Foundation is seeking a supplier to work with us to explore the direct and indirect consequences of the changing configuration (including mergers, acquisitions, and closures) of health and care supply in England, and trends in the volume and mix of services; and to identify key trends in terms of geography and deprivation-based characteristics.

This work will eventually lead to the creation of a comprehensive time series database that the Health Foundation can use for future work on health and care supply in England.

Research questions and approach

The research partner will be expected to focus on the following research questions:

• How can we conceptualise the changing configuration of health and care services in terms of volume and mix?
• How can we measure changes in the configuration of health and care services over time and geographically?
• How do these changes in the configuration of health and care services relate to inequality? For example, what have the direct and indirect effects of these changes been on access to health and care, employment in health and care, and wider economics metrics for communities?

We propose that these research questions are addressed using a two-stage approach:

1. Establish the conceptual framework needed to examine the changing configuration of health and care services in terms of mix and volume.
2. Map and analyse key variables from the conceptual framework to determine the usefulness of the underlying database.

Information call

Catch up on the slides and frequently asked questions from our recent information call.

Application process

Applications closed on Wednesday 19 July 2023 and we have now appointed a supplier.