A recent ONS study (published 20/2/26) shows that healthy life expectancy for babies born now is at a new low and that the gap between neighbourhoods with the highest and lowest estimates is also not closing over time. This adverse trend in life expectancy is one of the reasons why Lord Darzi’s investigation into the NHS published in September 2024 concluded that it is in a “critical condition” and needs to either “reform or die”.   

Lord Darzi’s resulting 10-year plan has set out the path to transforming the NHS and is now being implemented. An important part of this plan is to move care from hospital to communities by creating a “Neighbourhood Health Service” with a significant shift of budgets and resources from hospital settings to out-of-hospital settings over the next 3 to 4 years. 

Given this increased focus on neighbourhood health delivery, it is timely to take stock of how well-placed the NHS is at working with communities to achieve a successful transformation of primary care.  This talk will set out what good practice looks like for community engagement and how the NHS can usefully adopt ideas from other public bodies (such as the police service) to make a step change in how it engages with patients and the wider community. 

Specific proposals will be presented for how Business Intelligence (BI) tools can be re-designed to support optimisation across primary care delivery units by identifying where resources can be re-allocated more effectively locally, regionally, and nationally. The proposed approach presents data and analysis in ways that highlight where action is most needed and enables all stakeholders to contribute to finding solutions in a collaborative manner, enabled by AI.

Colin Stewart: More Metrics

Colin started out in academia obtaining a BSc and Doctorate in Materials’ Science. After a short spell in the semiconductor industry doing research, he joined the NatWest Operational Research Group in the mid-1980s. In a subsequent 27-year career in financial services, Colin has used analytics to solve many real-world business problems covering organisational design, process re-design, strategy development, product price optimisation, risk scorecard development, and customer direct marketing. He has also held a number of senior roles in NatWest at various times that include being a Bank Manager in the City of London, the Head of Retail Corporate Banking Finance, the Head of Operational Research, and the Head of Retail Marketing Analysis. 

Since leaving NatWest in 2010, Colin has worked with a wide range of organisations specialising in the development of new ways of using open-source data and spatial analysis techniques that underpin More Metrics’ novel data products and small area models. Colin is a member of the Operational Research Society and is an Associate Chartered Banker (ACIB).

CPD Hours: 1.5 Hours