Research Development and Innovation Strategy

The Challenge

Swansea Bay University Health Board covers a population of around 390,000 in the Neath Port Talbot and Swansea areas, including three major hospitals which provide a range of general and specialist services and two hospitals providing mental health services.

The Heath Board had recognised a need to refresh its strategy for research, development and innovation (RDI) in order to support wider Health Board initiatives, ensure appropriate health and care for a growing and changing local population, support new ways of working and help manage the financial and operational impacts of Covid-19. At the same time, there was a desire to integrate approaches with the ongoing national review by Welsh Government which was focused on improving the exploration and adoption of innovation across multiple sectors in Wales.

Archus were appointed alongside Academic Health Partners to support the Health Board in understanding the current Research and Development landscape and learning from core components of successful strategy adopted by other organisations. This in turn would inform a new strategy that would support the growth of meaningful research activity in Swansea and improve the realisation of wider benefits for the both Health Board and local population.

Our Approach

First we examined the existing strategic context for RDI and the current healthcare landscape in Swansea. This included a health needs analysis to look at the most pressing health issues in the region and ensures that research, development and innovation would be reflective of the health needs of the population.

Stakeholder Engagement, including leaders across the organisation, helped glean local insights into the key challenges facing RDI in the health board, and potential solutions.

We identified comparators (both in UK and internationally) of similar size and scope that have successfully implemented RDI visions. These were reviewed to extract key learnings and create a benchmark for the direction of travel.

Our final report yielded four core recommendations which would strengthen Swansea’s position in terms of RDI and help tackle potential barriers to successful implementation. For example, in the context of the significant financial and operational pressure facing health services we identified the need for a proposed finance structure to support EDI investment and growth, along opportunities for collaboration with pharmaceutical, health technology and life sciences companies, and the value-add to the local health system. We also advocated for a new governance structure to help address siloed working in RDI and improve collaboration and integration.

Each recommendation was supported by a suite of SMART objectives and pragmatic action points, e.g. detailing the type of governance structure that can be assembled and types of research themes that can be developed. Each objective was accompanied by a set of carefully selected KPIs by which success could best be measured.

The Impact

Our work has provided the Health Board with a forward-thinking and evidence-based vision, strategy and roadmap for enhancing Research, Development, and Innovation, in a way which recognises real constraints on resources and uses pragmatic action to help maximise the benefits of investment.

Through implementation of the strategy, Swansea Bay University Health Board are able to achieve their ambitions and be an innovative hub, leveraging real benefits to patients, healthcare workers, local communities and the wider Welsh healthcare system.

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