About Strategic Planning for Redesign
The Strategic Planning for Redesign Portfolio at Healthcare Improvement Scotland are a national specialist team for Strategic Planning. We are responsible for supporting the creation, curation, embedding and spreading of good practice in strategic planning. We do this through the following three key functions.
Ongoing development of good practice in strategic planning
We broadly categorise the use of strategic planning in two ways:
1. Strategic planning for orgnisational strategy and planning: For example every HSCP and NHS board in Scotland is required to have a Strategic Plan that meets a wide range of requirements. Some of our externally facing work with Scottish Government and the Directors of Planning help to support this.
2. Strategic planning for improvement, redesign and transformation: This is a newer application of strategic planning. It thinks about how the fundamentals of strategic planning can be used as part of improvement programmes. It is the primary focus of the work we do. To do this well requires a new way of thinking about strategic planning and a new range of tools, approaches and techniques that are suitable for considering large scale system wide change to the way health and care is provided.
The first category is a long established role of strategic planners. More recently the use of strategic planning expertise, approaches and tools has increased in the delivery of improvement, redesign and transformation programmes within health and care systems. This newer application of strategic planning creates the need for a range of new strategic planning approaches and tools.
Within this context, we see good strategic planning used for improvement, redesign and transformation to:
- take a whole system approach considering the totality of resources across health and care
- analysis emerging trends and population need against existing support and demand
- looks to the future to ensure changes address future need and challenges to stay ahead of long term emerging trends.
Our work in this area focuses on continually developing strategic planning approaches and insights to ensure the profession excels in its newer application. Building off our Good Practice Framework for Strategic Planning launched in 2019, we are currently developing a range of new tools and approaches that can be used by planners. To find out more about these tools and get involved in our work contact the Strategic Planning for Redesign team.
Building the skills and capacity of strategic planners across health and care organisations in Scotland
In order to develop and support thinking on a range of issues relevant to strategic planners and policy makers relevant to developing planning requirements in health and care, we:
- Publish a range of 'At a Glance' publications that look at the strategic planning implications of an issue, policy, legislation, strategy or new evidence
- Publish a number of deeper dive resources for planners that explore issues and challenges in more detail
- Run learning webinars that focus on supporting planners on a wide range of issues.
We have developed and prototyped a Good Practice Skills for Strategic Planning resource, designed to support local planning teams identify and build the skills and competencies required to consistently implement good strategic planning within their organisations. Find out more about this work on Programme updates.
The Strategic Planning for Redesign Portfolio ring fences a small portion of our resource to be able to provide ‘bespoke support’ HSCPs, NHS boards, Community Planning Partnerships, and Scottish Government by providing a strategic planning lens to their work.
We are currently exploring the opportunities to establish a Strategic Planning Community of Practice recognising that there isn’t currently a professional body for Strategic Planners as there is for many other professionals and clinicians in health and social care organisations do.
Get in touch to find out more about any of these activities.
Delivery of strategic planning across Healthcare Improvement Scotland's national improvement programmes
Our Strategic Planning Advisors and Senior Strategic Planning Advisors spend part or most of their time embedded within the teams delivering various improvement programmes. We are currently supporting the following programmes:
- Designing and Improving Residential Rehabilitation Pathways
- Improving our Response to People with Mental Health and Substance Use Need
- Unpaid Carers Improvement Programme
- Early Intervention in Psychosis
- Focus on Frailty
- Reducing Reliance on Adult Mental Health Inpatient Care.
Visit our related programmes or get in touch to learn more about our programmes.