Supporting a growing community provider with a new strategy
We supported Bromley Healthcare to quickly develop a new strategy that would reflect its increase in size and services, and help them fulfil their vision.
The challenge
Bromley Healthcare is a community provider and a social enterprise that covers a wide area of south London. It has grown quickly over recent years, expanding its reach geographically and taking on social care services; they needed to develop a new strategy to reset their purpose to reflect this growth.
Our task was to support the organisation identify its best opportunities in a changing operating environment. The leadership team sensed that not only did they need a new strategy but a more innovative culture was essential to make the necessary changes.
In particular, they wanted decision-making to be more widely distributed. The ask for Kaleidoscope was to build a conversation that would be more inclusive than anything that had preceded it.
We had to develop the strategy at pace and within a budget that would help them realise their vision: to empower people to live their best lives in the heart of their communities.
Our approach
We used Kaleidoscope’s tried and tested approach to strategy development, but focused only on those engagement activities that would deliver the richest qualitative data.
Internally, the process was led by the Better Together group, a specially convened team selected for their skills and ability collectively to represent the diversity of Bromley Healthcare’s people, in terms of location, professional background, and protected characteristics. The selection process we used meant that the Better Together group was more representative of the company than earlier groups.
We also conducted interviews with local system partners in local authorities, voluntary and community organisations and the Integrated Care Partnership. We surveyed primary care colleagues and sought feedback from the patient reference group.
Once the data was collected from all these groups, we worked closely with the Board and the Better Together group to develop the strategy and then to create a readable and engaging strategy document.
Results
The strategy, called People First, set a goal over the next five years to take a lead in listening to the needs of the communities that they serve and developing genuinely integrated care. The aim is for community services to be shaped by their communities.
The Board were impressed with the results of the process. We were able to provide new insights and group them into three highly actionable strategic themes. These have had an immediate impact.
The Better Together group also holds a continued role in the implementation of the strategy as it gets underway.
Kaleidoscope led a highly engaging and effective strategy development process for Bromley Healthcare. It has had a major impact on how we move forward as an organisation and enabled us to hold difficult conversations in a constructive way. The outcomes of the process far surpassed our expectations and are enabling sustainable change, led by our people.
Jacqui Scott, Chief Executive, Bromley Healthcare
