Change by Design - Harnessing the Potential of Operational Research in Health and Care

Operational Research (OR) in health services is marked by much innovative research but blighted by the limited evidence of its effective application to improve actual health service delivery. This is not only wasteful, but also dispiriting to those of us who wish to see our research applied to promote greater effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of care. In recent years, this ’implemen-tation deficit’ has been addressed directly through a number of organisations and research initiatives in the UK and some progress has been made. This presentation will examine the key factors which have in the past inhibited the effective use of health care models in service delivery and outline methods to overcome these barriers. Drawing on the experience of MASHnet (The UK Modelling and Simulation in Healthcare Network) and PenCHORD (The Peninsula Collaboration in Health Operational Research and Development - a research group based in the SW of England) successful case studies will be referenced which demonstrate a new collaborative framework where models find active and impactful use in healthcare. Recent developments both in the UK health service and the research arena promise greater integration of OR within the health service. There are still however underdeveloped and neglected areas of research (e.g evaluation) and it will be essential to address these if further progress in engagement and effective implementation of health service modelling is to flourish. A vision for the more effective implementation of OR in healthcare based on collaborative working and capacity building within the NHS will be presented as a more fertile basis for developing useful models.

Professor Martin Pitt is the director of PenCHORD - The Peninsula Collaboration for Health Operational Research and Development. PenCHORD is a research team based at Exeter University Medical School in the UK which works in close collaboration with NHS organisations in the south-west of the country to improve the delivery of health and care using operational research methods. His research interests are broadly the application of modelling techniques to improve health and care with a particular interest in the use of these approaches in policy and decision making process. He has a specific research focus on use of visualisation techniques to improve the accessibility of
information for key stakeholders in health and care.