Sustainability is often framed as targets and commitments, but in practice it is about how services are designed, delivered and run every day.

At Here, sustainable healthcare delivery is a fundamental part of good service design, not a separate initiative.

Recently, we were recognised at the Recorra Sustainability Awards with

Gold in Sustainable Procurement and Bronze in Carbon Reduction.

We’re proud of this and want to share the work that sits behind it. Here we share 5 practices that make a big difference. 

5 things that make a big difference to sustainable healthcare

1. Sustainable healthcare service design: reducing impact while improving access

Sustainability has the greatest impact when it is built into service design from the beginning.

For example, our Community Appointment Days bring care closer to where people live. This reduces the need for travel while improving access and experience. Each event saves around 179kgCO2e and supports large numbers of patients in a single day.

This is a practical example of sustainable healthcare delivery in action, where better access and lower environmental impact go hand in hand.

2. Sustainable procurement in healthcare: supporting local and ethical supply chains

Procurement has been one of the most important levers for us.

We have made a deliberate choice to work with local and values-aligned suppliers. 85 percent of our spending is with Sussex-based businesses and 62 percent of our suppliers are small organisations.

We also ask suppliers to share information about their environmental practices, carbon reduction plans and ethical standards.

This helps us reduce our own impact, supports local economies and encourages more sustainable ways of working across the system.

When sustainability is built into service design, it improves value, reduces waste and supports better outcomes. That is where we see the real opportunity for change.

 Lesley Jay FCA, Finance Director and Board Lead on sustainability, Here

3. Carbon reduction and value for money in healthcare delivery

Sustainability and value for money are closely linked.

Reducing waste, cutting unnecessary printing and designing services that reduce travel all contribute to better use of resources. For example, moving towards digital communication and reducing our office footprint has lowered both emissions and operating costs.

Similarly, community-based models like our Community Appointment Days reduce duplication and make better use of clinical time.

This is how carbon reduction in healthcare can be achieved alongside efficiency, not by adding cost.

4. Operational sustainability in healthcare: small changes that add up

A lot of sustainability work is not high profile. It sits in the detail of how organisations operate.

Over the past year, we have reduced paper use by 18 percent by moving towards digital communication and self-booking. We have reduced waste by 80 percent and moved away from landfill, alongside increasing recycling across a wide range of materials.

These changes reduced waste by four tonnes and saved the equivalent of 20 trees.

Individually, these actions are small. Together, they deliver measurable progress in carbon reduction in healthcare.

5. Building a sustainable healthcare workforce and culture

Sustainable healthcare delivery depends on people as much as systems.

We have supported this by creating the right conditions for change. This includes moving to more energy-efficient buildings, supporting sustainable travel through Cycle2Work and electric vehicle schemes, and seeing a shift in commuting, with 71 percent of staff walking or cycling.

We have also introduced practical initiatives such as locally sourced vegan lunches, supporting both wellbeing and more sustainable choices.

These changes help make sustainability part of everyday working life.

What we are learning about sustainable healthcare delivery

The main thing we are learning is that sustainability is not one initiative or one project.

It is the result of many decisions made consistently over time. Some are visible. Many are not.

When sustainability is built into how services are designed and delivered, it improves value for partners, supports better experiences for patients and contributes to healthier, more resilient communities.

If you would like to find out more about our approach to sustainable healthcare delivery, then drop us a line at collab@hereweware.org.uk

How a conversation grew into a social enterprise, improving health and care in Wales.

Six years ago, a conversation between clinicians planted the seed for something new in Wales. With early support from Here, that conversation grew into Yma, a social enterprise working to strengthen primary care and create the conditions for better collaboration across the health system.

Today, Yma works across Wales to connect clinicians, leaders and communities, helping turn ideas for improvement into practical change.

Its work includes evaluating services, supporting initiatives such as Health Pathways, and partnering with organisations like the Football Association of Wales to explore new approaches to improving community health.

As Yma celebrates its sixth anniversary, the people who helped shape it reflect on how it began and what it has become.

Before Yma existed, I was living and working at the intersection of three Health Board areas in Wales. I could see good work happening everywhere. Dedicated teams, innovative ideas and people trying to improve care. But so much of it stayed local. The system wasn’t always set up to help those ideas connect or spread.

So I invited a small group of GPs to spend two days together in conversation.

There was no formal agenda and no expectation of outputs. Just space to slow down and ask honest questions: what are we seeing, what do we care about and what really matters for primary care in Wales?

Those conversations became the seed of Yma.

By autumn 2019 a founding group had formed around a shared purpose: creating the conditions where primary care in Wales could thrive. We incorporated Yma on 18 March 2020.

A week later the country went into lockdown.

Looking back, that moment shaped us. We didn’t begin with a detailed roadmap. We began with values: listening, connecting people and responding to what matters.

Bringing people together and growing Yma.

In the early days Yma grew through relationships. People across Wales began turning to us when they needed someone who could bring people together and help navigate complexity.

During the pandemic we supported work across primary care and helped partners stay connected at a time when collaboration was more important than ever. As the All Wales Community HealthPathways programme developed, we helped bring partners together and create spaces where people could engage and shape the work.

Yma’s impact.

Six years on, Yma’s impact can be felt across Wales.

We have created meaningful jobs in mid and west Wales, supported collaboration across the health system and helped bring frontline insight into conversations about change.

But what I am most proud of is something simpler. People now see Yma as a trusted partner. An organisation that shows up with curiosity, humility and a genuine commitment to helping the system work better for the communities it serves.

I had just moved my family to mid Wales from England and before long I had a laptop, a desk with a view of the forest and a long list of things to learn.

My background was in materials science, so working in health was completely new. But I quickly realised there were surprising connections between the systems thinking I had used before and the work we do in health improvement.

One of the things I love about Yma is the mix of people in the team.

We now have eight people working together across Wales. Our backgrounds range from lifeboat crew and PhDs to actors and cricketers. It is an eclectic mix, but it works.

What we have learnt is that everyone brings something different. Sometimes we do not realise we need what someone offers until they arrive.
We have created a working environment I am really proud of. Walking meetings are common. Part time and full time roles complement each other. There is also a genuine sense of people supporting each other every day.

It still feels like we are building something. I am excited to see where we will be in another five years.

A different approach to improving health and care

Sarah Bartholomew, Deputy CEO, Here; former Company Director, Yma

Yma looks at the system through a different lens.

My connection with Yma goes back to working with Sam at Practice Unbound. At that time we were collaborating closely with general practice to understand the challenges it faced and to develop solutions together.

Sam recognised very early on that Welshness matters deeply to people in Wales. Being based there, understanding the context and building relationships locally was critical.

Yma was founded with the intention of creating the conditions where primary care in Wales could thrive, both now and in the future. That meant listening to what matters to people working in primary care, co creating solutions with them and standing side by side as change happens.

What makes Yma distinctive is the lens through which it approaches its work. It advocates from the grassroots. It is not tied to the status quo. It actively looks for new ways for the system to work.

Another thing I feel particularly proud of is the impact Yma has had locally. In Aberystwyth Sam has created meaningful employment for local people. Talented individuals can now work in innovative roles while staying rooted in their own community. That feels really important.

From start-up to trusted social enterprise

Helen Curr, CEO, Here

Yma is small but mighty.

From my perspective, Yma’s story is about the power of people who care deeply about the places they live.

Sam was part of the Here team before she moved to Wales, and she became increasingly passionate about building something meaningful there. You can see that connection to place very clearly in Yma.

Yma is a relatively small organisation, but its reach and influence are remarkable. Small but mighty is probably the best way to describe it.

One of the things I admire most is how Sam connects people. She joins the dots between leaders, organisations and communities across Wales. Those connections become the glue that allows new ideas to take shape.

Over time, our relationship with Yma has naturally evolved. In the early days the organisation leaned on Here’s experience and infrastructure while it established itself. As Sam built strong networks across Wales and the team grew in confidence, Yma increasingly found its own voice.

What we see today is the next stage in that journey. Yma has grown into a sustainable organisation in its own right, deeply connected and valued across Wales.

Yma’s story is still unfolding, and I’m excited to see what the next chapter brings as we continue working together to improve health and care for the communities we serve.

The future of Yma and social enterprise in healthcare

Six years on, Yma has grown from a conversation into a trusted partner working across Wales.

Its story is a reminder that meaningful change rarely begins with grand plans. More often it starts with curiosity, collaboration and the courage to do things differently.

For Here, Yma’s journey reflects something we believe strongly. Social enterprises can create the conditions for new ideas, new organisations and new ways of working to emerge.

Yma’s story shows what can happen when people are rooted in place and determined to make a difference to their communities

Sometimes that means supporting something new to take root.

Sometimes it means stepping back as that organisation grows into its own.

Yma’s story is still unfolding and we are proud to have been part of the beginning.

Next month we will share more about how Yma was created and what this partnership tells us about the role social enterprise can play in building stronger health systems and communities.

Yma’s story is one example of what can grow through partnership.
If you’re exploring new approaches to improving care, we’d love to start a conversation.

collab@hereweare.org.uk

As part of Rethinking Our Health, we have been sharing a series of reflections from the people involved in the programme, exploring new ways of supporting people to live well with long-term conditions. 

In this instalment, Jo Crease reflects on a recent community event in Hangleton & Knoll, where conversations with people living with persistent pain highlighted the importance of connection, understanding and peer support. 

When people who live with pain meet, something powerful happens 

“Oh, I’m surprised you’ve heard of my condition.”

 

“My friend has it. We both have pain, and it helps to talk to each other.” 

These were just two of the conversations that stayed with us after spending time at a community wellbeing event in Hove. They capture something simple but important: when people living with long-term pain meet others who understand, it can make a real difference. 

Supporting mental health and wellbeing in the community

The Rethinking Our Health team recently attended Healthy Mind, Being Well in the Winter, an event organised by the Hangleton & Knoll Project at their community centre in West Hove.

The day brought together local organisations offering support for mental health and wellbeing. People were invited to attend short sessions, meet services working in the community, enjoy some tasty treats and spend time socialising.

We were surrounded by wonderful local initiatives, including:

• Plot 22 Community Garden
• Oasis Community Shop (Brighton & Hove Food Partnership)
• The Carers Centre for Brighton & Hove
• Marie Curie
• HAKIT (Hangleton & Knoll’s digital inclusion project)

There were many more fantastic projects there too.

Seeing them all in one place was a reminder of just how many different factors can affect our mental health, and how many forms of support exist when we look at the whole person, not just a single condition.

Creating a space for people living with persistent pain

I brought along some yarn and pom-pom makers and created a small cosy corner where people living with persistent pain could sit, relax and chat.

People were welcome to share their experiences if they wanted to, or simply take part in some simple, calming, communal making.

Throughout the morning, people came and sat down to talk.

Some shared how helpful it can be to speak to others who genuinely understand what living with pain is like. Two people compared the ways they manage exercise and were encouraged to discover they used similar strategies.

One woman told us she was managing her condition but still felt exhausted at the end of each day.

Another person mentioned that, as a younger person living with pain, they sometimes didn’t feel believed.

Again and again, the same theme came through: being heard by people who understand matters.

A new community group for people living with long-term pain

As part of Rethinking Our Health, we are starting a fortnightly group for people living with long-term pain.

The group will offer:

• Guidance on self-management, pacing and medication
• Peer support from others with lived experience
• Opportunities to share practical coping strategies
• A space for emotional support and social connection
• Signposting to other support, where helpful

Community-led, clinically backed support

Our touchstone of “community-led, clinically-backed” means the group will initially be led by a pain clinician.

Over time, our aim is that the group will become peer-run or community-run, depending on what participants want, while maintaining a connection with a clinician for light-touch oversight if needed.

The group is open to people in our test site areas who:

• live with long-term pain
• have stable symptoms
• are already engaged in self-management

It will complement the existing Sussex MSK Health pain service, offering a community space alongside clinical support.

to find out more or chat to the team drop Jo a line at collab@hereweare.org.uk

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As part of Rethinking Our Health, we hosted our first community pain drop-in,  a chance for people to talk things through early, get reassurance, and feel more confident about managing pain. Laura Finucane shares what we learned, and why having the right conversation at the right time really matters.

As part of Rethinking Our Health, we recently hosted our first pain drop-in session. It was a simple idea, but one rooted in a powerful principle: if we support people early, with the right advice and reassurance, we can help them feel confident to manage symptoms before they escalate into something more complex.  

The drop-in is designed for people experiencing acute or early pain that has been present for less than 12 weeks. It offers an informal, preventative conversation rather than a clinical appointment. This is not a clinical service, nor a replacement for existing care pathways. Instead, it operates upstream of formal services, supporting people before they feel the need to seek clinical intervention. 

By providing trusted, evidence-based advice, guidance, and signposting at an early stage, the drop-in helps people build the confidence and capability to manage symptoms themselves. Traditionally, early pain support sits within primary care, where timely access can be challenging. This approach creates space earlier in the pathway, reducing reliance on clinical services by ensuring people have the right tools at the right time. 

Strength-based conversations 

 conversations were grounded in a strength-based approach, focussing on understanding what was important to each person and working together to agree next steps. Rather than telling people what to do, we supported them to make a plan that made sense in their own lives. 

That sense of partnership is critical. It builds capability, not reliance, and reinforces the message that people are not passive recipients of care, but active participants in their own health. 

Building confidence, not dependence 

Most wanted reassurance, clarity, or guidance on what to do next. They wanted to sense-check their symptoms and understand whether what they were experiencing was “normal,” and how best to respond. 

Several people told us that had the drop-in not been available, they would have booked an appointment with their GP. After talking things through, they no longer felt they needed to. They left with practical tools, clearer understanding, and the confidence to manage things themselves. That is exactly the upstream impact we were hoping for. 

This is about prevention in its truest sense: supporting people early so they do not need to access services later because they already have what they need. 

Challenging outdated beliefs 

One of the most striking themes was how persistent some outdated messages about pain still are. Bed rest, for example, has not been recommended for acute back pain since the 1990s, yet we repeatedly heard that people believed resting completely was the “right thing” to do – and many were actively doing it. 

These conversations highlighted how valuable early, trusted advice can be. Simply correcting misconceptions and explaining why movement, pacing, and reassurance matter can make a significant difference to how someone experiences pain and recovers from it. 

Seeing the whole person 

Pain rarely exists in isolation, and the drop-in reflected that. Access to social prescribers and community workers meant that support went beyond musculoskeletal pain alone. Around a third of people attending were signposted to wider community support, recognising the social, emotional, and practical factors that influence pain and recovery. 

This broader approach makes a difference. When people feel supported in the things that matter to them – their work, caring roles, mental wellbeing, or social connection – they are better equipped to manage physical symptoms too. 

A small intervention with big potential 

This first drop-in reinforced why rethinking how and when we support people matters. By going upstream, by normalising early conversations, and by sharing trusted, evidence-based advice in a community setting, we can build confidence, reduce unnecessary demand on services, and help people feel more in control of their health. 

For me, this is what Rethinking Our Health looks like in practice: meeting people earlier, listening carefully, and ensuring they leave feeling reassured, informed, and supported. 

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has published a compelling new study, “Uncovering the GP workload burden: A study of the drivers and costs of unnecessary and hidden workload” (December 2025) and we are proud that Here is featured as a key research partner in this landmark work.  

Commissioned by the RCGP as part of its strategic priority to better understand and address workload pressures in general practice, this report investigates the nature, scale, and impact of what it terms “unnecessary” and hidden workload, work that absorbs valuable GP time but adds little direct clinical value.  

Key Findings of the RCGP Report 

The RCGP study deploys a thorough mixed-method design, including literature review, interviews with practitioners, and time-and-motion analysis, to produce insights into what kinds of tasks are consuming GP time and how these affect capacity and morale.  

Among the most striking findings: 

• Hidden workload is significant. Tasks characterised as unnecessary or inefficient, such as form-filling, navigating fragmented referral systems, and external administrative requests, were pervasive and often time intensive.  

• Costs are material. Using time-and-motion data, the study estimates the average daily cost per GP attributable to unnecessary activities, at £410.53, a measure that underscores the operational and economic impact of the issue.  

• Impact on Wellbeing and Retention. Beyond time and cost, the report highlights that unnecessary workload contributes to emotional fatigue, burnout risk, and reduced job satisfaction; factors that are central to contemporary concerns about GP recruitment and retention.  

Why this matters, and what Here is doing about it. 

While the report does not claim that all administrative or non-clinical tasks are avoidable, it does illuminate the complex interplay between system design, external demands on GPs, and the realities of practice workflows.  

For Here, this research affirms our conviction that better data, rigorous analysis, and practical insight are essential to designing interventions that truly reduce unnecessary burden without compromising quality of care. 

Our involvement in this RCGP research has both informed and strengthened our internal product and analytics strategy and we continue to: 

• Partner with healthcare organisations and frontline practitioners to refine workload measurement frameworks. 

• Embed research findings into the development of solutions that support workload-intelligent operations. 

• Advocate for evidence-based policy that recognises both the value and the cost of hidden clinical work. 

Here’s Role in the Research 

Working collaboratively with researchers from Apollo Innovation, Here was commissioned to contribute analytical expertise and co-design elements of the mixed-method research approach underpinning the study.  

Acknowledgements 

We thank the RCGP and all participating general practices for their collaboration on this important study. We also congratulate our colleague Ann Ahmad for her expert contribution to the report, which reflects Here’s commitment to evidence-led impact in healthcare analytics.  

Exceptional care, for everyone

At Here we talk about our purpose being ‘Exceptional care, for everyone’. As well as providing outstanding clinical services, we deliver on that purpose through partnering with other organisations to deliver the ‘outstanding’.

This has always been part of our ethos. Most of the work that we do is in partnership with others, and it’s a way of working that feels engrained in what we do.

Connecting with hospices

The connection with hospices grew out of various enquiries that we had received about working with TPP SystmOne data. Many hospices had transitioned to the SystmOne Electronic Patients Records (EPR) in the last 5 years, and there seemed to be a common question – “we have lots of great data, but how do we use it?”

That resonated with us: SystmOne is a very ‘grown up’ clinical system – it is highly customisable, and the volume and sophistication of the data is captures is impressive, so much so that getting the best out of the data can be complicated.

That was our story as well – we have been using SystmOne successfully for around 12 years, and we realised very quickly that we needed to make investments in our analytics skills and infrastructure to make it work in the way that we wanted.

What are the analytics needs of hospices?

The message comes through loud and clear: hospices don’t want someone to do data analysis for them—they want to do it with them.

This distinction matters enormously. Hospices are working within tight resource constraints, but they’re hungry to build their own capabilities. The journey they’re facing is familiar to many healthcare organisations: moving from spreadsheets to Power BI, and scaling to data warehouses. It’s not just about the technology though—it’s about upskilling teams and building confidence in working with data.

Accelerating digital strategy

We’ve learnt that what hospices are really seeking is an accelerator, not an outsourced solution. They want to learn from someone who’s navigated this path before, avoiding the pitfalls and focusing on what actually works in a healthcare setting. There’s a recognition that sustainable change comes from building internal capability, not dependency on external consultants.

Right now, digital and data strategy isn’t just nice to have—it’s absolutely critical. Hospices are increasingly viewing data as a strategic asset, not merely an administrative burden. With healthcare systems under unprecedented pressure, hospices need to demonstrate their value and impact through evidence.

This is about more than efficiency or reporting. It’s about enhancing the visibility of hospice care within the broader health system. When hospices can clearly articulate their outcomes, resource needs, and the gaps they’re filling, they strengthen their position as essential partners in end-of-life care.
The challenge ahead is clear: building data capability within resource constraints, but the appetite for change has never been stronger.

The challenge ahead is clear: building data capability within resource constraints, but the appetite for change has never been stronger.

What did we learn?

The pressure is mounting. NHS standards and mandatory data returns are creating new demands on hospices that can’t be ignored. While every hospice we’ve worked with shares fundamentally similar needs, they’re each at different points in their data journey.

A cookie-cutter approach simply doesn’t work. Each hospice has configured their systems differently, grown organically with different tools, and faces unique local constraints. What is transferrable isn’t a plug-and-play solution—it’s the underlying knowledge. Understanding how to connect disparate systems behind the scenes, how to make data flow smoothly between platforms, and how to overcome the messy, real-world challenges that data inevitably throws up.

We’re seeing some promising collaboration emerging at regional level, though it’s still in early stages. Hospices are beginning to recognise the value in sharing approaches and learning from each other’s experiences.

The priorities are becoming clear across the sector. Hospices are focusing on population health management, improving access and equity for their communities, understanding IPOS (Integrated Palliative care Outcome Scale) effectively, and developing robust impact measurement. These aren’t just buzzwords—they’re the foundations for demonstrating value and securing the future of hospice care.

Our latest update from Jo Crease, Programme Manager at Here, shares our progress on Rethinking Our Health, a community-led approach to improving support for people living with long term conditions.

Picking up from the co-design sessions at the start of summer, Jo explains where we’ve got to since then, what we’ve learned from communities about MSK pain, and what we’re going to test next.

Rethinking Our Health – so, what are we actually going to do?

Over the summer, people have quite reasonably been asking what Rethinking Our Health is actually going to look like in practice. What are we going to do, where, and with who?

I’ve spent much of the last six months saying: “We don’t know yet, because we haven’t asked the community yet – and that’s the whole point!”

Now we’re at a point where we have asked the community, and this is what happened next.

A reminder: what is Rethinking Our Health?

Rethinking Our Health is our shared programme with The King’s Fund to explore new ways of supporting people with long term conditions, starting from what communities say matters most.

How we’ve been working with communities and VCSE partners

Over the past few months, we’ve been in rooms with community members, VCSE organisations and partners, testing ideas together and challenging our own assumptions – rather than deciding solutions from the centre. After these sessions, all the collaborators came together to make sense of what we’d heard, compare insights and pull the learning into one shared picture.

Why we chose to start with pain

We all agreed we wanted to improve support for people with long term conditions – and we chose to start with “pain” as a way to talk with and support people who were struggling to get what they need.

But the priorities weren’t always the same.

Here and The King’s Fund were thinking about the longer-term challenges in how health and care needs to work in future. Our test site partners were focused on the immediate reality of people not being able to get what they need right now.

Once we recognised that difference, the question became: how do we create something that works for both?

We tried to square that circle by starting from the community’s point of view and seeing how that could lead towards more sustainable solutions for the NHS.  

What we learnt from truly listening to communities

As we tested ideas locally, a pattern emerged.

In spite of our best intentions, we were still coming across as “here’s something we’ve designed for you”, rather than “here’s how we want to build with you, starting from where you are right now”.

There was also a clear expectation that anything we offer had to genuinely solve problems people already face and not feel like yet another ask for people with busy lives and services that are already stretched.

We also learnt that creating new roles, like ‘Champions’, wouldn’t be welcome. People are already active in their communities, with their own motivations and networks. They don’t necessarily want another label or obligation – especially one created by public services rather than driven by what actually matters locally.

Community development organisations work because they start with what people already have: their strengths, motivations and contributions. They don’t impose new ones.

This feedback was honest and challenging, but it came from trust. We’ve worked hard to build that trust over the last six months, and because of that, partners were able to give this critique, and we were able to hear it – and act on it. And we know the work is stronger because of it.

Our response: a three-part community offer on early pain

People told us they wanted:

1. Trusted advice, early enough, local and accessible
2. A way to understand more about MSK pain
3. People working in the community being part of a solution together

Working with our test sites, we’ve refined the goal to build neighbourhood-level awareness, capacity and confidence to act on early pain. And we’re doing this through three interlinked elements that are, crucially, built on existing community assets and relationships.

1) Trusted advice, early enough, local and accessible

Community Health Drop-In
A weekly half-day drop-in hosted by a Community Development Worker, with a physio and a social prescriber. This is a space for advice, guidance, support with social factors and community connection.

2) A way to understand more about MSK pain

Community learning and peer support
Four modules covering: pain management, medication, exercise and movement, and general health and wellbeing. We are using a train-the-trainer model so community workers can deliver these sessions in the longer term.

3) People working in the community being part of a solution together

Workforce learning offer
A CPD-accredited short training offer for people working in the community – primary care, VCSE, social care, libraries, food banks and volunteers – building confidence around early pain and health coaching and encouraging neighbourhood networks around pain.

What happens next

It’s still very much a work in progress – we need better names for the elements of the offer for a start (drop a comment with suggestions!).

We’re going live mid-November and running through to March in the first instance. The next update will share reflections from the first Community Health Drop-In. I’ll also be talking about how we plan to balance getting the data we need without overloading participants, and how we’ll involve community researchers in understanding people’s experiences of this work more deeply.

As always, let us know what you think – what questions do you have?

Drop us a line at collab@hereweare.org.uk

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Pain is too often treated as a symptom to suppress. But what if pain itself were a signal – an opportunity to intervene early, support people now, and prevent more complex health problems later?

A “Do With” approach

The blog argues for a fundamental shift: from doing things to people in pain, to doing things with them. That means co-designing services alongside people with lived experience, understanding what really matters to them, and supporting them to take part in shaping their care. This approach resonates deeply with our work at Here, where we are rethinking how pain services can be delivered across Sussex and beyond. We know that pain doesn’t exist in isolation — it affects movement, sleep, relationships, mental health, and overall wellbeing. Addressing it effectively means working across boundaries and building partnerships that help people stay active, connected, and in control of their health.

Shaping pain services for the future

Our Rethinking Our Health programme is already putting these principles into practice:

• Co-production: involving people with lived experience of pain in designing, testing, and improving services.
• Holistic support: integrating physical rehabilitation with psychological and social support.
• Prevention focus: identifying and responding early to help reduce the long-term impact of persistent pain.
• Accessibility: ensuring that services are easy to reach, responsive, and equitable.

This collaboration with The King’s Fund reflects our shared belief that meaningful change happens when people, professionals, and communities design health services together. You can read the full blog, “Rethinking Pain: Can a ‘Do With’ Approach Prevent Complex Multiple Conditions?”, on The King’s Fund website.

If you’d like explore how we’re

rethinking pain services

drop us a line at collab@hereweare.org.uk 

Lesley’s experience with Sussex Community Dermatology

At Here, we believe that exceptional care starts with understanding ‘what matters to you’. When people feel seen, heard, and supported to express what’s important, they become active partners in their own care, and that’s when real change happens.

Lesley Jay, our Finance Director, recently experienced this first-hand when she took her 14-year-old daughter to the Sussex Community Dermatology Service, run from Bersted Green Surgery in Bognor. Here she tells us how this felt for her and daughter and the difference it made for them.

A warm welcome that set the tone

“I recently had such a great patient experience when I took my 14-year-old daughter for her first dermatology at the Sussex Community Dermatology Service, that I had to share it.

From the moment we walked into the GP practice, we were met with warmth and kindness. The receptionist looked up, smiled, and said, “You must be Isabella!” directly to my daughter. Her face lit up as she was the focus, not me. The receptionist told her that they were running about 20 minutes behind because some patients had needed extra time and asked if that was okay with her.

It was such a small thing, but it made a big difference, subtly telling my daughter that her time and her needs mattered, and that if she needed extra time too, that would be okay. She sat waiting for her appointment feeling calm and cared for,  before it had even begun.”

 He talked with her, not about her 

An empowering conversation

“When we met the consultant, Dr Jonathan Sutton, he began by asking about her life outside of school — what she enjoyed, what she liked to do. That small conversation put her at ease and opened the door for her to talk honestly about her skin, how it affected her confidence, and what had or hadn’t worked before.

He talked with her , not about her to me. He really listened to what she wanted from her treatment and supported her to make the choice that felt right. She left with a prescription she was confident in, and, more importantly, feeling in control of her treatment.”

Building on what matters

“For a shy teenager, being put at ease, treated with respect, and invited to speak up was transformative. That first encounter built a foundation of trust and optimism that will support the success of her treatment going forward.

Now our follow-ups use local blood tests, simple digital surveys, and virtual appointments, building on that shared understanding of what matters to her.

For a shy teenager, being put at ease, treated with respect, and invited to speak up was transformative.

Why understanding what matters – matters

Stories like this remind us that the best healthcare experiences don’t just treat a condition -they start with understanding what matters to you.

That’s the principle at the heart of everything we do at Here and it we love to celebrate exception care when we come across it. We believe it’s important to identify, celebrate and learn from exceptional moment of care like this one.

Because when we start with what matters to you, everything else follows.

Changing landscape

Like many of us delivering healthcare in collaboration with the NHS, hospices are experiencing the dilemma of not being an NHS organisation but needing to know our way around the landscape of data & analytics as if they are.

Faster Data Flows

For example, programmes such as ‘Faster Data Flows’ designed to provide and share timely data across care providers, Integrated Care Boards (ICB’s) and NHS England to ‘improve the flow and speed of data to support local, system and national decision making’. Quite rightly, hospices are being asked to participate, and it is important that they do, because that’s what it means to be part of the NHS data landscape, and the NHS pays for what it can see.

But this places a burden on hospices to either take on more manual processes and administrative burden, or do the necessary system configuration and data engineering in order to connect in this way. A typical hospice may have one or two analysts, but is unlikely to have the data engineering expertise to hand 

Analysis Paralysis

The good news is that most hospices have now migrated to modern Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems.  These systems are typically the same as those used within NHS primary and community care, so data is likely to be collected in the same way. In fact, when configured correctly, these systems have potential to hold vast amounts of information concerning every aspect of patient care.  

The tricky part is that it isn’t that easy to get the data out and use it. Using tools like Excel (or even Power BI) is quite rate limiting unless the data has been properly structured outside the EPR. Put simply, the analyst resource available will be used up just trying to maintain relatively small numbers of reports – checking anomalies, trying to cope with changes to the data that break everything – when it should be purely focused on what adds most value – measuring impact, helping people to do their jobs. 

Well, the other good news is that it isn’t that hard to break out of Analysis Paralysis.

Opportunity

So what is the solution? What does exceptional analytics look like? Is it affordable when hospice finances are stretched to, and in some cases beyond, breaking point?

Having invested resources to migrate to modern EPR solutions, analytics is really the icing on the cake and much more achievable than it might appear. The things that get us there are:

• Using a data warehouse to load and ‘transform’ the EPR data in a way that makes it easier for analysts to use and provides a ‘single version of the truth’ – fix the data in one place, rather than in every report and spreadsheet that it gets used in
  
  
• Link in external datasets such as population demographics to better understand how they meet the needs of their community
   
• Make the data securely available throughout the organisation through a business intelligence platform like Power BI, Qlik Sense, or Tableau to provide information to  anyone that has a need – managers, clinicians, directors – with bespoke dashboards and reports that can flex and evolve through time. If the analysts are spending 80% of their time developing new reports rather than on churning out the data, you know you have got it right!
   

Support in transforming analytics

Over the last year we have been working with two hospices that are breaking out of the analysis paralysis – St Gemma’s in Leeds and St Barnabas in Lincolnshire. It is noticeable that both are dealing with very similar challenges, with similar data, and similar ambition. They both understand their own data inside out, so the ask has been to support them on their journey rather than do it for them. And they know exactly what they want: How do we automate our reporting? How do we improve data quality? What does health equity look like? How do we measure our impact? 

With the right foundation in place, hospices can transform their analytics from a necessary burden into a powerful tool that truly serves their mission—improving patient care, demonstrating impact, and securing the future of hospice services in an increasingly data-driven healthcare landscape.