Why strong intelligence and data matters
Good decisions depend on accurate, trusted and timely information.
To plan and improve services, we need to understand:
- what people need
- what activity is happening
- what outcomes we are getting
- whether we are getting good value
How this supports our work
Strong skills in data, intelligence, health economics and evaluation help us to:
- set the right priorities
- check and compare business cases
- make sure programmes are delivered well
- understand what impact our work is having
- decide when to scale up, change, or stop an intervention
These skills also help us test whether changes are really improving the things we agreed to measure, such as how services are used and how people experience them.
What this means for our ICB
Together, this creates a clear and stable way of working for our Integrated Care Board (ICB) by:
- focusing on our core commissioning and statutory duties
- keeping a strong grip on the areas that matter most
- building reliable analytical capability.
…we can make sure the ICB adds the most value, even when resources are tight.
How this helps our partners and our population
This clarity will:
- support partners to lead on delivery
- allow innovation to be introduced safely and in a controlled way
- keep the whole system focused on improving outcomes for local people