Use of external management consultancy in the NHS – An evidence base for improving practice

Over the last five years, a team of academics from the Universities of Bristol and York have built up a body of independent research on the effectiveness and governance of management consultancy use in the NHS.

This work points to sometimes (but not always) inefficient outcomes which imply the possibility of ‘over-use’ and to the potential of internal management resources as a preference. New funding has been granted by Research England (QR Policy Support Fund) to work together with diverse expert NHS stakeholders to draw on and co-develop the evidence base and devise new or improved practices. The aim of the project is to leverage existing and ongoing research by working with diverse expert NHS partners to inform and co-produce new approaches and/or alternatives to the use of external management consultants in the NHS.

The team comprises: Dr Andrea Gibbons – Somerset NHS FT and University of Bristol; Professors Andrew Sturdy and Gianluca Veronesi – University of Bristol; and Professor Ian Kirkpatrick – University of York.

The aim of the project is to leverage existing and ongoing research by working with diverse expert NHS partners to inform and co-produce new approaches and/or alternatives to the use of external management consultants in the NHS.

See publications list.