New learning programme aims to integrate population health data into decision making

Health Innovation North West Coast has been commissioned by Cheshire and Merseyside ICB as a delivery partner for the Population Health Management Academy, working alongside the Data Into Action team. 
 
This new learning programme aims to get as many staff as possible to use available data “dashboards” and tools to support population health approaches and priorities.  
 
The Population Health Management Academy recruits 20 to 30 people per cohort. There are a range of people who have previously gone through the programme, from directors and commissioning managers, clinicians and PCN managers to project support officers (read Andy’s story below).

The academy includes:

• Three workshops where learners are introduced to the three main data tools. They hear from people who are already using the tools in their teams and projects, and how it’s impacted what they and their teams do.
• Three active learning sets to practice applying tools to a case study and then to their own programmes.
• Data Into Action masterclasses – offered on an ongoing basis, even after the programme is finished.
• Online resources and a developing community of practice. 

So far, the available tools have included:  

• Enhanced case finding tool (ECFT) – pulls primary and secondary care data from across the ICS, aside from people who have opted out.  
• Waiting list dashboard – view of waiting lists across the ICS and the ability to delve into the characteristics and needs of those waiting to receive care (e.g., people who are waiting for surgery and have uncontrolled diabetes). 
• Complex households – this tool helps identify certain households who use a significant amount of services.   

More tools and dashboards will be included in the programme as they become available. In the future the programme will also link to the new national Federated Data Platform.

These three tools mentioned above are fantastic data resources that have been created in Cheshire and Merseyside, and it’s been identified that many staff throughout the ICS either don’t know about them; or don’t have full access; or aren’t using the tools to their full potential.  
 
Andrea Astbury, Data into Action Programme Director, said: “We are so fortunate to have the data assets that we have in Cheshire & Merseyside (C&M) and know that many parts of the country look upon our system with envy. Our linked data provides such rich insights on our populations, which can be a real game-changer in how we deliver health and care. Our biggest challenge now is to ensure that this incredible insight is used by services across C&M: that services are aware of it, have appropriate access to it and also have the skills to deploy it to best effect.

"We have made great progress to date in reaching staff across C&M, which we couldn’t have done without the support of the Health Innovation North West Coast team. They have been instrumental in helping to find the most suitable candidates for the Population Health Management Academy, providing independent advice and support to members, and using their expertise to help shape the programme and adapt it to a range of learning styles”. 

Natalie Latham, Senior Programme Manager for the Coaching Academy at Health Innovation North West Coast, said: “Everyone, no matter what their role, has a place to bring this data to life and to make it relevant to their teams and service areas. We hope that through this programme delegates realise that using data is not only essential in planning and adapting services but that it’s also relevant and accessible to them and their teams. We hope that people come along to the programme, learn how to use these dashboards and go back to their teams and wider service areas and share what they have found.” 
 
Slowly, but surely, through programmes like the Population Health Management Academy, the word about these tools and resources is getting out – especially now that some of the ‘graduates’ are back in the real world and interrogating the data, and sharing their learnings with colleagues. 
 
Feedback from the programme so far has been excellent, with 100 per cent of attendees saying they have brought learning back to their teams and that it has changed their work practices. The third workshop cohort is running April-June 2025, and the group will soon be recruiting for cohort 4. Email Natalie.Latham@healthinnovationnwc.nhs.uk to get added to the programme waiting list.

Graduate profile

Andy Lavender, Project Support Officer, Cheshire West (Place), Cheshire and Merseyside ICS, remembers running back to his line manager, Alison, “like a kid in a toy shop”. “We can do this! We can do that!” he said. 
 
Andy sees having access to ECFT as a “privilege”, and he wants to educate others. He delivers training sessions to groups in primary care; he has created a basic training video; and even his email signature says: “If you would like my help or support with Enhanced Case Finding or would like me to do a data search for you please submit this form (link)”. 
 
After completing the programme, Andy said: “There weren’t too many requests early on. The first requests were from primary care looking at costs. People would say, “This is really interesting. This is really good.” And then I was like “Oh, I can do way more than that. I can break it down further if you want, and then I started playing with additional filters and getting into the nitty-gritty of it all.”

“Before attending the academy, getting data was difficult. You’d have to make a request to BI (Business Intelligence) and you would have to wait. There were bits of data scattered around everywhere, but you couldn’t get an instant hit. ECFT gives us that instant hit”.

“ECFT is a permanently open page on my laptop. It’s our programme’s first port of call for anything we take on these days: ‘what’s the data tell us?’”.  
 
Perhaps the only negative is that Andy now struggles when others don’t use or believe the data. “It’s so blatantly obvious to me”. 
 
That’s why Alison Johnston, Programme Lead, and Andy make a great team. They are currently working on an advanced care planning project, which will involve a system change with impacts to primary and secondary care, and care in the community. The data around this is challenging and it comes from so many angles – and Andy is loving it. He has looked at data around care homes, local authority, A&E admissions, ambulance attendances, DNACPR (do not attempt CPR) orders, and more, and more. Andy said: “We just bounce off one another. I come up with crazy ideas and throw them at Ali, and Ali goes “Yeah, investigate and see what happens.”  
 
It wouldn’t be surprising to know that Andy is on first name basis with members of the ECFT development team, and the wider Data into Action team.  
 
Alison said, “We could have just used ECFT for our own purposes, but we haven’t done that, and that’s a real testament to everything Andy has done. He supports all teams, all programmes and partners across the system. He has become our Place data person.”  
 
Andy said: “I haven’t got a qualification to my name. but what I am good at is learning and learning quickly. When this door to attend the academy was opened, I ran through it and then took it to the whole new level.”