Citizens’ Jury on pain management
A new blueprint for tackling persistent pain in the North East and North Cumbria: how a Citizens’ Jury shaped regional health policy Health Innovation North East and North Cumbria (HI NENC) faced a complex, long-standing challenge in tackling some of the highest rates of opioid prescription in England. This issue was especially prevalent in areas of…
Closing a birthing unit: consulting service users and local communities
An NHS organisation in the north of England commissioned Olovus in January 2025 to provide expert support for the permanent closure of a local hospital birthing service. The service was initially suspended on a temporary basis and had been closed for five years. When commissioners decided not to reinstate the service, the local Overview and…
Shaping the future of short break services in South Tyneside
We led a crucial co-design project to reshape short break services in South Tyneside. By focusing on the unique, lived experiences of families and people with learning disabilities through surveys, field trips, and co-design sessions, a new service specification was developed that prioritises safety, accessibility, and person-centred care. For families of people with learning disabilities,…
Strengthening maternity and neonatal voices in South Yorkshire
In early 2025, South Yorkshire Integrated Care Board commissioned Olovus to carry out an independent review of their Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnerships. This came at a pivotal moment: national reforms were reshaping the NHS, Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) were taking on a newly strengthened strategic commissioning role, and national scrutiny of maternity services was…
Public consultation on proposals for unpopular changes to community hospital services
We involved more than 8,000 patients, carers, residents, and stakeholders in an integrated care board’s public consultation on potential changes to some community hospital inpatient services and the future of an ageing community hospital. Mid and South Essex ICB commissions intermediate care and stroke rehabilitation inpatient services from four providers at six community hospitals in…
Making services meaningful for men
Sunderland City Council aimed to deepen their understanding of the barriers and solutions to men accessing health initiatives in the area. Sunderland City Council commissioned Olovus in March 2024 to conduct an engagement project to identify what could be done to increase male participation in health promotion and community based services. The aim was to…
Independent review of involvement
From December 2022 to March 2023, Olovus helped to plan an involvement exercise with the people of Bradford District and Craven to determine a new location for services that were being delivered from Shipley Hospital. Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership Board (HCP) – a committee of NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board…
Listening exercise for a non-surgical oncology service transformation
In March and April 2023, we involved 954 patients, carers and other residents in helping South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Cancer Alliance to think about changes to consultant oncologist outpatient appointments. South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw Cancer Alliance ran consultant oncologist outpatient clinics for patients with some types of cancer at five local hospitals. In 2021, to…
Listening exercise to inform strategy development
In April 2021, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust appointed Olovus to conduct a listening exercise to gather insight that would inform the development of its 2022-27 organisational strategy. Olovus was appointed to plan, manage and deliver involvement activities with partners, patients, staff, and local people, and to provide analysis of the listening…
Independent public involvement review
In February 2021, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) published Integration and Innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all, its white paper setting out legislative proposals for a Health and Care Bill. West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership, an integrated care system, requested an independent external review of…
Engagement and communications programme support for the North East and North Cumbria COVID-19 Vaccine Programme
The UK was one of the first countries to authorise a COVID-19 vaccine and provide protection to the full adult population in what has been the fastest and most complex vaccination programme in NHS history. To do this, the NHS regulators, NHS England and Improvement (NHSEI), appointed a lead provider organisation from each Integrated Care…
COVID-19 communications, engagement and marketing programme support
In September 2020, Olovus provided Northumberland County Council (NCC) with a communications and engagement strategy, report and toolkits in support of the COVID-19 prevention and outbreak control plan. NCC approached us soon after to request further support and provide capacity to the communications, engagement, marketing and public health functions for Northumberland in the delivery phase…
Communicating the 2019 local COVID-19 outbreak and control plan
Northumberland County Council (NCC) published a local COVID-19 Outbreak Prevention and Control Plan in June 2020. This Northumberland-wide plan was produced in response to and forms part of the government’s COVID-19 recovery strategy. The plan outlines the approach NCC will take to work collaboratively with partners and stakeholders to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 and…
Key stakeholder engagement approach for the merger of two major hospital trusts
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, the district general hospital for the London Boroughs of Lambeth Southwark and Lewisham and one of the largest providers of specialised services in the UK, is proposing to merge with Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, the largest specialist heart and lung centre in the UK. Olovus…
All together better – engagement on a potential lead provider contract
Since 2013 NHS Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been working closely with health and care organisations through the All Together Better (ATB) alliance to help join up community health and care. Following a national consultation in 2018 by the NHS England, Sunderland CCG felt that the time was right to consider if a move…
Patient and public involvement programme support for health infrastructure plan
Hampshire Together: Modernising our Hospitals and Health Services (MOHHS) programme had received funding through HM Government ’s Health Infrastructure Plan (HIP2) to develop proposals for a new hospital to serve the people of north and mid Hampshire. Led by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, MOHHS had planned a programme of pre-consultation patient, public, staff and…
Independent facilitation for public engagement events and reporting for a new hospital programme
NHS Lanarkshire had reached the final stages of a multi-year process to choose a site to build a hospital to replace the ageing University Hospital Monklands in Airdrie. Three possible locations for the new site had made it through a contentious process to the shortlist. The health board appointed Olovus to facilitate a series of…
Tackling inequalities in cancer pathways
RM Partners Cancer Alliance set out to understand why some groups of women experience poorer outcomes in breast and gynaecological cancer pathways. RM Partners Cancer Alliance covers north west and south west London. The organisation set out to understand why some groups of women experience poorer outcomes in breast and gynaecological cancer pathways. Evidence showed…
