Public Health Wales (PHW) commissioned Blue Lozenge to provide leadership development and strategic support for its communications team following a post-COVID strategic review. Blue Lozenge developed a bespoke framework including tailored mentoring and coaching for senior leaders, support for the Head of Communications in strengthening executive relationships, peer networking across the healthcare sector, and a team session to embed new ways of working. The programme resulted in a leadership development framework, a shared team purpose, and a communications and engagement strategy aligned to PHW’s organisational priorities.

Bespoke coaching and strategy to strengthen health communication teams

Public Health Wales‘ (PHW) communication team had completed a strategic review and wanted to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis in a position of strength. They needed targeted leadership development to clarify strategic priorities and strengthen their relationships with stakeholders.

Approach

Using their strategic review, at Blue Lozenge we created a bespoke framework for team development. We developed tailored mentoring and coaching for the senior leadership team, focusing on strategic impact and individual development needs to improve their delivery against the PHW strategy. Working closely with the Head of Communications, we supported the strengthening of their relationships with executive colleagues within PHW.

We connected team members with peers across the healthcare sector through our extensive networks. Working closely with the Head of Communications, we supported their leadership role and relationships with executive colleagues. Finally, we delivered a team session to embed new ways of working and allow shared learning across the whole team.

Impact

Public Health Wales now has a fully developed and achievable leadership development framework that has enabled them to build capability within their team and provide expert assurance and influence at the highest levels internally and externally. We supported them to develop a shared team purpose and communications and engagement strategy that helps the team support the wider organisation to deliver their organisational priorities. The programme also supported personal development and capability building journeys, enabling the team to invest in their own learning and network building across the healthcare communications sector.

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South East London Integrated Care Board commissioned Blue Lozenge to design and facilitate a strategic summit aimed at increasing virtual ward utilisation and system-wide buy-in ahead of winter 2023/24. Blue Lozenge co-designed an interactive event bringing together acute, virtual ward, and community teams, developing patient and clinician case studies, facilitating cross-system discussions, and managing all logistics. The summit achieved a 63% conversion rate of targeted invitees, with 51% of attendees reporting increased ability to identify suitable virtual ward referrals and 73% committing to apply new knowledge in practice. Summit outputs were incorporated into NHS England submissions and local winter planning.

Facilitating impactful operational and clinical conversations

South East London’s NHS winter plan included implementing and increasing virtual wards to reduce
pressure on physical facilities. While virtual ward programs existed across Local Care Partnerships,
they faced varying occupancy levels with limited referrals from acute settings. The SEL virtual ward
team needed to enhance system-wide buy-in, increase utilization, and maximize capacity to support
acute patient flow for winter 2023/24.

Approach

Blue Lozenge designed and facilitated a strategic summit bringing together acute, virtual ward, and community teams.

Our comprehensive approach included:

• Co-designing an interactive and engaging event to meet specific objectives
• Providing strategic advice on content based on local and national context
• Creating sessions to enhance understanding on the virtual ward model
• Facilitating discussions between clinical, service management and ICB colleagues
• Developing patient and clinician case studies for practical context
• Utilising digital tools to maximise engagement and participation
• Managing all logistics including venue selection, invitations, event management
• Producing detailed reporting for system-wide implementation
• Our experienced event engagement team handled all communications and logistics, freeing the ICB team to focus on stakeholder engagement and content delivery.

Impact

The summit achieved impressive results:

• 63% conversion rate of targeted invitees with nearly 60 colleagues attending
• 51% of attendees reported increased ability to identify suitable virtual ward referrals
• 73% committed to applying their new knowledge in practice
• Each locality developed concrete implementation actions for winter preparedness
• Summit outputs were integrated into NHS England submissions and local winter planning.

Most importantly, the event built crucial understanding and trust in virtual ward services across different parts of the healthcare system, laying groundwork for improved patient flow during the challenging winter period.

“Just what I needed! Despite limited time leading up to the event, Blue Lozenge helped to prepare
and facilitate a professionally run summit. Facilitation on the day was spot-on and took into
consideration the diversity and experiences of multiple stakeholders and in doing so ensured delivery
of our desired outcomes and outputs. Feedback from stakeholders was enthusiastic all around and I
would recommend Blue Lozenge.”

Ekuba Edjah, Assistant Director – South East London Virtual Wards

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