Develop Consulting Awarded Major New NHS Contract To Drive Practice Efficiencies

Leading consultancy to support up to 1,000 more GP practices through NHS England’s General Practice Improvement Programme

Develop Consulting, a leading management consulting firm which specialises in healthcare improvement, has been awarded a significant one-year contract by NHS England to extend its successful “General Practice Level Support” towards an additional 1,000 GP practices across England as part of the Primary Care Access Recovery Plan.

The new agreement which began this month (April 2024) expands Develop Consulting’s delivery of NHS England’s General Practice Improvement Programme (GPIP). It builds on the consultancy’s extensive experience supporting over 2,000 practices over the past five years to implement productivity and workflow improvements as part of NHS England’s Time for Care initiative.

Under the contract, a team of up to 50 Develop Consulting coaches will work directly with practices to analyse operations, design new processes, and upskill staff. Their efforts so far have already unlocked the equivalent of 1.2 million appointment slots across previous program participants and the new contract allows the team to create even more capacity and appointments in primary care.

Max Pardo-Roques, Commercial Director at Develop Consulting said: “With general practice continuing to face considerable workload and resourcing pressures, there is strong demand for proven efficiency solutions. We are delighted to expand our partnership with NHS England and support thousands more staff and patients through this vital programme.”

The consultancy has become a trusted advisor to the NHS for its manufacturing expertise translated into acute and primary care environments. Its structured approach combines Lean techniques, data analysis, and behavioural coaching to drive lasting improvement and sustainable results.

“Although we work across industries including construction, manufacturing and airport operations, our work in optimising general practice operations is having the biggest positive impact on staff’s daily lives and patient care,” said Steve Boam, CEO of Develop Consulting.

He added: “With increasing national attention on primary care resilience, we’re proud to be delivering such an important programme supporting GP teams.”

The new one-year contract further extends Develop Consulting’s long-standing relationship supporting NHS England’s delivery plan for recovering access to primary care.