Why the Right Kind of Consultancy Is Becoming the NHS’s Best Investment

As NHS organisations weigh up limited improvement budgets against mounting operational pressure, a recent episode of The Improving Healthcare Podcast makes the case that consultancy, done well, is not a cost to be minimised but one of the most effective ways to deliver lasting change.

Hosted by Darren Jones, the discussion featured Sue Blackman, newly appointed Commercial Account Director at Develop Consulting, who spent almost 30 years inside the NHS across procurement, acute trust transformation, commissioning and primary care improvement before moving into consultancy herself.

Having commissioned consultancy from the NHS side for most of her career, Sue is clear about what separates the two. “The NHS doesn’t need reports sitting on shelves,” she says. The organisations that get real value, she argues, are the ones working with consultants who get alongside frontline teams and help them solve their own problems, rather than simply telling them what the problem is. “It’s it’s listening, it’s understanding challenges, and it’s using the knowledge, but also your subject matter expertise to tangibly move things forward.”

That hands-on approach, what she calls floor walking, rolling up your sleeves and working alongside the people delivering care, is what she believes turns a project into a genuine, sustained improvement. “Transformation is not about Gantt charts and risk logs,” she says. “It’s fundamentally about people.” Done properly, she says, good consultancy also leaves something behind: organisations that are better equipped to keep improving on their own, long after the engagement ends.

Sue points to Develop Consulting’s roots in manufacturing, rail and maritime as a real strength here, sectors that have spent decades refining exactly this kind of practical, embedded improvement. “There’s a huge opportunity to adapt those approaches and continue to evolve them as we apply them to new challenges,” she says, adding that the NHS does not need to start from scratch to benefit from proven methodology.

For ICBs and providers under pressure to do more with less, her message is straightforward: the right consultancy partner does not add another layer of process, it makes a tangible, measurable difference on the ground.

To listen to the full conversation, visit develop-consulting.co.uk/podcasts or find us on Spotify and YouTube.