Untapped potential: Bringing the voluntary sector’s strengths to health and care transformation

New Philanthropy Capital was commissioned by the Richmond Group of Charities and a wider group of partners to conduct an evidence review to inform their Doing the Right Thing project, which aims to shape health and care system reform by showcasing the voluntary and community sector’s added value. The Untapped Potential report is now available.

The research involved the assessment and aggregation of 175 findings from evaluations submitted by the project partners, qualitative research to understand how to integrate the voluntary sector’s offer into the future health and care system and the design of frameworks for a shared language - to help charities describe their work and its value, and to give commissioners and policymakers a way to identify the aspects of charities’ work that most clearly match their needs. The priorities of the NHS Five Year Forward View were central to all aspects of the research and analysis.

The research shows that charities can add value to the health and care system in a range of ways and that charities have a legitimate role in the transformation of the NHS and the wider health and care system in the coming years. However, to achieve this, both the VCS and the statutory system must change their behaviour.

The full report is available from the NPC website - http://www.thinknpc.org/publications/untapped-potential/