OK, so you want to make a change, but how do you convince the right people to invest in your idea? How do you get agreement to the change that you are proposing, and how do you prove that what you are proposing is going to deliver benefits, and that it is the best way to achieve your organisational goals? Most people would probably answer these questions with…. We need a business case…!
What is a business case?
Business cases are essential to support significant decision-making and enable change. When public money is involved, there is even more pressure to ensure that we make best use of these limited resources. It is essential that decisions are made based on highly competent and professionally developed proposals.
Here at the TU, we have delivered a range of different business cases including for:
capital investment – HM Treasury-compliant five-case model from Strategic Outline Case (SOC) through to Outline Business Case (OBC) and Full Business Case (FBC)
service change – from initial service change proposal through to pre-consultation business case (PCBC) and decision-making business case (DMBC) in accordance with NHS England’s guidance for planning, assuring and delivering service change.
statutory transactions – business cases that comply with NHS Transaction Guidance and Integrated Support and Assurance Process (ISAP)
Having the right skills and experience
Producing a business case for a complex programme requires the right mix of skills and experience. These can include programme management, stakeholder engagement, commercial clinical strategy, finance and economics and business case authorship (ideally by Better Business CasesTM Practitioners). It is also vital that we learn from previous business cases and continually improve our approach, so that we enhance the experience for our clients and increase the likelihood of smoother passage through assurance and approval routes.
To support the development of our business case capability, we have recently appointed Jo Gibson as our internal lead for Business Cases. Jo has had a long and varied career covering the private sector, local government, and health. Her roles span data analysis and modelling, commissioning and strategy development for health and social care, and more recently as part of the TU’s consultancy team. She has a unique set of skills and is supported by a strong team at the TU that can help clients to determine what they need in terms of business cases and how they can go about delivering. Her role as the TU Lead for Business Cases is to ensure that the TU:
Continues to deliver high quality business cases on behalf of our clients
Provides a consistent and professional approach using a range of tools and methodologies including the five case model
We have several cases studies that demonstrate our experience and success in producing business cases. Spanning large multi-million-pound cases through to short form business justification. Use the following links to read more about our work.
Case study 1 – Making Robust Decisions: Securing Capital Investment
Case study 2 – Production of the Wayfinder (NHSE) Programme Business Case
Case study 3 – Support for Manchester and Trafford Community Diagnostic Centres Programme
Why commission us?
In our experience, we find that our clients often lack the specialist resources they need to enable them to carry out the in-depth analysis and authorship that is involved in many business cases, especially green book compliant business cases.
We can work with you to understand the type of business case that you want to create and provide you with people that are trained in Better Business CasesTM . This means that, an appropriate methodology is followed, that engagement with key stakeholders is carried out and ultimately that a strong case is put forward to achieve the outcome that you are looking for.
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