Vanguard

In 2015, the NHS England Five Year Forward View put a lot emphasis on new models of care based on the idea that care should be person-centred. One of these new models of care, a Multi-specialty Community Provider (MCP) partnership of health, social and voluntary care providers and commissioners in Tower Hamlets, was awarded Vanguard status in 2015.

In 2017, the Tower Hamlets Together Vanguard programme commissioned UCL to undertake a participatory evaluation of the Vanguard using the Researcher in Residence model. The evaluation focusses on three key aspects of the programme; the implementation of new models of care, partnership working between health and social care organisations and professionals in Tower Hamlets and the extent of citizen engagement in service design and development. The evaluation is being led by Dr Mirza Lalani, under the supervision of Professor Martin Marshall and provides a further example of the role of embedded researchers in health services evaluation. Mirza has been working closely with colleagues from across the Tower Hamlets Together partnership to co-design the study, co-interpret the findings and co-produce recommendations.