Public Service Themes of 2024 - A Year of Change

The July election brought us the first change in government for 14 years and, with it, a change in approach to government and public services. From the 10-Year NHS Plan to the establishment of Mission Delivery Boards, the new government has begun to set out its vision and plan for a "renewed Britain." Initiatives such as patient passports, health equity priorities, and the National Wealth Fund reflect some of the associated shifts (e.g. toward prevention and economic growth through public service investment).

Meanwhile, pressing issues such as the NHS backlog, urgent and emergency care reform, and the climate crisis have dominated discussions. The PSC’s contributions, including our Space for Growth report and work on urgent and emergency care crowding out other health services, have aligned with these critical conversations, offering strategic insights and practical solutions.

The PSC’s Highlights and Achievements

Leadership and Inspiration

This year, we hosted a number of events, including:

• Getting Discharge Right roundtable, gathering key stakeholders to discuss one of the NHS's most pressing issues - patients delayed in hospitals despite being medically fit for discharge. The discussion explored how intermediate care capacity outside hospitals is crucial for addressing discharge delays.
• Space for Growth roundtable, bringing together industry leaders to discuss the future of the UK's space and satellites sector. The event explored key challenges in scaling up companies, leveraging academic excellence, and fostering international collaboration, leading to valuable insights that will inform our response to the Government's green paper.
• The Inaugural Kerslake Memorial Lecture, honoring the legacy of our late Chair, Lord Bob Kerslake. This event featured Helene Reardon-Bond OBE and provided profound reflections on leadership, collaboration, and innovation in public services. Honouring Bob’s memory and significant contributions he made to British public services was a privilege for all of us.

Award-Winning Work

The PSC’s dedication to making public services brilliant was celebrated at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2024, where we took home two silvers. As mentioned above, we have also been shortlisted for two HSJ Partnership Awards in 2025, recognising our work in integrated health and care and technology-driven solutions.

We were also proud to be included in the UK’s Leading Management Consultants 2024, compiled by the Financial Times and Statista, for Healthcare and Life Sciences, Public and Social Sector, Digital Transformation, Organisation and Change, and Strategy.

Empowering Teams and Building Capabilities

Through initiatives like the Mental Health Act Quality Improvement Programme and the Culture of Care Programme, The PSC has empowered frontline teams to create high-trust, therapeutic care environments that improve outcomes for both staff and patients. We have trained hundreds of public servants through our Fast Effective Projects courses and Problem Structuring and Analytical Thinking sessions, equipping leaders with the tools to tackle complex challenges. We also expanded our internal coaching and personal development programs to support career growth.

Other Accomplishments

Throughout 2024, The PSC has partnered with organisations across the public sectors to make public services brilliant. Here are some key accomplishments:

• Healthcare Transformation: The PSC supported financial planning and estates management, optimised urgent care services and led comprehensive Learning Disability and Autism service improvements at both the provider and system level.
• Digital Innovation: We led multiple digital strategy initiatives, including digital transformation, personal health records implementation and developed innovative healthcare analytics tools. From supporting NHS organisations with AI evaluations to helping researchers navigate the ethics of smart data, our Digital Team has been at the forefront of advancing tech-driven innovation.
• Local Government Transformation: The PSC worked with local authorities on projects ranging from unpaid carer support to urgent treatment centre delivery and discharge pathway optimisation.
• Central Government Strategic Leadership: The PSC supported central government departments in designing new climate change agreements, growth strategies, and evaluating the governance and benefits of emerging sectors of the UK economy.
• Third Sector Excellence: We partnered some of the UK’s most prominent charitable organisations to enhance their operational effectiveness. We worked to improve their organisational efficiency through matrix model working and knowledge generation processes, developed realistic digital transformation roadmaps and built bridges between the public and third sector.
• Space Sector Leadership: The PSC continued our work on Monitor Your Satellites with the UK Space Agency, preventing satellite collisions and developing long-term strategic vision, contributed to national space infrastructure through discoveries and software implementation, and authored a report on the sector’s growth potential.
• Equitable and Just Society: We conducted comprehensive Health Needs Assessments across 19 prisons and developed recommendations to improve healthcare delivery in secure settings.

2024's Unmissable Reading Picks

Here are some of the thought-provoking articles and reports we explored this year:

1. "Mirror, Mirror 2024" – A global comparison of health systems, underscoring equity and innovation challenges.
2. "Could Taylor Swift Swing the 2024 Election?" – A playful yet insightful take on the intersection of celebrity and political engagement.
3. "Options for a Future Public Health System in England" – Proposing visionary reforms to rebuild and future-proof England's public health infrastructure.
4. "Decoding the DNA of Collaboration" – Essential lessons for sustaining teamwork in high-pressure environments.
5. "The Mythbuster: NHS Management Matters More than Money" – Dispelling myths about funding and highlighting the critical role of effective leadership.