AMBITION, CONNECTION, EXPERIMENT (ACE)

A programme to offer practical and funding support to local collaborative grassroot systems development projects

BACKGROUND

The NHS London Leadership Lifelong Learning Team (LLLL) is committed to supporting the development of systems working, in light of the ambitions expressed in both the Long Term Plan and the closely associated NHS People Plan.

To this end, we work closely with leaders from the five Integrated Care Systems (ICS) in the capital to support the design and delivery of their plans for development.

We are also very mindful of the amount of systems working that takes place across those geographies, as individuals seek out ways in which to work together in practice. Those efforts are seeking means by which to enhance how services are envisaged and delivered with the user firmly at its centre.

ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

In light of this, we are keen in this financial year actively to support local projects of collaborative working that aim to facilitate meaningful systems working Specifically, the LLLL will work in partnership with those projects to support their agenda and will provide funding support up to the value of £20,000 per project.

Our ACE initiative aims to work with 10 projects across the capital where a range of people from a variety of agencies come together to clarify their collective ambition; build connections in a systemic fashion to map against those intentions and undertake a safe-to-fail experiment in terms of reshaping why and how service is delivered.

Support for projects will be offered on the basis of a competitive application process. Applications will be assessed by a panel convened by LLLL, which will involve members of that team and others across the London system whose assessments would be of value in the context of the initiative However, we intend to offer that support to two projects in each of the five ICS footprints.

WHO NEEDS TO BE INVOLVED?

Each project will need to have: a project lead, who will take responsibility for constellating the necessary people around the work and will complete and return the application; a senior leader from one of the agencies involved, who will not merely sign off the application but will be actively involved in coaching the project team to support them in their individual and collective progress; and people from the full range of agencies and groups that are seen at the start of the project to be critical to its coming together to make progress.

HOW IT WILL WORK IN PRACTICE

As stated, successful projects will each receive funding from the LLLL, which will be allocated to a receiving finance department in a lead organisation under the terms of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The LLLL will also work alongside the project in order to deliver a tailored offer of information, guidance and support in regard to systems working and new models of leadership.

Additionally, the LLLL will work to connect all of the projects across the capital in order to facilitate sharing of learning and mutual support. Ultimately, this will support wider systemic connections amongst both the people and the projects, in order to encourage the development of a community of interest.

The LLLL will also work with all of the projects to enable access to key resources in order to encourage deep exploration of the idea of working and leading systemically. This offer will encompass masterclasses, workshops and facilitated gatherings.

The application process will extend across Q2 of the 2021-22 financial year, with a commitment to work on the project in Q3 & Q4. Hence, the application process will open on Monday 5 July with a closing date of Friday 20 August 2021; successful applicants will be advised in w/c Monday 27 September 2021.

HOW TO APPLY

The first stage is for the project lead to send through an expression of interest to [email protected]. This merely needs to provide the contact details of that individual and provide a summary of one or two paragraphs in regard to the issue around which the work will be built.

Thereafter, a formal application pack will be sent out, with full guidance on how the form should be completed. On the following pages, there is a table that demonstrates what would distinguish a strong from a solid project proposal in relation to six key criteria in respect to this
initiative – and one that describes the timeline for the process.