North West ICB

2025

Finding endoscopy capacity without unnecessary capital investment

How a system-wide review gave an integrated care board the evidence to meet future demand through better productivity, improved utilisation and targeted service planning.

The Challenge

The system needed to understand whether existing endoscopy capacity could meet future demand before committing to major capital investment.

The integrated care board had the potential to secure funding to expand endoscopy services but lacked a consistent view of current capacity and utilisation across its acute providers. It was also unclear how much additional capacity would be required as demand increased. Without that evidence, commissioners could not confidently determine whether to invest in new estate, improve the use of existing services or pursue a combination of both.

Results at a glance

Over £10m

In potential unnecessary investment avoided through capacity planning

More than 25%

Productivity opportunity identified across ICB

10-15% target

Increase in effective capacity being pursued

5-year plan

Demand, capacity and delivery modelled.

What we changed

Productive Partners combined current-state analysis, long-term forecasting and options modelling to create a clear evidence base for action.

Benchmark current capacity

Analysed productivity and utilisation by provider and site, quantified improvement opportunities and developed targeted action plans with local teams.

Forecast future demand

Modelled current and projected endoscopy demand over five to ten years and quantified the gap between demand and available capacity.

Test capacity scenarios

Assessed the effect of improved productivity, better utilisation and extended five, six or seven-day operating models.

Prioritise practical investment

Compared the feasibility and cost of different service options and provided the evidence needed to inform commissioning and future business cases.

The outcome

The review showed that better use of existing capacity could meet five-year demand without immediate major capital expansion.

The analysis identified productivity opportunities of more than 25% across the system. Targeted action plans are being used to pursue a 10-15% increase in effective capacity without additional capital or revenue investment.

Options modelling indicated that no major capital investment would be required within the next five years, potentially avoiding more than £10 million in unnecessary expenditure.

The findings informed the integrated care board’s 2025/26 commissioning intentions and helped direct investment planning towards the options expected to deliver the strongest return.

Reflecting on the partnership

“Productive Partners have supported us as an ICB to really understand the endoscopy capacity and options for further expansion. The team involved have been professional, diligent and completed the work within the agreed timescale. I would highly recommend the team and would certainly use them again.”

Director for Mental Health and Cancer Alliance and Strategic Commissioner for Specialist Services