Are your consultants up to the task?

Conor Ellis, head of Health at Arcadis, examines some of the key elements to look at when considering buying in consultancy services. Too narrow a focus on cost, with insufficient thought afforded to the degree and depth of expertise being harnessed can, he argues, result in poor value for money. 

Even allowing for the recent Monitor approval guidelines, there will always be a need for some consultancy in the NHS. Every public sector buyer wants to achieve good value from buying consultancy, and many achieve their objectives. However, while there are great examples of consultancy saving the NHS significant expenditure, or speeding up capital or revenue savings, we’ve also seen instances of the consultancy assignment achieving very little.

More and more, organisations are trying to reduce the cost of hiring consultants, and are buying consultancy like a formal product as a result. However, consultancy doesn’t produce an automated outcome, or any comparable metric product which comes from buying physical widgets. It should deliver high-end individuals or teams, and a product that your organisation would not be able to utilise – or indeed afford or need – on a permanent, full-time basis. Consultancy should lead to new ideas, methods, and delivery, which allow your organisation to leap forward strategically, commercially, and technically.