BACKGROUND:
Governments from the 1990s have demonstrated a concern with bridging the gaps between
biomedical, clinical and health services research (HSR), in particular with bringing the benefits of that
research into practice. To address this concern, the National Coordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery
and Organisation Research and Development commissioned a network in 2007 for a period of 5 years
to support NHS managers in accessing and engaging with HSR generally and specifically with their
research portfolio.
OBJECTIVES:
The Service Delivery and Organisation (SDO) Network, hosted by the NHS Confederation,
aimed to enable managers to improve and develop services by facilitating their access to the latest HSR.
Through a combination of push, pull, and linkage and exchange strategies, the network proactively
targeted interventions at senior, middle and new managers.
METHODS:
This report presents a descriptive narrative of the SDO Network building in the political and
organisational contexts. Information contained in this report was obtained from informal discussions with
the network team, document review, analysis of web content and a review of relevant academic and
grey literature. Discussions with former and current SDO Network members of staff helped to capture
perceptions of influence and working practices, and suggest significant/high-impact interventions.
RESULTS:
The evolution of the SDO Network is captured in four distinct phases of development: initiation
of the SDO Network project and its place within a new NHS research and development infrastructure;
a period of knowledge transfer and exchange to encourage interactions across interest groups and
collaboration with other networks; then a period of increasing complexity and consolidation from research
translation to capacity building; and finally the end of project and the new innovation landscape phase.
CONCLUSION:
Lessons for similar initiatives aimed at knowledge mobilisation in the health sector include
ensuring an adequate evaluation framework is in place from initiation, to capture impact and inform
strategy, and developing a range of collaborative relationships to expand the scope and reach of activities.
Future work could compare or contrast the experience of the SDO Network with studies of other networks
in health (nationally or internationally) to address its contribution within the wider research literature in
this field.
FUNDING:
The Health Services and Delivery Research programme
