The Client

NHS Cheshire & Merseyside is an Integrated Care Board (ICB) that works with local health and care services to improve health outcomes, tackle inequality and support person-centred care. Shelley Brough, the ICB’s Head of Integrated Commissioning, approached Social Value Business in 2021 with an exciting collaborative brief.

The Goal

Shelley was aware of SVB’s social enterprise, the Social Value Quality Mark CIC, and its reputation as the UK’s national standard for business that benefits society. Fired up to try something ambitious and new, Shelley invited SVB to work with the ICB and Health & Care Partnership to create a localised Social Value Award for NHS-linked organisations and suppliers.

The award would support regional health priorities, while helping organisations to improve retention, track towards Net Zero and become recognised ‘Anchor Institutions’. Anchor Institutions are typically those which are deeply rooted in local communities, with significant influence over the wellbeing of the area they serve. NHS Cheshire & Merseyside wanted their partners to earn the right to the label by making a tangible commitment to social value.

Embedding Social Value at Scale: The Award That’s Transforming Health Inequality Across Cheshire & Merseyside

Our Approach

The team at SVB loves nothing more than a partnership based on shared aims of raising social value standards. MD Richard Dickins, with his 30 years’ experience and his leadership in founding the Quality Mark, got stuck into tackling the brief. This involved working with the partners to:

  • Lead the co-production of the award with the public, private and VCSE sector, understanding the priorities, opportunities and desired outcomes
  • Agree the audit principles and requirements, including the 4 themes on which organisations would be assessed (Social, Economic, Environmental and Innovation)
  • Provide expert advice through Master Classes
  • Create an upload area for participating organisations to submit their evidence
  • Establish a process for reviewing and administrating the awards
  • Support the evolution of Cheshire & Merseyside’s Anchor Charter

Throughout the project, Richard drew on his expertise of social value standards and national policy to facilitate the development of an award that was credible, meaningful and achievable. He agreed that SVB would play an ongoing role in administering the award as part of our own commitments to driving social value.

The Result

The NHS Cheshire & Merseyside Social Value Award launched in 2021 as a partnership between NHS Cheshire & Merseyside, Social Value Business and Social Value Quality Mark CIC. It has since been awarded to over 80 organisations as diverse as NHS Trusts, local authorities, VCSE organisations, and community partners across the region.

The award has gained traction not just as a badge of recognition, but as a strategic lever for embedding social value into procurement, workforce development, and place-based planning. Many recipients have gone on to influence regional frameworks and even pursue national accreditation through the Social Value Quality Mark pathway.

“SVB has been instrumental in the co-design and delivery of this innovative approach and Richard is a core member of our team.
“Thanks to this Award, we are positively influencing lives at scale. At the highest level, this is supporting our ambition to reduce health inequality in Cheshire & Merseyside.”
Shelley Brough, Head of Integrated Commissioning, Cheshire East