What Midlands and Lancashire CSU does

NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit is a publicly-funded NHS organisation that provides shared commissioning support services to Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), NHS Trusts, Integrated Care Systems and other health bodies across a five-region footprint covering the West Midlands, North East, Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria. The unit delivers a portfolio of advisory, operational and digital services spanning population health management (PHM) analytics and decision support, clinical redesign and provider collaboration, digitally enabled transformation and IT, personalised healthcare commissioning (NHS Continuing Healthcare), medicines optimisation, communications and engagement, place and primary care transformation, and workforce planning.

Its technology stack is anchored by a set of proprietary digital products: the RAIDR Waiting Well dashboard for elective care waiting lists, OPTICA — a secure cloud application for patient discharge tracking — the System Control Centre dashboard for urgent and emergency care, a Chatbot and Robotic Process Automation capability, personalised video consultation tools, and the Strategy Unit's Health Inequalities Reporting Tool, which provides standardised NHS-data dashboards with deprivation and ethnicity breakdowns across all English ICBs. Underlying infrastructure runs on Microsoft 365 and the Umbraco content management system, with NHS Futures used as the distribution platform for health-inequalities resources. Specialist sub-units include the Digital Innovation Unit (5G/satellite connectivity healthcare trials), the Strategy Unit (analytics and the annual HACA Conference), the Health Economics Unit, the Transformation Unit, the Improvement Unit, the Referral Management Centre, and TalentOne (associates and temporary staffing).

The business model is a commissioned-services model funded through annual NHS framework contracts with ICBs and NHS Trusts. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is determined by contract scope, volume and complexity; billing is annual. Distribution runs through direct sales via NHS commissioning frameworks, supported by a thought-leadership and event-led marketing presence (HACA Conference, SU Insights webinar series, NHS ConfedExpo, Pharmacy Show, Digital Healthcare Show, Clinical Pharmacy Congress). The customer base is exclusively UK public-sector healthcare — every named customer is either an NHS ICB, NHS Trust or ICS — and the entity competes with other NHS CSUs (Arden and GEM, NECS, South Central and West) plus a fragmented set of commercial digital health and analytics vendors.

Name

Midlands and Lancashire CSU

Legal name

NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit

Website

https://midlandsandlancashirecsu.nhs.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

NHS Midlands and Lancashire is a publicly-funded NHS Commissioning Support Unit delivering population health analytics, digital transformation, clinical redesign, medicines optimisation and commissioning support services to NHS Integrated Care Boards, Trusts and Integrated Care Systems across the West Midlands, North East, Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Commissioning Support Services

NAICS

Offices of All Other Miscellaneous Health Practitioners (621399)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Healthcare Utilization, Claims & Administrative Data Analytics (HLAJAJAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

RCM Outsourcing & Managed Billing Services (HLACACAN)

Keywords

• NHS commissioning support
• Population health analytics
• Healthcare digital transformation
• Clinical service redesign
• Continuing Healthcare services

Headquarters

HQ city

Stoke-on-trent

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. NHS Commissioning Support Services: The organization provides commissioned support services to NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), NHS Trusts, and other NHS health systems. Revenue is generated through service contracts funded by the NHS, operating within established NHS commissioning frameworks and procurement channels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

NHS Midlands and Lancashire is a Commissioning Support Unit that delivers professional commissioning, analytics, digital transformation, and operational support services to NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), NHS Trusts, and other health systems across the Midlands and Lancashire footprint. Its portfolio spans population health management analytics, clinical redesign, business intelligence, medicines optimisation, Continuing Healthcare, workforce planning, governance, and digital tools such as the Health Inequalities Reporting Tool, RAIDR Waiting Well, OPTICA, and the System Control Centre Dashboard.

Product overview

NHS Midlands and Lancashire is an NHS Commissioning Support Unit offering a portfolio of professional services to help health systems improve population health, transform care, and create operational efficiencies. The organization provides both core service offerings (including PHM Analytics and Decision Support, Digitally Enabled Transformation and IT, and Business Intelligence) as well as specialized sub-products and tools such as the Health Inequalities Reporting Tool for ICBs, RAIDR Waiting Well dashboard, OPTICA patient discharge tracker, and System Control Centre dashboard for urgent and emergency care. The organization also hosts the annual Health and Care Analytics (HACA) Conference through its Strategy Unit and operates a Digital Innovation Unit focused on emerging technologies like 5G healthcare connectivity. The portfolio includes advisory services, analytics tools, digital transformation capabilities, and training products delivered to NHS integrated care systems across the Midlands and Lancashire footprint.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TalentOne: Internal staffing service providing opportunities to work on short-term projects within departments, customer and partner organisations.

Products and services

• Digitally Enabled Transformation and IT Services Service offering that focuses on digitizing care and partnering with NHS systems for transformation of digitally enabled service delivery, including digital transformation solutions, IT for primary care, and performance reviews for digitally-enabled care.
• PHM Analytics and Decision Support Service applying intelligence-led understanding of population health to support redesign of care and improve patient and financial outcomes across NHS health systems.
• Improving Productivity and Efficiency Service offering providing business enabling services to support NHS organisations in improving productivity and operational efficiency.
• Personalised Healthcare Commissioning Services Service covering NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) and funded care, including CHC assessments and personalised care packages for patients.
• Clinical Redesign and Provider Collaboration Service focused on clinical pathway redesign and provider collaboration across NHS systems to improve care delivery and outcomes.
• Communications and Engagement Service providing communications, engagement and behavioural insight support to NHS organisations for patient and public involvement.
• Developing Health Systems Service supporting the development of collaborative and accountable health systems across integrated care footprints.
• Place and Primary Care Transformation Service supporting place-based, community and primary care transformation for neighbourhood-level health integration.
• People Solutions Service providing workforce resilience, planning and transformation, HR support, and organisational development and leadership for NHS systems.
• Business Intelligence and Data Management Expertise providing business intelligence solutions and data management capabilities to support healthcare analytics and decision-making across NHS systems.
• Health Inequalities Reporting Tool for ICBs Reporting dashboard that helps integrated care boards measure, track and act on health inequalities using standardised NHS data, including metrics for all ICBs with summary views, monthly trends, and breakdowns by deprivation and ethnicity.
• RAIDR Waiting Well Elective care waiting lists dashboard that provides intelligence on waiting lists, enabling NHS healthcare systems to monitor and manage elective care patients effectively.
• OPTICA Secure cloud application that tracks patient discharges, enabling healthcare systems to monitor and optimise patient flow through hospitals.
• System Control Centre Dashboard Dashboard for urgent and emergency care providing real-time visibility into system performance and enabling operational decision-making.
• Chatbot and Robotic Process Automation AI-powered solutions for managing elective care waiting lists with automated responses and process automation for NHS healthcare systems.
• Personalised Video Consultations Digital consultation tools enabling personalised video-based patient interactions for NHS care delivery.
• Health and Care Analytics (HACA) Conference Annual national event dedicated to health and care analytics, hosted by NHS Midlands and Lancashire's Strategy Unit, bringing together analysts, system leaders, and decision-makers to showcase analytical practice and innovation.
• Medicines Management and Optimisation Specialist team providing medicines management, optimisation and pharmacy support to NHS organisations.
• The Strategy Unit Strategic research and analysis unit hosting SU Insights sessions and the HACA Conference, focused on healthcare outcomes, policy development and outcomes-based commissioning research.
• Digital Innovation Unit Specialist unit exploring digital innovation including 5G connectivity for healthcare, digital pathways, and emerging technologies to improve healthcare delivery in communities and at home.
• Health Inequality Training Interactive training designed for the charitable and voluntary sectors to build understanding and confidence in addressing root causes of health inequality, covering factors influencing health, impacts on different groups, and practical approaches to tackle inequalities.

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered strategic and core.

• University of BristolstrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 March 2025Academic partnership with University of Bristol for research on internal and external consultancy, featured in SU Insights session on creating internal consultancy capabilities.
• University of YorkstrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 October 2024Collaboration with University of York for the inaugural SU Insights event on outcomes-based commissioning, bringing academic research and NHS expertise together.
• NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands CSUcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership with NHS Arden and GEM CSU for joint digital healthcare solutions and shared exhibition at industry events including the Digital Healthcare Show.
• NHS North of England CSU (NECS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with NECS for collaborative digital healthcare initiatives and joint exhibition at events including Digital Healthcare Show.
• NHS South Central and West CSUcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership with South Central and West CSU for medicines optimisation and shared presence at events including Pharmacy Show.
• NHS Transformation UnitstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with NHS Transformation Unit for the SU Insights session exploring practical lessons on internal consultancy in public services.
• NHS Futures PlatformcoreTechnology or IntegrationAccess to NHS Futures web portal for hosting the Health Inequalities Improvement Programme workspace and reporting tools.
• Epilepsy ActionstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the Step Together Benchmarking Tool to support health and care systems in appraising epilepsy services for people with learning disabilities.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit: Another NHS Commissioning Support Unit operating across the East Midlands and East of England, providing parallel commissioning support, analytics, and digital transformation services to NHS ICBs and Trusts. MLCSU actively collaborates with Arden GEM on shared digital solutions and joint industry events.
• NHS North of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS): NHS CSU serving the North East and North Cumbria with commissioning, BI, and digital services. Comparable scale and scope to MLCSU and a frequent joint exhibitor at events such as the Digital Healthcare Show.
• NHS South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit: NHS CSU covering the South Central and West regions, offering commissioning support, medicines optimisation, and BI services. Partners with MLCSU on medicines optimisation work and shares presence at the Pharmacy Show.
• NHS Transformation Unit: NHS-affiliated transformation consultancy delivering large-scale change programmes across the NHS. Co-presented with MLCSU's Strategy Unit on internal consultancy in public services and operates in a closely comparable space.
• NHS Horizons: Hosted within MLCSU's own portfolio of expertise, NHS Horizons is a national NHS team focused on large-scale change and innovation, providing thought leadership and transformation support across NHS England.

Broad incumbents

• Carnall Farrar: UK healthcare consultancy advising NHS organisations, systems, and providers on strategy, transformation, and analytics. Comparable in analytical depth and NHS system focus, but operates as a private consultancy rather than an embedded CSU.
• PA Consulting: Global consulting firm with a substantial UK health practice serving NHS trusts, ICBs, and national bodies on transformation, digital, and analytics. Comparable customer base with a much broader portfolio and commercial mandate.
• Optum UK: Major health services and analytics provider operating in the UK, supplying NHS commissioners and providers with population health analytics, decision support, and managed services. Overlaps with MLCSU's BI/PHM offering but at national and international scale.

Regional players

• Imperial College Health Partners: Academic Health Science Network covering North West London, supporting innovation, evaluation, and adoption of health improvements. Operates in a related but more innovation-focused niche compared to MLCSU's broader commissioning support remit.
• Health Innovation Manchester: Academic Health Science Network for Greater Manchester, accelerating innovation and adoption across the NHS. Regionally adjacent to MLCSU's Lancashire/North West footprint and operates in a comparable innovation and analytics niche.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MLCSU
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nhsml

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Midlands and Lancashire CSU