Health sector risk profile 2023

Managing risk in the NHS

Although the peak of COVID-19 has passed, the NHS continues to feel the impact of the pandemic and our analysis shows this is still resulting in a number of significant risks for the sector. There have also been regulatory and structural changes within the NHS over the last 12 months, most notably integrated care boards (ICBs) becoming statutory bodies, and heavy strike action over the last year, with numerous strikes over pay conditions by nurses, junior doctors and ambulance staff.

Our annual Board Assurance Framework (BAF) benchmarking exercise has identified a number of key risk ‘themes’ faced by NHS organisations and how they are dealing with them. As we move out of the COVID-19 response phase and look to the recovery of elective services, the focus of NHS organisations has begun to shift towards targeting those areas which have been exacerbated by the pandemic, and which will help build the NHS of the future; such as updating ageing IT and estates infrastructure and learning to work effectively within new partnership organisations.

Patient care, workforce and financial performance remain the top three risk themes for the third consecutive year, reflecting the pressure that the sector is under both financially and operationally.

The below shows the top five risk themes identified over the past three years. Please read the full report for further details or reach out to us if you have any questions.

Rating	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23
1	Patient care	Patient care	Patient care
2	Workforce	Financial performance	Workforce
3	Financial performance	Workforce	Financial performance
4	COVID-19	IT infrastructure	IT infrastructure
5	Sustainable services	Partnerships	Partnerships

To find out more download the full report Managing Risk in the NHS

Or download previous reports

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Managing risk in the NHS 2022

How we can help

We are working with NHS organisations across the whole sector to help them identify and deal with their risk. The sector is becoming more complex and more connected. Our team is at the forefront of this change and is ready to transform how you perceive and manage risk.

Get in touch if you’d like to discuss this further.