Evaluation

South London Evaluation Advice Clinics

The South London Evaluation Advice Clinics are a pilot initiative, launched in January 2025, designed to strengthen evaluation capability across South London’s health and care system, which is a recognised priority for both South East London (SEL) and South West London (SWL) integrated care systems.

The clinic sessions were delivered between February and May 2025, offering targeted, time-limited advice to teams delivering service improvement projects, helping them plan and strengthen their evaluation activities.

The clinic is a collaborative effort between the Health Innovation Network South London (HIN SL), King’s Health Partners [including King's Improvement Science) and Women’s and Children’s 'Ask the Institute', and the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) South London.

The initiative brings together existing evaluation expertise from the collaborating organisations to provide structured advice through a virtual 'single front door', to encourage better evaluation practice, and promote a culture of learning and impact assessment across the system.

Project aims

Build evaluation capability across south London’s health and care services
Support the integration of evaluation into service improvements and innovations
Contribute towards a learning, sustainable health and care system.

Key objectives

Provide tailored, practical advice on evaluation planning, outcome measurement, and methodology
Signpost teams to relevant evaluation resources, toolkits, and training opportunities
Encourage early and appropriate integration of evaluation into service improvement projects
Test and refine a coordinated, cross-partner model for accessible evaluation support.

How the project is conducted

The clinic operates through a structured, two-stage virtual process:

Triage Discussion (30 minutes): An initial conversation to assess the project’s evaluation needs and readiness.
Evaluation Advice Session (30 minutes): A tailored advice session based on the insights gathered during the triage discussion, providing practical recommendations and follow-up resources.

The clinic is designed to be responsive, time-limited, and practical, drawing on the expertise of multidisciplinary advisers.
Participants are asked to complete an expression of interest form, prepare project details in advance, and engage with provided resources to maximise the value of the sessions.

The pilot is accompanied by a rapid evaluation process, gathering feedback from users and advisers to assess demand, value, and future potential.

Main collaborators

Health Innovation Network South London
King’s Health Partners
King’s Improvement Science
KHP Women’s and Children’s 'Ask the Institute'
NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South London
Supported by the South East London and South West London Integrated Care Boards

Notable outputs to date

Pilot launch and delivery: The clinic operated from February to May 2025, offering structured evaluation advice to service improvement projects across South London.
Early user engagement: 21 expressions of interest were received, with advice delivered to a range of projects across different settings.
Positive initial feedback: Early participants valued the clarity of advice, follow-up notes, and support in developing evaluation plans.
Operational learning: Insights gathered on clinic delivery, challenges, and improvement opportunities to inform future model development.
Evaluation underway: Feedback collection and clinic evaluation are ongoing, with findings expected to inform the future direction and potential scale-up of the clinic.

Current work

Following pilot delivery, the clinic is undergoing rapid evaluation to assess learning, demand, and opportunities for development. The findings will inform decisions about sustainability, future scope, and whether to extend the pilot, scale or integrate the model into broader system improvement efforts.