Posted 26th July 2023
Social Value UK are proud to announce that three team members at CEDAR have achieved Level 1 Social Value Associate Status. Congratulations to Megan Dale, Susan O’Connell and Kathleen Withers.
CEDAR is a combined NHS-academic research organisation which sits within both Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (UHB) and Cardiff University. This collaborative structure provides CEDAR with access to NHS-based clinical experts and patient groups, as well as internationally recognised academic researchers. CEDAR is staffed by a highly experienced and multi-disciplinary team of both NHS and Cardiff University employees.
Ahead of this announcement, we spoke to CEDAR about their experience with the assessment process…
Why did you embark on the SVI Professional Pathway?
We recognise that some healthcare interventions create values that are not easily quantified in other evaluation methods. SROI is becoming more recognised in health care, and likely to be increasingly important to our work with the Welsh Value in Health Centre (WViHC) where we support evaluations of projects across Wales.
What elements of the assessment were particularly useful to your learning?
It was good to refresh and formalise our thinking around social value techniques and methods.
The assessment gives external reassurance that our skills and knowledge meet a standard and increases our confidence that we have developed an understanding of the principles and how they apply in a broader context. This gives confidence to funding bodies and collaborators.
Being part of a team who have completed several SROIs meant we could discuss our ideas and understanding when preparing for the assessment, and had experience of applying the methods.
How do you plan to utilise your newly acquired Level 1 Associate practitioner skills?
We will continue to work with other organisational members such as Public Health Wales to develop the use of SROI methods for healthcare settings.
We will evaluate new projects for suitability, and encourage SROI as a method where it is the best fit, as well as advising on appropriate data collection for future SROI.
We will plan to share these skills within the wider team as well as continuing to develop skills further by putting them into practice across a broad range of projects.
Are there any specific projects or activities you are doing at the moment that are related to SROI/social value?
We have previously worked on evaluations for Long COVID Rehabilitation Services in Cardiff and Vale and Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Platfform, a mental health and wellbeing service for children and young people in Gwent. We are currently developing an SROI for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Rehabilitation Model focusing on services to support people with chronic hip, knee and back pain, and also for pre-habilitation support prior to joint surgery.
“We have been excited to meet others embedded in the NHS who are using Social Value methods to identify and report on the value of healthcare, as identified by those who are most impacted by it. We look forward to participating in the development of more robust methods that are tailored to healthcare, and enhancing the understanding of social return on investment in this area.”