Creating a system-wide approach to anchor impact measurement in Suffolk and North East Essex ICS
Measuring the impact of anchor organisations in local communities is crucial for benchmarking existing contributions, identifying areas for improvement, and monitoring the effectiveness of new anchor initiatives.
It’s also essential for securing buy-in and ongoing investment into anchor work - especially at a time of limited resources and competing priorities. And yet, we know that capturing this data and making sense of it in a systematic way is a key challenge for anchors and doesn’t happen overnight - especially across whole systems.
Since 2019, Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Partnership System (SNEE ICP) have worked collaboratively to align local partners within the ICS around a shared approach to measuring anchor impact. Drawing on the UCL Anchor Framework they’ve created anchor dashboards which are now being used by all NHS Trusts across their local system, as well as the Integrated Care Board. This work enabled them to successfully launch their first set of system-wide anchor impact reports released earlier this year.
In this case study we explore the journey they took to making this happen.
How did the work start?
The catalyst came in 2019, when The Health Foundation outlined the concept of the NHS as an Anchor Institution. This sparked the “anchors movement” in SNEE ICS. Since then, the SNEE ICS Anchors Charter has been launched, co-designed and adopted across the ICS, and iterated twice. In 2021, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust became the first to adopt the Anchors Scorecard, endorsed by the ICS Chairs Group. By 2023, the Anchors Toolkit (a data collection template aligned to anchor pillars and agreed ambitions) was launched and embedded into new ICS Dashboards, followed in 2024 by adoption across four NHS Trusts and the ICB. Most recently, in 2025, this culminated in the first set of SNEE ICS Anchors Impact Reports being published.
Who was involved? What were the key enablers?
Collaboration across levels of seniority and departments was also essential to the successful launch and adoption of the dashboard. This started with the Chairs Board, made up of representatives from each ICS organisation. This provided senior-level commitment, ensuring anchor work was regularly reported into the ICB committee and board, while creating accountability at the highest level.
Additionally, the Programme Board kept momentum, linking with existing committees (e.g. estates, procurement) and embedding anchor ambitions within organisational strategies. While some partners – such as local councils and universities – were not yet involved in active measurement, they played a role in feeding into the framework and shaping priorities.
Crucial to all of this, was the Senior leadership buy-in, which proved essential. Each anchor organisation identified a lead to champion the work internally, supported by subject-matter experts for specific pillars.
Developing the dashboard
When developing the dashboard itself, the team started with the “why” - clarifying the purpose of anchor measurement for all organisations:
Anchors had signed up to the Charter and committed to action – the dashboard would track how they were delivering outcomes for people.
The aim was to measure progress, learn from each other, and recognise that no single organisation could deliver this alone.
The dashboard would be a catalyst for conversation and action, not a performance management tool or a competitive scorecard.
A decision was made collectively to create dashboards around the following three pillars: workforce, estates and sustainability, and procurement and community.
Ultimately, the team wanted something dynamic, recognising that as their population changes, so too should their system approach. One thing was clear: this isn’t about ticking boxes; it’s about driving real-world outcomes.
Adopting an outcomes-based approach
To put this into practice, the system adopted an outcomes-based approach, mapping anchor ambitions to a logic model, based around the ‘why’, the ‘how’ and the ‘what.
The ‘why’: The desired outcome is for people in SNEE to stay well and feel well, with ambitions around: good jobs, a buoyant economy, clean air and a sustainable environment, and stronger communities.
How: This is where ambitions are mapped onto to benefits using ‘I’ statements (e.g. I have access to local, good-quality employment). Enablers are also identified, for example internships, pre-work programmes and engagement with local schools.
What: The delivery programmes under each anchor pillar are detailed by each NHS provider Trust and ICB.
The data
Building on the UCL Anchor Toolkit, SNEE ICS identified what data was already being collected and how it could be aligned across organisations. The approach deliberately prioritised qualitative measures alongside quantitative data:
Quantitative: Indicators from the UCL framework, focusing on data organisations were already gathering.
Qualitative: Rich case studies and examples to bring the data to life, speaking to hearts as well as minds.
Every four months, each pillar lead submitted updated dashboards across workforce, estates & sustainability, procurement, and community. First and foremost, the dashboards are used by each of the organisations to help them review and assess their anchor activity, and to use the insight to help develop plans for progressing activity against each of the anchor pillars. In addition, the insight was collated into a number of different system-wide reports such as a System Assurance Framework providing dashboard information as part of the information that is shared with the Integrated Care Partnership Committee, and System Quality Group. Case studies and learning were also shared on the SNEE ICS website, as part of efforts to further embed successful ways of working by providing tangible examples of activity and finally, the dashboards insight was combined with case studies and learning from other Anchor organisations working across Suffolk and North East Essex to produce annual impact reports against each of the four pillars with a total of 42 organisations represented in 129 articles.
Importantly, the process is iterative and flexible. After the first 12 months, five large anchor organisations were actively involved, with more joining over time. And, flexibility proved to be key – recognising that not every organisation can work across every pillar in the same way.
Looking ahead
With their first impact report published in 2025, SNEE ICS now have a shared foundation for measuring anchor impact – and a mechanism for scaling good practice. The focus remains on:
Strengthening collaboration across pillars
Continuing to refine measures and capture richer qualitative insights.
Using the dashboard as a lever for senior-level conversations about social value and the wider determinants of health.
Key learnings for others
This takes time and is an iterative process that needs to be developed collaboratively
Commitment and oversight from senior leaders within individual organisations is needed to help embed this work
Qualitative feedback and measures have proven to be of equal benefit to quantitative