Since it was introduced in 2008, the Department of Health’s right to request scheme has enabled 25,000 people to spin-out of the NHS and become social enterprises. More than 40 social enterprises were established through the scheme and collectively they will provide around 10 per cent of community services across the country.
Since 2011, more NHS staff have had the opportunity to apply to directly manage services, through spinning-out of the NHS as part of the subsequent right to provide scheme.
To help those staff currently considering or progressing their social enterprise applications, five leaders within different social enterprises share their top tips for tackling different sections of the application process:
Developing a robust business plan