Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) -
This report highlights that 26 per cent of local authorities leave blind and partially sighted people waiting more than a year for a vision rehabilitation assessment and subsequent support. These delays to the support people with sight loss are legally entitled to also leaves them at increased risk of physical accidents and injuries, as well as mental health crises. Amongst its recommendations, the RNIB is calling for vision rehabilitation services to be subjected to the same regulation and monitoring as other adult social care services, and commissioning of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop guidelines and quality standards, with local authorities having to report on these to government and publish annually.
Patients Association -
Through the Patients Association's project work with NHS England, patients and carers have identified several areas where NHS resources supporting meal and snack times in hospital could be strengthened or improved through minor amendments. Participants in a focus group said NHS England’s existing written resources for patients and staff were clear and helpful, but felt some changes and additional information on the online portal, where the resources are accessed, could make them even better.
The Health Foundation -
This briefing finds that, in recent years, public satisfaction with access to general practice has plummeted. Patients are finding it harder to make appointments, and feeling increasingly dissatisfied with waiting times and the types of appointment offered. However, despite having fewer GPs in England than there were in 2015, general practice is now delivering record numbers of appointments. It looks at ways of improving access to general practice, beyond increasing the supply of appointments.
Endometriosis UK -
This study (based on a survey of 4,371 people who have received a diagnosis of endometriosis) shows that diagnosis times in the UK have significantly worsened over the last three years, increasing to an average of eight years and ten months, an increase of ten months since 2020. This lengthy wait means a delay in accessing treatment, during which the disease may progress, leading to worsening physical symptoms and a risk of permanent organ damage. The report contains several recommendations for improving diagnosis times.
Institute for Fiscal Studies -
This report discusses the past and future of NHS waiting lists. It outlines five key facts about past NHS waiting list performance, including pre-pandemic trends, changes during the pandemic and regional variation. It also describes a range of scenarios for what could happen to NHS waiting lists over the next four years under different assumptions.
Health and Social Care Select Committee -
This report covers Parliament and the current law, the Government's role in the debate, international examples of jurisdictions where assisted dying/assisted suicide is available in some form, the involvement of physicians and assessments of eligibility and capacity to give informed consent, and palliative and end-of-life care. It identifies the pursuit of high-quality compassionate end-of-life care as a common theme in the evidence received, as well agency and control for the person dying.
Patients Association -
This report analyses the opinions and experiences of more than 1,000 NHS patients who had received diagnostic support from the NHS in the preceding six months. The survey (undertaken in partnership with Roche Diagnostics UK and Ireland) found that patients want better access to early and accurate diagnosis of health problems. Many patients would consider paying to get tests done privately if they faced a long wait for NHS tests. Nine out of ten (90%) of the people who completed the survey said it should be easier to obtain access to the diagnostic tests they need.
Pharmacists’ Defence Association -
Pharmacists have warned they are increasingly seeing patients in England declining to take vital medicines due to the cost of prescription charges. Responding to a joint survey by the Pharmacists’ Defence Association and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, more than a third of pharmacists (35%) said they have seen an increase in patients declining prescriptions in the last 12 months.
Nuffield Trust -
The NHS’s elective recovery strategy includes a target of moving 5% of outpatient attendances to patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU) pathways by March next year. But what exactly is PIFU? As the NHS prepares to scale it up nationally, this explainer details what it is, the problems it could solve, and what is known so far about how well it works.
Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) -
Increasingly GP practices are no longer offering ear wax removal services. This report analyses Freedom of Information requests sent to all 42 integrated care boards (ICBs), the commissioners of most NHS services, in England. Results show that less than half of ICBs are commissioning wax removal services in line with NICE guidelines. Findings also show that most ICBs commission some services but people can only access them if they live in certain parts of the ICB area and at least seven ICBs commission no wax removal services at all.