Health Management and Policy Alert

Charging for adult social care in England: reform and routes forward

Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy -
With the delay of the implementation of the Government’s proposed adult social care charging reforms from October 2023 to October 2025, this report looks at the reforms and considers possible routes forward. It calls for an approach to funding adult social care where adequate funding is provided in the short-term for services to recover and to deal with current challenges, and a commitment to adequate long-term funding to make services fit for the future.

• Report
• Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy - publications

HIV Action Plan monitoring and evaluation framework 2023 report

UK Health Security Agency -
The HIV Action Plan monitoring and evaluation framework reports measure progress towards England’s long-term commitment to end HIV transmission by 2030. These annual reports specifically focus on the interim ambitions of England’s HIV Action Plan 2022 to 2025 to reduce HIV diagnoses first made in England (by 80%), AIDS-defining conditions diagnosed within 90 days of HIV diagnosis (by 50%) and HIV-related deaths (by 50%) between 2019 and 2025. This report summarises progress from 2019 to 2022.

• Framework
• UK Health Security Agency - publications

Continuity of care: delayed diagnosis in GP practices

Health Services Safety Investigations Body -
The investigation that underpinned this report identified that there is no specific requirement within the current GP contract to ensure GP practices provide continuity of care for their patients. The report concludes that making continuity of care an ‘essential requirement’ for GP practices could reduce the risk of a delay in diagnosing serious health conditions, and ease pressure on GP’s workload and welfare.

• Report
• Health Services Safety Investigations Body - news

Partnering with purpose: how integrated care systems and industry can work better together

NHS Confederation - 

This paper captures the learning from a masterclass series, delivered jointly by the NHS Confederation and Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, on how integrated care systems and industry can work better together. It was developed, researched and written by both organisations.

• Paper
• More detail

Transforming health and wellbeing services through population health management

NHS Confederation - 

A rising number of NHS organisations are combining traditional approaches – responding to illness where it occurs – with population health approaches that seek to better understand, target and prevent illness. This report explores four case studies where population health and population health management approaches have been eveloped in recent years and show demonstrable benefits.

• Report
• More detail

Investing to save: the capital requirement for a more sustainable NHS in England

NHS Confederation - 

This report finds that NHS capital budgets need to nearly double from £7.7bn to £14.1bn – an extra £6.4bn – if the NHS is to clear the building repairs backlog and overhaul the estate to enable greater productivity and faster patient care. Capital funding drives productivity but the NHS has lagged behind other countries in terms of capital investment for more than five decades. The NHS now has the sixth lowest number of CT and MRI scanners per million people of the OECD countries.NHS leaders have said that increasing capital funding is their top financial priority ahead of the next election, alongside reform of how the capital regime operates.

• Report
• Press release

Phase 1 report

Independent Inquiry into the issues raised by the David Fuller case - 

This is the phase 1 report by the independent inquiry into the issues raised by the David Fuller case. The inquiry has been established to investigate how David Fuller was able to carry out inappropriate and unlawful actions in the mortuary of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust and why they went apparently unnoticed, for so long. A phase 2 report, looking at the broader national picture and the practices and procedures in place to protect the deceased in the NHS and other settings, is planned for publication at a later date.

• Report
• More detail

Maternity and neonatal voices partnership guidance

NHS England - 

This guidance advises integrated care boards and trusts on statutory obligations in maternity and neonatal services, and actions and responsibilities in the three year delivery plan. It also suggests areas to consider when commissioning, setting up, supporting and sustaining maternity and neonatal voices partnerships (MNVPs).

• Guidance
• More detail 

Front door frailty: advice on setting up services

British Geriatrics Society - 

Front door frailty services (FDF) exist to identify people living with frailty as soon as they present to a hospital, to ensure that they are diverted to appropriate services as quickly as possible and, ideally, to ensure they are discharged to their normal place of residence (home or care home) the same day. Evidence suggests that these services benefit older patients as well as reducing pressure on hospitals. They have had a positive impact everywhere they have been introduced. This guide sets out five principles that should underpin FDF services to older people presenting at emergency departments. It provides tips on establishing services from those who have been through the process.

• Guide
• Press release

 

NHS non-executive director remuneration and morale

NHS Providers - 

This briefing draws on NHS Providers' survey responses and discussions with leaders from member trusts and foundation trusts. It is intended to support NHS England’s work on non-executive director and chair remuneration.

• Briefing
• More detail

Longer, better lives: a manifesto for cancer research and care

Cancer Research UK - 

This manifesto sets out the measures and commitments Cancer Research UK states the next government can make to help prevent 20,000 cancer deaths every year by 2040. It has been developed with the insights of cancer patients and experts from across health, life sciences, government and academic sectors.

• Manifesto
• Press release

Hospital discharge funds: experiences in winter 2022–23

The King's Fund - 

In this report, The King's Fund hears from commissioners and service providers in six local areas to find out how they experienced the process of receiving additional funding to reduce delayed discharge in 2022-23.

• Report
• Press release

UK Covid-19 Inquiry public hearings: module 2, week 6 (20 November - 23 November 2023)

NHS Providers - 

This week the Inquiry heard from witnesses including Sir Patrick Vallance, Professor Sir Chris Whitty and Professor Sir Jonathan Van Tam. The Inquiry heard evidence on the timing of lockdowns, difficulties in getting data on NHS capacity, and the interactions between government and its scientific advisors. This briefing summarises the proceedings most relevant to NHS trusts, and is the sixth in the series of weekly briefings on the Inquiry’s public hearings on module 2.

• Briefing
• More detail

Waiting time prioritisation in the health sector: evidence from hip replacement surgery

Centre for Health Economics - 

Waiting times for planned healthcare treatments have been slowly increasing in England in the last decade, and increased sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic. One policy to reduce the impact of waiting times on patients’ health is for doctors to prioritise patients according to need. This study uses hospital administrative data in 2015-2021 on hip replacements in England to investigate the extent to which publicly-funded patients with higher need, measured by preoperative health, are prioritised on the list by public and private providers.

• Report

The public’s perspective: the state of health and social care

Healthwatch England - 

This report,looking at health and social care from the patients' perspective, warns that we risk "a two-tier health and care system" unless the NHS takes faster action to tackle access issues. The report examines ten key areas of care, including GPs, dentists, hospitals, and social care, based on the experiences of 65,000 patients. While much of the support the NHS provides is good, the research has found accessing this support in the first place remains the biggest challenge people face.

• Report
• Press release