Health Management and Policy Alert

Annual journal 2016

Reform - 
This annual publication brings together articles from researchers at Reform alongside experts and key commentators in each field to provide an insight into the changes and challenges facing public services. The articles on the NHS and health services focus on the opportunities for technology to change the delivery of health care and how efficiency and productivity can be improved.

• Report
• Reform publications

Improving efficiency and resource allocation in future cancer care

Office of Health Economics (OHE) - 
This report, written in partnership with the Institute for Health Economics in Sweden, evaluates the current burden of cancer and identifies opportunities for increased efficiency in cancer care. The evidence focuses specifically on the health and cancer care landscape in nine European countries, including the UK. The report found that significant opportunity for improved efficiency exists in prevention activities and early diagnosis, for example targeting unhealthy behaviours such as high alcohol consumption and smoking, and the implementation of quality screening programmes. The report also highlights the potential to achieve greater efficiencies in the way new treatments are evaluated and how to enhance their uptake.

• Report
• Summary
• Press release

Women in mind: FOI response briefing

Agenda - 
This document outlines the findings of Agenda's investigation into the provision of mental health services for women in England. The results of the FOI requests lodged found that only one out of 35 respondents had a women's mental health strategy and half had no policy on 'routine enquiry' (the practice of routinely asking female patients about experience of abuse) which is contrary to NICE guidance. 

• Report
• Further information

Moving from the margins: the challenges of building integrated local services

Collaborate - 
This discussion paper has been produced jointly by Collaborate and Turning Point and it presents seven key insights for building integrated public services. It argues that local integrated services should be at the heart of strategies for social renewal and public service reform. 

• Report
• Collaborate publications

Multimorbidity: clinical assessment and management

National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) - 
This clinical guideline calls for a tailored approach to planning care when treating someone who has two or more long-term health conditions. It sets out ways to put patients with complex health issues at the heart of decisions about their care, including how to decide between different medicines and treatments. A database which summarises the benefits and adverse side effects of a number of common treatments has been created alongside the new guideline. It will help healthcare professionals work together with their patients to make joint decisions about their care.

• Guideline
• Database
• Press release

Integrating home adaptations for better health and wellbeing outcomes

Public Health England (PHE) - 
PHE commissioned Care and Repair England to produce a series of briefings to inform the local integration of home adaptations into commissioning for better health and wellbeing outcomes.

• Briefings

NHS commissioning before April 2013

House of Commons Library - 
This briefing paper looks at the development of commissioning arrangements in the NHS up until April 2013 and provides background to the Coalition Government's policies for reform.

• Briefing
• Library publications

Progress into the implementation of the England Cancer Strategy: one year on

All Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer -
This inquiry finds that, one year on from the publication of the England Cancer Strategy, there remains broad consensus amongst witnesses and respondents to the inquiry on its recommendations. This report outlines three recommendations on funding, transparency and accountability, and involvement of organisations with expertise and interest in cancer.

• Report
• Macmillan Cancer Support - policy

Delivering the Forward View: NHS operational planning guidance for 2017/18 and 2018/19

NHS England -
This guidance aims to provide NHS trusts and commissioners with tools they need to plan for the years ahead. For the first time, the guidance covers two financial years, to provide greater stability, underpinned by a two-year tariff for NHS patients and a two-year NHS Standard Contract.

• Guidance
• NHS England - news

Making a difference in dementia: nursing vision and strategy

Department of Health -
This strategy sets out how nurses can provide high quality compassionate care and support for people with dementia, so they can live well with dementia within all care settings, including a person’s own home. It aims to support all nurses to be responsive to the needs of people with dementia, continue to develop their skills and expertise, and achieve the best outcomes for people with dementia, their carers and families.

• Strategy
• Department of Health - publications