Health Management and Policy Alert

Health and social care integration: roundtable write-up

New Local Government Network (NLGN) - 
This paper summarises the discussions from two roundtable events held in January and March 2017 with officers, practitioners, elected members and thought leaders from local government and health. The discussions focused on the challenges of implementing an integrated approach to health and social care.

• Report
• NLGN publications

The NHS and social care: prospects for funding, staffing and performance in the 2020s

Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) - 
This briefing is part of a series examining key issues relating to the 2017 general election. It focuses on the forecast for health and care funding, staffing and performance as well as looking back on the recent service reforms and how they have impacted on quality of care and service delivery. 

• Paper
• CEP publications

The hospital as a multi-product firm: the effect of hospital competition on value-added indicators of clinical quality

Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) - 
This paper examines the impact of the introduction of patient choice in elective surgical procedures on patient reported outcome measures (PROMs). It finds that by introducing competition via the mechanism of patient choice, there may have been a negative effect of clinical quality.

• Paper
• CEP publications

2016 adult inpatient survey: statistical release

Care Quality Commission (CQC) - 
This report outlines the findings of the 2016 adult inpatient survey which illustrates the experiences of care of over 77,000 patients who received care in an NHS hospital during July 2016. It provides a snapshot of the quality of care in NHS hospitals and finds that patient experience has remained relatively stable since 2006. The report identifies significant improvements in the quality of communication and confidence in medical staff however it warns that there are a substantial amount of areas which have shown decline such as patient involvement, waiting times and post-discharge care.

• Report
• Further information

Getting a Brexit deal that works for the NHS

Nuffield Trust - 
This briefing finds that the NHS could face costs of almost half a billion pounds if retired British people living in other EU countries decide to return to UK in the event of their healthcare being withdrawn after Brexit. Additionally, this figure could be substantially higher if the NHS has to pay to replace staff if EU migration is reduced, or if it faces a rise in the cost of medicines. The briefing also estimates that care homes and home-care agencies could end up as many as 70,000 staff short by 2025/26, if migration of unskilled workers from the EU is halted after Brexit.

• Briefing
• Press release

NHS funding choices and the 2017 general election

Nuffield Trust - 
This analysis of the major political parties manifestos has found that none of the parties have pledged to spend enough money on the NHS in England to close its funding gap, cope with increased demand and sustain high quality care. This briefing sets out four spending scenarios, setting them alongside a continuation of existing government plans and calculates how much money each would require by 2022/23. It finds that all the major political parties' plans fail to reach the lowest projecting of possible future NHS spending patterns and consequently spending as a proportion of GDP is set to fall under the three main parties' proposals.

• Briefing
• Press release

Public sector pay in the next parliament

Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) -
This briefing analyses the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat plans for public sector pay, and what the implications of their policies are for the public sector. The analysis shows there are tradeoffs in delivering public services and that increasing public sector pay involves large increases in costs for government departments. However, if public sector pay continues to fall compared to pay in the private sector, the public sector will struggle to recruit and retain the workers it needs to deliver public services, and the quality of those services will therefore be at risk.

• Briefing
• IFS publications

NHS pressures

British Medical Association (BMA) -
This briefing warns that the NHS in England is unlikely to recover from the pressure it faces during the winter, with trends suggesting that the health system is entering a state of year-round crisis. The analysis of NHS performance data shows that bed occupancy, delayed transfers of care and A&E waiting times are all increasing and that key performance targets are consistently not being met across the health system.

• Briefing
• Press release

Healthy commissioning: how the Social Value Act is being used by clinical commissioning groups

National Voices - 
This report, produced in partnership with Social Enterprise UK, finds that only 13 per cent of CCGs can clearly show that they are actively committed to persuing social value in their procurement and commissioning decisions. It warns that improved commitment to social value is key to achieving the aims of the Five Year Forward View in creating a new relationship with people and communities and to move towards place-based accountable care systems.

• Report
• Press release

Social care, the NHS and other services

The King's Fund -
Adult social care is part of a complex system of services and support – including the NHS. How well the various components of a person’s care are integrated can impact on their personal experience of care. This video explains the importance of different services working together to provide care. This is the fourth and final video in our 'Bite-sized social care' series intended to help explain social care in England: what it is, how it’s provided and paid for, and how it works with the NHS and other services.

• Video