Health Management and Policy Alert

We are the NHS: people plan 2020/21 - action for us all

NHS England - 

This plan sets out the actions that NHS England, NHS Improvement and Health Education England will take, over the remainder of 2020/21, to support transformation across the whole NHS with a focus on workforce growth and changing the culture of the NHS and support the government commitment to expand our primary care workforce, including GPs and nurses.

• Plan
• More detail

Adult social care and Covid-19: assessing the impact on social care users and staff in England so far

Health Foundation - 

This briefing provides an overview of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on social care in England. Part 1 describes how the pandemic unfolded in the social care sector from March until June 2020, and part 2 examines the factors that contributed to the scale and severity of outbreaks in care homes. Part 3 attempts to quantify the disruption to health and social care access from February until the end of April 2020.

• Briefing
• Press release

Adult social care and Covid-19: assessing the policy response in England so far

Health Foundation - 

This briefing provides a detailed description and timeline of the government’s social care response. It considers the role that social care has played in the overall policy narrative and identifies the underlying factors within the social care system, such as its structure and funding, that have shaped its ability to respond. It argues that central government support for social care came too late and that policy action on social care has been focused primarily on care homes and risks leaving out other vulnerable groups and services. Longstanding issues within the system – including underfunding, workforce shortages, system fragmentation, and lack of quality data – have shaped the ability of the sector to respond.

• Briefing
• Press release

 

Life on hold: children's well-being and Covid-19

Children's Society - 

This report looks in depth at the impact of Coronavirus and the associated lockdown on young lives. The charity’s annual survey of children’s well-being was completed by just over 2,000 young people and their parents between April and June. It found 18 per cent of children were dissatisfied with their lives overall. That is a marked increase in a figure which has ranged from 10 per cent to 13 per cent over the last five years and the coronavirus crisis and lockdown is likely to explain the worrying surge.

• Report
• Press release

Does public long-term care expenditure improve care-related quality of life in England?

Centre for Health Economics - 

This study employed an instrumental variable approach using conditionally exogenous elements of the public funding system to estimate the effect of public adults social care (ASC) expenditure on users’ care-related quality of life (CRQoL). The findings show that increasing public ASC expenditure by £1,000 per user generates 0.0031 additional CRQoL. These results suggest that public ASC is effective in increasing users’ quality of life but only to a relatively small extent.

• Report
• More detail

The Henry Fords of healthcare : lessons the West can learn from the East

Institute of Economic Affairs - 

This publication examines the lessons Western nations could learn from some developing countries in fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in healthcare. Health systems in Western countries are “plagued by inefficiency and productivity growth”: in adopting a new approach they could cut costs, increase quality, and reduce waiting times.

• Publication
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The impact of technology in adult social care provider services

Institute of Public Care (IPC) - 

Digital Social Care (a group of organisations working to support adult social care providers) set up a helpline to provide technical help and support to providers adapting to digital platforms as Covid-19 took hold. They worked with IPC to carry out research with social care providers to help them tackle digital challenges during the pandemic and beyond. This report of the action research identifies both the challenges but also the benefits for care providers of using technology. 

• Report
• More detail

The experience of people approaching later life in lockdown

Centre for Ageing Better - 

This report, produced together with Ipsos MORI, looks at the impact lockdown has had on those aged 50-70, revealing dramatic changes to people’s lives and their plans for the future.  

• Report
• Press release

Cancer patient experience survey 2020: the impact of Covid-19 on cancer patients in the UK

Cancer Research UK - 

The findings from this year's survey indicate the impact of Covid-19 on cancer patients, and their testing, treatment and care. For many cancer patients the Covid-19 pandemic appears to have had a significant impact on their testing and treatment, and most notably their care. This has resulted in a negative impact on the emotional well-being of many cancer patients whether they were hoping to finish their treatment, find out the results of their test, have their regular screening, or continue with care that could support them, in some cases for the remainder of their life. 

• Report
• Press release

A Spending Review for wellbeing

Centre for Mental Health - 

This briefing paper estimates that the economic and social cost of mental ill health in England has grown in the last decade to almost £119 billion a year. It  sets out evidence-based priorities for how the 2020 Spending Review can improve the nation’s mental health and tackle mental health inequalities. The focus is on how areas of public spending outside of NHS revenue funding (already agreed) can be used to greatest effect.

• Briefing
• More detail