Health Management and Policy Alert

The data divide: public attitudes to tackling social and health inequalities in the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond

Ada Lovelace Institute - 

As part of a partnership with the Health Foundation exploring how the accelerated adoption of data-driven technologies and systems during the pandemic may have affected inequalities, the Ada Lovelace Institute commissioned Survation to conduct a telephone-based, nationally representative survey of 2,023 UK British adults, to explore public attitudes towards a range of technologies deployed during the Covid-19 pandemic for health outcomes, including mental and physical-health apps, symptom-tracking apps, digital contact-tracing apps and vaccine passports.

• Report
• More detail

Securing our health : the UK Health Security Agency

Department of Health and Social Care - 

Following on from the publication of ‘The future of public health: the NIHP and other public health functions’ in September 2020, this policy paper sets out more detail on the government’s plans for protecting and securing the public’s health, including on the new UK Health Security Agency (previously called the National Institute for Health Protection). The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will be formally established from April 2021 and will combine the capabilities of PHE and NHS Test and Trace. The UKHSA will bring together our national public health science and response capabilities, including cutting edge analytics and genomic surveillance, strengthening national defences against all health hazards.

• Policy paper
• More detail

 

Regulating healthcare professionals, protecting the public

Department of Health and Social Care - 

The DHSC is seeking views on proposals to reform the regulation of health care professionals. The consultation also seeks views on the proposed approach to introducing statutory regulation of physician associates and anaesthesia associates. The consultation closes on 16 June 2021.

• Consultation

The best start for life: a vision for the 1,001 critical days

Department of Health and Social Care - 

In July 2020 the Prime Minister asked Andrea Leadsom MP to chair a review into improving the health and development outcomes for babies in England. The Early Years’ Healthy Development Review focuses on the 1,001 critical days through pregnancy to the age of two. These critical days are when the building blocks for lifelong emotional and physical health are laid down. The Review sets out a vision for best practice across the health system to ensure babies and children can get the best possible start.

• Report
• More detail

The government's 2021- 2022 mandate to NHS England and NHS Improvement

Department of Health and Social Care - 

The government’s mandate to NHS England and NHS Improvement confirms their objectives and budgets for the year ahead. The financial directions published alongside ('2021-22 financial directions to NHS England') provide further details on how NHS England’s budget is broken down.

• Mandate
• More detail

 

The adult social care market in England

National Audit Office - 

This report examines the current care market and the Department of Health and Social Care’s role in overseeing the market now and in the future, with the aim of offering insights and recommendations ahead of future social care reforms. It finds levels of unpaid care remain high, too many adults have unmet needs and forecasts predict growing demand for care. The lack of a long-term vision for care and short-term funding has hampered local authorities’ ability to innovate and plan for the long term, and constrained investment in accommodation and much-needed workforce development.

• Report
• Press release

Rest, recover, restore: getting UK health services back on track

British Medical Association - 

This report states that the Covid-19 pandemic has left the health service running on empty, with staff burnt out, disillusioned, and even considering leaving the NHS as a result of the intense pressures and stress of the past year. It sets out a series of recommendations to UK governments to ensure that services resume safely for both staff and patients.

• Report
• Press release

Learning from lives and deaths: people with a learning disability and autistic people (LeDeR) policy 2021

NHS England and NHS Improvement - 

This policy aims to set out for the first time for the NHS the core aims and values of the LeDeR programme and the expectations placed on different parts of the health and social care system in delivering the programme from June 2021.

• Policy
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A connected recovery: findings of the APPG on Loneliness Inquiry

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Loneliness (APPG on Loneliness) - 

This inquiry report makes the case for a ‘connected recovery’ from the Covid-19 pandemic. It explored problems and identified solutions within four crucial policy areas, including: translating national policy into local action through local authorities; community infrastructure (including housing, transport and public spaces); how to adequately fund the voluntary and community sector upon which social prescribing depends; and designing and implementing ways to test the implications of government policies on loneliness.

• Report
• More detail
• APPG on Loneliness

Putting people first: supporting NHS staff in the aftermath of Covid-19

NHS Confederation - 

Caring for patients and service users during the Covid-19 pandemic has taken an enormous toll on NHS and social care staff. This report, part of the NHS Reset campaign, considers the five key factors needed for the NHS to provide the most effective environment to retain – and sustain – staff over the weeks and months ahead.

• Report
• More detail
• NHS Reset