Health Management and Policy Alert

Summary of the results of PSNC’s 2022 Pharmacy Pressures Survey

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) - 

England’s community pharmacies have played a vital role in the government’s Covid-19 pandemic response, including staying open throughout to provide critical face-to-face healthcare services and advice to patients and the public. This has brought with it significant additional pressure, which is being worsened by rising operating costs, and by a workforce crisis enveloping the sector This briefing  summarises the results of PSNC’s Pharmacy Pressures Survey, which heard directly from a wide range of pharmacy teams and businesses about the impact that the ongoing pressures are having on them and on patient care.

• Briefing
• Press release

Inquiry into women’s health and well-being in prisons

All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Women in the Penal System - 

As part of its inquiry into women’s health and well-being in prison, the APPG received written evidence and held oral evidence sessions with expert witnesses. Prisons are not healthy environments. They are unable to address the physical and mental health needs of women and in fact exacerbate them. Imprisonment compounds the victimisation of women, the majority of whom have experienced violence or abuse prior to prison. This briefing finds that despite the overwhelming evidence that prisons impact negatively on women’s health and well-being, there has been little progress in reducing the number of women sent to prison.

• Briefing
• Press release

Provider collaboratives: explaining their role in system working

The King's Fund -
This explainer looks at provider collaboratives in England, the opportunities they provide and the unresolved questions to consider when thinking about their role in the changing health and care landscape.

• Explainer
• The King's Fund - publications

Integration and innovation in action: provider collaboration

NHS Confederation -
This report looks at how collaborations between providers at neighbourhood, place and system level are making a positive impact on patient care. It explores different types of collaboration between providers at neighbourhood, place and system level. Based on interviews with leaders and clinicians, it identifies a set of common principles that underpin effective partnership working.

• Report
• NHS Confederation - publications

Commitment and growth: advancing mental health nursing now and for the future

Health Education England -
This report contains a range of recommendations to develop the mental health nursing workforce. It outlines eight system-wide recommendations addressing issues including career progression and encouraging nurses to remain in the profession. Each set of recommendations is broken down into action points for areas of work - analysing where and how changes can be made, to guide future policy.

• Report
• Health Education England - news

A response to the Race and Health Observatory (RHO) rapid evidence review into ethnic inequalities in healthcare

This report looks at the NHS Race and Health Observatory (RHO) as a case study and its work to ‘identify and tackle ethnic inequalities’ in health. The RHO exists to bring about equality of outcomes in health care and calls for radical action, but makes calls for more research to find out precisely what that entails. Central to its recent report, Ethnic inequalities in health care: a rapid evidence review, was the role of racism - those who are not white are treated worse, given the wrong treatment, and avoid getting help for ‘fear of racist treatment from NHS healthcare professionals’. This report analyses rapid evidence review and questions the assumptions and conclusions contained in this work. It questions why the RHO exists and if it is achieving its aim of ‘equality of outcome’ for different ethnic groups.

• Report
• Civitas - publications

Ageing, inequality and ethnicity: evidence cards

Centre for Ageing Better -
This set of downloadable 'evidence cards' aim to highlight the contributions of and inequalities experienced by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic groups approaching retirement age. The authors found inequalities in terms of health, wealth and life circumstances. They call for better paid work, more affordable and better housing, and targeted measures to reduce ill-health.

• Evidence cards
• Centre for Ageing Better - publications

Approaches to projecting future healthcare demand

Centre for Health Economics - 
To plan services and staff for the NHS, the government needs to know how much demand for services will rise and how much to spend on the NHS in future. These future estimates are known as projections: they indicate how much demand might rise or how much might be spent if certain assumptions hold true. This research paper aims to describe and critically assess alternative statistical methods for projecting future health care demand and expenditure.

• Research paper
• Centre for Health Economics - publications

Summary of NHS England and NHS Improvement board meeting – 24 March 2022

NHS Providers -
This briefing summarises the NHS England and Improvement March 2022 board meeting. Items included: Chief executive's update, operational performance update, elective recovery programme update, Health and Care Bill update and an update on life sciences and their future in the NHS.

• Briefing
• NHS Providers - publications

Annual staff survey

NHS Providers -
The annual NHS staff survey is a large scale survey which explores the views of NHS staff on a range of different aspects based upon their lived experience of working within the NHS. This report summarises the key findings and what this means for governors.

• Report
• NHS Providers - publications