Health Management and Policy Alert

Inequality on the inside: using hospital data to understand the key health care issues for women in prison

Nuffield Trust - 

As the government proceeds with plans to build 500 more prison places for women, this analysis uses Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data to look at women prisoners' use of hospital services, finding that they face a series of challenges and risks in prison because of barriers to accessing health and care services. For example, women prisoners are almost twice as likely to give birth prematurely than women in the general population, and more than a fifth of midwifery appointments are being missed by pregnant prisoners, with a key reason for missed appointments being a lack of available escort staff.

• Report
• More detail

Future issues for public service leaders

Ipsos Public Affairs - 

The aim of the project for the Government Skills and Curriculum Unit was to assess the pressures currently facing leaders of public services, to understand the driving factors behind them and chart how these pressures might develop over the next few years. The review and analysis in this report has identified four thematic areas which may pose issues for leaders over the coming years: moving public services online; the changing role of the state; rising complexity; and new expectations of leadership.

• Report
• More detail

Expert panel: evaluation of government’s commitments in the area of the health and social care workforce in England

House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee - 

This evaluation by a panel of independent experts considered how the government had progressed overall against seven commitments it has made in three policy areas across the NHS and social care: planning for the workforce; building a skilled workforce; and wellbeing at work, including reducing high rates of bullying in the NHS. The panel rated the government's overall progress ‘inadequate’ in meeting these targets.

• Report
• Press release

How can NHS anchors support communities to create health: learning from the community response to Covid-19

Health Creation Alliance - 

This report provides real-world insight into how NHS anchor institutions are working in partnership communities, capitalising on both their strengths to address health inequalities.

• Report

Engaging and supporting marginalised communities, supporting earlier diagnosis of cancer, and improving CVD diagnosis and prevention: learning from the community response to Covid-19

Health Creation Alliance - 

This report focusses on real-world examples of how the NHS is collaborating with communities to meet their statutory obligations and addressing health inequalities.

• Report

Workforce: recruitment, training and retention in health and social care

House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee - 

This report finds the NHS and social care face the greatest workforce crisis in their history, compounded by the absence of a credible government strategy to tackle the situation. The report outlines the scale of the workforce crisis: research suggests the NHS in England is short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives; evidence on workforce projections say an extra 475,000 jobs will be needed in health and an extra 490,000 jobs in social care by the early part of the next decade; and hospital waiting lists reached a record high of nearly 6.5 million in April 2022. The Committee finds the government to have shown a marked reluctance to act decisively. The refusal to do proper workforce planning risked plans to tackle the Covid backlog - a key target for the NHS.

• Report
• Press release

 

Protecting human rights in care settings

Joint Committee on Human Rights -
This report warns that gaps remain in how vulnerable people are protected in care settings, leaving their human rights at risk of being breached. It finds that mechanisms such as Do Not Attempt Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation notices and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards are often not applied correctly, meaning treatment can be wrongfully withheld or an individual’s liberty infringed. It calls on the Government to work with the Care Quality Commission to ensure there is stringent oversight of how care providers implement safeguards designed to protect the human rights of care users.

• Report
• Joint Committee on Human Rights - news

Reducing health disparities: the role of community businesses in community-centred systems

Office for Health Improvement and Disparities -
This document provides a summary of research undertaken by Public Health England and Power to Change with two local authorities, community businesses and their partners to explore how they can create a more community-centred public health system. It includes reflections from interviews and workshops and opportunities for the future.

• Guidance
• Office for Health Improvement and Disparities - publications

National Audit of Care at the End of Life: mental health spotlight audit summary report, England and Wales (2021/22)

NHS Benchmarking Network -
This report finds that whilst thorough scrutiny of all deaths occurring in mental health services is demonstrated to be well embedded, policies and guidelines around end of life care delivery are not as well developed. It concludes that whilst working with dying patients is less common on mental health inpatient wards, there is an opportunity for mental health providers to give greater support to staff and give the appropriate training needed to deliver end of life care if necessary.

• Report
• NHS Benchmarking Network - news

National Audit of Care at the End of Life: third round of the audit (2021/22) report, England and Wales

NHS Benchmarking Network -
This report set outs the findings of the third round of National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL) which took place in 2021. Results are compared to round two, which took place in 2019. The audit was not undertaken in 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It finds a deterioration in the support provided to those in acute or community care. The report makes several recommendations to ensure that improvements are made so the needs of those close to the dying person are addressed in a timely and compassionate manner.

• Report
• NHS Benchmarking Network - news