Health Management and Policy Alert

Hiding in plain sight: tackling malnutrition as part of the prevention agenda

Future Health - 

This report reveals that an estimated 464,000 people who are admitted to hospital have disease related malnutrition each year in England. This is the equivalent to over 50 people admitted to hospital every hour. People with malnutrition are more likely to visit their GP, be admitted to hospital and recover from treatment more slowly. The research estimates that the additional cost of a person with malnutrition is £7,775 per person per year at a total cost to the healthcare system in England of £22.6 billion. The report sets out a series of recommendations to tackle the issue of disease related malnutrition.

• Report
• Press release

Who cares? A review of reports of exploitation in the care sector

Unseen - 

The care sector is susceptible to worker exploitation and modern slavery. Many people providing their labour in the sector receive low pay and the work is considered low-skilled. Due to the transient nature of the workforce and the historic reliance on migrant workers, current labour shortages have created a further opportunity for workers to be exploited. This report finds the number of care workers contacting the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline has rocketed. Many of these workers are from overseas, and have paid huge fees to unscrupulous employers or recruitment agencies to come to the UK on special visas designed to fill vacancies in the care sector.

• Report
• Press release

A review of advocacy for people with a learning disability and autistic people who are inpatients in mental health, learning disability or autism specialist hospitals

National Development Team for Inclusion - 

This report covers in depth research about people’s views and experiences of accessing, commissioning, working alongside and delivering a range of types of independent advocacy for people with a learning disability and autistic people who are inpatients in mental health, learning disability or autism specialist hospitals. It highlights the systemic, legislative, cultural, service level and human issues which impact on people’s experiences of independent advocacy while they are in hospital, as well as sharing ideas about how these can be improved.

• Report
• More detail

The transitions that matter

Centre for Care - 

The language of ‘transitions’ in social care is often used when talking about how people move from children’s care services into adult support. Yet the concept of transition is much wider than this: it is about the changes that disabled people, older people and people using mental health services want to make (and are facilitated to make) in their lives. As part of exploring transitions for a broader research theme around care trajectories and constraints, the Centre for Carek undertook a scoping review of the literature, focusing on how researchers in social care conceptualise and research transitions.

• Report
• More detail

State of the nation: a comprehensive, retrospective view of NHS data

Wilmington Healthcare - 

This report provides a health check for the NHS. The report looks at: hospital episode statistics, including waiting times and length of stay; demographics and disease prevalence – including health inequalities; key statistics on what outcomes the NHS is achieving in major therapy areas; assessment of the NHS on its own KPIs; prescribing insights, nationally and regionally, including the most-prescribed drugs; workforce data – including vacancies and recruitment; regional insights, including performance and challenges of ICSs. Please note that free registration is required to download the report.

• Report

Reducing health inequalities faced by children and young people

NHS Providers - 

This report sets out the data and evidence of the health inequalities experienced by children and young people. It outlines the rationale for shifting attention towards this age group to prevent health inequalities later in life. It also considers the role that trusts can play in targeting interventions towards improving the health and wellbeing of children and young people who are more likely to experience inequalities. The report also highlights the existing work of trusts to reduce children and young people’s health inequalities within case studies from Barts Health NHS Trust and Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust.

• Report
• More detail

Nursing care needs standard

Professional Record Standards Body - 

It is estimated that nurses spend more than 25 per cent of their time on administration and looking for documentation to inform care. This standard reflects best practice and standardises documentation across different nursing settings, helping free nurses from the administrative burden of repetitive data entry and giving them more time to provide care. It also helps people and their families avoid having to ‘tell their story’ repeatedly. It standardises information that a nurse in a care home or community setting can access and share in the same way as a mental health or hospital nurse, with a focus on the person’s overall wellbeing.

• Standard
• Press release

The NHS waiting list: when will it peak?

Health Foundation - 

This analysis shows that, if current trends continue, the waiting list for routine hospital treatment (‘elective care’) in England could rise to over 8 million by next summer, regardless of whether NHS industrial action continues.

• Analysis 
• Press release

Assessing the biosimilar void: achieving sustainable levels of biosimilar competition in Europe

IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science - 

While biosimilar competition in Europe has played a vital role in achieving significant healthcare savings and expanding patient access to key medicines, the changing nature of future loss of exclusivity (LoE) events means that competition, and by extension savings, is not always guaranteed. This report provides a timely view of the factors underlying the changing level of biologic pipeline activity in Europe, highlighting classes of biologics that are at risk of failing to attract biosimilar competition, a concept called “the biosimilar void.” This report also aims to quantify the potential impact of the biosimilar void on healthcare system budgets.

• Report
• More detail

Performance tracker 2023: public services as the UK approaches a general election

Institute for Government - 

This annual report, produced in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), assesses the health of nine key public services as the UK approaches a general election: general practice, hospitals, adult social care, children’s social care, neighbourhood services, schools, police, criminal courts and prisons. It finds almost all performing worse than before the pandemic – and much worse than in 2010 – and that tight spending plans, to which both main parties have committed, will mean very difficult choices face whoever wins the election.

• Report
• More detail