Health Management and Policy Alert

Primary care provider collaboratives: what you need to know

NHS Confederation -
In response to the changing health and care system, primary care providers are coming together within systems to form collaboratives. These collaboratives are supporting integrated care systems’ strategic objectives and creating a voice for primary care at system level. This briefing explores the role of primary care provider collaboratives in detail.

• NHS Confederation - publications

Role of incentive schemes in general practice: consultation

Department of Health and Social Care -
In England, general practices are incentivised through two main schemes, the Quality and Outcomes Framework and the Investment and Impact Fund. These schemes aim to enhance health care delivery and patient outcomes by incentivising continuous improvement in clinical care and public health delivery. This consultation seeks views on the role of incentives in general practice. The closing date for comments is 7 March 2024.

• Consultation
• Department of Health and Social Care - consultations

Moving to healthy homes

The Health Foundation -
This briefing examines the problems caused by 'non-decent' housing, overcrowding and access to housing. It sets out the health case for change, outline the principles to create healthy homes (including through the Decent Homes Standard) and calls for a long-term strategy to ensure healthy homes for all.

• The Health Foundation - publications

Care data matters: a roadmap for better adult social care data

Department of Health and Social Care -
This guidance outlines priorities for how social care data is collected, shared and used, and how the quality and availability of adult social care data is improved, at both national and local levels.

• Guidance
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

What’s driving increasing length of stay in hospitals since 2019?

The Health Foundation -
For over two decades before the Covid-19 pandemic, there were sustained reductions in the average length of patient stays in hospital, allowing the NHS in England to deliver more inpatient care while gradually reducing the number of hospital beds. However, as shown by previous analysis, 2022 broke this trend. This analysis aims to examine the extent to which changes in clinical needs, including Covid-19, might explain the increase in the length of stays and to explore the possible implications for health services and policymakers.

• Report

Bold action or slow decay? The state of NHS dentistry and future policy actions

Nuffield Trust -
This analysis of routine and publicly available data on funding, activity, access and staffing finds that the pandemic, austerity and the cost of living crisis have affected NHS dentistry. It concludes that the service is at its most perilous point in its 75-year history and radical action will be needed to prevent its further decline: either through further means testing, extensive reforms to dental contracts combined with a huge boost in staffing, or a large injection of funds.

• Policy briefing
• Nuffield Trust - policy briefing

The rise of the machines: AI, digital and data in healthcare

Healthcare Leader - 

This report looks at how artificial intelligence (AI) will impact healthcare. It builds on Healthcare Leader's roundtable Healthcare data: how ICBs can encourage patient trust with data experts and integrated care board (ICB) leaders and is informed by a survey on attitudes to AI among Healthcare Leader's audience. The findings highlight the tension between the positive attitudes to AI among leading clinicians set against the concerns around data sharing. It also outlines the potential and pitfalls of AI in healthcare where leaders in the field discuss current successes and concerns.

• Report
• More detail

The Medical Examiners (England) Regulations 2024 (draft)

Department of Health and Social Care - 

Medical examiners will be appointed by NHS bodies to provide independent scrutiny of causes of death and will be a contact for bereaved people who want to ask questions or raise concerns. The draft regulations set out: medical examiners’ terms of appointment, training and payment; the procedure for independence; and additional functions. The draft regulations may be amended before coming into force in April 2024.

• Draft regulations
• More detail

Dealing with requests for assessments of previously unassessed periods of care from 1 April 2012

Department of Health and Social Care - 

This guidance (published with NHS England) sets out how integrated care boards (ICBs) should approach and address a request from an individual or third party, for an assessment of a previously unassessed period of care, from 1 April 2012 onwards. It also provides information on how to request an assessment and how that assessment should be carried out. Previously unassessed periods of care refer to specific requests to consider eligibility for a past period of care where the individual funded the care themselves, either in full or in part.

• Guidance
• More detail

 

Competition in public procurement

House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts -
The government spent £259bn procuring goods and services in 2021-22, but this report finds that it is unable to demonstrate that it is achieving value for money in public procurement, due to significant issues with the quality and completeness of data on contracts.

• Report
• House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts - news