Health Management and Policy Alert

England Rare Diseases Action Plan 2024: main report

Department of Health and Social Care - 
This action plan sets out how the Department of Health and Social Care and delivery partners will implement the UK Rare Diseases Framework in England. The framework was published in January 2021, setting out a shared vision for addressing health inequalities and improving the lives of people living with rare diseases across the UK. It outlined 4 key national priorities: helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness among healthcare professionals; better co-ordination of care; and improving access to specialist care, treatment and drugs. This report details progress against 29 existing actions as well as introducing 7 new actions.

• Policy paper
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Assisted dying/assisted suicide

Health and Social Care Select Committee -
This report covers Parliament and the current law, the Government's role in the debate, international examples of jurisdictions where assisted dying/assisted suicide is available in some form, the involvement of physicians and assessments of eligibility and capacity to give informed consent, and palliative and end-of-life care. It identifies the pursuit of high-quality compassionate end-of-life care as a common theme in the evidence received, as well agency and control for the person dying.

• Report
• Health and Social Care Select Committee - news

Manifesto for a mentally healthier nation: policies for the 2024 UK general election

Centre for Mental Health - 

A coalition of over 60 charities (including Centre for Mental Health, Mind, the NSPCC and Marie Curie) is calling on political parties to make a major commitment to mental health ahead of the forthcoming general election. This manifesto sets out the key actions political parties can commit to take to make that vision a reality from the start of the next Parliament.

• Manifesto
• Press release

What do virtual wards look like in England?

Health Foundation - 

This working paper analyses aggregate national data on virtual wards to describe what virtual wards currently look like across England and discuss the effects of virtual wards on patients, staff and hospital capacity, as well as the gaps in the evidence.

• Working paper
• More detail

Children and young people’s health equity: collaborative framework for the drivers of health inequalities

Barnardo’s - 

The Children and Young People’s Health Equity Collaborative (CHEC) is a partnership between the UCL Institute of Health Equity, Barnardo’s and three integrated care systems (ICS) — Birmingham and Solihull, Cheshire and Merseyside, and South Yorkshire. The CHEC sees action on the social determinants of health as essential in improving health outcomes among children and young people and reducing inequalities in health. The framework’s main purpose is to underpin action for achieving greater equity in children and young people’s health and wellbeing and will be used to support the development of pilot interventions in the three partner ICS areas.

• Framework
• More detail

Global trends in R&D 2024: activity, productivity, and enablers

IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science - 

This report assesses the trends in new drug launches and the overall number of initiated clinical trials. It also profiles the state of R&D funding and the activity of companies of different types. The results of research are compared to the input effort in a Clinical Development Productivity Index. The notable acceleration and adaptability of the innovation ecosystem is examined in terms of several enablers of R&D productivity, including the relationship between shortening trial durations and the ‘white space’ within clinical development timelines that have been reducing for some diseases and increasing for others. Please note that free registration is required to download the report. 

• Report
• More detail

We've only just begun: action to improve young people’s mental health, education and employment

Resolution Foundation - 

This publication – the final report of a three-year research programme funded by the Health Foundation – explores the relationship between young people’s mental health and work outcomes, and how policy-makers should respond. It finds that young people are now more likely to experience a common mental disorder (CMD) than any other age group – a complete reversal compared with two decades ago, when they were least likely to. Also, the economic consequences are greatest for those whose poor mental health outcomes combine with poor educational outcomes, with 1 in 3 young non-graduates with a CMD currently workless.

• Report
• Press release

 

Building the health of the nation: priorities for a new government

NHS Confederation -
This report outlines how underinvestment – compounded by the impact of an unprecedented pandemic, rising demand and an ageing population – has left NHS and social care services under extreme pressure. This manifesto draws on the views of NHS Confederation members – health and care leaders across England, Wales and Northern Ireland – and sets out the changes the next government will need to make if the health and care system is to be placed on a sustainable footing.

• Report
• NHS Confederation - press release

Creating a Britain that works and cares

The Centre for Social Justice -
In 2021-22 alone, nearly 400,000 carers had to leave their jobs to care for older or disabled family members. Despite this, there’s a strong desire among carers to engage in paid employment, with a majority indicating they would work if adequate support were provided. Supporting family carers in their employment could potentially save the UK economy £6 billion annually. This report proposes several key policies to facilitate carers’ participation in the labour market, including: delivering ten hours of free home care to those they are looking after; providing £2000 for home adaptations; raising the Carer’s Allowance earnings threshold; and mandating five days of paid leave for carers in the workplace.Publish

• Report
• The Centre for Social Justice - publications

Strong foundations: why everyone needs good emotional health – and how to achieve it

Demos -
This paper is part of a Demos project exploring the role that emotional health can play in building the foundations of good mental health. It calls for a ‘prevention revolution’ to promote people’s emotional health rather than simply treating the symptoms of growing levels of mental ill health. It argues that prevention must be at the core of improving all public services, not just some of them, and sets out our recommendations for how the UK government can achieve good emotional health for all.

• Report
• Demos - publications