Health Management and Policy Alert

Better Care Fund policy framework 2025 to 2026

Department of Health and Social Care -
For 2025 to 2026, the objectives of the Better Care Fund (BCF) reflect the government’s commitment to reform via a shift from sickness to prevention and from hospital to home. This policy framework is intended for use by those responsible for delivering the BCF at a local level, such as integrated care boards, local authorities and health and wellbeing boards.

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

Government response to the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee’s report 'Recipe for health: a plan to fix our broken food system'

Department of Health and Social Care -
On 24 October 2024, the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee published its report Recipe for health: a plan to fix our broken food system. The committee explored ways to improve the food system, to support people have better diets, achieve a healthier weight and live longer healthier lives. This is the government’s response to the committee’s recommendations.

• Report
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Road to recovery: the government's 2025 mandate to NHS England

Department of Health and Social Care -
The government’s mandate to NHS England sets out the objectives they should seek to achieve. This mandate will apply from 30 January 2025, until it is replaced. The objectives cover reform to: cut waiting times; improve primary care access; improve urgent and emergency care; the operating model; and drive efficiency and productivity.

• Mandate
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Designing inclusive and trusted digital health services with people and communities

The King's Fund -
As we look to a future that is more digitalised, what is needed to improve patients’ voices to create accessible and trusted digitally enabled services?

• Briefing
• The King's Fund - publications

NHS financial sustainability

Public Accounts Committee -
This report argues that, while Government’s forthcoming 10-year plan will be essential to the health service’s recovery, senior health officials seem to be unambitious when it comes to taking the radical steps to begin to implement it. The Government has laid out its planned ‘three big shifts’: from hospital-based to community care; from analogue to digital; and from treating ill health to prevention. The report makes recommendations in each of these areas.

• Report
• Public Accounts Committee - news

Radiology unlocked: the global radiologist report 2025

Everlight Radiology - 

In autumn of 2024, Everlight Radiology conducted a comprehensive online survey with 708 consultant radiologists located across 50 countries. The research was designed to provide a first-hand perspective on the state of radiology globally, and particularly in the four geographies in which Everlight operates: the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. This report lays out the key findings of the survey, exploring the impact of teleradiology, the demands of overnight work, the potential of artifical intelligence (AI) and the future of the radiology profession.

• Report
• More detail

NHS activity tracker 2024/25: January 2025

NHS Providers - 

This briefing analyses the latest monthly performance data from NHS England and features a case study from Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust.

• Briefing

Must know: personalisation and making it real in adult social care

Local Government Association - 

This guide provides an overview of how to implement personalisation in adult social care, offering an introduction to the principles and practices of personalisation and to implementing these concepts.

• Guide

What do we know about young people’s interest in health careers?

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) - 

There are growing concerns that difficult working conditions in the health sector, combined with relatively low pay for some categories of workers, may deter young people from pursuing careers in health. This technical report reviews available data on students’ interest in health sector jobs from two main sources: 1) the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey that covers around 80 OECD and non-OECD countries and economies; and 2) student applications and admissions to health education programmes based on national administrative data. The data from the PISA survey indicate that the interest of 15-year-old students in pursuing careers in the health sector has decreased in about half of OECD countries between 2018 and 2022 and has also decreased in several non-OECD countries.

• Report
• More detail

Leng review: further detail on the areas to be covered by the review of physician associate and anaesthesia associate professions

Department of Health and Social Care - 

This document sets out further details to the terms of reference for the independent review of the physician associate and anaesthesia associate professions that has been commissioned by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. The review will consider the safety of the roles and their contribution to multidisciplinary healthcare teams. It will be led by Professor Gillian Leng. The conclusions of the review will help to inform the refreshed workforce plan that the government has committed to publish in summer 2025 and wider government policy.

• Document
• More detail