Health Management and Policy Alert

Reforming the Mental Health Act: government response to consultation

Department of Health and Social Care - 

The government hosted a public consultation from 13 January 2021 to 21 April 2021 on a set of proposals to reform the Mental Health Act. They received over 1,700 responses. This report is the government’s formal response to this consultation. Further details on the impact of costs and benefits can be found in an accompanying impact assessment.

• Government response
• More detail

The Health and Care Bill 2021-22 [Bill 140 of 2021-22]

House of Commons Library - 

The Health and Care Bill 2021-22 [Bill 140 of 2021-22] was introduced in the House of Commons on 6 July 2021. The second reading is scheduled for Wednesday 14 July 2021. This paper explains the bill's provisions and includes comment and reactions.

• Briefing
• More detail

The Health and Care Bill: a threat to the operational independence of the NHS?

The King's Fund - 

Nicholas Timmins outlines why greater ministerial powers over the day-to-day running of the NHS proposed in the Health and Care Bill might not work for the service or for ministers.

• Blog

The health and social care white paper explained

The King's Fund - 

This long read describes the main proposals of the Department of Health and Social Care's white paper 'Integration and innovation: working together to improve health and social care for all' published on 11 February 2021. It also sets out The King's Fund's initial assessment of the proposals and their implications for the health and care system.

• Read it now

Healthcare for the Armed Forces community: a forward view

NHS England - 
This guidance is a companion document to the NHS Long Term Plan, outlining the commitments NHS England and NHS Improvement is making to improve the health and wellbeing of the Armed Forces community, serving personnel (regulars and reservists), veterans and their families.

• Guidance

Looking ahead 2021: reset, partnerships, recovery

Wilmington Healthcare - 
This white paper explores some emerging trends within the UK health care system, some of which will establish some of the future policy that will come to fruition in 2021 and change the NHS landscape.

• Report

Resource allocation in public sector programmes: does the value of a life differ between governmental departments?

Office of Health Economics (OHE) - 
This report examines whether there are differences in the value of life estimates recommended for use across government departments in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the Netherlands, and the UK. The departments of interest were those known to use some form of valuation of human life: health, social care, transport, and environment. For each country, a literature review was conducted to identify evidence from technical reports, guidelines, and tools published directly by government departments indicating methods for conducting impact assessments or appraisals.

• Report
• Summary

What's next for the NHS? Building the resilience of the health and care system

Reform - 
A year into the pandemic and with the benefit of some hindsight, this report argues that too little consideration was given to the implications of a complete reallocation of resources away from ‘business as usual’. This report, produced jointly with Edge Health, explores the scale of the challenges the NHS faces following the pandemic.

• Report
• Summary

Impact assessment of the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019

Department of Health and Social Care -
This impact ssessment is an updated assessment of the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019. It provides an assessment of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards at present and fully funded, as well as for Liberty Protection Safeguards as set out in the act.

• Report
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

NHS Reset: a new direction for health and care

NHS Confederation - 

Bringing together NHS Confederation members and partners, the NHS Reset campaign has convened the health and care system to reflect on the learning from the last six months of the Covid-19 pandemic and what it means for the future. This report identifies five factors it believes will help to fundamentally reset the way health and care is planned, commissioned and delivered: honesty and realism: extra funding; a lighter, leaner culture; integrating health and care; and tackling health inequalities.

• Report
• Press release
• NHS Reset