Health Management and Policy Alert

Delivering core NHS and care services during the pandemic and beyond: Government response to the Committee’s second report of session 2019–21

House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee -
This report finds that the Covid-19 response has greatly accelerated the use of digital technology, has mainstreamed remote consultations and similar effects are being seen for remote monitoring. There has been greater flexibility and resilience in the workforce, as well as improved decision making and access to information through the better use of data and simplified information governance guidance. It concludes that these changes should be embeded and extended to support the health and care system’s recovery from the pandemic and ongoing resilience.

• Report
• House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee - inquiries

Support for staff following patient safety incidents

Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch -
This report explores feedback from national investigators around positive efforts identified in the support of NHS staff by their organisations following patient safety incidents. It describes the literature around NHS staff support to attempt to identify areas of best practice and the impact of any interventions.

• Report
• Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch - publications

Public health medicine pandemic experience survey

British Medical Association - 

This survey report of doctors working in public health and health protection roles has exposed criticism and scepticism with the government’s plans to reorganise Public Health England, and the opportunities for doctors to help shape any changes. The survey further found doctors reporting dangerously highly levels of mental and physical fatigue as a result of battling Covid-19, coupled with resentment with the sense their branch of practice had been overlooked by decision makers.

• Report
• Press release

 

Double or quits: a blueprint for expanding medical school places

Royal College of Physicians - 
This report outlines a blueprint for the doubling of medical school places that will enable the NHS workforce to get back on a sustainable footing over the next decade. It calls on the government to lift the cap on medical school places in England this year to be maintained with a larger, ongoing increase in the numbers of places, acknowledging that workforce shortages have hampered the NHS’s ability to provide care during the pandemic and placed additional pressure on staff.

• Report
• Press release

Perspectives from the front line: the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on BME communities

NHS Confederation -
This report finds that the effects of long-standing health and socio-economic inequalities and institutional racism lie behind the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on people from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds. It distils the findings of a research study into the underlying factors. It is based on interviews with BME NHS leaders, clinicians, community organisations and service users, and a survey of over 100 members of the NHS Confederation’s BME Leadership Network.

• Report
• NHS Confederation - news

State of health visiting in England

Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) - 

The iHV's seventh annual survey (completed by 1012 health visitors from across the UK during October and November 2020) finds that health visitors are concerned that the needs of vulnerable babies and young children are invisible as they are only able to focus on what feels like the “tip of a very large iceberg” of unmet need, with almost two-thirds of health visitors reporting an increase in cases of child neglect. Four out of five health visitors report soaring increases in domestic violence and abuse, perinatal mental illness, and the negative impact of poverty on families.

• Report
• Press release

Mend the gap: the independent review into gender pay gaps in medicine in England

Department of Health and Social Care - 
This review aims to take a comprehensive approach to understanding the structural and cultural barriers affecting the female medical workforce. It responds to two primary concerns: the gender pay gap in medicine is large for a single professional group; and the new NHS contract for Doctors and Dentists in Training has a potentially negative impact on the pay gap due to a loss of increments during maternity leave.

• Report
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

A guide to promoting health care workforce well-being during and after the Covid-19 pandemic

Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) -
This guide provides ideas and lessons learned to improve the wellbeing of the health care workforce, including actions that individuals, leaders, and organisations can take to support the health care workforce during the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond. It aims to support health care leaders at all levels with actionable tools for combatting health care workforce burnout, fatigue, and emotional distress. 

• Guide

 

Building the NHS nursing workforce in England: workforce pressure points

Health Foundation - 
This report provides an in-depth analysis of the last ten years of trends in recruitment and retention in the nursing workforce. It says that increases in NHS nurse numbers in recent years are likely to be insufficient in the face of growing health care demand, made more pressing by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report concludes that while the government’s 50,000 nurses target is achievable, it may still leave key service areas well short of the numbers needed.

• Report
• Press release

The state of medical education and practice in the UK 2020

General Medical Council -
This report finds that, despite the pressures caused by Covid-19, 89 per cent of doctors experienced at least one positive change during the pandemic. However, it found that black and minority ethnic doctors were less likely to share the positive experiences reported by many of their white counterparts.

• Report
• General Medical Council - press release