Health Management and Policy Alert

The red, the blue, the NHS and you

New Local Government Network (NLGN) - 
NLGN hosted two roundtable discussions in December 2014 and January 2015 centred on the Conservative and Labour parties’ approaches to health and social care in the run-up to the General Election in May 2015. This paper details the outcomes of the discussions as well as a section highlighting the key differences between the two approaches.

• Paper
• NLGN publications

Health: how will the NHS fare in a cold climate?

Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics - 
This briefing argues that an NHS protected from budget cuts is only going to be viable through further efficiency savings of some kind - and even then it is not clear how resource levels will be maintained. It highlights future reforms to the system, rather than privatisation, as the key threat to the NHS.

• Report
• Press release

The future of general practice 2015

British Medical Association (BMA) - 
This briefing outlines key findings from an opinion poll of over 15,000 GPs. The poll also found that almost all GPs feel that their heavy workload is having a negative impact on the quality of patient services and many GP practices doubted they had the ability to provide blanket seven day opening.

• Briefing
• Infographic
• Press release

Health innovation manifesto: capitalising on science and technology to build a more active and efficient NHS

PHG Foundation - 
This manifesto sets out actions for the next government in order to make the best use of health innovations in the NHS. It argues that more needs to be done to ensure that ongoing investment and our excellence in science and technology does not go to waste. Concerted action can make innovation in these areas yield rich dividends for health in this country, benefiting the NHS, patients and populations, and over-burdened health budgets too.

• Manifesto
• Press release

Evolution, revolution or confusion? Competition and privatisation in the NHS

Health Foundation - 
The precise role of private sector organisations providing NHS-funded care is a dividing line for the political parties. This briefing considers key questions relating to the role of competition and the role of non-NHS providers within the NHS.

• Briefing
• Blog
• Health Foundation publications

Swimming against the tide? The quality of NHS services during the current parliament

Health Foundation - 
This briefing summarises trends in the quality of NHS care in England since the 2010 general election. It examines the quality of NHS care in relation to five key dimensions: patient safety; waiting times; mental health care; person-centred care; and international comparisons with other systems. This briefing is accompanied by topic overviews which provide more detailed figures and references relating to key areas of quality.

• Briefing
• Patient safety topic overview
• Person-centred care topic overview
• International comparisons topic overview
• Waiting times topic overview
• Mental health services topic overview
• Health Foundation publications

Challenges facing the NHS in England: a guide for prospective parliamentary candidates

NHS Confederation -
This guide sets out for prospective parliamentary candidates the challenges facing health and care services in England, the progress already made in confronting these issues and the future direction of travel. It outlines the actions which could be taken by national and local politicians in England, as well as health and care leaders, to tackle these challenges.

• Briefing
• NHS Confederation - publications

Looking forward: the views of health and social care leaders

Nuffield Trust - 
In the run-up to the 2015 General Election, the Nuffield Trust is regularly surveying a panel of 100 health and social care leaders in England for their views on a range of issues, including the state of the NHS and social care system, and what they believe should be the priority areas for reform during the next Parliament. This is the fourth survey in this series and it looks at future of the NHS, and in particular whether the NHS Five Year Forward View has accurately diagnosed the challenges faced by the health service

• Report
• Health Leaders Panel project
• Press release

Election 2015: what’s at stake for the NHS?

Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) - 
This guide covers the current challenges facing the NHS: increased pressure, plunging staff morale and impending funding crises, and how privatisation and marketisation has fundamentally damaged standards in healthcare. This pamphlet outlines how pressures could be lessened by eliminating costly competition processes. By repealing the Health and Social Care Act, integrating social care and boosting the wages of NHS staff the service will be able to begin to turn around the damage inflicted by top-down reorganisation.

• Briefing
• Election priorities factsheet
• CLASS publications

Patient access to general practice: ideas and challenges from the frontline

Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) - 
This report argues that reducing waiting times for a GP appointment must be a priority for politicians and the incoming government but that this must not be delivered at the expense of other GP services, including the long-term care provided to patients with chronic and multiple health problems. It examines a wide range of initiatives to increase patient access to general practice but warns that this can only be achieved with increased funding and significantly more GPs.

• Report
• Press release