Health Management and Policy Alert

The Global Mental Health Assessment Tool (GMHAT) pilot evaluation: final report

Public Health England - 

In 2016-2017 Public Health England and the Home Office, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration, conducted a pilot of the Global Mental Health Assessment Tool (GMHAT). The GMHAT is a computerised clinical assessment tool developed to rapidly assess and identify mental health problems in a range of settings. The tool was tested with 200 Syrian refugees aged 18+ years in one clinic in Beirut, Lebanon who were being processed for resettlement to the UK as part of the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. 

• Report
• More detail

Averting the AMR crisis: what are the avenues for policy action for countries in Europe?

European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies -

This policy briefing summarises some of the key policy avenues for tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Following the widely accepted ‘One Health’ approach to combating AMR, the brief aims to support the implementation of national action plans on AMR, drawing on numerous examples of effective policies implemented by European Union member states and involving the human, animal and environmental health sectors.

• Briefing
• More detail

Can people afford to pay for health care?: new evidence on financial protection in Europe

World Health Organization Europe -
The evidence in this report that some people face barriers to access and forego treatment due to the cost involved; some pay and experience financial hardship as a result; and some are affected in both ways, even in Europe’s richest countries. The report brings together data on financial hardship and unmet need and shows that the share of people foregoing needed health services, including prescribed medicines, is high in countries where financial protection is weak.

• Report
• World Health Organization Europe - news

Tackling inequalities faced by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities

Women and Equalities Committee - 
This report says there has been a persistent failure by national and local policy makers to tackle long standing inequalities facing Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in any sustained way. It finds that Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people have the worst outcomes of any ethnic group across a huge range of areas, including education, health, employment, criminal justice and hate crime. The report of this two year inquiry makes 49 recommendations for change.

• Report
• Women and Equalities Committee - news

Urgent dental care: evidence review

Public Health England -
In 2016 NHS England recommended that urgent dental care should be transformed in line with the transformation of urgent and emergency care services more generally, and that a commissioning standard was needed. This rapid literature review on urgent dental care provides evidence to inform the development of the commissioning standard for urgent dental care services and identifies research gaps.

• Guidance
• Public Health England - publications

Understanding private providers of occupational health services: an interim summary of survey research

Department of Health and Social Care -

The Work and Health Unit commissioned IFF Research to conduct a telephone survey of private providers of occupational health (OH) to understand the services they offer, their capacity for delivering the services, their workforce profile and any skills shortages, and how they market their services. This interim report contains a high-level summary of the findings from this survey.

• Report
• More detail

Employers’ motivations and practices: a study of the use of occupational health services

Department of Health and Social Care - 

The Work and Health Unit (a UK government unit which brings together officials from the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health and Social Care) commissioned Ipsos MORI to conduct qualitative research with employers to understand their motivations and practices when using occupational health (OH) support. Their report looks at: how employers use OH services; why employers use OH services as they do; and why engaged employers do not purchase OH services.

• Report
• More detail

UKCRC Public Health Research Centres of Excellence: final report 2018

Medical Research Council -
This report demonstrates how the legacy of a UK-wide network of centres of excellence has helped fuel future public health and prevention research. The report also shows how ten years of collaborative work by these centres – based in Edinburgh, Belfast, Newcastle, Nottingham, Cambridge and Cardiff – has exceeded expectations of what was thought possible in 2008.

• Report
• Medical Research Council - news

Prevention before cure: prioritising population health

British Medical Association -
This policy paper contains a suggested framework for a cross-government approach to prioritising population health. The framework outlines four areas to consider: addressing the social determinants that influence health; increased and sustained funding for public health; prioritising prevention through the health service; and effective regulation to tackle key drivers of ill-health.

• Policy paper
• British Medical Association - publications

National Child Measurement Programme: a conversation framework for talking to parents

Public Health England -
This document provides guidance and resources for school nurses, their teams and other professionals running the National Child Measurement Programme.

• Guidance
• Public Health England - publications