Health Management and Policy Alert

Counting what matters: how to classify, account and track spending for prevention

Demos -
Demos has been making the case for a fundamental shift in the purpose of government away from firefighting in public services towards preventing problems arriving. However, this approach raises concerns about both the feasibility of measuring preventative spending accurately and appropriately but also that ring-fencing alone may not lead to the desired improvements in outcomes and value for money. This paper, written with The Health Foundation, explores the challenge of measurement and makes a series of recommendations to show how this could be appropriately achieved.

• Report
• Demos - publications

Annual report and accounts: 2023 to 2024

Department of Health and Social Care -
The annual report and accounts gives an overview of the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC’s) resources and how it has used them to fulfil its statutory functions during the financial year 2023 to 2024. The report describes DHSC’s performance against objectives and includes the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s annual report on the performance of the NHS in England.

• Report
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

The 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth: payment percentage for 2025

Department of Health and Social Care -
The 2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth is a voluntary agreement between the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. The voluntary scheme aims to: promote better patient outcomes and a healthier population; support UK economic growth; and contribute to a financially sustainable NHS. The 2024 voluntary scheme headline payment percentage for 2025 will be 22.9%. This document sets out how the level was set.

• Guidance
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Fairer funding for general practice in England: what’s the problem, why is it so hard to fix, and what should the government do?

Nuffield Trust -
This briefing outlines how general practice funding is inequitable: it concludes that the Carr-Hill formula, which decides the distribution of funding, is outdated and fails to take account of socioeconomic deprivation. This briefing, produced in collaboration with the Health Equity Evidence Centre, proposes replacing Carr-Hill with a modern, needs-based formula.

• Briefing

Tackling the impact of cancer on health, the economy and society

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

Cancer causes one in four premature deaths in OECD countries. It damages people’s quality of life, their ability to work, and their incomes. Cancer increases health expenditure and harms the economy through reduced labour force participation and productivity. The economic and social costs of cancer will grow as populations age and cancer treatment costs increase. This report demonstrates the strong economic and societal case for investing in cancer policies.

• Report
• More detail

NHS and life sciences industry partnerships: collaborating to improve care

The King's Fund - 

There is growing national interest in the potential for wider and deeper partnerships between the NHS and life sciences sector. The UK life sciences industry is a significant asset and there is a sense that more could be done to bring its strengths together with the NHS to improve both the nation’s health and economic prosperity. This report examines how the NHS can collaborate with industry partners in the life sciences sector by exploring four case studies of collaborative working projects between NHS organisations and pharmaceutical companies (a well-established and codified way for the NHS and industry to work in partnership).

• Report

 

The false economy of big food and the case for a new food economy

Food, Farming and Countryside Commission - 

This report provides an estimate of the food-related cost of chronic disease, caused by the current food system. It concludes that £268 billion is the food-related cost of chronic disease in the UK - calculated by combining healthcare (£67.5bn), social care (£14.3bn), welfare (£10.1bn), productivity (£116.4bn) and human cost (£60bn) of chronic disease attributable to the current food ecosystem. The report argues for enshrining the right to healthy food into law, establishing leadership for food across government, regulating the food environment and rebalancing power, redirecting money towards a healthier, greener, fairer and more resilient new food economy.

• Report
• Press release

The NHS productivity challenge: driving improvement through finance transformation

Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) - 

NHS finance and other corporate functions have a significant role to play in both contributing to improved finance productivity and in facilitating productivity gains across the NHS. This joint briefing with NHS Shared Business Services explores the impact that striving for greater productivity is likely to have on the NHS finance community.

• Briefing
• More detail

State of the provider sector 2024

NHS Providers - 

This survey shares trust leaders responses to current pressures across the healthcare sector. The findings show how years of squeezed funding, major workforce challenges and rising demand on hospitals and ambulance services have taken their toll, with overstretched community and mental health teams also coming under increasing strain.

• Survey results
• Press release

Costs and activity for mental health services provided by NHS mental health trusts in England: sociodemographic and regional trends

University of York. Centre for Health Economics - 

This study, supported by the Health Foundation, showed that between 2016 and 2019 total costs of secondary mental health services increased by 13 per cent, outpacing the average inflation rate of 2.3 per cent. The number of individuals needing to use NHS secondary mental health services also rose by 8 per cent. The highest costs were seen among working-age men and residents from England’s most deprived areas.

• Report
• More detail