Health Management and Policy Alert

Longer, better lives: a manifesto for cancer research and care

Cancer Research UK - 

This manifesto sets out the measures and commitments Cancer Research UK states the next government can make to help prevent 20,000 cancer deaths every year by 2040. It has been developed with the insights of cancer patients and experts from across health, life sciences, government and academic sectors.

• Manifesto
• Press release

Hospital discharge funds: experiences in winter 2022–23

The King's Fund - 

In this report, The King's Fund hears from commissioners and service providers in six local areas to find out how they experienced the process of receiving additional funding to reduce delayed discharge in 2022-23.

• Report
• Press release

Waiting time prioritisation in the health sector: evidence from hip replacement surgery

Centre for Health Economics - 

Waiting times for planned healthcare treatments have been slowly increasing in England in the last decade, and increased sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic. One policy to reduce the impact of waiting times on patients’ health is for doctors to prioritise patients according to need. This study uses hospital administrative data in 2015-2021 on hip replacements in England to investigate the extent to which publicly-funded patients with higher need, measured by preoperative health, are prioritised on the list by public and private providers.

• Report

“I love the NHS, but…”: preventing needless harms caused by poor communications in the NHS

Demos - 

This report makes a case for the urgent need to improve communication within the NHS. It found that more than half (55%) of people have experienced poor communications from NHS in the past five years and one in ten say their care has been affected as a result. Demos calls on the government for: an expansion of the system of care coordinators; an expansion of the system of care navigators in GP surgeries; and improvements to the uptake and use of the NHS App.

• Report
• More detail

Homecare medicines services: an opportunity lost

House of Lords Public Services Committee - 

Homecare medicines services deliver medicines and provide medicine-related care to patients in their homes: teaching them to self-inject, and delivering medicine that might need special transport. 500,000 NHS patients use homecare services in England, and the sector of for-profit companies providing these services is growing. The Committee heard multiple reports of delays and errors by homecare providers, resulting in patients receiving care later than scheduled. The Committee has concluded that this key service is not working the way it should and, in some cases, is causing patients serious harm. It sets out three key recommendations for improvement.

• Report
• Press release

State of the provider sector 2023

NHS Providers - 

The state of the provider sector survey provides a yearly snapshot of the hopes and fears of leaders of hospital, mental health, community and ambulance services across England. Survey findings include: eight in ten leaders (80 per cent) say this winter will be tougher than last year (66 per cent said last year was the most challenging they had ever seen); 95 per cent are concerned about the impact of winter pressures; and most (78 per cent) are worried about having enough capacity to meet demand over the next 12 months – higher than before the pandemic in 2019 (61 per cent).

• Report
• Press release

Health: the choices

Nesta - 

The UK 2040 Options project, run by a team based at Nesta, will convene a range of experts and thinkers on some of the defining issues facing the country. This report sets out nine fundamental facts about the challenges facing the NHS, social care and public health services.

• Report
• More detail

State of the nation: a comprehensive, retrospective view of NHS data

Wilmington Healthcare - 

This report provides a health check for the NHS. The report looks at: hospital episode statistics, including waiting times and length of stay; demographics and disease prevalence – including health inequalities; key statistics on what outcomes the NHS is achieving in major therapy areas; assessment of the NHS on its own KPIs; prescribing insights, nationally and regionally, including the most-prescribed drugs; workforce data – including vacancies and recruitment; regional insights, including performance and challenges of ICSs. Please note that free registration is required to download the report.

• Report

The NHS waiting list: when will it peak?

Health Foundation - 

This analysis shows that, if current trends continue, the waiting list for routine hospital treatment (‘elective care’) in England could rise to over 8 million by next summer, regardless of whether NHS industrial action continues.

• Analysis 
• Press release

Performance tracker 2023: public services as the UK approaches a general election

Institute for Government - 

This annual report, produced in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), assesses the health of nine key public services as the UK approaches a general election: general practice, hospitals, adult social care, children’s social care, neighbourhood services, schools, police, criminal courts and prisons. It finds almost all performing worse than before the pandemic – and much worse than in 2010 – and that tight spending plans, to which both main parties have committed, will mean very difficult choices face whoever wins the election.

• Report
• More detail