Health Management and Policy Alert

The backlog of care across the provider sector: a submission to the National Audit Office inquiry on NHS backlogs and waiting times

NHS Providers -
This survey of NHS trust leaders has revealed widespread worries that rapidly growing waiting lists will worsen existing health inequalities. Findings also reflect concerns about the time it will take to recover the care backlog, despite impressive progress by trusts and frontline staff in restoring services. Almost a third of leaders (32 per cent) said it will take three to five years.

• Briefing
• NHS Providers - news

Annual review of adult social care complaints 2020-21

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman -
This annual review of social care complaints – covering both councils and independent care providers across England – shows the service found fault in 72 per cent of the complaints it investigated last year. The report discovers that the faults found during investigations are often not due to one-off errors caused by staff working under pressure, but are increasingly caused by the measures employed by councils and care providers to mitigate the squeeze on their resources.

• Report
• Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman - press release

The Government’s response to the Health and Social Care Committee report: safety of maternity services in England

Department of Health and Social Care -
The Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) published a report in July 2021 containing 15 recommendations for improving the safety of maternity services, covering issues such as staffing, patient safety and personalised care. This report contains the government response to these recommendations.

• Report
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Building strong integrated care systems everywhere: ICS implementation guidance on working with people and communities

NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) - 

The ICS design framework sets the expectation that partners in an integrated care system (ICS) should agree how to listen consistently to, and collectively act on, the experience and aspirations of local people and communities. This includes supporting people to sustain and improve their health and wellbeing, as well as involving people and communities in developing plans and priorities, and continually improving services. This guidance sets out 10 principles for how integrated care boards (ICBs) can develop their approaches to working with people and communities, and the expectations.

• Guidelines
• More detail

A reckoning: the continuing cost of Covid-19

NHS Confederation -
This joint briefing by NHS Providers and the NHS Confederation, based on survey data from 54 per cent of the provider sector, explains the potential long-term impact of the pandemic on the NHS’s day-to-day running costs, and calls on the government to ensure these costs are met in full.

• Briefing
• NHS Confederation - press release

Babies, children and young people's experience of healthcare

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) -
This guideline recommends ensuring children and young people are fully informed about their health so that they are empowered to take an active role in their health care. It emphasises the need to provide children and young people with clear and accurate information which can be tailored to an individual patient’s level of maturity and understanding. It recommends that information materials should be developed in partnership with young people and presented in a range of formats using words and images.

• Guidance
• NICE - news

Antenatal care

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) -
This guideline replaces the recommendations from NICE’s 2008 guideline on antenatal care and aims to improve the consistency of care across the country. It offers practical advice on the routine care of women and their babies during pregnancy. It aims to ensure that women are offered regular check-ups, information and support, and includes recommendations on a range of topics from monitoring foetal growth to the sleep position to avoid during pregnancy. The guideline highlights the importance of informed shared decision making and addresses the role that partners play in supporting women through their pregnancy.

• Guidance
• NICE - press release

The lived experience of disabled people during the Covid-19 pandemic

Cabinet Office Disability Unit -
The aim of this research was to understand the impact of Covid-19 on the lives of disabled people, to identify problems that could be resolved through policy changes and to make the changes necessary that would lead to positive outcomes. This research will feed into short-term responses to Covid-19. It will also be considered regarding policies within the Disability Unit’s National Strategy for Disabled People and long-term planning efforts regarding possible future pandemics.

• Report
• Cabinet Office Disability Unit - publications

A wait on your mind?: a realistic proposal for tackling the elective backlog

Policy Exchange -
This research looks at the entirety of the patient pathway and proposes a package of policy recommendations. These range from how to best address the bottleneck in general practice and diagnostics, to the method of clinical prioritisation, the communication with the patient, the role for pre-habilitation, and then finally considers the policy framework which should underpin an expansion in elective care capacity over the medium term.

• Report
• Policy Exchange - publications

Attitudes towards and experiences of the NHS during Covid-19: views from patients, professionals and the public

The Richmond Group of Charities - 
This report is the third and final report from a collaboration with Britain Thinks to understand how the experiences and perceptions of patients, professionals and the public have shifted during the pandemic and what this might mean for the future of the NHS in England. It looks at the NHS across three areas: primary care; secondary care; and community care. It also examines four patient types: mental health; long term health conditions; cancer patients; and surgery patients. Additionally, it looks into what patients and the public understand about the term 'health inequalities'.

• Report
• The Richmond Group of Charities - news