Health Management and Policy Alert

Government response to the House of Lords inquiry into preterm birth: reducing risks and improving lives

Department of Health and Social Care - 

This document details the government's response to the recommendations made by the House of Lords report, Preterm birth: reducing risks and improving lives, and sets out the improvements the government is making to ensure everybody receives the care that they deserve.

• Paper
• More detail

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

How improvement can help NHS productivity: a joint analysis with Q

Health Foundation -
This analysis sets out five key actions policymakers and organisation, system and improvement leaders need to take to develop and implement a more holistic, quality-focused approach to productivity. It argues that a new productivity narrative must be shaped and driven by extensive engagement with stakeholders at every level of the health care system.

• Health Foundation - publications

Impact report 2023-24

Health Innovation Oxford & Thames Valley -
This report outlines how the 15 health innovation networks (HINs) benefitted patients, addressed NHS challenges and supported economic growth. It highlights progress led by HINs across the country in addressing cardiovascular disease, patient safety, health inequity and more in 2023/24. It finds that HINs collectively made a difference to the lives of more than 1 million patients, and leveraged £467 million investment through innovator support.

• Report
• Health Innovation Oxford & Thames Valley - news

Planning for the end: a review of the quality of care provided to adult patients towards the end of life

National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) - 

Each year over 600,000 people die in the United Kingdom and many of these deaths occur in hospital, despite the majority of people saying that they would prefer not to die there. Approximately 70 per cent of people die from long-term health conditions that often follow a predictable course, with death anticipated well in advance of the event. The annual number of deaths in the United Kingdom is predicted to rise to 736,000 by mid-2035. Therefore, the provision of care at the end of life must meet the needs of the population. This review looks at the quality of care provided towards the end of life for adults with a diagnosis of dementia, heart failure, lung cancer or liver disease.

• Report
• More detail

Veterans: access to health services

House of Commons Library - 

This briefing paper details the healthcare support available to armed forces veterans in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

• Briefing paper
• Briefing

The state of health care and adult social care in England 2023/24

Care Quality Commission - 

This annual assessment of the state of health and social care in England looks at the quality of care over the past year. It draws on inspection activity, findings from CQC’s national NHS patient survey programme and statutory reports, bespoke research into people’s experiences, insight from key stakeholders and evidence collected by the regulator throughout the year about the quality and safety of services in all areas of health and care.

• Report
• Press release

Mirror, mirror 2024: a portrait of the failing U.S. health system — comparing performance in 10 nations

The Commonwealth Fund - 

This report compares health system performance in ten countries. It provides analysis of 70 health system performance measures in five areas: access to care, care process, administrative efficiency, equity, and health outcomes. The top three countries are Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, although differences in overall performance between most countries are relatively small. The only clear outlier is the U.S., where health system performance is dramatically lower.

• Report
• More detail

National review of maternity services in England 2022 to 2024

Care Quality Commission -
This report presents the findings from a recent national maternity inspection programme. It highlights common issues impacting on the quality and safety of NHS hospital maternity services across the country.

• Report
• Maternity improvement resources
• Care Quality Commission - press release

Assisted dying legislation will have a big impact on end of life care: what is the state of play for services in England?

Nuffield Trust -
With the subject of assisted dying much debated in recent months, this long read describes the main challenges facing palliative and end of life care in England, and discusses what legislation on assisted dying might mean for end of life care services.

• Nuffield Trust - publications