Health Management and Policy Alert

Supervision of clinicians in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme: what more is needed to assure safety and quality?

Nuffield Trust -
Since its introduction in 2019, the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) has led to changes in the skill mix of the general practice workforce, with a rapid increase in roles such as physiotherapists, physician associates and advanced practitioners. This long read looks at ways to develop supervision for ARRS clinical roles in ways that help to assure safety and quality, and the policy changes that would be needed to achieve this.

• Nuffield Trust - publications

Responding to challenge

Patient Experience Library -
This report aims to demonstrate what the warning signs of harmful cultures look like. It looks at ten years of avoidable harm inquiry reports, and the organisational and professional cultures that lie at the heart of harm. It then tries to find patterns of behaviour that crop up time and again in health care disasters through the themes of teamwork, compliance, accountability, organisational learning and more.

• Report
• Patient Experience Library - publications

Kingdon review: terms of reference

Department of Health and Social Care - 

This document sets out the terms of reference for the independent review of children’s hearing services in England, to be chaired by Dr Camilla Kingdon (a consultant neonatologist and former President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health). The review will consider: NHS England’s response to the service failures in paediatric audiology; how the relevant governance arrangements between NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care could be improved and identify lessons learned; and how NHS England’s handling of any future service failures in similar services could be improved and identify lessons learned.

• Guidance
• Press release

 

Quality and Outcomes Framework guidance for 2025/26

NHS England -
This document provides additional guidance on the interpretation and verification of the QOF indicators for 2025/26 in England. It is effective from 1 April 2025 and replaces versions issued in previous years.

• Guidance
• NHS England - publications

England Rare Diseases Action Plan 2025: main report

Department of Health and Social Care - 

The UK Rare Diseases Framework in January 2021, set out a shared vision for addressing health inequalities and improving the lives of people living with rare diseases across the UK. This is the fourth action plan setting out how the Department of Health and Social Care and delivery partners will implement the UK Rare Diseases Framework in England.

• Report
• More detail

The South West London Acute Provider Collaborative

NHS Providers - 

This case study looks at the South West London Acute Provider Collaborative's diagnostics programme, established following the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, with the aim of leading the renewal and recovery of diagnostic services across South West London acute trusts and to ensure the growing demand for diagnostic services could be met.

• Case study

A helping hand: robotics in surgery

Reform -
The advent of robotic assisted surgery is now offering unprecedented precision and minimally invasive procedures, in turn reducing recovery time for patients and improving outcomes. It has emerged as one of the potential solutions to lower bed occupancy, faster procedures, improved patient flow, as well as enhanced accuracy, reduced blood loss, and less pain. This paper explores the advantages of robotic assisted surgery and steps that can be taken to ensure their rollout.

• Report
• Reform - publications

Shaping the national cancer plan

Department of Health and Social Care -
The Prime Minister’s health mission sets the objective of building an NHS fit for the future, and part of this is achieving the goal to reduce the number of lives lost to cancer. The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking the views of individuals, professionals and organisations to understand how this ambition can be achieved. These views will inform the plan to improve cancer care, from referral and diagnosis to treatment and aftercare, in order to better the experience and outcomes for people with cancer. The closing date for comments is 29 April 2025.

• Call for evidence
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

A pain to complain: why it’s time to fix the NHS complaints process

Healthwatch England - 

Written complaints in the NHS reached a record high in 2024. This report finds that low public confidence is preventing people from taking any action after experiencing poor care, meaning that current complaints numbers could just be the tip of the iceberg. There is also little evidence that complaints are being systematically used to improve care. The report states action is needed to: make the complaints process easier for patients and their families to navigate; monitor and improve the performance of organisations that handle complaints; and develop a culture of listening to and learning from complaints.

• Report
• Press release

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