Publications

Bringing you the latest independent views on health and social care from The King's Fund, all of our reports and findings from our projects are available to buy or download.

To order printed copies of our publications, please purchase online or contact publications@kingsfund.org.uk or 020 7307 2568.

A high-performing NHS? A review of progress 1997-2010 front cover

A high-performing NHS?

A review of progress 1997-2010
Jo Maybin, Ruth Thorlby (editor)
The report assesses how much progress the NHS has made in the following eight areas: access, safety, health promotion and management of long-term conditions, clinical effectiveness, patient experience, equity, efficiency and accountability.
Getting the most out of PROMS publication cover

Getting the most out of PROMs

Putting health outcomes at the heart of NHS decision-making
John Appleby, Nancy Devlin
This report considers how PROMs data can be used to inform decisions. It looks at Bupa to discuss how providers can use PROMs data to improve clinical performance.
Getting the measure of quality: Opportunities and challenges publication cover

Getting the measure of quality

Opportunities and challenges
This report offers information about how quality is defined and how quality measures can be used - and misused.
Assessing complementary practice publication cover

Assessing complementary practice

Building consensus on appropriate research methods
Professor Dame Carol Black
The King's Fund set up an advisory group to consider how to develop and apply a robust evidence base for complementary practice - their points and discussions are captured in this report.
Measures of patients' experience in hospital: Purpose, methods and uses publication cover

Measures of patients' experience in hospital

Purpose, methods and uses
This paper provides a brief guide to measuring patients' experiences to help trust boards and other interested parties decide which measurement and feedback tools are appropriate for their requirements.
How cold will it be? Prospects for NHS funding 2011-17 publication cover

How cold will it be?

Prospects for NHS funding: 2011-2017
John Appleby, Rowena Crawford, Carl Emmerson
Starting with a look at historical funding for the NHS, The King's Fund and the Institute for Fiscal Studies set out three possible future funding scenarios and their consequences.
NICE technology appraisals briefing cover

NICE technology appraisals

Teresa Poole
In our briefing, Teresa Poole looks at how NICE appraises new and existing drugs through clinical and economic evidence, and the impact of those appraisals.
NHS spending: Local variations in priorities publication cover

NHS spending

Local variations in priorities: an update
This update examines how PCTs allocate their spending to different programmes of care, and considers the true effect of the different needs of local populations.
High quality care for all briefing cover

Briefing: High Quality Care for All: the NHS Next Stage Review final report

Jo Maybin, Ruth Thorlby
This briefing provides The King's Fund's analysis of the key themes explored in High Quality Care For All, the final report from Lord Darzi's NHS Next Stage Review.
Celebrating the NHS at 60 briefing cover

Briefing: Celebrating the NHS at 60

John Appleby, Ruth Thorlby
In this briefing, John Appleby and Ruth Thorlby explore the early years of the NHS and look forward to what we might encounter in the next 60 years.
Visions for care in strategic health authorities publication cover

Visions for care in strategic health authorities

As part of Lord Darzi's review of the NHS, each strategic health authority (SHA) outside London was commissioned to produce a report outlining their 'vision' for care in their region in the next decade.
Making it happen: Next steps in NHS reform publication cover

Making it Happen

Next steps in NHS reform, Report of an expert working group
Nick Timmins, Alasdair Liddell
Have the health reforms improved services for patients? An expert working group explores how effective current incentives are and the impact of Lord Darzi's review.
Background to the Next Stage Review publication cover

Background to the NHS Next Stage Review

This briefing provides the background of the review and asks what the final report might recommend.
Payment by results briefing cover

Payment by Results

This briefing explains how Payment by Results (PbR) works, examines the evidence on whether the system has achieved, or is likely to achieve, the policy aims set for it, and describes the government's current proposals for the future of PbR.
Our future health secured publication cover

Our Future Health Secured?

A review of NHS funding and performance
John Appleby, Tony Harrison, Sir Derek Wanless, Darshan Patel
Since the Wanless review of 2002, Securing our Future Health, NHS spending has increased by nearly 50 per cent. Our report looks at where that money has been spent, what it has achieved and whether government policy has promoted effective use of resources.
Health and ten years of Labour government briefing cover

Health and ten years of Labour government: achievements and challenges

Jo Maybin, Ruth Thorlby
After ten years in power, how successfully has Labour managed health provision in the UK? This briefing is an in-depth look into the issue.
Health and ten years of Labour government briefing cover

Health and ten years of Labour government: key facts

After ten years in power, how successfully has Labour managed health provision in the UK? This briefing sets out the key facts and issues.
The NHS in England publication cover

The NHS in England: The operating framework for 2006/7

This briefing describes the main points contained in the 2006/7 Operating Framework and provides some commentary about what the document implies for the competing strands of NHS reform.
Assessing the new NHS consultant contract publication cover

Assessing the New NHS Consultant Contract

A something for something deal?
Sally Williams, James Buchan
Drawing on evidence from five acute NHS trusts, this paper assesses the impact of the new consultant contract in England and asks whether reforms will translate into benefits for patients.
Securing good care for older people publication front cover

Securing Good Care for Older People

Taking a long-term view
Derek Wanless
How much should be spent on social care for older people over the next 20 years, and what funding arrangements are needed? Our report sets out the findings of the Wanless Social Care Review.

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