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.

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.
Supervised community treatment briefing cover

Supervised community treatment briefing

One of the most controversial proposals in the government's Mental Health Bill is the introduction of supervised community treatment (SCT). This briefing explores some of the surrounding issues and the available evidence on the likely effect of SCT.
Professional regulation briefing cover

Professional regulation

This briefing outlines the current system of professional regulation in the UK; describes the criticisms of this system; details the government's proposals for reform; and discusses the potential strengths and weaknesses of the proposed changes.
Funding health care: 2008 and beyond publication cover

Funding Health Care: 2008 and beyond

Report from the Leeds Castle summit
Presents discussions from a meeting of managers, economists and policy advisers on the right levels of public funding for health and what frameworks and processes should be put in place.
Operating framework 2007/8 briefing cover

Operating framework 2007/8

Ruth Thorlby
This briefing outlines the main points in the 2007/8 Operating Framework, provides some analysis of the content and discusses the implications of the accompanying documents.
An anatomy of GP referral decisions publication cover

An Anatomy of GP Referral Decisions

A qualitative study of GPs' views on their role in supporting patient choice
Rebecca Rosen, Dominique Florin, Ruth Hutt
This qualitative study explores GPs' views on their role in supporting patient choice at the point of referral, their views on Choose and Book and equity in choice.
How to regulate health care in England? publication cover

How to Regulate Health Care in England?

An international perspective
Richard Lewis, Arturo Alvarez-Rosete, Nicholas Mays
Our report compares the regulatory frameworks in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand to the regulation of the NHS in England.
Community-based compulsory treatment orders in Scotland publication cover

Community-based Compulsory Treatment Orders in Scotland

The early evidence
Simon Lawton-Smith
What impact have community-based compulsory treatment orders had in the first six months since they were introduced in Scotland, and what lessons can England and Wales learn from this experience?
NHs Reform: Getting back on track publication cover

NHS Reform

Getting back on track
Keith Palmer
Discusses the causes of the NHS deficit in 2005/6 and considers three recent policy developments, asking what their impacts might be on NHS organisations and how they could be improved.
Future trends and challenges for cancer services in England publication cover

Future Trends and Challenges for Cancer Services in England

A review of literature and policy
Tony Harrison, Rebecca Rosen, Alex Smith
Aims to stimulate debate about developing cancer services in England, as demographic trends, new treatments, increasing survival rates and NHS reforms have altered the context in which they operate.
Local variations in NHS spending priorities briefing cover

Local variations in NHS spending priorities

Our briefing on local variations in NHS spending priorities analyses newly-available data, collected by the Department of Health, on the amount spent by primary care trusts on specific disease areas.
Grow your own: Creating the conditions for sustainable workforce development publication cover

Grow Your Own

Creating the conditions for sustainable workforce development
Gita Malhotra
Developing a sustainable and flexible workforce, using 'grow-your-own' approaches, could help the NHS face complex challenges as investment slows. This paper explores the conditions required to successfully implement these approaches.
Clearing the air: Debating smoke-free policies in psychiatric units front cover

Clearing the Air

Debating smoke-free policies in psychiatric units
Karen Jochelson, Bill Majrowski
Explores the arguments for and against the proposed ban on indoor smoking in psychiatric units, as well as the impact of smoking and smoking bans in these settings.
Designing the 'new' NHS publication cover

Designing the 'new' NHS

Ideas to make a supplier market in health care work
Amid increasing independent and voluntary sector involvement in NHS service delivery this report highlights issues that the government and health service providers in all three sectors should address.
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.
Deficits in the NHS briefing cover

Deficits in the NHS

The NHS has rarely managed to balance its books exactly; in many years it has overspent, and in some it has carried a surplus. This briefing analyses what is known about the causes of current deficits.
Social enterprise and community-based care publication cover

Social Enterprise and Community-based Care

Is there a future for mutually-owned organisations in community and primary care?
Richard Lewis, Peter Hunt, David Carson
Explores how social enterprises, particularly those with a 'mutual' structure, could add value to the provision of primary and community care and practice-based commissioning, and suggests how this system could be implemented.
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.
Working to sustain progress publication cover

Working to Sustain Progress

Black and minority ethnic non-executive directors in London
Eleanor Stanley
Examines the current situation and experiences of NEDs from BME communities in London's NHS trusts and health authorities, and asks what is required to sustain this BME representation.

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