Comment & analysis
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Can we be aspirational about quality standards for mental health when resources are so tight?
Joanna Goodrich considers the impact of NICE's aspirational guidance on the delivery of adult mental health care on patient-centred care. (Blog, 22 Dec 2011)
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The NHS in England in 2012
Three issues have dominated debate about health policy in England during 2011: the Health and Social Care Bill, performance of the NHS and the quality of patient care. But what health policy issues will be high on the agenda during 2012? (Article, 21 Dec 2011)
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NHS merger decisions – what’s the evidence?
Candace Imison assesses what evidence is needed for NHS merger decisions (Blog, 21 Dec 2011)
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Understanding New Labour's market reforms of the English NHS sounds warning for coalition government’s agenda
Can our new book on New Labour's market reforms offer guidance to the coalition government on increasing competition? (Press release, 23 Sep 2011)
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Health reforms will weaken NHS accountability warns The King’s Fund
A new report from The King’s Fund warns that the coalition government’s reforms risk reducing accountability in the health system, potentially undermining the performance of key NHS organisations as a result. (Press release, 1 Jun 2011)
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Holding the NHS to account
As the government’s listening exercise on the Health and Social Care Bill draws to a close, has the government really listened? And if so, how will any new system of commissioning be held accountable? (Blog, Jo Maybin, 1 Jun 2011)
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Making the transition – a time of risk or opportunity?
How well will the transitional governance arrangements work at the local level? The King’s Fund’s Board Leadership Programme recently encouraged board non-executive directors (NEDs) to invite their GP colleagues from pathfinder consortia to a discussion on GP commissioning. (Blog, Katy Steward, 11 Apr 2011)
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Commissioning for the future: will fact follow fiction?
How closely does the Health Select Committee's report mirror a simulation exercise run by NHS Lincolnshire to illustrate commissioning NHS health services in 2013/14? (Blog, Natasha Curry, 8 Apr 2011)
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Can the government’s proposals for NHS reform be made to work?
The new health bill is contentious, and growing professional opposition to some aspects could undermine the reforms. Kieran Walshe and Chris Ham suggest some changes that may help the government to make its reforms work. (Article, BMJ, 31 Mar 2011)
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Sustainable health and social care is a shared responsibility
The environmental impact of everyday things can come as some surprise. An iPod Nano, for example, weighs in at just 21g, and yet manufacturing each one releases 13kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to estimates published in the Ecologist magazine . Imagine, then, the impact of something as gargantuan as the NHS. (Blog, Chris Naylor, 28 Mar)
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Paradoxes in the debate about the Health and Social Care Bill
Are the reforms in the Health and Social Care Bill revolutionary or simply an evolution of the previous government's policy? Are they being implicated too quickly and do they put patients at the centre of the NHS? (Blog, Anna Dixon, 26 Jan 2011)
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Ten questions to ask about the Health and Social Care Bill
As the Health and Social Care Bill is about to be published to enact the proposed reforms set out in 2010's NHS White Paper, THe King's Fund looks ahead to see what key issues need to be resolved, including GP commissioning, competition and regulation. (Blog, Chris Ham, 12 Jan 2011)
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Quality accounts need re-think to support information revolution
New reports on the quality of NHS services have in many cases failed to provide the public with meaningful information about the performance of local health services, according to a report published by The King’s Fund (Press release, 6 Jan 2011)
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GPs will walk a tightrope between making or buying
As the main primary medical care providers, GPs and their teams are in a unique position to use commissioning to develop new models of care in the community. But will they be allowed to do so when concerns have been expressed about the conflicts of interest faced by GPs as commissioners and providers, and about the policy of encouraging any willing provider to enter the healthcare market? (Article, HSJ, 6 Jan 2011)
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Should NHS funding be ring fenced?
If there’s one thing economists agree on it is the fact that the hole in the public finances, currently around £86bn, needs to be filled. (Article, British Medical Journal, 17 Aug 2010)
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NHS needs waiting-time targets
'Targets and terror' worked, and without them questions remain over whether the NHS can guarantee acceptable waiting times. (Article, The Guardian, 22 Jun 2010)
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Freeing the NHS from politics
The proposal to set up an NHS Independent Board has long been a Conservative party ambition. It is likely that yesterday’s promised Health Bill will include provisions to establish an independent NHS Board as part of the government’s aim to replace the ‘top down approach’ with devolution of power to doctors and patients, and to rid the NHS of political micro-management. (Blog, Anna Dixon, 26 May 2010)
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Conservative and Liberal Democrat health policy Venn diagram
This Venn diagram pulls together the health policies of both parties’ manifestos pre-election, letting us see the similarities and differences that could affect future health care policy. (Blog, John Appleby, 14 May 2010)
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What does a Tory-Liberal coalition mean for health?
The waiting is over, but much remains uncertain. Yesterday’s historic agreement means we have a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in power. But what will the combination of blue and orange mean for health care policy and the NHS? (Blog, Anna Dixon, 12 May 2010)
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Who should own the NHS?
Over the past few months, there has been increasing talk both in the media and by politicians about concepts such as ‘employee ownership’, ‘mutual ownership’, ‘cooperatives’, the ‘John Lewis model’ and ‘social enterprise’. But how do these concepts work in practice? (Blog, Rachael Addicott, 29 Apr 2010)
