Our most popular content of 2017

2017 has been a busy year, with health and social care hitting the headlines and NHS funding and sustainability a key concern. Here we list some of our most prominent content and activity of 2017.

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Most-read reports

Delivering sustainability and transformation plans: from ambitious proposals to credible plans

STPs offer the best hope for the NHS and its partners to sustain services and transform the delivery of health and care, but how will STP footprints transform their plans into reality? Our report identifies the challenges that lie ahead.

Smoker and non-smoker

Understanding NHS financial pressures: how are they affecting patient care?

Severe financial pressures on the NHS show no signs of easing, but how are they affecting patient care?

Making the case for quality improvement: lessons for NHS boards and leaders

At a time of significant financial and operational pressure, local and national NHS leaders need to focus on improving quality and delivering better-value care. We make the case for quality improvement and share lessons for NHS boards and leaders.

Mental health and new models of care: lessons from the vanguards

This report argues that new care models and vanguards need to make more of opportunities to improve care through integrated approaches to mental health.

Public satisfaction with the NHS in 2016

In 2016 the NHS remained popular with the public. In particular, the public values a system that provides high-quality, comprehensive services that are free at the point of use.

Most-read long reads

2017 priorities

Priorities for the NHS and social care in 2017

2017 promises to be another challenging year for the health and care system. We identify five priorities for the year ahead.

Health care funding models

How health care is funded

The way that health care is funded varies between different countries. Here we explain the main models used in their purest form, although most countries typically use a combination of these methods.

Accountable care explained

Accountable care is the latest health policy buzz phrase. But where did it come from and what does it really mean?

Demand and activity

How hospital activity in the NHS in England has changed over time

Why is the NHS struggling to maintain standards of care despite increased funding? Demand for services is rising.

What is social prescribing?

Social prescribing enables GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services. But does it work? And how does it fit in with wider health and care policy?

Most-read blogs

Accepting the unacceptable? A physician’s perspective on frontline care

Ahead of the publication of our report, Organising care at the NHS front line, Elin Roddy shares her experience of providing care for acutely ill medical patients.

Chickens coming home to roost: local government public health budgets for 2017/18

With the central government grant falling, David Buck takes a look at local authorities' plans for public health spending in 2017/18.

Quality improvement: learning from innovations in the vanguards

Don Berwick sees the impact of work under way in the vanguards, and considers how their innovative approaches could be shared more widely across the NHS.

Why aren’t we realising our ambitions for children’s health?

Jill Roberts looks at the challenges facing children’s health, and asks what needs to be done to improve the current situation.

Most-viewed multimedia

How does the NHS in England work?

How does the NHS in England work? An alternative guide

Watch our animation for a whistle-stop tour of how the NHS works in 2017 and how it’s changing.

The NHS budget and how it has changed over time

Data visualisation

The NHS budget and how it has changed

The total budget for the Department of Health in England and how it has changed since 2009/10. Though NHS funding is continuing to grow, the rate of growth is slowing considerably compared to historical trends.

Data visualisation

How the NHS is funded

The NHS is mainly funded from general taxation and National Insurance contributions.

How is the NHS structured?

How is the NHS structured?

A series of diagrams explaining how the NHS is structured including how providers are regulated and commissioned, and how the money flows.

Michael West: Collaborative and compassionate leadership

Professor Michael West explores the links between compassionate leadership and innovation and discusses the importance of collaboration across boundaries in health and care.

Event highlights

Ideas that change health care: a festival of ideas to inspire and challenge the future of health care

The Canterbury tales: lessons on how accountable care systems should work

Digital Health and Care Congress 2017: Embedding technology in health and social care

Social prescribing: from rhetoric to reality

Leadership and organisational development highlights

Cascading Leadership programme

This free programme matches experienced, high-performing leaders in the voluntary and community sector with others in the sector to share their knowledge and provide peer support.

Getting It Right First Time report

Tackling variations in clinical care: assessing the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme

The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme aims to bring about higher-quality care in hospitals, at lower cost, by reducing unwanted variations in services and practices.

Advanced OD practitioner programme: health and social care

For experienced OD, leadership and development practitioners, HR and transformation directors responsible for developing leadership and organisational capability.

Building your authority: Influencing beyond your role

A programme to enable you to influence beyond your formal role and work effectively within groups and systems.

Leading across the health and care system: lessons from experience

This paper offers those who are leading new systems of care some guidance on how to address the challenges they face. It draws on the Fund’s work on the development of new care models, sustainability and transformation plans, and accountable care organisations.

Caring to change: how compassionate leadership can stimulate innovation in health care

This paper looks at compassion as a core cultural value of the NHS and how compassionate leadership results in a working environment that encourages people to find new and improved ways of doing things.

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Related content

2017: Stand-out moments for The King’s Fund staff

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About us: The King's Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England

The King's Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England.

What we do

The King's Fund is an independent charity working in England to achieve the vision that the best possible health and care is available to all.

Our goals and strategic priorities, 2016–19

The King's Fund is an independent charity working to improve health and care in England. Our vision is that the best possible health and care is available to all.