Blog

GP trainees Dr Ree'Thee Bhatt and Dr Devina Maru share their experiences of working in health policy roles and outline why an understanding of policymaking is crucial to enabling clinicians to influence change in the health and care system.

The government has stated that smoking is responsible for half of the inequalities gap in life expectancy in England – will the ideas in an independent review close that gap?

What might help a wider range of professionals take on leadership roles in primary care? Kiran Chauhan and Beccy Baird suggest starting with thinking through issues around expectations, support and practical constraints.

Loreen Chikwira explores how better listening, collaborative working with minority ethnic women and better support for link workers can improve how social prescribing supports migrant women.

Jo Vigor explains how the ABC framework of staff wellbeing can help trusts understand their NHS Staff Survey results.

How well is the government’s reform programme tackling the eight key problems in adult social care? Simon Bottery marks the government’s score card and finds it wanting.

Now the Health and Care Act has been passed, Richard Murray reflects on the negotiations that went down to the wire, what didn’t make it and what’s needed to ensure the reforms are successful.

Will the target of 50,000 more nurses in the NHS by March 2024 be enough to meet the level of demand? Jonathon Holmes and David Maguire look at the story behind the data.

Social prescribing link workers are on the front line of the fight for population health. They know it, but need more support to deliver on the promise of their roles, as Laura Lamming explores.

The public has grasped what people who use social care already knew: it doesn’t provide all the support they need. Laura Schlepper, from Nuffield Trust, and Simon Bottery explore the data from the British Social Attitudes survey.

In a recent roundtable, local health leaders identified five relationships that need to be strengthened to successfully manage elective backlogs.

How has the Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on health services affected public perceptions of the NHS? The results of the 2021 British Social Attitudes survey reveal an unprecedented drop in public satisfaction with health services.

Integrated care systems are intended to be part of a new way of working in health and care based on principles of partnership and collective responsibility. Chris Naylor asks whether this original vision is already at risk and what making a reality of it would involve.

The National Audit Office has judged the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out has been value for money, but what next for the vaccine programme? Nicholas Timmins outlines the challenges that lie ahead.

The Messenger review of health and care leadership won’t be able to give social care the time and attention it deserves, says Simon Bottery. It’s time to look specifically at the unique set of skills required in the sector – and how best to support their development.

Sally Warren outlines the rationale behind the social care cap and explains why the government’s planned changes will have an unfair impact on those with lower assets.

What can be done to help address the health and care workforce crisis? Suzie Bailey and Michael West outline seven key actions leaders can take.

Despite being one of the biggest employers in England, only 6 per cent of the NHS workforce is under 25. Joni Jabbal explores how more young people can be supported into employment in the NHS.

The Covid-19 vaccination programme was one of the few largely unqualified successes of the pandemic response. Nicholas Timmins summarises the findings of a new report on what made the roll-out work, and what can be learnt for the future.

As The King’s Fund celebrates its 125th anniversary, Richard Murray looks at how the world of health and care policy may not have changed as much as we might think.