Blog

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.

With more people dying at home as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a need for greater understanding of end-of-life care. Luca Tiratelli outlines this trend and considers the challenges in collecting meaningful data.

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.

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.

Oliver Standing, Director of Collective Voice, and colleagues from the Alliance Group, explore the opportunities offered by England’s new drugs strategy, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.

Funding for local public health has been getting more complicated, making it harder for directors of public health to plan, and for transparency for anyone looking on, seeking to understand what is happening. David Buck looks at the different pieces of the jigsaw.

In this guest blog Gemma Peters, Chief Executive of Blood Cancer UK, highlights the challenges that people with blood cancer and others with compromised immunity faced during the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out and the lessons that must be learnt from their experiences.

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.

The government’s White Paper has done little to dispel concerns that reform of adult social care is faltering, says Simon Bottery.

Despite the recent criticism, the government’s proposed social care reforms are still a step forward, says Simon Bottery, but the acid test will be its imminent White Paper.

The current rhetoric from ministers is that waits for elective care will ‘get worse before they get better’. But what will the ‘better’ part of ‘build back better’ look like for elective care?

Veena Raleigh examines the latest international health statistics from OECD's Health at a glance 2021.

Simon Bottery explores reasons for the lack of younger workers in social care and finds snapshots of innovation among providers trying to reverse the trend.

As demand for primary care services continues to grow, Martha Martin, GP trainee, explores how investment in improving the social determinants of health and time to develop relationships in multidisciplinary teams would help her to better support her patients.

Partnership working can be transformative – if it works well. Here we share two techniques, observed as part of the Healthy Communities Together programme, that can help in forming healthy partnerships.

Siva Anandaciva brings together the recent announcements on health and care spending from the Autumn Budget and Spending Review.

As part of our work on Covid-19 and the public health system, we spoke to leaders at the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement and Public Health England for their take on the role of the public health system in the response to Covid-19. Shilpa Ross shares some insights into their views.