Blog

People who have experienced trauma face a number of barriers to accessing health care. Deborah Fenney explains why a trauma-informed approach is essential for supporting a group that currently face poor health outcomes.

New Zealander Martin Hefford reflects on his time in the UK and ponders the questions about primary care reform that arose from his conversations with those working in primary care, secondary care and the third sector.

Ambitions to improve the quality of mental health care will fail if they are not accompanied by plans to address staff shortages. Helen Gilburt looks at the effect of staff shortages on staff, patients and quality of care.

As this year’s party conference season comes to a close, what have we learned about the main parties’ priorities for health and social care? Richard Murray weighs up the key commitments, from funding and the NHS workforce to social care reform.

Rising demand for services and systemic staff shortages are putting NHS staff under increasing pressure. What impact is this having on sickness absence rates in the NHS, and what can be done to reduce the pressure on staff?

Julia Thrift, Projects Director for the Town & Country Planning Association, explores the relationship between town planning and population health, and how the lessons of NHS England’s Healthy New Towns programme should inform future developments to ensure people are able healthier lives and reduce health inequalities.

What would holistic health and social care delivered by a non-hierarchical team look like in England? Jo Maybin makes some observations about work under way in West Suffolk.

Anna Charles considers what we might learn from the local system plans currently being developed by sustainability and transformation partnerships and integrated care systems.

NHS administrative processes and staff have an important role to play in delivering care. But what happens when administration is poor? What impact can it have on patient experience? As we begin our new project on NHS administration, Lillie Wenzel shares the findings from our early work.

Clinical leaders of primary care networks face both challenges and opportunities to bring people together to drive real change. Beccy Baird and Tricia Boyle suggest five ways to help successfully lead a primary care network.

As NHS England publish the key learnings from its Healthy New Towns Programme, Alex Baylis explains why The King’s Fund has been involved in this work and how it links with our vision for population health.

How will mental health fit into primary care networks? With primary care providing the majority of NHS mental health support, Beccy Baird and Andy Bell from the Centre for Mental Health look at the opportunities and challenges these networks will face in improving the mental as well as physical health of the communities they serve.

Simon Bottery considers joined-up health and social care in South Tyneside, with social workers joining ‘huddles’ on wards and using a ‘strength-based’ approach in discharge planning

As the health and care system takes steps towards joining up care, what will successful integration look like, and how will it be measured? Dan Wellings considers why new measures are needed and the challenges for ensuring meaningful data is collected.

As primary care services come together under the new primary care networks, Richard Murray reviews progress to date and what’s next for general practice, from integration and workforce to technology and the estate.

As primary care networks and integrated care systems develop, Anna Charles considers how their relationship might evolve to strengthen the voice of primary and community care and join up local services.

Improving population health in towns and cities requires both an overarching city-wide strategy, as well as a granular understanding of the needs of local neighbourhoods, as Chris Naylor and Kieron Boyle explain.

Richard Murray considers the role primary care networks are meant to play in alleviating workforce pressures, linking general practice with integrated care systems and improving population health.

Emily, a senior peer support worker at Haven, explains the vital role peer support workers play in supporting people through mental health crisis.