Blog

It's hard to disagree with the principle that both costs and effects of treatments need to be weighed in order to make decisions about improving value for money and productivity. For a majority of the public however, this is not a principle they hold.

In organisations like hospitals, many of the answers are found among staff rather than in the executive offices and boardrooms, says Chris Ham.

The government expects councils and NHS partners to achieve way too much, with too little, too soon, says Richard Humphries.

How long is it reasonable to wait for treatment of depression after being referred by a GP? The results from the 2013 British Social Attitudes Survey are revealing and suggest that public expectations exceed current policy ambitions.

Chris Ham reflects on the integrated care summit 2014 and the parallel universes of integrated care researchers and practitioners.

What are some of the primary care innovations happening both abroad and in the UK? Nicola Walsh reflects on discussions at our recent conference on the role of general practice.

On the face of it, the CDF would seem perhaps to be a good thing, helping improve the quality of life for people at the end of their lives. But is it either a fair or efficient way for the NHS to spend its limited budget?

Parallels between the successful transformation of the Veterans Health Administration in the United States and the changes needed in the NHS in England have been made for a number of years. But recent troubles at the VA offer some important lessons for the NHS in the future.

The growing problems in the NHS and social care cannot be solved by the Better Care Fund or any of the other short-term solutions on offer. Nothing less than a fundamental reform of the funding of health and social care services and citizens’ entitlements to publicly funded support is required to address these problems.

The third in a series of guest blogs that we are publishing in the run-up to the launch of the final report from the Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England. Each focuses on one of the possible options for funding future health and social care. Here, Andrew Harrop of the Fabian Society argues that retired households should contribute more towards the costs of health and care.

The second in a series of guest blogs that we are publishing in the run-up to the launch of the final report from the Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England. Each focuses on one of the possible options for funding future health and social care. Here, Andrew Haldenby and Cathy Corrie of Reform discuss why new NHS charges are necessary and why no political party wants to talk about them.

Integration cannot just be about treating frail older people, we need to think beyond health and social care, and NICE is leading the way with their new guidelines – out for consultation – on preventing disability, frailty and dementia in later life.

‘We need clinical commissioning groups to become accountable care organisations’ – that’s what Jeremy Hunt said recently in parliament. But what does this really mean and will it work in practice? Rachael Addicott gives her analysis.

The first in a series of guest blogs in the run-up to the launch of the final report from the Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England. Each focuses on one of the possible options for funding future health and social care. Here, Nick Pearce of IPPR discusses how a dedicated NHS tax might work.

We need to be very careful in understanding the links between choice of metrics, impact of policies and population dynamics over time when coming to conclusions about the success or failure of ambitions to narrow inequalities in health, says David Buck.

Leaders across health and care agree that much more needs to be done to address the low representation of women in senior medical leadership roles.

In his new blog, Chris Ham discusses the recommendations of his review of staff engagement in the NHS. The review found compelling evidence that NHS organisations with high levels of staff engagement – where staff are strongly committed to their work and involved in decision-making – deliver better quality care.

Although earlier rumours of the demise of the Better Care Fund – the government’s £3.8 billion pooled fund to promote integrated care – have turned out to be greatly exaggerated, the significance of the government’s latest announcement about the fund should not be.

We have ample evidence of what good care for older people looks like and numerous service models delivering it, yet we aren’t very good at disseminating good practice, and worse still at adopting and implementing improvements at scale and pace.

Mandip Kaur reflects on Roger Kline's report on discrimination in NHS governance and leadership in London, and her own experience, to call for more action on difference and inclusion in the NHS.