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.

Community services are a vital part of delivering co-ordinated care, and could be the answer to many of the health service’s woes in the future, says Bev Fitzsimons.

The case for change is clear; a system that listens to patients and enables them to achieve what they want to achieve in their health and wellbeing would improve outcomes and save money. But such systems still exist only in pockets around the country.

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

As a person and a patient, I care deeply about involvement. I know it helps me as a patient to live more sustainably with my health conditions and I know that, in turn, can help the NHS to exist more sustainably too.

With hospital workloads increasing on all fronts, John Appleby takes a look at the key trends and data to explain what's going on.

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.

2014/15 looks like being a watershed year in which the NHS moves decisively into deficit, so where do the opportunities lie in delivering better value?

There is a growing disquiet around mental health. Across the board people are calling for change, but what exactly is it that needs to be done and how can we bring about the ‘parity of esteem’ that we all seek?

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.

New organisational models for the NHS could bring benefits but it's the quality of leadership alongside a culture of excellence in performance and accountability for results that will be key, says Candace Imison.

Within the general population some people actively focus on reaching and maintaining good health, while others are more passive about the whole thing. So what makes the difference?

In light of our new report on the NHS productivity challenge, Chris Ham calls for a new transformation fund to stop the NHS approaching a major financial crisis.

Here’s a puzzle for you. You have a population of one million people, three psychiatrists, and no mental health nurses. How do you go about delivering mental health care?

Dominic Stenning is a member of the experts by experience group for the Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England. He spoke at the launch of the interim report, giving a frank and compelling patient perspective on the health, mental health and social care system.

With an ongoing ambition to shift care out of hospitals and closer to people’s homes, what is needed to transform community services?

The focus on delivering improvements in mental health care is currently dominated by how funding is allocated. But in the midst of the debate, little thought has been given to who should receive this money, and importantly how this could lead to reforming the system.

The success of the £3.8 billion Better Care Fund – designed to promote integrated care and help shift care closer to home – depends on a different kind of chemistry between local NHS organisations and their local authority partners.