Blog

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.

Angela Fell, Director of Northern Heart and Soul in Wigan, outlines why we should move beyond person-centred services to a community-centred approach in order to transform people's health and wellbeing.

Data, funding and workforce – if the government wants its proposed reforms to the MHA to create change these system-wide enablers are as important as individual changes to legislation. Helen Gilburt consider the issues.

As we reach the one-year anniversary of the start of lockdown in the United Kingdom, Richard Murray outlines how a whole-system response will best support staff and patients and help to tackle inequalities.

Helen Gilburt shares her research into how mental health and social care professionals make decisions around whether to detain people with mental disorders under the Mental Health Act or the Mental Capacity Act – Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. Her research uncovered a range of understandings and misunderstandings which impact on practice.

How reliable is the data collected about detentions under the Mental Health Act? Veena Raleigh looks at the data quality issues and their implications.

With the publication of the government’s Green Paper on child and adolescent mental health, Jill Roberts looks at how it tackles the issues around inequalities.

Building relationships is central to the success of work under way to enhance health in care homes. Susie Perks-Baker looks at how respecting each other’s skills and knowledge can help.

Veena Raleigh looks at the current debate around the slow-down in mortality improvements in England and Wales.

In a guest blog, Jane Collins looks at how managers and clinicians can work together better to improve productivity and reduce waste.

Leo Ewbank asks whether sustainability and transformation plan proposals to reduce the number of hospital beds are realistic.

Can we reduce late-life dependency or plan for it better? David Oliver reflects on the findings of a recent Lancet paper and asks what we can do to tackle the challenges it highlights.

Chris Naylor considers whether public mental health is being prioritised in a world of thinly stretched public health budgets.

In July, Chris Ham joined Sarah Wollaston MP to give the Speaker’s lecture on the future of the NHS in the House of Commons. Here, he summarises his contribution, detailing what needs to be done to secure a sustainable health and social care system.

What does the concept of ‘value’ mean to people working in the NHS, and how is it being applied in practice? Matthew Lewis considers what came out of a recent roundtable discussion on this topic.

In this guest blog, speech and language therapist Joanne Fillingham makes the case for a stronger leadership role for allied health professionals (AHPs).

Quality improvement is not a quick fix, and creating the type of cultural change needed to adapt an organisation's whole approach to quality does take time, says Shilpa Ross.

Durka Dougall argues that improving quality of care for patients and delivering better value care are often two sides of the same coin.

Helen Gilburt explores the prominence of mental health in the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat manifestos.

Alongside the launch of our report on mental health and new models of care, Chris Naylor explores some of the benefits of investing in mental health.