Blog

Will vanguards be able to make significant changes to the configuration of local health and care systems, while sustaining existing services in a difficult environment, with limited spare cash and growing service pressures?

David Oliver considers the role allied health professionals will have in meeting the challenges facing our health and social care systems and in delivering the new care models outlines in the NHS five year forward view.

The NHS needs to effectively manage its common resources more money and greater efficiency won't be enough.

Helen Gilburt asks is it time for an honest conversation about the impact of cost-saving measures on the quality of care in mental health services?

Young people, and their families, are extremely able to express what they need and have done so clearly. It is now imperative that providers and commissioners work together to meet those needs, building on the momentum of Future in mind.

With the first anniversary of the NHS five year forward view approaching rapidly, how are new care models developing, and what are the prospects for the future?

Misuse occurs in the NHS when health services are poorly delivered. So how big is the problem of preventable harm in health care?

Underuse happens when effective care isn’t delivered when it’s needed and it can lead to people needing more complex care as their conditions get worse. So, where might the NHS not be delivering enough of the right things?

More health care is not always better health care. Sometimes the NHS delivers services that people don’t want or need: the problem of overuse.

The rising trend in cheaper generic medicines rather than proprietary or branded drugs being prescribed and dispensed has saved the NHS billions of pounds and enabled millions more prescriptions to be dispensed.

The rising proportion of operations carried out as day cases over the past few decades has been good for patients and a much more efficient use of NHS resources, says John Appleby.

Care homes have operated in the shadows of public and political awareness for too long, with policy attention focused on reactions to service failure rather than the promotion of good care.

Enhanced care in care homes is one of the new care models set out in the NHS five year forward view. This is good news, as it's high time this issue was brought to the fore, for a number of reasons.

There is a long way to go before mental health achieves ‘parity of esteem’ with physical health, and the voluntary and community sector is key to helping address this challenge.

While NHS policy debates are increasingly painted only in black and white, shades of grey are often more interesting.

What does the future hold for the care and support of people living with dementia? David Oliver shares his thoughts.

The NHS faces three major challenges in 2015: preparing for the spending review, achieving much closer integration of health and social care, and ensuring that the NHS has the leadership in place to deliver the highest possible standards of care within available resources.