Blog

GP trainees Dr Ree'Thee Bhatt and Dr Devina Maru share their experiences of working in health policy roles and outline why an understanding of policymaking is crucial to enabling clinicians to influence change in the health and care system.

What might help a wider range of professionals take on leadership roles in primary care? Kiran Chauhan and Beccy Baird suggest starting with thinking through issues around expectations, support and practical constraints.

How well is the government’s reform programme tackling the eight key problems in adult social care? Simon Bottery marks the government’s score card and finds it wanting.

Now the Health and Care Act has been passed, Richard Murray reflects on the negotiations that went down to the wire, what didn’t make it and what’s needed to ensure the reforms are successful.

The public has grasped what people who use social care already knew: it doesn’t provide all the support they need. Laura Schlepper, from Nuffield Trust, and Simon Bottery explore the data from the British Social Attitudes survey.

The Messenger review of health and care leadership won’t be able to give social care the time and attention it deserves, says Simon Bottery. It’s time to look specifically at the unique set of skills required in the sector – and how best to support their development.

Sally Warren outlines the rationale behind the social care cap and explains why the government’s planned changes will have an unfair impact on those with lower assets.

What can be done to help address the health and care workforce crisis? Suzie Bailey and Michael West outline seven key actions leaders can take.

The government’s White Paper has done little to dispel concerns that reform of adult social care is faltering, says Simon Bottery.

Despite the recent criticism, the government’s proposed social care reforms are still a step forward, says Simon Bottery, but the acid test will be its imminent White Paper.

Simon Bottery explores reasons for the lack of younger workers in social care and finds snapshots of innovation among providers trying to reverse the trend.

Provider collaboratives need to invest in developing clinical and professional leadership if they are to be truly collaborative and make a difference for patients, says Paula Head.

Evidence from around the world shows that a cap on costs is only one of several measures that will determine whether England moves towards a better social care system, writes Simon Bottery.

Rumours of government agreement on how to fund social care abound. Sally Warren explores what the public would expect to see in return for a tax rise to pay for social care.

The government’s ambitious new data strategy for health and social care has been published. But, says Pritesh Mistry, the strategy could suffer the same fate as previous data initiatives, unless the government focuses on gaining people’s trust and ensuring transparency.

Digital health and care must work for as many as possible or we risk exacerbating inequalities. The vaccine rollout provides an unmissable opportunity to address longstanding gaps in care delivery.

Sally Warren delves into the history of political calculations in social care… and calls on the current government to be tough enough to make hard choices.

In this guest blog, Dan Leveson, Deputy Director of Strategy at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, describes how work to develop clinical leaders has opened a path to better workforce engagement and wider inclusion.

There are endemic failures in the adult social care market. In this joint blog with colleagues from the Health Foundation, we explain why reform is needed and identify a set of questions we think need to be explored.

With funding settlements and short-term boosts already provided, what will the upcoming Budget mean for health and care? Sally Warren considers how the system can support local economies while improving population health as the country responds to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.