Blog Comment and analysis on the key issues in health and social care Search Apply Listing Content Type Viewing: All blogs All blogs Share this content Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Email Print this page Topics Health and care services (-) Adult social care Cancer services Community services Emergency care General practice Hospital care Maternity services Mental health New models of care Public health Leadership, systems and organisations Clinical commissioning groups Clinical leadership Equality and diversity Integrated care Local service design Patient leadership Quality improvement Sustainability and transformation plans System leadership Voluntary and community sector Workforce and skills Patients, people and society Health inequalities Older people Patient experience Patient involvement Technology and data Policy, finance and performance (-) Access to care (-) Better Care Fund Commissioning and contracting Governance and regulation Health and Social Care Act 2012 NHS finances NHS five year forward view (-) Performance Productivity (-) Social care finances Year 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 (-) 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Blog The public’s view of which treatments should be available on the NHS 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. Blog What does the Autumn Statement mean for health and social care? As the dust settles on the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, this is a good time to review what it told us. I think it contained three big messages: one on money, one on reform, and one on social care. Blog Will the 18-week waiting time target be met by the end of the year? After the 18-week waiting time target was breached earlier this year, Jeremy Hunt announced £250 million to bring it back under control. We review the latest data to see how successful this has been so far. Blog The Better Care Fund: will the plans work? The government expects councils and NHS partners to achieve way too much, with too little, too soon, says Richard Humphries. Blog Waiting for mental health care: what does the public think? 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. Blog The Cancer Drugs Fund: inequitable and inefficient? 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? Blog Now is the time to create a combined health and social care system 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. Blog Admission to a nursing home can never become a ‘never’ event I agreed with much of what Simon Stevens said at the Age UK For Later Life conference until he stated that he would be ‘disappointed’ if care homes still existed within the next 50 years. I didn’t get the chance to challenge him but I want to do it now. Blog What happens when the money runs out? If in 2013/14 the NHS struggled to maintain performance even with a recruitment round, the chances it can continue to do so with fewer, rather than more, staff look non-existent, says Richard Murray. Blog Better Care Fund, better read the small print? 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. Blog NHS performance: are we really getting it right? In The Commonwealth Fund's comparative study of health system performance in 11 countries, the UK ranks first across a range of measures covering quality, access and efficiency of care. But can rankings only tell us so much? Blog Wanted: an even Better Care Fund 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. Blog It's time to start asking and answering the hard questions: a view from an expert by experience 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. Blog The NHS: running out of money The last time the NHS fell into deficit it came to many as something of a surprise. This time – going by the responses in our latest quarterly monitoring report – it’s looking rather predictable. Blog Don’t duck the hard choices spelt out by the Barker Commission The post-war settlement that created the current divide between health and social care must be replaced. If we duck the hard choices laid out by the Barker commission, then services will progressively deteriorate with patients, users and carers the real losers. Blog It is time for a new settlement for health and social care in England Kate Barker, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England, introduces the key findings of the commission's interim report and calls for further evidence to consider the funding options. Blog What can we learn from how other countries fund health and social care? How do other countries respond to the challenges of funding health and care for an ageing population? Sarah Gregory takes a closer look in her latest blog. Blog A&E performance: a winter’s tale With due credit to the hard work of NHS staff and the hours spent on planning, A&E performance this winter is better than it was last year. But why is this? Richard Murray takes a look at the figures in a data blog. Blog A year is a long time in the politics of integrated care Although all the political parties agree about the importance of integrated care as an end, willing the means to achieve it is another matter, says Richard Humphries. Blog The Better Care Fund: what’s love got to do with it? 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. Subscribe to our Weekly Update newsletterPublications: Independent research and analysis on health and social care Reports, long reads and articles.
Blog The public’s view of which treatments should be available on the NHS 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.
Blog What does the Autumn Statement mean for health and social care? As the dust settles on the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, this is a good time to review what it told us. I think it contained three big messages: one on money, one on reform, and one on social care.
Blog Will the 18-week waiting time target be met by the end of the year? After the 18-week waiting time target was breached earlier this year, Jeremy Hunt announced £250 million to bring it back under control. We review the latest data to see how successful this has been so far.
Blog The Better Care Fund: will the plans work? The government expects councils and NHS partners to achieve way too much, with too little, too soon, says Richard Humphries.
Blog Waiting for mental health care: what does the public think? 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.
Blog The Cancer Drugs Fund: inequitable and inefficient? 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?
Blog Now is the time to create a combined health and social care system 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.
Blog Admission to a nursing home can never become a ‘never’ event I agreed with much of what Simon Stevens said at the Age UK For Later Life conference until he stated that he would be ‘disappointed’ if care homes still existed within the next 50 years. I didn’t get the chance to challenge him but I want to do it now.
Blog What happens when the money runs out? If in 2013/14 the NHS struggled to maintain performance even with a recruitment round, the chances it can continue to do so with fewer, rather than more, staff look non-existent, says Richard Murray.
Blog Better Care Fund, better read the small print? 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.
Blog NHS performance: are we really getting it right? In The Commonwealth Fund's comparative study of health system performance in 11 countries, the UK ranks first across a range of measures covering quality, access and efficiency of care. But can rankings only tell us so much?
Blog Wanted: an even Better Care Fund 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.
Blog It's time to start asking and answering the hard questions: a view from an expert by experience 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.
Blog The NHS: running out of money The last time the NHS fell into deficit it came to many as something of a surprise. This time – going by the responses in our latest quarterly monitoring report – it’s looking rather predictable.
Blog Don’t duck the hard choices spelt out by the Barker Commission The post-war settlement that created the current divide between health and social care must be replaced. If we duck the hard choices laid out by the Barker commission, then services will progressively deteriorate with patients, users and carers the real losers.
Blog It is time for a new settlement for health and social care in England Kate Barker, Chair of the Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England, introduces the key findings of the commission's interim report and calls for further evidence to consider the funding options.
Blog What can we learn from how other countries fund health and social care? How do other countries respond to the challenges of funding health and care for an ageing population? Sarah Gregory takes a closer look in her latest blog.
Blog A&E performance: a winter’s tale With due credit to the hard work of NHS staff and the hours spent on planning, A&E performance this winter is better than it was last year. But why is this? Richard Murray takes a look at the figures in a data blog.
Blog A year is a long time in the politics of integrated care Although all the political parties agree about the importance of integrated care as an end, willing the means to achieve it is another matter, says Richard Humphries.
Blog The Better Care Fund: what’s love got to do with it? 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.
Publications: Independent research and analysis on health and social care Reports, long reads and articles.
