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Publications

Independent research and analysis on health and social care

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  • Health and care services
    • Adult social care
    • Community services
    • Emergency care
    • General practice
    • Hospital care
    • Mental health
    • New models of care
    • Public health
  • Leadership, systems and organisations
    • Clinical commissioning groups
    • Clinical leadership
    • Equality and diversity
    • Health and wellbeing boards
    • Integrated care
    • Local service design
    • Quality improvement
    • Sustainability and transformation plans
    • System leadership
    • Voluntary and community sector
    • Workforce and skills
  • (-) Patients, people and society
    • Carers
    • Health inequalities
    • Patient experience
    • Patient involvement
    • Population health
    • Public opinion
    • Technology and data
  • Policy, finance and performance
    • (-) Access to care
    • Commissioning and contracting
    • General election 2019
    • Governance and regulation
    • Health and Social Care Act 2012
    • NHS finances
    • NHS five year forward view
    • (-) NHS long-term plan
    • Performance
    • Productivity
    • Social care finances
  • 2015
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EMH teaser
Long read

The health of people from ethnic minority groups in England

This explainer examines the differences in health outcomes for ethnic minority groups, highlighting the variation across groups and conditions, and considers what’s needed to reduce health inequalities.
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By Veena Raleigh et al - 17 February 2021
Covid-19 recovery and resilience: what can health and care learn from other disasters?
Long read

Covid-19 recovery and resilience: what can health and care learn from other disasters?

What do communities need to be able to recover from Covid-19 and build resilience? This long read identifies key insights from people involved in disaster recovery around the world.
4 February 2021
Brexit
Long read

Brexit and the end of the transition period: what does it mean for the health and care system?

On Christmas Eve 2020 a new EU-UK trade and co-operation deal was agreed. Jonathon Holmes looks at what the new deal means for the health and care system.
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By Jonathon Holmes - 11 January 2021
Long read

The next steps towards integrated care

This explainer considers NHS England and NHS Improvement’s proposals to further integrate health and care services and describes the associated proposals for legislative change.
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By Richard Murray et al - 9 December 2020 11-minute read
Long read

Community pharmacy explained

Community pharmacy is a critical part of primary care in England, but its role and relationship to the wider NHS is often poorly understood. This explainer looks at the community pharmacy sector in England, explaining how pharmacies are contracted and funded, the types of services they provide and future trends in the sector.
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By Beccy Baird et al - 16 December 2020
Long read

Primary care networks explained

A key part of the NHS long-term plan, primary care networks (PCNs) will bring general practices together to work at scale. But what are they? How are they funded and held accountable? And what difference will they make? Beccy Baird explains the latest form of GP collaboration.
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By Beccy Baird et al - 20 November 2020
Red stethascope teaser
Long read

The 2020/21 update to the GP contract explained

NHS England and the British Medical Association’s general practice committee have negotiated an update to the five-year GP contract framework published in January 2019. This explainer outlines the changes and explains what they mean for the future of general practice.
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By Beccy Baird et al - 19 November 2020
Digital long read teaser
Long read

The digital revolution: eight technologies that will change health and care

The Covid-19 pandemic has seen many health and care services turn to digital technology to continue meeting patients’ needs. But beyond remote consultations, what are the key technologies to look out for in the future?
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By Pritesh Mistry - 13 November 2020
Rising cost of medicines teaser image
Long read

Access to new medicines in the English NHS

Have you ever wondered how new medicines are developed, approved and priced? This explainer outlines the long journey from the discovery of a new drug to when it becomes available on the NHS.
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By Ben Collins - 28 October 2020 30-minute read
Long read

How Covid-19 has magnified some of social care’s key problems

The Covid-19 pandemic has not changed the fundamental problems facing social care, but it has exacerbated some of them, says Simon Bottery.
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By Simon Bottery - 25 August 2020 22-minute read
Long read

Deaths from Covid-19 (coronavirus): how are they counted and what do they show?

Veena Raleigh examines the methods being used to count deaths from Covid-19 and discusses what the numbers to date show.
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By Veena Raleigh - 19 August 2020 15-minute read
Long read

The road to renewal: five priorities for health and care

Covid-19 is the biggest challenge the health and care system has faced in living memory; it's essential that lessons are learned from this experience. So how can the system build on this learning to bring about positive change and renewal? This long read sets out five priorities to help guide the approach to renewal across health and care. 
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By Anna Charles et al - 16 July 2020
Long read

What is happening to life expectancy in the UK?

2011 marked a turning point in long-term mortality trends in the UK, with improvements tailing off after decades of steady decline. Veena Raleigh examines the trends in life expectancy.
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By Veena Raleigh - 26 June 2020
Two people standing outside a nursing home
Long read

Social care 360

Updated with 2018/19 data, our 360 review outlines and analyses 20 key trends in adult social care in England over recent years. Using a variety of publicly-available data, it provides a uniquely rounded – ‘360 degree’ – view of the sector.
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By Simon Bottery et al - 6 May 2020
Long read

Testing times: the government’s approach to Covid-19 testing

Testing is a central strand of the government’s approach to tackling the Covid-19 outbreak. This explainer looks at how testing works and the thinking behind the current strategy.
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By David Buck - 1 May 2020
First 100 days of new government
Long read

Health and care: the first 100 days of the new government

We provide a record of the progress made towards meeting the government’s manifesto pledges and campaign commitments during its first 100 days in office.
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By Jonathon Holmes - 27 March 2020
What are health inequalities?
Long read

What are health inequalities?

This explainer provides an overview of how health inequalities are experienced in England’s population.
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By Ethan Williams et al - 18 February 2020
The economic influence of the NHS at the local level
Long read

The economic influence of the NHS at the local level

As the biggest employer in England and a significant economic force in local communities, the NHS has a unique opportunity to influence the wellbeing of the population it serves. David Maguire looks at how the NHS can affect the health of their local population as an economic agent.
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By David Maguire - 16 January 2020
Long read

Unconventional health and care: five organisations delivering care differently

How can we make sure that people always receive the compassionate care they need? Ben Collins looks at five organisations that are thinking differently about how they support patients and service users, and considers what we can learn from their unconventional approaches.
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By Ben Collins - 5 December 2019
Long read

Why can't I get a doctor's appointment? Solving the complex issue of GP access

Public satisfaction with general practice is lower now than it has ever been, while the number of people reporting difficulties in booking appointments continues to grow. We run through the proposed solutions to issues around GP access and consider their potential effectiveness.
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By Beccy Baird et al - 21 November 2019
What's your problem, social care? The eight key areas for reform
Long read

What’s your problem, social care? The eight key areas for reform

Different people have different ideas about what’s ‘wrong’ with social care. This long read outlines the eight key issues and the options cited to tackle them.
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By Simon Bottery - 5 November 2019
The politics of health
Long read

The politics of health: what do the public think about the NHS?

As we head towards the 2019 general election, what are patient and public perceptions of the NHS? And have the public's views changed since the country last went to the ballot box?
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By Dan Wellings et al - 3 October 2019
Improving population health
Long read

What does improving population health really mean?

Everybody in NHS policy seems to be talking about population health. But what does it really mean and how can we improve it?
29 March 2019
Long read

The NHS long-term plan explained

On 7 January, the NHS long-term plan was published setting out key ambitions for the service over the next 10 years. In this explainer, we set out the main commitments in the plan and provide our view of what they might mean, highlighting the opportunities and challenges for the health and care system as it moves to put the plan into practice.
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By Anna Charles et al - 23 January 2019
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Health and care explained: How does the health and care system work? How is it changing?

This selection of content aims to make sense of the health and care system – including videos, articles, illustrated summaries and more.

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