Publications

The short term hotchpot of measures taken by the government does nothing to stem the growing pressures on social care, says Richard Humphries.

The Care Quality Commission's State of Care report has both reassuring and disturbing messages: reassuring in that the majority of services are good, but disturbing in that there is significant variation in quality and particularly safety.

Is enough emphasis and thought devoted to leadership styles, the culture this creates and whether this fully reflects the organisation’s aims and ethos?

The current fragmented system of commissioning is clearly unsustainable. While the idea of integrated commissioning is an old one, the approach to achieving it must be decidedly new, writes Lillie Wenzel.

With the right local leadership and central government support, localism could help address the broad range of factors that drive health inequalities in a particular area, writes David Buck.

Richard Humphries reviews recent policy initiatives to achieve the closer integration of health and social care.

We speak to Tim Kelsey, National Director for Patients and Information at NHS England, about the role of technology in improving care.

As the post-election dust settles, the Queen’s speech confirms that the integration of health and social care continues as a headline policy commitment, with the better care fund and ‘DevoManc’ as flagship policies intended to make this happen. But will they be enough?

Rather than prescribe a one size fits all solution, an approach agreed locally by CCGs and local authorities is the best way forward for integrated care, says Richard Humphries.

The experience of Blue Cross and Blue Shield in the US offers lessons for the NHS about some of the ingredients needed to improve population health, says Hugh Alderwick.

Social care for older people will be increasingly important as our population ages. So why the silence from politicians?

We speak to writer Nicci Gerrard about her father's hospital care, and her campaign – John's Campaign – that calls for the families and carers of people with dementia to be allowed to remain with them in hospital for as many hours of the day and night as necessary.

New models of care have been introduced by the NHS five year forward view, but where do commissioners fit in?

All political parties have endorsed NHS plans for greater integration of care in the next parliament. Chris Ham and colleagues use US experience to suggest what is needed to make it happen.

How can patients be encouraged to participate in their own care? And just what does it mean to be an empowered patient?

An article for the NHS Directory on the Enhancing the Healing Environment programme.

It is the lynchpin of health policy for third-term Labour, but how much does the public understand about what choice offers? Rebecca Rosen reports on new research.

John Appleby explores the extent to which poor performance by individual clinicians could be reflected in data available from routine NHS statistics.

Richard Lewis and M. Fletcher highlight the importance of a strategic analysis of the policy process in the design of the national patient safety strategy.