Publications

The stalling of improvements in life expectancy in the UK since 2011, highlighted again in the most recent data, has prompted much comment and speculation. We must look at austerity and beyond for underlying causes, says Veena Raleigh.

The 70th anniversary of the NHS is an opportunity to reflect on its enduring popularity and to ask what people can expect from the service and what their obligations are in return, says Chris Ham.

In light of recent announcements, Harry Evans argues it is now time for the NHS to step out of the shadow of past implementation failures.

Chris Ham and Anna Charles outline the findings and recommendations of the Health and Social Care Committee’s review of integrated care development in the NHS.

An open letter to the Prime Minister from The King's Fund, The Nuffield Trust and The Health Foundation about a long-term funding settlement for the NHS.

In this extract from our NHS England-commissioned report on developing new models of care in the PACS vanguards, Don Berwick offers an international perspective.

Test bed initiatives show that, beyond technology, pathway transformation is what leads to the real change.

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

Lack of money is frequently highlighted as a key barrier to providing high quality care in mental health, with bed pressures, access to services and poor patient experience being associated with inadequate funding, writes Helen Gilburt.

Ministers need to be honest with the public about the consequences for patient care, says Chris Ham.

Good mental health isn’t just the absence of mental illness. It’s about how we cope with our lives – how we handle situations, relate to others and make choices.

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.

Now, more than ever, we need a new, comprehensive approach to supporting and implementing change, say Richard Murray and Anita Charlesworth.

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.

This edition of Public Finance Perspectives explores the strategies needed to align and integrate local public services across traditional organisational boundaries. In his essay, Chris Ham argues that health payment systems are not fit for the purpose of providing integrated, patient-centred care.

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?