Publications

The scale of the difficulties facing adult social care in England means that doing nothing is no longer an option. Policy-makers need to identify which of the problems facing social care they most want to tackle, and this briefing paper is intended to aid the process by identifying and exploring those key challenges.

This report sets out the key issues facing the home care sector based on discussions with commissioners, providers and national social care organisations.

Policy-makers have outlined their ambitions to provide joined-up care closer to home and enable people to remain independent and in their own homes. Home care will be a central component of realising these ambitions. However, there are serious concerns about the state of the home care market and the quality of care service users receive.

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.

Technology is rarely the saviour of health services in the way that politicians hope – at least in the short term. It takes time to implement, requires shifts in workforce, and investment – posing real dilemmas for a cash-strapped NHS.

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.

Social care is complex, poorly understood and widely perceived as unfair – while facing unprecedented pressures. This paper explains the current pressures on social care, the impact this is having in England, and sets out the barriers and potential solutions to funding reform.

Ben Collins reflects on opportunities to accelerate the adoption of service innovation in the NHS, drawing on findings from eight case studies of successful spread of innovation in the NHS.

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

This report looks at experiences so far in the areas of England working on delivering enhanced health in care homes.

We examine the big issues and recent NHS performance on waiting times.

Services are at full stretch and struggling to maintain standards, says Chris Ham.

Ahead of debates on the address on Wednesday 28 June in the House of Commons and Thursday 29 June in the House of Lords, The King's Fund has produced this written briefing on the key issues for health and social care in the new parliament.

The outcome of the general election will mean more of the same for the NHS and social care in the short term, and huge uncertainty on two fronts in the medium term, says Chris Ham.

Ahead of our Digital Health and Care Congress in July, we speak to Helen Arthur about how the vanguards are applying technology and what other areas can learn from them.