Primary care trusts (PCTs) spend around 75 per cent of the NHS budget in England. How do they decide on their spending priorities? This paper examines the data collected by the Department of Health on the amounts PCTs spend on the 23 programmes of care based on medical conditions such ... and An update to the briefing "Local variations in NHS spending priorities" published in 2006.
The pace of change and reform in the NHS has been relentless as government and those who work in the NHS seek ways to improve the service. The King's Fund set up an expert working group to examine how effective the current incentives were in achieving this aim. The group ...
Unhealthy behaviours - smoking, alcohol misuse, poor diet, lack of exercise - lead to ill health, with resulting costs to individuals, to the NHS and to society as a whole. PCTs are expected to commission support to help people change their behaviour to adopt healthier lifestyles - but what should ...
Under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000), all public bodies, including NHS organisations, are legally obliged to produce a 'race equality scheme' explaining how they plan to eliminate racial discrimination and promote equal opportunities. This paper examines PCTs' race equality schemes to find out what PCTs are doing to address ...
Although some of the key planks of the NHS reform programme, such as Payment by Results (PbR) and patient choice, began to take shape from 2003, it is only recently that the Department of Health has begun to publish guidance, aimed at people working within the NHS, that attempts to ...
While the 'postcode lottery' of accessing drugs such as Herceptin on the NHS attract media headlines, there has been growing awareness of more fundamental variations in spending by primary care trusts (PCTs), the organisations responsible for purchasing the bulk of NHS care for people living in their catchment areas. This ...
This report presents the findings of a study of public and patient involvement in Croydon from February 2000 to April 2001. Central Croydon Primary Care Group (PCG) was one of six case studies participating in a King's Fund study of public and patient involvement in primary care groups and trusts, ...
This report has been written for members and officers of Hayes and Harlington directorate of Hillingdon Primary Care Trust and their partners in the local health economy. It presents results of a study of the patient and public involvement (PPI) work which the directorate - formerly PCG - undertook between ...
This report has been written for members and officers of Harrow East & Kingsbury PCG and their partners in the local health economy. It presents results of a study of the patient and public involvement (PPI) work which the PCG undertook between February 2000 and April 2001