The government’s proposed reforms to the health and social care system include clear aspirations for the voluntary and community sector as a provider of health services, a source of support for commissioning and a partner in tackling health inequalities. However, the reforms also present a number of challenges and risks. ...
Variations in health care in the NHS are a persistent and ubiquitous problem. But which variations are acceptable or warranted – for example, variations driven by clinical need and informed patient choice – and which are not? The important question is how to promote ‘good’ variation and minimise ‘bad’ variation. ...
The coalition government wants to encourage health care providers to consider employee ownership, and the development of mutuals, with the aim of creating ‘the largest and most vibrant social enterprise sector in the world’ (Department of Health 2010a, p 36). These plans are part of a broader programme of public ...
The Routes project was commissioned by The King’s Fund in partnership with the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Social Care Institute for Excellence, the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Local Government Association. and The health and social care system is currently tackling three inter-related challenges: coping with rising demand and reduced funding; handling NHS restructuring; and transforming social care. How can these challenges be seen as an opportunity to achieve fundamental change to the system? The Routes project, a simulation exercise created by ...
This report reviews recent developments in thinking and action in relation to leadership in the public and voluntary sectors, based on published and in press academic literature and in observed practices on the ground. The aim of the report is to stimulate discussion about the implications for leadership for health ...
This report considers the role and value of volunteers in health and social care. It looks at the important part that volunteers play in improving patient experience, addressing health inequalities, and building a closer relationship between services and communities.
This report is based on a literature review and stakeholder consultation carried out by The King’s Fund on behalf of the National Institute for Health Research and the Social Care Institute for Excellence. The report provides an overview of current knowledge about the environmental impacts of health and social care ...
This paper introduces a way of conceptualising and measuring engagement that is known as ‘patient activation’. Patient activation provides a better understanding of why some patients engage fully with their health and others do not. More
importantly, the study of patient activation has led to the design of many effective ...
In the past 50 years, spending on the NHS in the United Kingdom has increased from 3.4 per cent to 8.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). If the next 50 years follow the same trajectory, the United Kingdom could be spending nearly one-fifth of its entire GDP on ...
This case study is part of a research project undertaken by The King’s Fund and funded by Aetna and the Aetna Foundation in the United States to compare five successful UK-based models of care co-ordination.
and This case study looks at the Sandwell Esteem Team, part of the Sandwell Integrated Primary Care Mental Health and Wellbeing Service (the Sandwell Wellbeing Hub) in the West Midlands. The hub is a holistic primary and community care-based approach to improving social, mental and physical health and wellbeing in the ...