Government policy is driving a fundamental shift of care from hospitals to more community-based settings. There is a growing expectation that this shift will be supported by the development of a network of new facilities in which primary, community and secondary care services are co-located, often referred to as polyclinics. ...
The need to wait for health care has been a feature of the NHS since its inception. When Labour came to power in 1997, total numbers of patients waiting stood at 1.3 million: the highest since the NHS began in 1948. The government announced its 'war on waiting' and pledged ...
This report draws on recent research with vanguard sites in England, conducted in partnership with the Royal College of Psychiatrists. It finds that where new models of care have been used to remove the barriers between mental health and other parts of the health system, local professionals saw this as ...
This is one of a series of case studies exploring how individuals living in London have used the King's Fund Millennium Awards scheme to make a real difference to the health of others in their communities. While working at a west London community centre, Imo Akpan recognised a reluctance among ...
Written as a contribution to the government's current listening exercise, this paper sets out the challenges facing the NHS and identifies the reforms we believe are needed to meet these challenges. We offer suggestions for revisions to the current Health & Social Care Bill and future policy development but we ...
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. ...
This paper has been written as a contribution to the work of the NHS Future Forum and in support of the government’s espoused aim of placing integrated care at the heart of the programme of NHS reform. Integrated care is essential to meet the needs of the ageing population, transform ...