The demand for care and support in old age is growing nationally, but London faces some particular challenges. For example, although there are fewer older people in inner London, many are likely to need social care as a result of poor health, poverty, poor housing and lack of social support. ...
Most formal care services for older people are funded by the public sector, but they are largely supplied by independent providers. This paper looks at what factors influence the 'mixed economy' of the care market, including what funding is available and from where, and how commissioning works, and the role ...
The specific dynamics of the London health care labour market, and the challenges they create for recruitment and retention, were highlighted in the 2003 King's Fund report 'In Capital Health?'. In the 18 months since, a number of important and far reaching changes have been initiated across the NHS. This ...
NHS trusts spend about £500 million a year on food and catering. The government is committed to the economic, environmental, social and health benefits of sustainable food procurement, but this is difficult to translate into practice at a local level. In 2004 the Better Hospital Food Programme (BHFP) commissioned the ...
Reforms of the NHS are changing the role of the state in the provision of health care. Competition within the NHS (and with private providers) and the introduction of foundation trusts change the way in which providers should be regulated. This paper explores the impact of market incentives in the ...
This is a piece of independent research conducted by the authors at the King's Fund based on a Pfizer initiative. and Extending patient choice is central to the government's reform of the NHS. Patients will be offered a choice of hospitals for planned operations from December 2005 and will soon be offered choice in other areas of health care. This paper presents the key findings from ten focus groups held to ...
Despite initially rejecting the notion of an internal NHS market when it came to power in 1997, the Labour government has reintroduced competition to health services over the last three years. But, as it is the product of a series of separate policy developments, including extending choice of provider, expanding ...
The issues surrounding international recruitment and the migration of health workers have generated huge media attention. However, relatively little primary research has been done in this area. Based on a survey of international nurses in London, this paper reports on the country of origin, demographic profile, motivations, experiences and career ...
One in four NHS trusts in England ended 2004 in deficit. The impact of current NHS reforms will be to magnify financial imbalances at a significant number of trusts, with the risk that some of them will fail. But there is no real plan for dealing with failure in the ...
Primary care has been the subject of a quiet revolution in recent years, with the ending of the monopoly of provision by independently contracted GPs and the introduction of a range of new targets and new forms of first contact care. Now it is poised for further radical change with ...