This publication describes projects in 19 NHS trusts and one HM prison that took part in schemes to improve the environment of care at the end of life. It describes the broader Enhancing the Healing Environment programme, which has been supported by the Department of Health in a series of ...
Over the next few years the NHS faces two unprecedented challenges: coping with the tightest funding settlement for decades and implementing top-to-bottom reforms of the system. The broad goal of both the productivity and reform challenges is to improve NHS performance and hence the quality of patient care. But both ...
Quality accounts are a key mechanism through which health care organisations can demonstrate their focus on improving the quality of their service. The government has recently undertaken an evaluation of the 2009/10 quality accounts and set out their expectations for 2010/11. The King’s Fund undertook an independent analysis of a ...
This paper explores the coalition government’s record on NHS reform by describing the situation it inherited when it came to power in 2010, the policies it has pursued, and (where available) evidence of their impact. It takes the stated aims of the reforms
as the starting point and reviews progress ...
In November 2011, The King’s Fund invited academics, practitioners, policy-makers and representatives from patient and voluntary organisations to discuss the care of very old frail people with complex health problems. Mindful of the work of others (NHS Confederation, the Local Government Association and Age UK 2012; The Mid Staffordshire NHS ...
In this paper we set out our views on how the system of quality assurance, including regulation, needs to evolve, the principles on which it should be built and how it should operate. We argue that the system of quality assurance must support the actions and effectiveness of those working ...
Patient surveys - recognised internationally as a key marker of the quality of care, and an important tool for improvement in the NHS - provide a unique perspective, complementing the wealth of other data on hospital performance gathered by trusts and regulators. Now, for the first time, The King’s Fund ...
This report summarises the main findings of the Francis Inquiry into the failings of care at Mid Staffordshire in relation to NHS leadership and culture. It sets out what needs to be done to avoid similar failures in future, focusing on the role of three key 'lines of defence' against ...
The Patient-Centred Care Project aimed to improve the experience and quality of care for patients receiving treatment for breast cancer and lung cancer at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The project was supported by King’s College London and The King’s Fund. ...
Community health care services provide vital care out of hospital for millions of people. From children’s services to care for older people and end-of-life support, the community sector plays a key part in meeting the challenges facing our health and care system. This report presents findings from a small-scale study ...