This paper was commissioned by The King's Fund to inform the Inquiry into the Quality of General Practice in England. The views expressed are those of the authors and not of the panel and Pregnancy is a normal physiological process, and an important life and family event. There are many professionals involved in the care of pregnant women, their babies and their families, including obstetricians, anaesthetists, midwives and GPs. Today, there are two main models of care for pregnant women in the United Kingdom: ...
This Briefing explains the purpose and remit of the Commission. It will consider whether the post-war settlement, which established separate systems for health and social care, remains fit for purpose. What sets it apart from other reviews past and present is that it will fundamentally re-examine the terms of the ...
This paper attempts to highlight the principles that underpin the big society, outlines early examples of the thinking in emerging government policy, and suggests a range of questions for health policy makers.
Given the wide and persistent variation in spending on cancer services, this project aimed to identify and quantify sources of variation in primary care trust (PCT) cancer spending and provide PCTs and cancer networks with a systematic way of framing decisions about the appropriate share of their total budgets to ...
European patients may seek publicly funded health care abroad within Europe in various circumstances – as tourists requiring urgent care; when living and working abroad; or by travelling especially to receive care. A draft European Union (EU) Directive, currently the subject of debate between the Council of
Ministers and the ...
This paper was commissioned by The King’s Fund to inform the panel of the Inquiry into the Quality of General Practice in England. The views expressed are those of the authors and not of the panel. and General practice plays a central role in ensuring patients receive a timely and accurate diagnosis, either directly from a GP or from an appropriate specialist as a consequence of a GP referral. Failure, or delay, in correctly identifying and referring patients who need secondary care can have profound clinical consequences. ...
The financial pressures in the NHS are being felt particularly harshly by acute hospital trusts. A number of trusts and foundation trusts have been rated as at financial risk, and some trusts have declared themselves not financially sustainable as currently configured. These trusts will therefore not be able to achieve ...
The reforms set out in the coalition government’s White Paper have wide ramifications, particularly for GPs. NHS Lincolnshire decided to help GPs to understand the issues and behaviours that might emerge as a result of the reforms by running a simulation exercise with This report offers observations about individual and ...
Over the past decade a number of health policies have sought to put the patient first and to improve health outcomes. Choice and competition have been key elements of these policies, but the importance of integrated care was highlighted by Lord Darzi in the final report of the NHS Next ...