In this report, we focus on what needs to be done to strengthen commissioning in the NHS, through an analysis of the problems with current commissioning arrangements. We begin by examining what is meant by ‘commissioning’ in the English NHS.
The aim of this report is to provoke and encourage thinking about the wide range of ways in which patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) data can be used to inform decisions. It draws on Bupa’s example to discuss how providers can use PROMs data to improve clinical performance. It also offers ...
General practitioners make over 9 million referrals each year, triggering many billions of pounds of expenditure. There is also significant variation in the quality and rate of referral between GPs and GP practices. As the NHS faces a prospective funding gap of £14-£20 billion and GPs take the lead for ...
The white paper ‘Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS’ (Department of Health 2010) sets out a wide-ranging set of proposals to reform the NHS. The King’s Fund and Doctors.net.uk have carried out a survey to ascertain doctors’ opinions of the impact of these reforms. This paper summarises the main findings ...
This paper summarises presentations made at a seminar held at The King’s Fund earlier this year. The seminar brought together commissioners, policymakers, providers and others to summarise some of the available evidence about demand management. It aimed to provide practical, evidence-based
advice to help commissioners and providers develop effective demand ...
The government’s End of Life Care Strategy set out to improve the care that patients receive at the end of their life and to give them meaningful choice about where they are cared for and where they die. Implementation of the strategy has proved challenging, however, for a number of ...
Since internal markets were created in the NHS, commissioners have purchased health care on behalf of patients and the public from a variety of competing providers. Commissioning was intended to drive improvements in the quality, accessibility and cost-effectiveness of services, but has so far largely failed to achieve these objectives. ...