Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) have been developed by NHS and local government leaders in 44 parts of England. The plans offer a chance for health and social care leaders to work together to improve care and manage limited resources. But will they succeed where other initiatives have failed? Despite ...
Although its budget was protected in the 2010 Spending Review, the NHS faces the tightest financial settlement in its history. To avoid reducing quality and making significant cuts to services, it needs to find £20 billion in productivity improvements by 2015. Reductions in the prices paid to hospitals for treating ...
This paper seeks to take a dispassionate look at the potential lessons for the development of economic regulation in health care that can be learned from the experiences of both countries that have already implemented it and those of other market sectors in the United Kingdom. It will be essential ...
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.
Quality has been at the centre of recent NHS policy, and the NHS Next Stage Review highlighted the role of information and measurement in supporting quality improvement, particularly in relation to patient safety, clinical effectiveness and patient experience. It is therefore important to be clear how quality can be measured ...
Since the 1950s, the NHS has been looking at ways of improving care coordination. Lord Darzi’s NHS Next Stage Review introduced a new concept, that of the integrated care organisation (ICO). Since then, the Government has begun piloting schemes that offer different models of integrated care. This report, published jointly ...
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 ...
With the Budget set to confirm that the NHS is facing the most significant financial challenge in its history, new analysis from The King’s Fund shows the extent of the productivity gap it needs to address.
Despite the increasing popularity and use of complementary practice, it is difficult to assess its effectiveness. Lack of research - and lack of agreement on research methods - has led to criticism from branches of conventional medicine. The King's Fund set up an advisory group, chaired by Professor Dame Carol ...
Maternity professionals are doing more to ensure safe care is delivered reliably to mothers and babies, but there are still significant barriers impeding their progress. This report is based on the outcome of a series of regional events held with midwives, obstetricians and risk managers as part of the Safer ...
Produced as part of the Point of Care: Seeing the Person in the Patient report. It contains interviews and focus groups, and the transcripts from the recordings which were analysed to produce this final document.
This study explores health care professionals' views about safety in maternity services. It identifies aspects of care that are less safe than they should be, possible ways to improve safety and potential obstacles to achieving these improvements.
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. ...
In 2002, the King's Fund commissioned a major inquiry into the state of the capital's mental health and mental health services and how far they meet the needs of service users. The inquiry set out to: investigate whether mental health care had improved in the capital since the King's Fund ...
Since its beginnings, the NHS has had a close relationship with the pharmaceutical industry. While not an official public-private partnership (PPP) there has been, in effect, an implicit PPP for pharmaceutical research and provision. This partnership has been an undoubted economic success. However, the interests of users of the health ...
This report shows that managers in NHS and social care organisations struggle to prevent discrimination on the grounds of age. Based on a telephone survey of 75 senior managers in hospitals, primary care groups, community trusts and social services departments, it shows that while the majority support moves to combat ...
The NHS is the largest single organisation in the UK. Its potential impact on the environment, the health of the public and the fabric of their lives is huge, whether as employer, purchaser of goods and services, cause of travel, producer of waste, consumer of energy or commissioner of building ...
Primary care groups (PCGs) offer new opportunities for partnerships between health and social care. There is now widespread support for collaboration in order to achieve better integrated care for people with both short-term and continuing care needs. But there is also recognition that this is a complex task. As they ...
This discussion paper has been developed following a seminar held at the King's Fund in October 1997 when leaders in the field of symbol development and use came together to consider progress in this debate and what the next steps might be. The first section presents an overview of the ...
The literature on geographical variations in health care is large and growing. A comprehensive review of this literature would be a major task and is beyond the scope of this paper. Instead, the paper summarises some of the key issues which emerge from the literature and identifies the implications for ...
This report outlines the terms of reference and membership of a working party, established by The King's Fund, to review arrangements for the management development, training and selection of senior managers in the NHS in England. It includes background information about the history of recruitment and training in the NHS, ...