Under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000), all public bodies, including NHS organisations, are legally obliged to produce a 'race equality scheme' explaining how they plan to eliminate racial discrimination and promote equal opportunities. This paper examines PCTs' race equality schemes to find out what PCTs are doing to address ...
The War on Waiting for Hospital Treatment (Harrison and Appleby 2005) examined the government's record on reducing the number of people on waiting lists for elective care in England, and the time they had to wait. This briefing provides an update on that analysis. The waiting times targets currently in ...
This report reveals that two-thirds of the PCTs responding to the survey had not yet carried out any assessment to identify patients who might need support in making choices about which hospital to go to. A similar proportion had not commissioned any new services to support the introduction of patient ...
Local accountability has been a significant policy issue within the NHS generally. However, primary care trusts are in the main accountable to the centre and there have been calls to review this. This paper discusses a range of options for reforming the relationships between PCTs and their public. It explores ...
Patient choice has been central to the government's recent NHS reforms, along with a new payment system that rewards hospitals that are attractive to patients. But will these reforms make services more responsive? In the treatment of HIV and AIDS, patients have always had a choice of which hospital to ...
This report, published jointly with the Nuffield Trust, looks at the current state of social care services for older people in England, through a combination of national data and interviews with local authorities, NHS and private providers, Healthwatch and other groups. It considers the impact of cuts in local authority ...
This briefing analyses and comments on the key proposals contained in the policy document NHS Autonomy and Accountability, which was released by the Conservative party in June 2007. The document contains the most detailed policy proposals on the NHS released by the main opposition party since the election of David ...
Practice-based commissioning (PBC) is a policy intended to give more decision-making power over NHS resources to general practitioners (GPs), and allow them to design and deliver completely new services or commission others to do so. It has a number of underlying policy objectives including delivering more cost effective and convenient ...
In December 2006, the Department of Health issued its second 'operating framework', The NHS in England: The operating framework for 2007/08, which provides a set of rules and guidance for NHS organisations in England for the year ahead. Aimed primarily at managers and clinical staff, the operating framework for 2007/8 ...