In 2018, ethnic inequalities in mental health treatment led the Royal College of Psychiatrists to endorse the position that mental healthcare in the UK is institutionally racist. In this blog, Jamal Alston, Dr Henna Lemetyinen, and Professor Dawn Edge explain how these inequalities present themselves, and use their research to outline new policies for mental […]
Planning and managing service delivery in the NHS: looking to the future
COVID-19 has reinforced the necessity of effective planning of health services, treatment and prevention capacities in primary and secondary care, and both protecting and optimising our healthcare workforce. Here, Professor Kath Checkland reflects on the renewed centrality of “commissioning” to health policy debates that will follow in the wake of the pandemic, and draws lessons from […]
Fixing the NHS in England: what do NHS England’s proposed changes to legislation mean?
Professor Kath Checkland of the University’s Health Organisation, Policy and Economics unit (HOPE) investigates what the legislative changes accompanying the Government’s new ‘Long-Term Plan’ for the NHS actually mean in practice. Proposals for legislative change have been included in the Government’s new ‘Long-Term Plan’ for the NHS in an attempt to counteract some of the unhelpful consequences […]
Partnership working: why is integrating health and social care so difficult?
Intense financial pressures and an ageing population have challenged NHS England to rethink the ways in which health and social care can be delivered in future. Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs) are the key strategic place-based plans that outline a new approach to maintaining financial balance while achieving an improved and integrated health care model. […]
7-day GP services – can this policy deliver for the NHS?
Failures in patient access to primary care has been suggested as a root cause of the current A&E crisis and was one of the motivating factors for the Government’s 7-day GP services policy. The logic was that improved access would help to relieve pressure on A&E and other emergency services. But is this best use […]
Why I’m unconvinced by Cameron localism and DevoManc chatter
DevoManc’s control of health is at the centre of the government’s localism policy – but the policy is a sham, argues David Walker. Lack of attention Since the ‘historic day’ a year ago when the health secretary stood alongside the chancellor in signing the Greater Manchester health devolution deal, Jeremy Hunt has not – it’s fair to […]
Deficit and reform: the NHS’s twin challenges
The NHS deficit is unprecedented and unsustainable. All eyes are on the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review and on some promising ideas for reform, explain Professor Kieran Walshe and Professor Judith Smith. The first quarter financial returns for the NHS, published just after the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, are the worst ever. Trusts were £930m […]
Can lunch clubs save the NHS?
Social prescriptions have been hailed as a wonderful way of improving health outcomes, at low cost. But Paul Wilson argues that we need less rhetoric and more sound research to evaluate project results. The Queen’s Speech has seen the new government reconfirm commitments to make an extra £8bn of funding available to the NHS. But […]
What health and social care can learn from UK devolution
Greater Manchester has announced its plans for health and social care devolution and its oversight of providers. Joy Furnival examines health and social care oversight functions across the UK and asks what Greater Manchester can learn from these. Devolution and integration of health and social care in Greater Manchester (GM) is the first of its […]
Changing the ties that bind
Clinical Commissioning Groups were introduced by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act. The role of GPs within the NHS and their relationships with NHS managers are changing as a result, explains Julia Segar. The NHS is dealing with severe challenges at present, with A&E in crisis and bed blocking preventing the release of some […]