Thursday 24 December 2015

Improving outcomes for patients with sepsis

"Earlier this year, NHS England convened a group of experts from across the health and care landscape, the UK Sepsis Trust, Royal Colleges, patients and expert clinicians to advise on those actions needed to drive improvement in the identification and treatment of sepsis. Through their deliberations, the group agreed on the need to:

  1. Prevent avoidable cases of sepsis.
  2. Increase awareness of sepsis amongst professionals and the public.
  3. Improve the identification and treatment of sepsis across the whole patient pathway.
  4. Improve consistency of standards and reporting.
  5. Underpin all actions with the principles of appropriate antibiotic use and antimicrobial stewardship.

This document is intended for those working across the health and social care landscape – including provider organisations, commissioners, and healthcare professionals. We hope that it will also be helpful to the public in understanding what the health system is doing to address a major cause of death and lasting ill health."

Improving outcomes for patients with sepsis: A cross-system action plan
NHS England
December 2015

Read more here.

Achieving change in primary care

"Conclusions There is a substantial literature on implementation strategies aimed at changing professional practices or behaviour. It remains unclear which implementation strategies are more likely to be effective than others and under what conditions. Future research should focus on identifying and assessing the effectiveness of strategies targeted at the wider context and organisational levels and examining the costs and cost-effectiveness of implementation strategies."

Achieving change in primary care—effectiveness of strategies for improving implementation of complex interventions: systematic review of reviews
R Lau, et al.
BMJ Open, 2015, 5:2009993

Read more here.

Monday 14 December 2015

Behavioural insights in health care

"The appeal of nudging remains ‘self-evident’ given that it offers simple, low-cost forms of intervention that are often more acceptable than traditional policy instruments. However, the evidence for the application of nudge-type interventions in health care is highly variable in terms of quality, relevance and impact. What evidence there is indicates that there is much innovation and development in this area and there is evidence enough to suggest that nudge-type interventions have considerable potential to change health care behaviours that drive inefficiency and waste."

Behavioural insights in health care: Nudging to reduce inefficiency and waste
C Perry, K Chhatralia, D Damesick, S Hobden, L Volpe
The Health Foundation
December 2015

Read more here.

Friday 4 December 2015

Spending Review 2015: what it means for health and social care

"Care services in England remain on the brink of collapse despite the extra investment in social care. None of the measures outlined in the Spending Review will plug the funding gap in social care expected over the course of this Parliament."

Spending Review 2015: what it means for health and social care
Nuffield Trust Parliamentary Briefing
December 2015

Read more here.

Collaboration in general practice: surveys of GPs and CCGs

"GPs and CCGs report that the growth in collaborative working is driven primarily by CCG encouragement alongside financial pressures faced within general practice and a desire to expand the range of services offered in primary care."

Collaboration in general practice: surveys of GPs and CCGs
S Kumpunen, N Curry, N Edwards, M Holmes, H Price, T Ballard
Royal College of General Practitioners, Nuffield Trust
December 2015

Read more here.

Wednesday 25 November 2015

Budgeting for balance: How hard is this going to be?

"In this paper, we look at the experience of fiscal consolidation so far, and how to approach the remainder of the task. Do we need to keep going until the deficit is literally zero, or can we get away with stopping when the deficit is back at its mid 2000 levels? Where have the savings come from so far, and what has been the impact on public services? How does the Government plan to find the rest of the savings, and how do we ensure that as many savings as possible come from increased efficiency?"

Budgeting for balance: How hard is this going to be?
J Dupont
Policy Exchange
November 2015

Read more here.

Monday 23 November 2015

Developing an ambulance commissioning strategy

"The ambulance service should develop into a mobile health provider working in multidisciplinary teams."

Developing an ambulance commissioning strategy: Five Year Forward View and beyond
NHS Clinical Commissioners
November 2015

Read more here.

The function and effectiveness of knowledge brokers in health-related settings

"As knowledge managers, linkage agents, and capacity builders, KBs performed many and varied tasks to transfer and exchange information across health-related stakeholders, settings, and sectors. How effectively they fulfilled their role in facilitating KT processes is unclear; further rigourous research is required to answer this question and discern the potential impact of KBs on education, practice, and policy."

Exploring the function and effectiveness of knowledge brokers as facilitators of knowledge translation in health-related settings: a systematic review and thematic analysis
CC Bornbaum, K Kornas, L Peirson, LC Rosella
Implementation Science, 2015, 10:162

Read more here.

Thursday 19 November 2015

Intentional whole health system design

"When Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage, Alaska, assumed responsibility for primary, community and mental health services for Alaska Native people in the mid-1990s, the quality of care and outcomes for the population were among the worst in the United States. Seventeen years later, Southcentral is widely regarded as one of the most successful examples of health system redesign in the United States and internationally. Costs are down and quality is up, with health outcomes among the best in the United States based on a wide range of measures."

Intentional whole health system design: Southcentral Foundation's 'Nuka' system of care
B Collins
The King's Fund
November 2015

Read more here.

Cancer models and real-world data: Better together

"The pairing of models with such data can create more robust models to not only better inform policy but also inform health care systems about best approaches to improve the provision of cancer screening in the United States."

Cancer models and real-world data: Better together
JJ Kim, et al.
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2016, 108(2)

Read more here.

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Growing healthy communities: The Health and Wellbeing Index

"The purpose of this report is to help stakeholders – NHS providers and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), local authorities, health and social care providers, housing associations, fire authorities and the police – to improve collaboration through a better understanding of the correlation between the economic, social and environmental health determinants and health outcomes within their locality."

Growing healthy communities: The Health and Wellbeing Index
Grant Thornton
October 2015

Read more here.

An NHS leadership team for the future

"Developing clinicians as the ‘agent for change’ has never been more important. This report seeks to evaluate how the NHS is preparing future clinical leaders for this responsibility. The NHS has access to 50,000 junior doctors who are among the highest performing young people in the country. It is an unparalleled resource in comparison to many corporations and organisations operating in the UK today."

An NHS leadership team for the future
N Ahmed, F Ahmed, H Anis, P Carr, S Gauher, F Rahman
Reform Research Trust
November 2015

Read more here.

Devolution: what it means for health and social care in England

"Ahead of further devolution deals expected to be announced as part of the Spending Review 2015, this briefing describes the origins of the devolution agenda and charts its progress in relation to health and social care."

Devolution: what it means for health and social care in England
The King's Fund
November 2015

Read more here.

Place-based systems: A way forward for the NHS in England

"This paper argues that providers of services should establish place-based ‘systems of care’ in which they work together to improve health and care for the populations they serve. This means organisations collaborating to manage the common resources available to them."

Place-based systems: A way forward for the NHS in England
C Ham, H Alderwick
The King's Fund
November 2015

Read more here.

Better use of care at home

"This quick guide provides case studies, ideas and practical tips to commissioners, health professionals and care providers on how to improve the relationships, processes and use of homecare and housing support to help people home from hospital."

Quick guide: Better use of care at home: Transforming urgent and emergency care in England
NHS England
November 2015

Read more here.

Models of care for high-need, high-cost patients

"This brief analyzes experts’ reviews of evidence about care models designed to improve outcomes and reduce costs for patients with complex needs. It finds that successful models have several common attributes: targeting patients likely to benefit from the intervention; comprehensively assessing patients’ risks and needs; relying on evidence-based care planning and patient monitoring; promoting patient and family engagement in self-care; coordinating care and communication among patients and providers; facilitating transitions from the hospital and referrals to community resources; and providing appropriate care in accordance with patients’ preferences."

Models of care for high-need, high-cost patients: An evidence synthesis
The Commonwealth Fund
November 2015

Read more here.

Financially, environmentally, and socially sustainable mental health services

This guide has been written by a group of experts in mental health and sustainability, in consultation with service users and patients, and strengthened by input from a local government and public health perspective. The content is primarily evidence-based but ideas deemed to be best practice by expert consensus have also been included. By the end of this guide, readers should:

  • understand the concept of sustainability in mental health care, and how using
  • this commissioning framework can create sustainable services
  • be aware of the legislation relating to sustainability that the NHS is required
  • to meet
  • understand what sustainable commissioning looks like in practice
  • understand how and why improving the sustainability of mental health interventions will contribute to achieving the aims of both the mental health, public health, NHS, and social care strategies, as well as improving quality and productivity
  • be able to commission sustainable mental health services and interventions.

Guidance for commissioners of financially, environmentally, and socially sustainable mental health services
Joint Commissioning Panel for Mental Health, Centre for Sustainable Healthcare
October 2015

Read more here.

Continuous improvement of patient safety

"This report makes the case for changing the way patient safety is approached in the NHS. It argues that change is needed in: how safety is understood, because current approaches to measurement don’t provide the full picture; how safety is improved, because existing approaches alone will not address the most intractable problems; how risk is perceived, because comfort-seeking behaviours will not create a genuine culture of learning."

Continuous improvement of patient safety: The case for change in the NHS
J Illingworth
Health Foundation
November 2015

Read more here.

On targets: How targets can be most effective in the English NHS

"This report does not set out to determine whether targets, as a concept, are good or bad, but focuses on how targets can be most effective for improving quality of care. It builds on the evidence base regarding the impact of targets to identify good practice in designing new or improved targets, and considers how policymakers can apply these lessons to the challenges facing the NHS."

On targets: How targets can be most effective in the English NHS
N Berry, T Gardner, I Anderson
The Health Foundation
November 2015

Read more here.

Tax and fiscal options for a sustainable UK health and social care system

"Our analysis suggests that there are challenging times ahead for health care across the UK. The NHS needs to embed and sustain rates of productivity improvement for the foreseeable future in a way that has hitherto proved difficult. Our analysis of the extra funding required would be sufficient to maintain the current service. It would not address known weaknesses in our health care system such as the lack of parity for mental health care."

Filling the gap: Tax and fiscal options for a sustainable UK health and social care system
A Roberts, S Thompson, A Charlesworth, B Gershlick, A Stirling
The Health Foundation
November 2015

Read more here.

General practice commissioning: in whose interests?

"An investigation into England’s clinical commissioning groups shows that many are commissioning from organisations in which board members are involved."

General practice commissioning: in whose interests?
G Iacobucci
British Medical Journal, 2015, 351:h6000

Read more here.

Monday 9 November 2015

Do NHS healthcare commissioners produce the outcomes they hope to achieve?

"Commissioners made marginal investments in specific health conditions and services with the aim of improving a wide range of outcomes. There was little evidence of impact on the limited number of outcomes measured."

Do marginal investments made by NHS healthcare commissioners in the UK produce the outcomes they hope to achieve? Observational study
A O'Cathain, F Sampson, M Strong, M Pickin, E Goyder, S Dixon
BMJ Open, 2014, 5:e009336

Read more here.

Fat chance? Exploring the evidence on who becomes obese

"When 2020health looked at the evidence, we found it wasn’t simply about those who were poor; it was younger, socially deprived women most at risk. Living in an environment that has a high density of fast food outlets, poor pavements, insufficient green space and a perceived fear of crime all correlated with an increase in obesity in girls."

Fat chance? Exploring the evidence on who becomes obese
A Parkhurst
2020health
November 2015

Read more here.

Thursday 29 October 2015

Hospital trusts productivity in the English NHS

"In 2009, the NHS Chief Executive warned that a potential funding gap of £20 billion should be met by extensive efficiency savings by March 2015. Our study investigates possible drivers of differential Trust performance (productivity) for the years 2010/11-2012/13."

Hospital trusts productivity in the English NHS: uncovering possible drivers of productivity variations: CHE Research Paper 117
MJ Aragon Aragon, A Castelli, J Gaughan
Centre for Health Economics, University of York
October 2015

Read more here.

Review of innovative medicines and medical technologies

"The review has explored the question of accelerated access through four workstreams spanning the development pathway and a fifth focussing on patient engagement in all parts of the pathway. Each workstream has looked across issues concerning drugs, devices, diagnostics and digital health products."

Accelerated access review: Interim report: Review of innovative medicines and medical technologies, supported by Wellcome Trust
October 2015

Read more here.

Wednesday 28 October 2015

People-centred health systems in the WHO European Region

"This publication is a collection of personal stories describing experiences in health systems associated with improved health and well-being. While these examples are not intended to replace technical guidance on how to organize, finance or deliver health and social services, they emphasize people-centred approaches from the perspective of patients and carers."

People-centred health systems in the WHO European Region: Voices of patients and carers
World Health Organization
October 2015

Read more here.

Sustainable care pathways guidance

In 2015 the Coalition for Sustainable Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices created an innovative set of guidance to allow users to consistently appraise environmental impacts of health care pathways.

The guidance has been developed to enable sustainability to be considered when designing new models of care, redesigning existing models or investigating the benefits of prevention.

Read more here.


Local solutions to national challenges

"CCGs are now firmly established as key players in delivering quality health services and shaping the long-term future of the NHS. They are local doctors who understand the needs of their areas, focusing on the national priorities of sickness prevention, public health, self-care and care delivered in the community."

Local solutions to national challenges: Delivering our commitment to patients
NHS Clinical Commissioners
October 2015

Read more here.

Wednesday 21 October 2015

The 2015 Quality of Death Index

"This is the second edition of the Index, updating and expanding upon the first iteration, which was published in 2010. The new and expanded 2015 Index evaluates 80 countries using 20 quantitative and qualitative indicators across five categories: the palliative and healthcare environment, human resources, the affordability of care, the quality of care and the level of community engagement. To build the Index the EIU used official data and existing research for each country, and also interviewed palliative care experts from around the world."

The 2015 Quality of Death Index: Ranking palliative care across the world
The Economist Intelligence Unit
October 2015

Read more here.

Focus on: People with mental ill health and hospital use

"Our aim for this work is to improve understanding of how people with mental ill health use hospital services differently from those without. The differences observed should help those planning services so that resources are adequately assigned and influence future policies to continue striving towards parity of esteem. The analyses shown here may also provide a new way of understanding the quality of care for those with mental ill health and provide a way to track whether things get better or worse over time."

Focus on: People with mental ill health and hospital use: Exploring disparities in hospital use for physical healthcare
H Dorning, A Davies, I Blunt
The Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust
October 2015

Read more here.

Commissioning excellent nutrition and hydration 2015 – 2018

This document provides examples of commissioning approaches that can be adopted locally to improve the nutrition and hydration care of the population. A resources repository is available to support commissioners. It can be accessed here.

Commissioning excellent nutrition and hydration 2015 – 2018
NHS England
October 2015

Read more here.

Tuesday 20 October 2015

Tools to help provide care and support at home

"These pages provide useful tools, resources and examples of innovative approaches to enabling older people and people with disabilities to live well and independently in their own homes. They provide specific information across 8 key areas for adult social care commissioners, housing and care providers, primary care services and NHS hospital trusts on shaping, commissioning, funding, and delivering a range of care and support solutions for people living in their own homes."

Find out more here.

Monday 19 October 2015

Exploring the GP ‘added value’ in commissioning

"In our observation of various meetings, we found a degree of complexity associated with CCG structures and governance arrangements. Unlike PCTs (their immediate predecessor organisations), CCGs are often quite different from one another, with different structures and distribution of responsibilities between the various committees, sub-committees etc. We were often unable to clearly define which body was responsible for which type of decisions and who was a member of a particular body."

Exploring the GP ‘added value’ in commissioning: What works, in what circumstances, and how? Final Report
I McDermott, A Coleman, N Perkins, D Osipovic, C Petsoulas, K Checkland
PRUComm
October 2015

Read more here.

Patients’ perspectives on the medical primary–secondary care interface

"Patients should be the focus of any transfer of care between primary and secondary systems. From their perspective, areas for improvement may be classified into four domains that should usefully guide future work aimed at improving quality at this important interface."

Patients’ perspectives on the medical primary–secondary care interface: systematic review and synthesis of qualitative research
R Sampson, J Cooper, R Barbour, R Polson, P Wilson
BMJ Open, 2015, 5:e008708

Read more here.

Prioritising patients for bariatric surgery

"This study extends our understanding of the publics’ preferences for priority setting to the context of bariatric surgery, and derives priority weights that could be used to assist bodies responsible for commissioning bariatric services."

Prioritising patients for bariatric surgery: building public preferences from a discrete choice experiment into public policy
JA Whitty, et al.
BMJ Open, 2015, 5:e008919

Read more here.

Commissioning standards integrated urgent care

"These standards build on the success of NHS 111 and will help to deliver the benefits for all patients set out in the Urgent and Emergency Care review led by Sir Bruce Keogh. The intent is to enable commissioners to deliver a functionally integrated 24/7 urgent care service that is the ‘front door’ of the NHS and which provides the public with access to both treatment and clinical advice. This will include NHS 111 providers and GP Out-of-hours services, community services, ambulance services, emergency departments and social care."

Commissioning standards integrated urgent care
NHS England
September 2015

Read more here.

Thursday 15 October 2015

The state of health care and adult social care in England 2014/15

"The sectors we regulate face significant challenges. Our concerns are amplified by our finding that many services do not yet have the leadership and culture required to deliver safe, high-quality care. To survive and thrive will require resilience, innovation and creativity, supported by great leadership."

The state of health care and adult social care in England 2014/15
Care Quality Commission
October 2015

Read more here.

A cost/benefit analysis of self-care systems in the European Union

"The study offers added value to existing literature on self-care, which tends to focus on pharmaceutical treatments for the use in self-care. By assessing the effectiveness of self-care treatments, assessing self-care initiatives in cost-benefit analysis and developing a methodlogy for transferability of best-practice self-care initiatives, scientific evidence could be supplemented by a practical guide for policy-makers for identifying and transferring best-practices in self-care. The results highlight that political commitment to self-care is essential for the implementation and uptake of self-care. Further, it shows that for successful self-care initiatives a change in “culture” is necessary, so that patients take responsibility for their own health. In this context, patient information and clear communication is of particular relevance."

A cost/benefit analysis of self-care systems in the European Union
H Ostermann, AT Renner, J Bobek, P Schneider, S Vogler
European Union
April 2015

Read more here.

Wednesday 14 October 2015

The English Indices of Deprivation 2015

"This report outlines the main results from the Indices of Deprivation 2015, including the overall Index of Multiple Deprivation 2015, and provides examples and guidance on how to use and interpret the datasets. The accompanying technical report presents the conceptual framework of the new Indices of Deprivation 2015; the methodology for creating the domains and the overall Index of Multiple Deprivation; the quality assurance carried out to ensure reliability of the data outputs; and the component indicators and domains. All of the supporting documents and datasets for the Indices of Deprivation 2015 are available here."

The English Indices of Deprivation 2015
T Smith, M Noble, S Noble, G Wright, D McLennan, E Plunkett
Department for Communities and Local Government
September 2015

Read more here.

People with mental ill health and hospital use

"Our aim for this work is to improve understanding of how people with mental ill health use hospital services differently from those without. The differences observed should help those planning services so that resources are adequately assigned and influence future policies to continue striving towards parity of esteem."

QualityWatch: Focus on: People with mental ill health and hospital use: Exploring disparities in hospital use for physical healthcare
H Dorning, A Davies, I Blunt
The Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust
October 2015

Read more here.

Helping NHS providers improve productivity in elective care

"Improving productivity does not mean simple cost cutting: it means increasing the efficiency of elective care while at the same time improving or maintaining its quality."

Helping NHS providers improve productivity in elective care
Monitor
October 2015

Read more here.

Shared principles for redesigning the local health and care landscape

"This document builds on previous work by NHS England’s Planning and Delivering Service Changes for Patients which offered good practice guidance to health commissioners on developing proposals for major service changes and configuration. Our five key principles are for use by the whole system. It aims to provide local system leaders – local authorities, health and wellbeing boards, clinical commissioning groups, NHS and care providers and patients and the public – with shared principles to ensure that service redesign meet a number of fundamental requirements to assure themselves, their partners and their communities that proposals are focused on improving services and health and wellbeing outcomes."

Shared principles for redesigning the local health and care landscape
Local Government Association
September 2015

Read more here.

Tuesday 13 October 2015

The European health report 2015

"The gaps between the highest and lowest values reported in the Region for the Health 2020 indicators linked to social determinants of health – infant mortality, life expectancy, primary school enrolment and unemployment – have shrunk, but the absolute differences between countries remain large."

The European health report 2015: Targets and beyond - reaching new frontiers in evidence
WHO Regional Office for Europe
October 2015

Read more here.

Indicators of quality of care in general practices in England

"The review makes a series of recommendations to government, including:

  • developing a small set of indicators that show information about what matters most to the public, health care professionals and those accountable for the quality of general practice
  • consolidating the multiple existing websites currently sharing information about general practice quality, with information selected and presented to meet the differing needs of health care professionals and the public
  • developing a national strategy for improving the quality of general practice and primary care that guides indicator development, with progress assessed through the Secretary of State’s annual report
  • providing support to those working in general practice about how to understand and use information to improve patient care."

Indicators of quality of care in general practices in England: An independent review for the Secretary of State for Health
J Dixon, E Spencelayh, A Howells, A Mandel, F Gille
The Health Foundation
October 2015

Read more here.

Measuring the performance of local health systems

"This report summarises the results of a rapid review of how to assess the performance of local health systems through the lens of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The review was commissioned by the Department of Health who asked The King’s Fund to advise on the ‘first principles’ of a local health system scorecard for the NHS in England."

Measuring the performance of local health systems: a review for the Department of Health
C Ham, V Raleigh, C Foot, R Robertson, H Alderwick
The King's Fund
October 2015

Read more here.

Context for successful quality improvement

"Building on a series of thought pieces – published by the Health Foundation in Perspectives on context – this best evidence review combines the ideas of receptive and non-receptive contexts for change, with a psychological perspective and the proposition that social context is the key facilitator of quality improvement. The review also considers context at structural levels within the health care system:

  • macro – the system level
  • meso – the organisation level
  • micro – the clinical team level.

Crucially, the review considers how all of these factors combine to impact upon the success and sustainability of quality improvement efforts."

Context for successful quality improvement
N Fulop, G Robert
The Health Foundation
October 2015

Read more here.

Wednesday 7 October 2015

A new home for public health services for children aged 0-5

"This resource provides an overview of the work that is taking place both locally and nationally to safely transfer children’s public health commissioning responsibilities for children aged 0 to 5 from NHS England to local authorities and some of the opportunities available following the transition period. It provides a snapshot of information found in existing factsheets and supporting documents."

A new home for public health services for children aged 0-5: A resource for local authorities
Local Government Association
September 2015

Read more here.

The cost of the cuts: a social impact tool for local authorities

"A major research project funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has catalogued and explored the implications of local council savings over the past five years. The aim of the project was to analyse the extent to which the range of measures – activities focused on reducing future needs and costs, reductions in services, changes in eligibility thresholds and consolidations of facilities – has impacted on poorer groups of service users. The result is a social impact tool which enables councils in England and Scotland to replicate a key part of the quantitative analysis undertaken for the study. This user guide introduces that social impact tool."

The cost of the cuts: a social impact tool for local authorities: User guide
A Hastings, N Bailey, G Bramley, M Gannon, D Watkins
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
October 2015

Read more here.

Making time in general practice

"This report was commissioned by NHS England as part of this wider work to deliver the NEW Deal, strengthening primary care and releasing capacity to introduce new care models."

Making time in general practice
H Clay, R Stern
NHS Alliance
October 2015

Read more here.

Tuesday 6 October 2015

Waiting time prioritisation: Evidence from England

"Following initiatives in other OECD countries, the English NHS and other healthcare systems faced with increasing excess demand for elective surgery should put more emphasis in encouraging further prioritisation on the list and consider formal policies to enforce this."

Waiting time prioritisation: Evidence from England: CHE Research Paper 114
N Gutacker, R Cookson, L Siciliani
Centre for Health Economics
University of York
September 2015

Read more here.

Monday 5 October 2015

Integration and continuity of primary care: polyclinics and alternatives

"In recent years the NHS has introduced new organisations and ways of working in order to improve the care of people with complex health needs. These approaches include general practitioner-led health centres, ‘case management’ (where a community matron or similar co-ordinates patients’ care) and (especially in London) ‘polyclinics’. We wanted to find out how these approaches compare in terms of improving the co-ordination of patient care across the range of services."

Integration and continuity of primary care: polyclinics and alternatives – a patient-centred analysis of how organisation constrains care co-ordination
R Sheaff, J Halliday, J Ovretveit, R Byng, M Exworthy, S Peckham, S Asthana
Health Services and Delivery Research, 2015, 3(35)

Read more here.

Towards a new future for general practice

"This report will not only examine the current problems in general practice, but also look at the future of primary care within a rapidly changing system. We will set out our principles and vision and – by examining what patients want and how practices and practitioners should be configured and assisted to respond – put forward the key actions that will be required to enable us to realise that future vision."

Responsive, safe and sustainable: Towards a new future for general practice
British Medical Association
2015

Read more here.

Universal health visitor reviews

"This document is primarily intended for those in LAs responsible for the commissioning of 0 to 5 public health services and for providers of those services. Its purpose is to help explain and provide the context of Regulations relating to the mandatory delivery of five key child development reviews as set out in the Healthy Child Programme (HCP)."

Read more here.

Evidence based policy making and the ‘art’ of commissioning

"To influence policy makers’ decisions, researchers need to:
1) learn more about local policy makers’ priorities
2) develop relationships of mutual benefit
3) use verbal instead of written communication
4) work with intermediaries such as public health consultants and
5) co-produce local evaluations."

Evidence based policy making and the ‘art’ of commissioning – how English healthcare commissioners access and use information and academic research in ‘real life’ decision-making: an empirical qualitative study
L Wye, E Brangan, A Cameron, J Gabbay, JH Klein, C Pope
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:430

Read more here.

Sunday 4 October 2015

Putting integrated care into practice: the North West London experience

"Policy-makers must set realistic expectations, provide sustained and tailored support, and allow time for clinicians and managers to deliver changes to the ways in which patients are cared for. Alongside this, there is a need for careful and robust monitoring of progress over the longer term, feeding into local governance and accountability arrangements, so that investment and implementation deliver the transformational changes promised at the outset."

Putting integrated care into practice: the North West London experience
G Wistow, M Gaskins, H Holder, J Smith
Nuffield Trust
October 2015

Read more here.

What do leaders want from NHS Improvement?

"In May 2015, the Secretary of State for Health announced that Monitor, the regulator of NHS foundation trusts, would merge with the Trust Development Authority, which oversees other trusts – under the oversight of a single chief executive. This single body, NHS Improvement, will have regulatory and oversight duties over all NHS providers. This Viewpoint is published as the chief executive of the newly formed organisation takes up post, at a time when NHS trusts face historic financial pressure and an ambitious programme of change. The Nuffield Trust and NHS Providers asked leaders from across the health service and other key positions in health care policy-making for their advice to the first holder of this important position. Each respondent was asked to set out some priority areas for the chief executive to focus on, and how they believe he or she could deliver real help to the NHS at this difficult time."

What do leaders want from NHS Improvement?
Nuffield Trust
September 2015

Read more here.

Improving diagnosis in health care

"Despite the pervasiveness of diagnostic errors and the risk for serious patient harm, diagnostic errors have been largely unappreciated within the quality and patient safety movements in health care."

Improving diagnosis in health care
EP Balogh, BT Miller, JR Ball (eds.)
The National Academies Press
September 2015

Read more here - free registration required.

Friday 25 September 2015

Transforming healthcare in England’s core cities

"Through a series of case studies, this report explains how core cities commissioners are addressing such challenges. It is grouped around four key themes:

  • equitable care
  • partnership working
  • improving wellbeing
  • changing healthcare."

Transforming healthcare in England’s core cities
NHS Clinical Commissioners
September 2015

Read more here.

Need to nurture: outcomes-based commissioning in the NHS

"Outcomes-based commissioning is an approach to commissioning health care that is based on the combination of five components: (1) use of outcomes; (2) a population approach; (3) use of metrics and learning; (4) payments and incentives; and (5) coordinated delivery. Rather than an individual intervention, it is one part of a broader approach to transforming a whole health care system."

Need to nurture: outcomes-based commissioning in the NHS
R Taunt, C Allcock, A Lockwood
The Health Foundation
September 2015

Read more here.

Bridging the gap between research and the frontline NHS

"Since 2008, CLAHRCs have conducted a range of innovative research studies leading to improved outcomes for patients, better and more cost-effective services and challenge health inequalities nationally. Alongside that, CLAHRCs engaged in innovative capacity development work with NHS partners, running courses in research, evaluation and implementation of the latest evidence."

World class research making a difference: Bridging the gap between research and the frontline NHS
National Institute for Health Research
September 2015

Read more here.

Thursday 24 September 2015

Foundation trust and NHS trust mergers 2010 to 2015

"Our review paints a picture of a highly centralised and politicised system where providers pursue mergers at the instigation of national bodies, often in pursuit of foundation trust status or in response to financial or clinical failure. Hard-pressed NHS leaders appear to be betting the farm on mergers for severely challenged providers, typically after a range of alternative strategies have been attempted.

This is despite the paucity of evidence that mergers offer lasting solutions for challenged hospitals. Our review has highlighted the length of time, costs and risks involved in mergers. Others have shown that mergers are unlikely to deliver the intended benefits."

Foundation trust and NHS trust mergers 2010 to 2015
B Collins
The King's Fund
September 2015

Read more here.

Wednesday 23 September 2015

The European health report 2015

"The gaps between the highest and lowest reported values for the Health 2020 indicators linked to the social determinants of health –  infant mortality, life expectancy, primary school enrolment and unemployment – have shrunk. Preliminary data suggest that this positive trend has continued since 2010, although absolute differences between countries remain large."

The European health report 2015: Targets and beyond - reaching new frontiers in evidence
World Health Organization
September 2015

Read more here.

Tuesday 22 September 2015

Waiting time prioritisation: Evidence from England

"Following initiatives in other OECD countries, the English NHS and other healthcare systems faced with increasing excess demand for elective surgery should put more emphasis in encouraging further prioritisation on the list and consider formal policies to enforce this."

Waiting time prioritisation: Evidence from England: CHE Research Paper 114
N Gutacker, R Cookson, L Siciliani
Centre for Health Economics
September 2015

Read more here.

Managing conflicts of interest in NHS clinical commissioning groups

"The new arrangements from April 2015 for co-commissioning primary care services from GPs increase the risk of significant conflicts of interest in CCGs."

Managing conflicts of interest in NHS clinical commissioning groups
National Audit Office
September 2015

Read more here.

Putting the pieces together: Removing the barriers to excellent patient care

"We need a system that enables doctors, nurses and others on the front line of the NHS to deliver the safest, most effective care, in whatever setting is most appropriate for each patient’s needs."

Putting the pieces together: Removing the barriers to excellent patient care
Royal College of Physicians
September 2015

Read more here.

Economic crisis, health systems and health in Europe

"This report from the WHO looks at the 2008 economic crisis and how it has reinforced the understanding that fiscal pressures threaten health and health system performance. The report focuses on a study of over 45 countries’ experiences and policy responses, to address key questions of how different European countries dealt with the crisis and how this affected the performance of healthcare systems, as well as the population’s health."

Economic crisis, health systems and health in Europe: Country experience
A Maresso, et al. (eds).
World Health Organization
September 2015

Read more here.

The responsibility of NHS leaders to deliver better value healthcare

"There are in fact three definitions of value, which I like to call triple value. The first is allocative value, which asks whether we have allocated resources to different groups equitably and in a way that maximises value for the whole population. Then there is technical value, in which improving quality and safety of healthcare increases the value derived from resources allocated to a particular service. Finally, there is personalised value and this relates to ensuring decisions are based on conditions and values of individuals, including the value they place on good and bad outcomes."

A culture of stewardship: The responsibility of NHS leaders to deliver better value healthcare
Professor Sir Muir Gray
NHS Confederation
September 2015

Read more here.

Saturday 12 September 2015

Communications in health care improvement - a toolkit

This toolkit is for health care professionals working in improvement who want to understand and use communications to better plan, implement and spread their work.

Access the toolkit here.

Monitoring patient safety in primary care

"This study’s findings demonstrate that patient safety and patient safety events, such as serious incidents, appear ill-defined in primary care, and therefore it is unclear on the ground what is to be monitored."

Monitoring patient safety in primary care: an exploratory study using in-depth semistructured interviews
R Samra, A Bottle, P Aylin
BMJ Open, 2015, 5:e008128

Read more here.

Seven day services: An evidence base of enablers for transformation

"To drive and sustain whole system change in achievement of seven day services, senior leadership with a common purpose and delivery objective is a critical success factor."

Seven day services: An evidence base of enablers for transformation
NHS Improving Quality
August 2015

Read more here.

Moving healthcare closer to home: Literature review of clinical impacts

"As set out in our summary paper, many providers and commissioners facing both demand growth and capacity constraints may be considering these schemes, particularly as they could deliver clinical and patient experience benefits."

Moving healthcare closer to home: Literature review of clinical impacts
Monitor
September 2015

Read more here.

Wednesday 9 September 2015

How should we think about value in health and care?

"This paper suggests reframing value in health and care, drawing on ideas from a number of sources, and in particular from public and social value theory. These approaches emphasise that the outcomes we aim to achieve must be responsive to what relevant groups of people – ‘citizens’,
‘viewers’, ‘stakeholders’ – value."

How should we think about value in health and care?
Realising the value: Empowering people engaging communities
The Health Foundation, Nesta
September 2015

Read more here.

Improving length of stay: What can hospitals do?

"This report from the Nuffield Trust is part of a larger project undertaken with Monitor designed to test the potential for reducing admissions and length of stay in hospital and the impact this could have on the costs of hospital care and the wider costs of local systems."

Improving length of stay: What can hospitals do?
R Lewis, N Edwards
Nuffield Trust
September 2015

Read more here.

Sunday 6 September 2015

Using system change to reduce unplanned admissions in people aged 85 years and over

"Rising admission rates for older people were seen in places where several parts of the system were under strain. Places which had stemmed the rising tide of admissions had done so through strong, stable leadership, a shared vision and strategy, and common values across the system."

Establishing and implementing best practice to reduce unplanned admissions in those aged 85 years and over through system change [Establishing System Change for Admissions of People 85+ (ESCAPE 85+)]: a mixed-methods case study approach
A Wilson, et al.
Health Services and Delivery Research, 2015, 3(37)

Read more here.

The future of primary care: Creating teams for tomorrow

"Building new models of care needs to be done equitably. Some of the most deprived areas of the country have the greatest recruitment problems, the biggest resource challenges and the greatest health need. First-class primary healthcare must be available in all parts of the NHS."

The future of primary care: Creating teams for tomorrow
Primary Care Workforce Commission
July 2015

Read more here.

Sunday 30 August 2015

Self-assessment toolkit for local Healthwatch and local Healthwatch Commissioners

"This toolkit is not intended to replace any of that advice but sets out some key governance questions for LHW and local commissioners to think about in development discussions and in renegotiating contracts."

Local Healthwatch Governance: a self-assessment toolkit for local Healthwatch and local Healthwatch Commissioners
Local Government Association
July 2015

Read more here.

Impact of referral templates on the quality of referrals

"In this study, the dissemination of referral templates coupled with intermittent surgery visits produced higher quality referrals."

Impact of referral templates on the quality of referrals from primary to secondary care: a cluster randomised trial
H Wahlberg, PC Valle, S Malm, A Ragnhild Broderstad
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:353

Read more here.

Socioeconomic impact of inaccurate tests

"The results of this analysis suggest that incorrect HER2 test results have far-reaching clinical and economic consequences."

Immunohistochemical expression of HER2 in breast cancer: socioeconomic impact of inaccurate tests
M Vyberg, et al.
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:352

Read more here.

Neurology services: outpatient analysis

"The resources will help clinicians and commissioners to assess if they comply with recommendations by the Royal College of Physicians that scheduled outpatient care should achieve national access targets and be close to the patient's home to ensure accurate diagnosis of symptoms and long term care for conditions ranging from migraine to motor neuron disease."

Neurology services: outpatient analysis
Public Health England
August 2015

Access the resources here.

Effectiveness of an intermediate care hospital

"Having an ICH in the municipality facilitated shorter length of hospital stay and kept the risk of readmissions, mortality and post-hospitalization care needs at the same level as without an ICH."

Effectiveness of an intermediate care hospital on readmissions, mortality, activities of daily living and use of health care services among hospitalized adults aged 60 years and older—a controlled observational study
U Dahl, A Steinsbekk, R Johnsen
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:351

Read more here.

Informal caregivers of clients with neurological conditions

"Neurological conditions are common among home care clients and a significant proportion of informal caregivers providing care to these clients experience distress. The complexity of clients with neurological conditions suggests the need for multicomponent support strategies for informal caregivers."

Informal caregivers of clients with neurological conditions: profiles, patterns and risk factors for distress from a home care prevalence study
LA Mitchell, J Hirdes, JW Poss, C Slegers-Boyd, H Caldarelli, L Martin
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:350

Read more here.

Integrated collaborative care model vs. a shifted outpatient collaborative care model

"Our findings suggest that shelter-based collaborative mental health care models may be effective for individuals experiencing homelessness and mental illness. Future studies should seek to confirm these findings and examine the cost effectiveness of collaborative care models for this population."

The effectiveness of an integrated collaborative care model vs. a shifted outpatient collaborative care model on community functioning, residential stability, and health service use among homeless adults with mental illness: a quasi-experimental study
V Stergiopoulos, et al.
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:348

Read more here.

Global Health Security Agenda pilot assessment of the United Kingdom

"International expert team’s assessment of UK’s health protection services against the standards and targets set out under the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA)."

Global Health Security Agenda: pilot assessment of the UK
Department of Health
August 2015

Read more here.

Accuracy of administrative data for infection surveillance

"If hospitals and policymakers choose to rely on administrative data for HAI surveillance, continued improvements to existing algorithms and their robust validation are imperative."

Accuracy of administrative data for surveillance of healthcare-associated infections: a systematic review
MSM van Mourik, PJ van Duijn, KGM Moons, MJM Bonten, GM Lee
BMJ Open, 2015, 5:e008424

Read more here.

Scotland's telephone advice service (NHS 24) for managing health

"This is the first study to examine how the public uses NHS 24. It has identified the patterns of problems which the service must be equipped to deal with. It has also provided important information about who uses the service and when. This information will help future planning and development of the service."

Examining the role of Scotland's telephone advice service (NHS 24) for managing health in the community: analysis of routinely collected NHS 24 data
AM Elliott, A McAteer, D Heaney, LD Ritchie, PC Hannaford
BMJ Open, 2015, 5:e007293

Read more here.

Patient safety implications of general practice workload

"The paper intends to act as a catalyst for the development of new solutions to both fatigue and workload in general practice. RCGP is asking GPs, patients, other healthcare professionals and policy makers for their views on this paper, and suggestions – at a practice, system, and national level – for how GP workload can be alleviated, therefore reducing the risk of fatigue and burnout."

Patient safety implications of general practice workload
Royal College of General Practitioners
July 2015

Read more here.

Thursday 27 August 2015

Call for papers: Innovations in health care deliver: Call for papers for a year long series

"Articles on devices, information technologies, and other technologies that have effects on care delivery are welcome, as are reports on sociological, managerial, and organizational changes. One area not central to this initiative is innovation in health care payment and finance, which has numerous publication outlets. JAMA will focus on new ways in which care is organized and delivered, not paid for."

Innovations in health care deliver: Call for papers for a yearlong series
D Berwick, H Bauchner, PB Fontanarosa
Journal of the American Medical Association, 2015, 314(7):675-76

Read more here.

Learning about competition from the UK's National Health Service

"Hospital competition is an important and significant driver of quality and outcomes improvement. That’s true both for a nationalized health system like the NHS and the private system in the United States."

Learning about competition from the UK's National Health Service
A Frakt
Journal of the American Medical Association
8th July 2015

Read more here.

Inequalities in life expectancy

"The persistence of low life expectancy in some areas means that the state, centrally and locally, has not tackled inequalities in health adequately. Inequalities in health are not self-correcting, and the role of wider determinants, lifestyles and services need to be addressed together rather than in isolation from – or in opposition to – each other."

Inequalities in life expectancy: Changes over time and implications for policy
D Buck, D Maguire
The King's Fund
August 2015

Read more here.

Wednesday 26 August 2015

Rethinking regulation

"Health and care regulation is incoherent and expensive and there is little evidence for its effectiveness; if it was going to improve care it would have done so by now."

Rethinking regulation
Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
August 2015

Read more here.

Research utilisation and knowledge mobilisation and public health

"Not all practitioners have the time, skills or interest to work in cocreation, but when there was collaboration, much was learned."

Research utilisation and knowledge mobilisation in the commissioning and joint planning of public health interventions to reduce alcohol-related harms: a qualitative case design using a cocreation approach
RK Rushmer, et al.
Health Services and Delivery Research, 2015, 3:33

Read more here.

Boards, leadership and the NHS

"There is no legal form, structure or system that can completely inoculate NHS provider organisations against failure because organisations are led by people not systems or methodologies, and as in any industry, success is contingent on the cumulative behaviour of individuals. But good corporate governance provides a vehicle for the provision of sound leadership, clear direction and dynamic accountability."

We need to talk about boards: Boards, leadership and the NHS
NHS Providers
July 2015

Read more here.

Sunday 23 August 2015

Communities of practice for supporting health systems change

"The CoP literature does not provide sufficient guidance about how to use CoPs to influence health systems change. Therefore, more primary studies that evaluate the role and influence of CoPs in system-level change are required."

Communities of practice for supporting health systems change: a missed opportunity
A Kothari, JA Boyko, J Conklin, P Stolee, SL Sibbald
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2015, 13:33

Read more here.

Understanding effective care management implementation in primary care

"Although care management can introduce many new changes into the delivery of primary care clinical practice, implementing it successfully as a new complex intervention is possible."

Understanding effective care management implementation in primary care: a macrocognition perspective analysis
JS Holtrop, G Potworowski, L Fitzpatrick, A Kowalk, LA Green
Implementation Science, 2015, 10:122

Read more here.

The NHS: Busting the myths

"The NHS Confederation is publishing a series of myth busters, which challenge common misconceptions and enrich the debates on topical, sometimes controversial, issues regarding our health and care." These are the first three:

Better Knowledge, Better Care animations

NHS Improving Quality has produced a set of animations to help people understand what is meant to have 'better knowledge' in health care. More details are available here, and the four animations are:

Privacy of health records

"People are often assumed to support either privacy or security, as if the choice is between one or the other. However, RAND Europe has collected evidence as part of the largest ever surveys of citizens’ views across Europe on security, surveillance and privacy issues, and the results point to the general public having a much more nuanced understanding of those issues. This brief presents people’s preferences in the context of storage of electronic health records."

Privacy of health records: Europeans' preferences on electronic health data storage and sharing
S Patil, et al.
RAND Europe
August 2015

Read more here.

The system-wide response to the Independent Review of the Liverpool Care Pathway

"The evidence of progress set out in this report suggests a genuine, sustained commitment across the health and care system to the principles set out in the Priorities for Care. It also bears witness to the practical work being done to deliver genuine improvements to the care dying people and those important to them receive. This includes a commitment to preventing and avoiding repetitions of the poor care identified by the Independent Review of the Liverpool Care Pathway."

One chance to get it right: One year on report: An overview of progress on commitments made in One chance to get it right: the system-wide response to the Independent Review of the Liverpool Care Pathway
Department of Health
July 2015

Read more here.

Evaluation of complex health and care interventions

"As policy-makers, commissioners and providers look to innovate and develop new ways of delivering care, there is increasing recognition at both national and local levels about the importance of understanding what works, why it works, and to demonstrate impact on cost and patient outcomes. One of the recurrent problems when evaluating the impact of new care models on outcomes is how to know ‘what would have happened under a different approach to delivering care’."

Evaluation of complex health and care interventions using retrospective matched control methods: A guide for evaluators
A Davies, C Ariti, T Georghiou, M Bardsley
Nuffield Trust
August 2015

Read more here.

Perceived barriers to reporting adverse drug events in hospitals

"We believe that theoretical domains framework (TDF) is a comprehensive approach that enables us to better understand and classify barriers to behavior change in reporting ADEs. Classification of barriers based on different psychological domains could be effective in mapping suitable interventions to detected barriers."

Perceived barriers to reporting adverse drug events in hospitals: a qualitative study using theoretical domains framework approach
F Mirbaha, G Shalviri, B Yazdizadeh, K Gholami, R Majdzadeh
Implementation Science, 2015, 10:110

Read more here.

Study on the use of contractual mechanisms in commissioning

"Overall, the findings of the study indicate that retaining a national standard contract is advisable, as it can both ensure a degree of uniformity in respect of nationally important issues across the country, and reduce transactions costs involved in contract negotiation at local level."

Study on the use of contractual mechanisms in commissioning: Final report
P Allen, C Petsoulas, B Ritchie
Policy Research Unit in Commissioning and the Healthcare System
May 2015

Read more here.

The health of health finances

"It is clear that the NHS faces severe financial challenges. Are the Government’s plans to deal with them adequate? This paper reviews the evidence by looking at recent financial results and forecasts and the pressures they indicate; making comparisons with trends in spending levels; and analysing the specific pressures likely in future years."

The health of health finances: CIPFA Briefing
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy
August 2015

Read more here.

The digital doctor report 2015

"In order to keep abreast of these developments and help our clients better tailor their offerings, Ipsos Healthcare has sought to uncover how Doctors feel about digital health, and how they see its role developing in the future."

The digital doctor report 2015
R Sangar
Ipsos Healthcare
August 2015

Read more here.

Empowering patients through eHealth: a case report of a pan-European project

"This paper crystallises the experience developed by the pan-European PALANTE Consortium in dealing with the generation of relevant evidence from heterogeneous eHealth services for patient empowerment in nine European Regions."

Empowering patients through eHealth: a case report of a pan-European project
E Lettieri, et al.
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:309

Read more here.

International public health development and emergency response

"This document outlines our capabilities to support low and middle income countries strengthen their public health capacity and respond to outbreaks and emergencies. It also describes activities of relevance to higher income countries where we may assist on issues of global health security."

International public health development and emergency response: capability statement
Public Health England
July 2015

Read more here.

Sustainable health system route map

"The Route Map is a framework for action to help organisations develop a sustainable health system. 
It will help you to coordinate and take action so your organisation can save money, resources, improve health and make changes future proof. The Route Map is the result of a ground-breaking collaboration between the health system and around 70 partners. The Route Map framework isn't set in stone and will evolve over time as we discuss what needs to be done at an individual or an organisational level to make the health system more sustainable."

Access the route map here.




Wednesday 19 August 2015

Putting the consumer at the heart of UK healthcare

"The responsibility to allocate healthcare funding should be shifted from politicians and health sector bureaucrats to individual patients. Funding should closely follow patients, so that patients would allocate funding through the choices they made."

A patient approach: Putting the consumer at the heart of UK healthcare
K Niemietz
IEA Discussion Paper No. 64
Institute of Economic Affairs
August 2015

Read more here.

Effective strategies for the implementation of care bundles on ICUs

"The three most frequently used strategies were education, reminders and audit and feedback."

What are effective strategies for the implementation of care bundles on ICUs: a systematic review
MJ Borgert, A Goossens, DA Dongelmans
Implementation Science, 2015, 10:119

Read more here.

Using a systematic review in clinical decision making

"Evidence suggests that systematic reviews are used infrequently by physicians in clinical decision-making. One proposed solution is to create filtered resources so that information is validated and refined in order to be read quickly. Two shortened systematic review formats were developed to enhance their use in clinical decision-making."

Using a systematic review in clinical decision making: a pilot parallel, randomized controlled trial
L Perrier, N Persaud, KE Thorpe, SE Straus
Implementation Science, 2015, 10:118

Read more here.

Patients's expectations about primary care physicians' practices

"Patients are generally highly satisfied with their PCP. They have a wide range of expectations which should be taken into account when considering potential improvements."

What are patients' expectations about the organization of their primary care physicians' practices?
P Sebo, FR Herrman, P Bovier, DM Haller
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:328

Read more here.

Understanding nurses’ and physicians’ fear of repercussions for reporting errors

"Although further investigation is needed to examine these and other factors in detail, supportive safety leadership appears to be central to reducing fear of reporting errors for both nurses and physicians."

Understanding nurses’ and physicians’ fear of repercussions for reporting errors: clinician characteristics, organization demographics, or leadership factors?
ES Castel, LR Ginsburg, S Zaheer, H Tamim
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:326

Read more here.

The public's voice about healthcare quality regulation policies

"Our study contributes to the limited knowledge of public opinion on government regulation policies. This knowledge is needed in order to effectively assess different approaches to involve the public in regulation policies."

The public's voice about healthcare quality regulation policies. A population-based survey
R Bouwman, M Bomhoff, JD de Jong, P Robben, R Friele
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:325

Read more here.

Geographic variation in unplanned hospital admission rates and length of stay for ambulatory care sensitive conditions

"Policymakers targeting a reduction in unplanned admissions could introduce initiatives to improve primary care access and quality or develop alternatives to admission."

A systematic review of the magnitude and cause of geographic variation in unplanned hospital admission rates and length of stay for ambulatory care sensitive conditions
J Busby, S Purdy, W Hollingworth
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:324

Read more here.

Coordination of clinical information and management across levels of care

"This set of indicators comprehensively address the different attributes of clinical coordination in main transitions across levels of care."

Development and testing of indicators to measure coordination of clinical information and management across levels of care
MB Aller, et al.
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:323

Read more here.

Weekend hospitalization and additional risk of death

"Admission at the weekend is associated with increased risk of subsequent death within 30 days of admission. The likelihood of death actually occurring is less on a weekend day than on a mid-week day."

Weekend hospitalization and additional risk of death: An analysis of inpatient data
N Freemantle, et al.
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2012, 105: 74-84

Read more here.

A priority-setting method for evidence-based service development

"The method recruited and retained people with diverse experience and views within a health community and took account of a full range of evidence. It enabled a diverse group of stakeholders to travel together in a direction that converged with the messages coming out of the research and successfully yielded priorities for service improvement that met competing requirements."

Squaring the circle: a priority-setting method for evidence-based service development, reconciling research with multiple stakeholder views
R Hutten, GD Parry, T Ricketts, J Cooke
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:320

Read more here.

Narrative review of models and success factors for scaling up public health interventions

"Conceptual frameworks can assist both policy makers and researchers to determine the type of research that is most useful at different stages of scaling up processes."

Narrative review of models and success factors for scaling up public health interventions
AJ Milat, A Bauman, S Redman
Implementation Science, 2015, 10:113

Read more here.

Monday 3 August 2015

New organisational models of primary care to meet the future needs of the NHS

"We identified three overlapping categories of models: models that introduce new, or change existing, roles in general practice; models of collaboration among professionals and among sectors (primary care, secondary care and social care); and new organisational forms for general practice."

New organisational models of primary care to meet the future needs of the NHS: a brief overview of recent reports
T Bienkowska-Gibbs, S King, C Saunders, M-L Henham
RAND Europe
June 2015

Read more here.

Wednesday 29 July 2015

Rethinking the public health workforce

"The report highlights the ‘early adopters’ in the wider workforce. These are the occupations who are already engaged with the public’s health, are enthusiastic to do more and should be acknowledged for their part in prevention. Examples include Fire & Rescue Services, Health Trainers, Allied Health Professions (12 distinct professions who make up 6% of the NHS workforce), Community Pharmacy, and Housing Associations. These occupations equate to over three quarters of a million people."

Rethinking the public health workforce
Royal Society for Public Health
July 2015

Read more here.

Thursday 23 July 2015

Safely home: What happens when people leave hospital and care settings?

"This report does not include recommendations; instead it poses a challenge to the health and social care sector to take action now to improve people’s experience of leaving services."

Safely home: What happens when people leave hospital and care settings?
Healthwatch England
July 2015

Read more here.

Making change possible: a Transformation Fund for the NHS

"A successful health and care system will be one that can adapt and respond to the needs of the population it serves and the environment in which it delivers care. Transformation must not be seen as a one-off project but as a way of operating – part of the DNA of our health service and its funding system."

Making change possible: a Transformation Fund for the NHS
The King's Fund, The Health Foundation
July 2015

Read more here.

A vision of a people-powered knowledge-powered health system

"The changes to healthcare imagined in this paper would add up to a fundamental shift in how people understand health and who is responsible for managing it. By 2030, there may be new kinds of knowledge, new ways of using it and new kinds of people involved in health support and services."

The NHS in 2030: A vision of a people-powered knowledge-powered health system
J Bland, H Khan, J Loder, T Symons, S Westlake
Nesta
July 2015

Read more here.

Thursday 16 July 2015

Insights on earlier adoption of medical innovations

"An international review of emerging and effective practice in improving access to medicines and medical technologies."

Insights on earlier adoption of medical innovations
S Wooding, G Cochrane, J Taylor, A Kamenetzky, S Sousa, S Parks
RAND Europe
July 2015

Read more here.

Integrated population needs-based planning

"Planning techniques such as the one described here consider the impact of health care policies on service, workforce and expenditure requirements, bringing these together to avoid the roadblocks arising from health-free planning methods."

Improving the fiscal and political sustainability of health systems through integrated population needs-based planning: Seminar briefing 17
S Birch
Office of Health Economics
June 2015

Read more here (free registration is required).

Collective intelligence in patient organisations

"By inputting environmental or clinical data, mapping territories, discussing and voting, coding and writing, citizens can contribute their knowledge and ideas to data collection tasks, analysis and public debates."

Collective intelligence in patient organisations
L Nicholas, S Broadbent
Nesta
July 2015

Read more here.

Redefining health care systems

"This book provides a scientific and personal perspective on health services research over the last half-century. Its purpose is to suggest how that science base, constructed over decades of sustained effort, can stimulate innovative thinking about how to make health care systems safer, more efficient, more cost-effective, and more patient-centered even as they respond to the needs of diverse communities."

Redefining health care systems
RH Brook
RAND Corporation
2015

Read more here.

Reconsidering accountability in an age of integrated care

"The NHS and publicly funded social care are important not only for people’s individual wellbeing, but also to the health of the population, the fairness of our society, levels of taxation and economic growth. Hence, although it may be tempting to argue that health and care decisions should be left solely to clinicians and patients, it is surely right that services are accountable to the public."

Reconsidering accountability in an age of integrated care
B Jupp
Nuffield Trust
July 2015

Read more here.

Learning not blaming

"The three reports that we are building on in developing our policy are distinct in their concerns, and this document addresses points raised in each of the three reports in turn. But there are also some common themes that run through them:

  • openness, honesty and candour;
  • listening to patients, families and staff;
  • finding and facing the truth;
  • learning from errors and failures in care;
  • people and professionalism;
  • the right culture from top to bottom."

Learning not blaming: The government response to the Freedom to Speak Up consultation, the Public Administration Select Committee report 'Investigating Clinical Incidents in the NHS', and the Morecambe Bay Investigation
Department of Health
July 2015

Read more here.

Publishing selected transparency metrics - how NHS England compares

"Internal analysis by the Department of Health (DH) looked into how the NHS in
England compares to 10 other countries in publishing selected transparency metrics."

How the NHS in England compares to other countries in publishing selected transparency metrics
Department of Health
July 2015

Read more here.

Sunday 12 July 2015

The budget: Health and social care funding

"It is clear that if more funding is not forthcoming for the current year, the consequences will be significant – either patient care will suffer as staff are cut, waiting times rise and the quality of care deteriorates, or the Department of Health will overspend its budget."

The budget: Health and social care funding
The King's Fund
July 2015

Read more here.

Health policy priorities for a new parliament

"This collection of essays, published jointly by the All-Party Parliamentary Health Group (APHG) and The King’s Fund, maps out health priorities for the next Parliament, as seen from the perspective of a distinguished collection of authors, representing key stakeholders in the world of health."

Health policy priorities for a new parliament
The King's Fund
July 2015

Read more here.

Better value in the NHS: The role of changes in clinical practice

"The direct and indirect costs of preventable harm to the NHS can be significant, so reducing harm can save the NHS money as well as improving quality of care."

Better value in the NHS: The role of changes in clinical practice
H Alderwick, R Robertson, J Appleby, P Dunn, D Maguire
The King's Fund
July 2015

Read more here.

Review of operational productivity in NHS providers

"Many hospitals have told us they would welcome more detailed guidance on what
good looks like. We therefore believe it would be appropriate to publish, in stages, what a model NHS hospital could look like in terms of operational productivity and cost."

Review of operational productivity in NHS providers: Interim report
NHS Procurement
June 2015

Read more here.

People's experiences of care during a mental health crisis

"The report highlights some key lessons for the wider system, including commissioning services to meet local need, and the different agencies involved in crisis care taking a more joined-up approach."

Right here, right now: People's experiences of help, care and support during a mental health crisis
Care Quality Commission
June 2015

Read more here.

Focus on: International comparisons of healthcare quality

" It is encouraging that the UK is stable or improving on almost all the indicators (25 out of 27), and we hope that the UK can at least maintain but ideally increase the speed of improvement."

Focus on: International comparisons of healthcare quality: What can the team learn?
L Kossarova, I Blunt, M Bardsley
Quality Watch: The Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust
July 2015

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Tuesday 30 June 2015

Good practice in ambulance commissioning

"Ambulance commissioners recognise the importance of working in partnership across the whole health and care sector to relieve the pressures that emergency care faces. All of the case studies drew on successful partnership working between commissioners and providers of ambulance services."

Good practice in ambulance commissioning
The National Ambulance Commissioners Network
NHS Clinical Commissioners
June 2015

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Making it better together: A call to action on the future of health and wellbeing boards

"This publication is a challenge and a call to action to local commissioners, Government and national bodies to support health and wellbeing boards in bringing about a radical transformation in the health of our communities."

A call to action on the future of health and wellbeing boards
Local Government Association
June 2015

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Monday 29 June 2015

Effects of alternative tax structures on public health systems

"Progressive tax policies within a pro-poor framework might accelerate progress toward achieving major international health goals."

Financing universal health coverage - effects of alternative tax structures on public health systems: cross-national modelling in 89 low-income and middle-income countries
A Reeves, Y Gourtsoyannis, S Basu, D McCoy, M McKee, D Stuckler
The Lancet
Published online: May 14, 2015

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Thursday 25 June 2015

Transforming our health care system: Ten priorities for commissioners

"Commissioners require a high level of technical competence to undertake the 'transactional' elements of commissioning."

Transforming our health care system: Ten priorities for commissioners
C Naylor, et al.
The King's Fund
June 2015

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Options for integrated commissioning

"A single national outcomes framework for integrated care should be agreed to ensure there is joint accountability between the NHS and local government."

Options for integrated commissioning: Beyond Barker
R Humphries, L Wenzel
The King's Fund
June 2015

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Transforming general practice: What are the levers for change?

"This report sets out the thinking and conclusions of a workshop held by the Nuffield Trust to consider how general practice might change as part of a wider transformation of the NHS."

Transforming general practice: What are the levers for change?
R Rosen
The Nuffield Trust
June 2015

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Flare frequency, healthcare resource utilisation and costs

"Gout-related costs and resource use were lower for those with infrequent flares, suggesting significant cost benefit to a gout management plan that has a goal of reducing flare frequency."

Flare frequency, healthcare resource utilisation and costs among patients with gout in a managed care setting: a retrospective medical claims-based analysis
R Jackson, A Shiozawa, EK Buysman, A Altan, S Korrer, H Choi
BMJ Open, 2015, 5:e007214

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The many meanings of 'quality' in healthcare

This is a collection of articles about different perspectives of quality in healthcare.

The many meanings of 'quality' in healthcare: Interdisciplinary perspectives
D Swinglehurst (ed.)
BMC Health Services Research
2015

Access the articles here.

High performing hospitals

"This review provides insights into methods used to identify high performing hospitals, and yields ideas about the factors important for success."

High performing hospitals: a qualitative systematic review of associated factors and practical strategies for improvement
N Taylor, R Clay-Williams, E Hogden, J Braithwaite, O Groene
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:244

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Useful approaches for teaching about quality improvement

"This study provides guidance for future organisers and participants of quality improvement collaboratives about which learning approaches will best suit the participants and enhance improvement work."

Do quality improvement collaboratives’ educational components match the dominant learning style preferences of the participants?
AM Weggelaar-Jansen, J van Wijngaarden, SS Slaghuis
BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15:239

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Shaping the future: A strategic framework for a successful NHS

"Developing and implementing such an emergent strategy will need many things, but most importantly leadership, collaboration and consensus building to develop a shared view of the challenges, the calculated risks and the means and ends."

Shaping the future: A strategic framework for a successful NHS
The Health Foundation
June 2015

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Diffusing healthcare innovation at pace and scale

"The diffusion of healthcare innovation is essential for any well-functioning and high-performing healthcare system."

Cracking the innovation nut: Diffusing healthcare innovation at pace and scale
NHS Confederation
June 2015, Issue 285

Read more here.