Improving quality in the English NHS: A strategy for action

"Improvements in the quality of care do not occur by chance. They come from the
intentional actions of staff equipped with the skills needed to bring about changes in care, directly and constantly supported by leaders at all levels. They do not come free and will require a substantial and sustained commitment of time and resources."

Improving quality in the English NHS: A strategy for action
C Ham, D Berwick, J Dixon
The King's Fund
February 2016

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Health and wellbeing boards: Engaging effectively with providers

"This briefing has been jointly produced by the Local Government Association (LGA), NHS Providers and Monitor to provide case studies that offer a snapshot of how HWBs are using different mechanisms to engage with local providers to develop system-wide approaches, join up the strategic commissioning of health and care, take a holistic place-based approach to prevention, and develop a shared local vision for local health and care services expressed through their Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategies (JWHS)."

Health and wellbeing boards: Engaging effectively with providers
Local Government Association, NHS Providers, Monitor
February 2016

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Collaborative research and the co-production of knowledge for practice

"In our view, the theory of co-production provides useful insights into what it is about the qualities of collaborative working that inspire the requisite mechanisms for generating knowledge that is translated into practice. The theory provides a potentially useful basis for future knowledge translation programmes and projects in applied health research in a range of contexts."

Collaborative research and the co-production of knowledge for practice: an illustrative case study
J Heaton, J Day, N Britten
Implementation Science, 2016, 11:20

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At the heart of health: Realising the value of people and communities

"This report explores the value of people and communities at the heart of health, in support of the NHS Five Year Forward View vision to develop a new relationship with people and communities."

At the heart of health: Realising the value of people and communities
NESTA
February 2016

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Monitoring change in health care through statistical process control methods

"The family of approaches known as statistical process control (SPC) have been widely used for monitoring outcomes in industry and have gained acceptance in many health care settings: usually within an organisation or clinical pathway. However, they are less commonly applied to look at population level changes across organisations: the changes we now see emerging in new models of care. Moreover, SPC methods can be applied to looking at some of the measures (such as changes in emergency admissions) that are commonly used to monitor major programmes of organisational change as seen in, for example, new models of integrated care or the Vanguards."

Monitoring change in health care through statistical process control methods
C Sherlaw-Johnson, M Bardsley
Nuffield Trust
January 2016

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Swimming ‘upstream’ to tackle the social determinants of health

"The authors conducted a cross-sectional study of a Health Leads intervention in two urban adult primary care practices. Social needs were identified and then addressed by advocates based in the practices. They found that 15% of patients seen had an unmet resource need, most commonly food insecurity or a health resource need such as difficulty obtaining health insurance or affording medications. Patients with unmet resource needs were less healthy, had more ‘no-show’ appointments, more emergency department visits and were less likely to meet care targets."

Swimming ‘upstream’ to tackle the social determinants of health
T Kiran, AD Pinto
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2016, 25:138-140

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The problem with Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles

"To be successful, the use of PDSA must be supported by a significant investment in leadership, expertise and resources for change."

The problem with Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles
JE Reed, AJ Card
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2016, 25:147-52

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Addressing basic resource needs to improve primary care quality

"Difficulty affording healthcare and food are particularly common needs among patients with priority conditions. Strategies to identify and address unmet needs as part of routine care may be an important way to improve healthcare quality."

Addressing basic resource needs to improve primary care quality: a community collaboration programme
SA Berkowitz, et al
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2016, 25:164-72

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Implementing the Forward View: Supporting providers to deliver

"This document is designed for NHS provider organisations. It is part of a series of roadmaps that draw on messages from the NHS Planning Guidance and set out the key priorities for specific audiences that are responsible for delivering high quality health and care this year and beyond."

Implementing the Forward View: Supporting providers to deliver
NHS Improvement in collaboration with a range of provider leaders, NHS Providers, NHS Confederation, NHS Clinical Commissioners, NHS Partners and the Local Government Association.
February 2016

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Delivering the benefits of digital health care

"This report sets out the possibilities to transform health care offered by digital technologies, with important insight about how to grasp those possibilities and benefits from those furthest on in their digital journey."

Delivering the benefits of digital health care
C Imison, S Castle-Clarke, R Watson, N Edwards
Nuffield Trust
February 2016

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Higher quality dementia care

In a programme of 3 linked studies, we investigated the impact of the QOF dementia review on the quality of care received by those with dementia, focusing particularly on the interface between primary and secondary care. We asked whether GP practices that Higher Quality Dementia Care
review comparatively more of their patients have:

• fewer emergency hospital admissions
• shorter stays for those who are hospitalised
• lower risk of discharge to a care home following hospitalisation

The research used several linked large datasets analysing data for a 5 year period relating to all GP practices in England for patients with dementia, involving around 230,00 patients. Advanced statistical methods were employed in order to ensure other factors that can influence outcomes were taken into account.

Higher quality dementia care
Centre for Health Economics
February 2016

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Commonwealth Fund's 2015 international survey of general practitioners

"Every three years, the US-based Commonwealth Fund coordinates a survey of general practitioners (GPs) and primary care physicians across 11 countries. This report provides UK-focused analysis by the Health Foundation of the 2015 survey, which included several UK-specific questions funded by the Health Foundation. The report centres on three topics of particular interest: GP satisfaction, care coordination and use of electronic medical records."

Under pressure: What the Commonwealth Fund’s 2015 international survey of general practitioners means for the UK
S Martin, E Davies, B Gershlick
The Health Foundation
February 2016

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Taking a participatory approach to development and better health

"This publication documents the experiences of participatory approaches taken by Region Skåne (Sweden) and three case studies: the Autonomous Province of Trento (Italy), the Autonomous Community of Andalusia (Spain) and Wales (United Kingdom)."

Taking a participatory approach to development and better health: Examples from the regions for health network
World Health Organization
2015

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Why now is the time to tackle obesity in Britain

"We need to shift the focus from weight to well-being – to children being able to enjoy a full life of enjoyable activity – and to target resources at those most in need – ill-nourished children and the morbidly obese. An obvious source of revenue are nutritionally valueless soft drinks, which are the largest single source of sugar for children aged 11 to 18 years and provide this age group on average with 29% of daily sugar intake."

Britain imbalanced: Why now is the time to tackle obesity in Britain
J Cracknell
Policy Exchange
2016

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Unwarranted variations

"This review looked at productivity and efficiency in English non-specialist acute hospitals, which account for half of the total health budget, using a series of metrics and benchmarks to enable comparison. We conclude that there is significant unwarranted variation across all of the main resource areas, and although we found many examples of good practice, no one hospital is good at everything."

Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals: Unwarranted variations: An independent report for the Department of Health
Lord Carter of Coles
Department of Health
February 2016

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Public satisfaction with the NHS in 2015

"Overall public satisfaction with the NHS fell by 5 percentage points in 2015 to 60 per cent. At the same time, dissatisfaction with the service rose by 8 percentage points to 23 per cent, taking dissatisfaction back to the levels reported between 2011 and 2013."

Public satisfaction with the NHS in 2015: Results and trends from the British Social Attitudes survey
J Appleby, R Robertson
The King's Fund
February 2016

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The future of child health services: new models of care

"Different services and models of care for children and young people have been emerging around the UK, both within the Vanguard scheme and inspired by it. These models are emerging in response to a series of problems in current services for children and young people. This briefing describes the current state of child health and quality of care in the UK and how the emerging models are responding to these issues."

The future of child health services: new models of care
L Kossarova, D Devakumar, N Edwards
The King's Fund
February 2016

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Higher quality dementia care

"In a programme of 3 linked studies, we investigated the impact of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) dementia review on the quality of care received by those with dementia, focusing particularly on the interface between primary and secondary care."

Higher quality dementia care
Centre for Health Economics, University of York
February 2016

Read more here.

Quality standard for people with sight loss and dementia

"Patients with dementia can benefit from being identified in advance of attending their appointment; staff who have specific training around dementia; and, being provided with support to participate in decisions about care."

Quality standard for people with sight loss and dementia in an ophthalmology department
The Royal College of Ophthalmologists
December 2015

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Health inequality and the A&E crisis

"Reducing healthcare inequality is a matter of social justice. It is also a matter of common sense, when the NHS is under such severe pressure from preventable emergencies arising from social inequality."

Health inequality and the A&E crisis
Centre for Health Economics, University of York
January 2016

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Reducing preventable harm in hospitals

"Sometimes small details can make a huge difference. One of the easiest ways to reduce ventilator-associated pneumonia, a major cause of death, is to put a piece of tape on the wall as a reminder to raise a patient’s bed to the correct angle."

This is part 1 of a two-part series.

Reducing preventable harm in hospitals
D Bornstein
New York Times, January 26, 2016

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Accident and emergency attendances in England - 2014-15

"This is a report on Accident and Emergency (A&E) activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS-commissioned activity in the independent sector."

Accident and emergency attendances in England - 2014-15
Health & Social Care Information Centre
January 28, 2016

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Preferences for engagement in health technology assessment decision-making

"Members of the public considered value, impact, uncertainty, equity and transparency in determining when engagement should be undertaken."

Preferences for engagement in health technology assessment decision-making: a nominal group technique with members of the public
S Wortley, A Tong, K Howard
BMJ Open, 2016, 6:e010265

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Consultation on specialised services clinical commissioning policies and service specifications

"NHS England has today (28 January 2016) launched a 30 day public consultation on a proposed number of new products for specialised services, (including service specifications and clinical commissioning policies)."

Find out more here.