How is the NHS performing?

"This is the 20th report and aims to take stock of what has happened over the past quarter and to assess the state of the health and care system. It provides an update on how the NHS is coping as it continues to grapple with productivity and reform challenges under continued financial pressure."

How is the NHS performing? September 2016: Quality Monitoring report
R Murray, J Jabbal, J Thompson, D Maguire
The King's Fund
September 2016

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Sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) explained

"Sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) were announced in the NHS planning guidance published in December 2015. NHS organisations in different parts of the country have been asked to come together to develop ‘place-based plans’ for the future of health and care services in their area. Draft plans were submitted in June 2016, and final plans are expected to be completed in October."

Sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) explained
The King's Fund
August 2016

Read more here.

Clinical commissioning: GPs in charge?

"Clinically led approaches to planning and designing health services are more likely to be both innovative and effective. For this reason, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were set up to put GPs at the heart of NHS planning decisions. What progress have CCGs made in implementing their clinically led model and what more needs to be done? This report looks at what has been learnt – including strategies to overcome challenges and identification of the main barriers to effective involvement – and makes recommendations for the future. Its findings about clinical involvement are relevant not only to policy-makers and CCGs but also to other organisations across the NHS involved in planning and designing services."

Clinical commissioning: GPs in charge?
R Robertson, S Ross, C Naylor, H Holder, S Machaqueiro
The King's Fund
July 2016

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Deficits in the NHS 2016

"This briefing draws on data from our quarterly monitoring reports, secondary research and interviews with health care leaders to consider commissioner and provider finances in the round and to provide an overview of the factors that have led to the NHS going into deficit. It goes on to outline some of the strategies being employed to restore financial balance, before drawing together our thoughts on the implications of these strategies for the NHS this year and in the longer term."

Deficits in the NHS 2016
P Dunn, H McKenna, R Murray
The King's Fund
July 2016

Read more here.

Commissioning person centred care for people affected by cancer

"This guidance is intended to support commissioners and strategic clinical networks to take the actions necessary to drive improved outcomes for person centred care through cancer commissioning. It describes tested interventions that NHS England expects to be in place to meet the needs of people affected by cancer."

Commissioning person centred care for people affected by cancer
NHS England
April 2016

Read more here.

Achieving change in primary care—causes of the evidence to practice gap

"This comprehensive review of reviews summarises current knowledge on the barriers and facilitators to implementation of diverse complex interventions in primary care."

Achieving change in primary care—causes of the evidence to practice gap: systematic reviews of reviews
R Lau, et al.
Implementation Science, 016, 11:40

Read more here.

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

Read more here.

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

Read more here.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.