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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