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.

Effectiveness of short stay programmes for breast cancer surgery

"We provided a detailed case description of how implementation costs can be determined. Notable differences in implementation costs between hospitals were observed."

A detailed report of the resource use and costs associated with implementation of a short stay programme for breast cancer surgery
SMC Ament, et al.
Implementation Science, 2015, 10:78

Read more here.

Public attitudes to the NHS

"This report analyses the results of a series of questions about the NHS that were included in the 2014 British Social Attitudes Survey, undertaken by NatCen Social Research. The survey took place in late summer/early autumn 2014 and 2,878 adults from across Great Britain were surveyed."

Public attitudes to the NHS: An analysis of responses to questions in the British Social Attitudes Survey
B Gershlick, A Charlesworth, E Taylor
The Health Foundation
February 2015

Read more here and view the accompanying slidepack here.

Improvement science webinars

"The Health Foundation has produced this webinar series which will focus on issues of importance to the emerging community of improvement science researchers and practitioners in healthcare."

Access the webinars here.

Engaging physicians and consumers in conversations about treatment overuse and waste

"In developing the Choosing Wisely campaign, the specialty societies each developed lists of five tests and procedures that physicians and patients should question. Over 50 specialty societies have developed more than 250 evidence-based recommendations, some of which Consumer Reports has “translated” into consumer-friendly language and helped disseminate to tens of millions of consumers."

Engaging physicians and consumers in conversations about treatment overuse and waste: A short history of the Choosing Wisely campaign
D Wolfson, J Santa, L Slass
Academic Medicine, 2014, 89:990-995

Read more here.

The Engagement Cycle

"The Engagement Cycle helps organisations undertake meaningful patient and public engagement for maximum impact. It is a tried and tested, practical resource, used by dozens of Clinical Commissioning Groups (and others) to plan, design and deliver great services for, and with, local people."

Access The Engagement Cycle here.

Understanding the impact of improved access to primary care

"Inadequate capacity in general practice not only leads to unmet health needs, but to an increase in demand for A&E and walk-in centres."

Meeting need or fuelling unncessary demand? Improved access to primary care and supply-induced demand
R Rosen
Nuffield Trust
June 2014

Read more here.

A systematic review of medical practice variation in OECD

“Consistent with the gray literature, there were large variations across regions, hospitals and physician practices for almost every condition and procedure studied.”

A systematic review of medical practice variation in OECD
AN Corallo, R Croxford, DC Goodman, EL Bryan, D Srivastava, TA Stukel
Health Policy, 2014, 114:5-14

Read more here.

Importance of multimorbidity in explaining utilisation and costs

“The more co-morbidities that a person has, the more likely they are to require care across diverse settings, and the higher their costs.”

Importance of multmorbidity in explaining utilisation and costs across health and social care settings: Evidence from South Somerset’s Symphony Project
CHE Research Paper 96
P Kasteridis, A Street, M Dolman, L Gallier, K Hudson, J Martin, I Wyer
Centre for Health Economics
The University of York
February 2014

Read more here.

The NHS payment system: evolving policy and emerging evidence

"But the payment system for NHS-funded services is in need of reform to support a health system that meets the needs of an ageing population, with growing prevalence of multiple chronic diseases, in the context of tightly constrained resources."

The NHS payment system: evolving policy and emerging evidence
L Marshall, A Charlesworth, J Hurst
Nuffield Trust
February 2014

Read more here.

NHS payment reform: lessons from the past and directions for the future

"To ensure that the long-term reforms to the payment system support the NHS to deliver efficient, high-quality care, Monitor and NHS England need to develop an approach that is comprehensive, focused, aligned with wider system changes, transparent and evidence-based, predictable and credible."

NHS payment reform: lessons from the past and directions for the future
A Charlesworth, L Hawkins, L Marshall
Nuffield Trust
February 2014

Read more here.

Everyone counts: planning for patients 2014/15 to 2018/19

"Last year’s guidance identified stronger commissioning as a key theme for driving change. This section has set out those things which local commissioners need to include in their plans which will deliver the change they want to see."

Everyone counts: planning for patients 2014/15 to 2018/19
NHS England
December 2013

Read more here.

Close to home recommendations review

"A major concern is that the low rates paid under some local authority contracts could make it difficult for providers to meet the assessed needs of older people in ways that protect their human rights."

Close to home recommendations review
Equality and Human Rights Commission
October 2013

Read more here.

Association between chronic disease related hospitalisations and primary health care resourcing

"Measuring hospitalisations, that could potentially be avoided with high quality and accessible primary care, is one indicator of how well primary care services are performing."

A systematic review of evidence on the association between hospitalisation for chronic disease related ambulatory care sensitive conditions and primary health care resourcing
OR Gibson, L Segal, RA McDermott
BMC Health Services Research, 2013, 13:336

Read more here.

Allocating scarce resources to reduce heart failure readmissions

"An electronic medical record-enabled strategy that targeted scarce care transition resources to high-risk HF patients significantly reduced the risk-adjusted odds of readmission."

Allocating scarce resources in real-time to reduce heart failure readmissions: a prospective, controlled study
R Amarasingham, PC Patel, K Toto, LL Nelson, TS Swanson, BJ Moore, B Xie, S Zhang, KS Alvarez, Y Ma, MH Drazner, U Kollipara, EA Halm,
BMJ Quality and Safety Online First, published on 31 July 2013

Read more here.

Addressing the 'postcode lottery' in local resource allocation decisions

"This paper reports on how the National Prescribing Centre competency framework was developed, and presents a potentially transferable methodology for advancing a competency framework to support individual and organisational learning and improvement."

Addressing the 'postcode lottery' in local resource allocation decisions: a framework for clinical commissioning groups
J Russell, T Greenhalgh, H Lewis, I MacKenzie, N Maskrey, J Montgomery, C O'Donnell
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2013, 106(4):120-123

Read more here.

Improving the allocation of health resources in England

"We review how health resource allocation in England and the formula on which it is based have changed over time, with a detailed critique of how decisions are currently made and how the process will change from April."

Improving the allocation of health resources in England: how to decide who gets what
D Buck, A Dixon
The King's Fund
April 2013

Read more here.

Looking for value in hard times

"This report describes how NHS Sheffield used a new approach, called Star (‘socio-technical allocation of resources’), to re-allocate resources within its eating disorder services."

Looking for value in hard times
The Health Foundation
August 2012

Read more here.

Literature review of decision criteria for resource allocation and healthcare decisionmaking

"This study highlights the importance of considering both normative and feasibility criteria for fair allocation of resources and optimized decisionmaking for coverage and use of healthcare interventions."

From efficacy to equity: literature review of decision criteria for resource allocation and healthcare decisionmaking
LA Guindo, M Wagner, R Baltussen, D Rindress, J van Til, P Kind, MM Goetghebeur
Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, 2012, 10:9

Read more here.

Paying for "end-of-life" drugs in Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom

"This issue brief compares U.K., Australian, and German policies on coverage of end-of-life medicines, particularly those that are not curative and offer modest increments in median survival rates."

Paying for "end-of-life" drugs in Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom: balancing policy, pragmatism, and societal values
Issues in International Health Policy
The Commonwealth Fund
January 2012

Read more here.