Lessons for social policy and practice from NICE

"NICE-type bodies should listen to users and understand social values."

The NICE way: lessons for social policy and practice from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
F Ruiz, J Breckon
Alliance for Useful Evidence, National Institute for Health and Care, NESTA Excellence
October 2014

Read more here.

Why we need local deals to save public services

"We found an intelligent programme of modernisation, pay restraint, cost reduction, better procurement, outsourcing, management reorganisations and service sharing."

Bolder, braver and better: why we need local deals to save public services
Service Transformation Challenge Panel
Public Service Transformation Network
November 2014

Read more here.

How to commission better mental health and wellbeing services

"Partnerships with relevant third sector organisations are critical to help commissioners reach young people."

Right Here:  How to commission better mental health and wellbeing services for young people
Paul Hamlyn Foundation and Mental Health Foundation
2014

Read more here.

Click here to read a summary from The Commissioning Elf.

Commissioning and contracting for integrated care

"In this paper, we describe two broad frameworks that are currently being developed in five areas of the country to stimulate more integrated models of care – a prime contract and an alliance contract."

Commissioning and contracting for integrated care
R Addicott
The King’s Fund
November 2014

Read more here.

Related links:

• Joined-up care in action: integrated care map – containing case studies from the report
• Summary of the three contractual frameworks 

Click here to read a summary from The Commissioning Elf.

Part of the National Elf Service

International responses to austerity

"Financial crisis provides a window of opportunity and stimulus for reform."

Evidence scan 22: International responses to austerity
J Ellins, S Moore, M Lawrie, O Jackson, D Mann, K Singh, R Dam
The Health Foundation
September 2014

Read more here.

Click here to read a summary from The Commissioning Elf.

The state of general practice

"In the run-up to the 2015 General Election, the Nuffield Trust is regularly surveying a panel of 100 health and social care leaders in England for their views on a range of issues, including the state of the NHS and social care system, and what they believe should be the priority areas for reform during the next Parliament."

The state of general practice: the views of health and social care leaders: Health and Social Care Leaders' Panel: Survey no. 2
J Smith, R Thorlby
Nuffield Trust
November 2014

Read more here.

Is general practice in crisis?

"Not enough GPs are being trained, more trainees now work part-time, and more existing GPs plan to retire early. Numbers are not keeping up with hospital doctors."

Is general practice in crisis?
M Dayan, S Arora, R Rosen, N Curry
Nuffield Trust
November 2014

Read more here.

Apologies for lack of posts!

I have recently moved house, am juggling three jobs, and trying to finish a PhD, which is why I haven't posted for a while. I will get back to this blog, but in the meantime, please check out my Netvibes page http://www.netvibes.com/subscribe.php?preconfig=f9f46479a9ab2192143966a32ef5eee7&preconfigtype=tab, which lists all my sources and the documents that they publish. Also, don't forget The Commissioning Elf blog http://www.thecommissioningelf.net, which contains summaries of key papers relating to health care service commissioning.

British Orthopaedic Association commissioning guides

The British Orthopaedic Association have published commissioning guides for the following topics:

• Painful deformed great toe in adults
• Painful tingling fingers
• Pain arising from the hip in adults
• Painful osteoarthritis of the knee
• Low back pain
• Subacromial shoulder pain

Access the guides here.

Evidence for success: the guide to getting evidence and using it

"This guide aims to provide easy to follow, step-by-step guidance and resources to support organisations to use evidence to influence policy and practice."

Evidence for success: the guide to getting evidence and using it
Knowledge Translation Network
August 2014

Read more here.

Guide to whole system commissioning for sexual and reproductive health and HIV

"Whole system commissioning requires a commitment to meticulous collaboration, an alignment of values and principles, an agreement on processes and mechanisms and a willingness to work differently."

Making it work: a guide to whole system commissioning for sexual and reproductive health and HIV
Public Health England
September 2014

Read more here.

How outcomes-based commissioning can help unlock the potential of community services

"Commissioning based on outcomes has the potential to facilitate the transformation of care and is one way of overcoming the barrier of current payment mechanisms that do not support integrated care."

Beginning with the end in mind: how outcomes-based commissioning can help unlock the potential of community services
NHS Confederation
September 2014

Read more here.

Exploring the commissioning of personalisation within a capitated budget model

"This document describes the findings of a round table event to look at how capitated budgets for people with complex health needs could support personal budgets for people with two or more long term conditions."

Exploring the commissioning of personalisation within a capitated budget model
NHS Improving Quality
July 2014

Read more here.

How commissioning support units are growing into their support role

"CSUs have been careful not to build on their NHS credentials alone and are marketing strong portfolios which show a breadth of expertise and innovation that will see them well placed at the starting line in 2015."

The NHS's not so little helper: How commissioning support units are growing into their support role
Health Service Journal supplement
12th September 2014

Read more here.

Read a summary from the Commissioning Elf here.

The role of hospital managers in quality and patient safety

"We present a model to summarise the conditions and activities that affect quality performance."

The role of hospital managers in quality and patient safety: a systematic review
A Parand, S Dopson, A Renz, C Vincent
BMJ Open, 2014:4:2005055

Read more here.

Estimating NHS and social care spend: a tool for commissioners

"This tool estimates how a local care economy spends its money by age group, patient group and care settings."

Estimating NHS and social care spend: a tool for commissioners
Monitor
September 2014

Access the tools here.

Addressing social, economic and environmental determinants of health

"Capacity building is an integral part of the projects analysed."

Addressing social, economic and environmental determinants of health and the health divide in the context of sustainable human development
UCL Institute of Health Equity
July 2014

Read more here.

Local action on health inequalities

"IHE have written a series of evidence reports and briefings about practical, local actions to tackle health inequalities through the social determinants of health."

Local action on health inequalities
UCL Institute of Health Equity
September 2014

Find out more here.

People helping people: the future of public services

"This report argues that mobilising the energy and contributions of members of the public should become a core organising principle for public services."

People helping people: the future of public services
E Clarence, M Gabriel
NESTA
September 2014

Read more here.

Why use systems thinking?

"At its core, systems thinking is an enterprise aimed at seeing how things are connected to each other within some notion of a whole entity."

The application of systems thinking in health: why use systems thinking?
DH Peters
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2014, 12:51

Read more here.

Researching organizational culture during health service redesign and change

"This paper makes a methodological contribution to the study of culture in health care organizations."

Patients-people-place: developing a framework for researching organizational culture during health service redesign and change
NK Gale, J Shapiro, HST McLeod, S Redwood, A Hewison
Implementation Science, 2014, 9:106

Read more here.

Commissioning the national Healthy Child Programme

"The transfer of 0-5 commissioning will join-up that already done by local authorities for public health services for children and young people 5-19, (and up to age 25 for young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability [SEND])."

Factsheet: Commissioning the national Healthy Child Programme
Department of Health
August 2014

Read more here.

Commissioning recommendations for psychological support

"This guide provides recommendations for commissioners when providing emotional and psychological support on the diabetes care pathway."

London’s diabetes care pathway: Commissioning recommendations for psychological support
NHS London Strategic Clinical Networks
August 2014

Read more here.

The use of discrete choice experiments to inform health workforce policy

"Discrete choice experiments have become a popular study design to investigate health worker preferences, with several advantages in this field."

The use of discrete choice experiments to inform health workforce policy: a systematic review
KL Mandeville, M Lagarde, K Hanson
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:367

Read more here.

Use of decision and communication aids in orthopaedic surgery

"Decision and communication aids can be effective tools for incorporating patients preferences and values into preference-sensitive decisions in orthopaedics."

Patient, surgeon, and healthcare purchaser views on the use of decision and communication aids in orthopaedic surgery: a mixed methods study
KJ Bozic, et al.
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:366

Read more here.

Prioritising health service innovation investments using public preferences

"The findings provide useful information on the public's valuation and acceptability of potential health service innovations."

Prioritising health service innovation investments using public preferences: a discrete choice experiment
S Erdem, C Thompson
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:360

Read more here.

Self-management support interventions to reduce health care utilisation

"Self-management support interventions can reduce health service utilization without compromising patient health outcomes, although effects were generally small, and the evidence was strongest in respiratory and cardiovascular disorders."

Self-management support interventions to reduce health care utilisation without compromising outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis
M Panagioti, et al.
BMC Health Services Research 2014, 14:356

Read more here.

Applying a national quality registry for quality improvement in stroke care

"While quality registries are assumed to support adherence to evidence-based guidelines around the world, this study proposes that a NQR can facilitate improvement of care but neither the registry itself nor the reporting of data initiates quality improvement."

Facilitators and barriers to applying a national quality registry for quality improvement in stroke care
AC Eldh, et al.
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:354

Read more here.

Spreading innovation: AHSNs step up to the challenge

"The NHS has embarked on a major initiative to drive systematic adoption and diffusion of innovation through the creation of AHSNs (Academic Health Science Networks)."

Spreading innovation: AHSNs step up to the challenge
A Bull, A Darlington, A Heitmueller
Health Service Journal, 13 August 2014

Read more here.

Spend and outcome tool (SPOT): local authorities

"The Spend and outcome tool (SPOT) gives local authorities in England an overview of spend and outcomes across key areas of business and for public health and its sub-programmes." Access the tool here.

Guidance on priority setting in health care (GPS-Health)

"This Guidance for Priority Setting in Health Care (GPS-Health), initiated by the World Health Organization, offers a comprehensive map of equity criteria that are relevant to health care priority setting and should be considered in addition to cost-effectiveness analysis."

Guidance on priority setting in health care (GPS-Health): the inclusion of equity criteria not captured by cost-effectiveness analysis
OF Norheim, et al.
Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, 2014, 12:18

Read more here.

Costs and effects after the implementation of disease management programs

"After one year we have found indications of improvements in level of integrated care for CVR (cardiovascular risk) patients and lifestyle indicators for all diseases, but in none of the diseases we have found indications of cost savings due to DMPs (disease management programs)."

Changes in costs and effects after the implementation of disease management programs in the Netherlands: variability and determinants
A Tsiachristas, J Murray Cramm, AP Nieboer, MPMH Rutten-van Molken
Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, 2014, 12:17

Read more 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.

The Regional Mental Health Commissioning Networks Portal

"The Regional Mental Health Commissioning Networks Portal supports the commissioning of high quality, outcomes focused value for money mental health services. It provides networking opportunities for people across six network areas in East Midlands, West Midlands, North West, South East, South West, and Yorkshire & Humber/North East."

Find out more here.

The positive pharmacy care law

"Our study shows that the majority of the population can access a community pharmacy within 20 min walk and crucially, access is greater in areas of highest deprivation—a positive pharmacy care law."

The positive pharmacy care law: an area-level analysis of the relationship between community pharmacy distribution, urbanity and social deprivation in England
A Todd, A Copeland, A Husband, A Kasim, C Bambra
BMJ Open, 2014;4:e005764

Read more here.

Improving health outcomes using evidence from the voluntary and community sector

"Using different types of evidence from the voluntary and community sector can support the development of a constructive Joint Strategic Needs Assessment on which to base sound strategy development and commissioning decisions."

Comparing apples with oranges? How to make better use of evidence from the volutary and community sector to improve health outcomes
NHS Confederation
August 2014, Issue 293

Read more here.

What does the future hold for the NHS?

"The following articles reflect the broad range of interests held by Health Services Management Centre colleagues, but all consider the future challenges and opportunities for the NHS, and interpret leadership in a range of contexts."

What does the future hold for the NHS?
Health Services Management Centre
University of Birmingham
June 2014

Read more here.

How is the NHS performing?

"The Quarterly monitoring report combines publicly available data on selected NHS performance measures with views from NHS finance directors and clinical commissioning group (CCG) finance leads."

How is the NHS performing? Quarterly monitoring report
J Appleby, J Thompson, J Jabbal
The King's Fund
July 2014

Read more here.

Focus on: A&E attendances

"We explored a range of factors thought to be contributing to increased pressure on A&E in the English NHS and tested whether recent changes in these factors could explain the current pressures observed in the system."

QualityWatch: Focus on: A&E attendances: Why are patients waiting longer?
I Blunt
Nuffield Trust, The Health Foundation
July 2014

Read more here.

NHS Atlas of Variation: Procurement

"The new online NHS Procurement Atlas of Variation will help hospitals to compare prices and identify where they need to drive down costs so they can invest in more doctors and nurses to care for patients, as well as in frontline care."

Access the Atlas here.

Essential Reading list: Programme Budgeting and Marginal Analysis (PBMA)

“Essential Reading” is a series of reading lists on specifc themes relevant to our Right Care programme themes. They provide you with a rapid introduction to the subject and access to knowledge which will change your thinking." The subject of this list is programme budgeting and marginal analysis.

Access the reading list here.

The future burden of obesity-related diseases

"Modelling future disease trends is a useful tool for policymakers so that they can allocate resources effectively and implement policies to prevent non-communicable diseases."

The future burden of obesity-related diseases in the 53 WHO European-Region countries and the impact of effective interventions: a modelling study
L Webber, D Divajeva, T Marsh, K McPherson, M Brown, G Galea, J Breda
BMJ Open, 2014, 4:e004787

Read more here.

INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE: Refreshing the NHS Outcomes Framework 2015-2016

This consultation seeks views on how the NHS outcomes framework could be improved. It closes at 12 September 2014 12:00am.

Read the documents here.

Improving NHS care by engaging staff and devolving decision-making

"This report argues that the NHS will not be able to deliver high-quality care for all within constrained budgets unless renewed efforts are made to engage staff and harness their commitment to improve care continuously."

Improving NHS care by engaging staff and developing decision-making: Report of the review of staff engagement and empowerment in the NHS
The King's Fund
July 2014

Read more here.

How does burnout affect physician productivity?

"There is evidence that burnout is associated with decreased productivity. However, this line of inquiry is still developing. A number of gaps are yet to be filled including understanding how to quantify the changes in productivity related to burnout."

How does burnout affect physician productivity? A systematic literature review
CS Dewa, D Loong, S Bonato, NX Thanh, P Jacobs
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:325

Read more here.

Public participation in health-related research decisions: Views of funding bodies

"For research to have its maximum impact when translated into healthcare, health policies and health technologies, there needs to be sensitivity towards multiple frames of knowledge, expertise and underlying values that exist across science and society."

UK research funding bodies’ views towards public participation in health-related research decisions: an exploratory study
JE van Bekkum, S Hilton
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:318

Read more here.

Initiatives to reduce length of stay in acute hospital settings

"There is consistent, albeit limited, evidence that enhanced recovery programmes may reduce length of patient hospital stay without increasing readmission rates."

Initiatives to reduce length of stay in acute hospital settings: a rapid synthesis of evidence relating to enhanced recovery programmes
F Paton, D Chambers, P Wilson, A Eastwood, D Craig, D Fox, D Jayne, E McGinnes
National Institute for Health Research
Health Services and Delivery Research, 2014, 2(21)

Read more here.

Commissioning for quality: Views from Commissioners

"This resource seeks to provide support to commissioners in terms of their responsibilities for quality – CCGs and NHS England commissioners."

Access the resource here.

Healthcare UK review of 2013-14 and business plan for 2014-15

"Healthcare UK (comprising Department of Health, NHS England, UK Trade & Investment) now has a strong identity which is recognised by its customers both in the UK and overseas and has helped it to achieve success in its first year of operations."

Healthcare UK review of 2013-14 and business plan for 2014-15
Healthcare UK
August 2014

Read more here.

Adult social care efficiency tool

"The Adult social care efficiency tool helps local authorities to understand how their services compare for value for money with similar local authority areas."

Access the tool here.

Visitor and migrant NHS cost recovery programme implementation plan 2014–16

"The Department of Health is working to improve the systems for charging overseas visitors and migrants for their NHS healthcare in England and increase the extent of the services for which they can be charged."

Visitor and migrant NHS cost recovery programme implementation plan 2014–16
Department of Health
July 2014

Read this guidance here.

Quality improvement collaboratives and the wisdom of crowds

"This article addresses an underexplored topic, namely the use of quality improvement collaboratives as ‘intentional spread strategy.’"

Quality improvement collaboratives and the wisdom of crowds: spread explained by perceived success at group level
MLA Duckers, PP Groenewegen, C Wagner
Implementation Science, 2014, 9:91

Read more here.

New directions in evidence-based policy research

"Rather than asking how research evidence can be made more influential, academics should aim to understand what influences and constitutes policy, and produce more critically and theoretically informed studies of decision-making."

New directions in evidence-based policy research: a critical analysis of the literature
K Oliver, T Lorenc, S Innvaer
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2014, 12:34

Read more here.

Building capability to improve safety

"This is a summary of a workshop discussion, providing examples of approaches and activities for building safety improvement capability."

Building capability to improve safety
The Health Foundation
August 2014

Read more here.

Improvement collaboratives in health care

"Quality improvement collaboratives involve groups of professionals coming together, either from within an organisation or across multiple organisations, to learn from and motivate each other to improve the quality of health services."

Evidence scan no. 21: Improvement collaboratives in health care
D de Silva
The Health Foundation
July 2014

Read more here.

Safety measurement and monitoring in healthcare

"This paper summarises the findings of a more extensive report and proposes a framework which can guide clinical teams and healthcare organisations in the measurement and monitoring of safety and in reviewing progress against safety objectives."

Safety measurement and monitoring in healthcare: a framework to guide clinical teams and healthcare organisations in maintaining safety
C Vincent, S Burnett, J Carthey
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2014, 23(8):670-677

Read more here.

Patient complaints in healthcare systems

"Rigorous analyses of patient complaints will help to identify problems in patient safety."

Patient complaints in healthcare systems: a systematic review and coding taxonomy
TW Reader, A Gillespie, J Roberts
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2014, 23(8):678-689

Read more here.

Entrepreneurs and technology and the improvement of informal care in the UK

"With demand for informal care growing substantially, this paper explores the need for new tools and services to encourage greater supply of informal care and greater support for informal carers. We have identified the significant role social entrepreneurs and digital technology can play in providing such innovation, and we believe this creates a compelling case for impact investment in the informal care sector."

Who cares? The role that entrepreneurs and technology can play in improving informal care in the UK
K Mountain
Nesta Impact Investments
May 2014

Read more here.

Half of Americans think expensive medical care is better. They're wrong.

"Research doesn't show a connection between higher medical prices and better outcomes."

Half of Americans think expensive medical care is better. They're wrong.
S Kliff
Vox, 21 July 2014

Read more here.

Personalisation for people from black and minority ethnic groups

"This briefing looks at how personalisation can increase access to healthcare for people from black and minority ethnic communities, but also considers some of the challenges that it may bring."

Personalisation for people from black and minority ethnic groups: Better Health Briefing Paper 34
J Moriarty
Race Equality Foundation
July 2014

Read more here.

Inequalities, health behaviours and incentives

The latest issue of Eurohealth contains articles about:

• Inequalities and health behaviours
• Effectiveness and ethics of health incentives
• Political strategies in public health
• Nudging and solidarity

Eurohealth: Quarterly of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 2014, 20(2)

Read more here.

Scoping review of patient-centered care approaches in healthcare

"The fact that all identified approaches to patient-centered care incorporated strategies to achieve effective communication, partnership, and health promotion indicates that clinicians can select a patient-centered approach from the literature that best suits their patient’s needs, and be confident that it will satisfy the three core elements of patient-centered care provision."

Scoping review of patient-centered care approaches in healthcare
MK Constand, JC MacDermid, V Dal Bello-Haas, M Law
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:271

Read more here.

Putting quality on the global health agenda

"Although there is no single definition of high-quality care, the Institute of Medicine describes it as having six key features: it is safe, effective, patient-centered, efficient, timely, and equitable."

Putting quality on the global health agenda
KW Scott, AK Jha
New England Journal of Medicine, 2014, 371(1):3-5

Read more here.

Variations and inter-relationship in outcome from emergency admissions in England

"Hospital-level risk-standardised outcomes for emergency admissions across a range of specialties vary considerably and cross traditional speciality boundaries. This suggests that global institutional infra-structure and processes of care influence outcomes. "

Variations and inter-relationship in outcome from emergency admissions in England: a retrospective analysis of Hospital Episode Statistics from 2005-2010
PJ Holt, S Sinha, BA Ozdemir, A Karthikesalingam, JD Poloniecki, MM Thompson
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:270

Read more here.

Rethinking the patient

"Burden of Treatment Theory is a structural model that focuses on the work that patients and their networks do. It thus helps us understand variations in healthcare utilization and adherence in different healthcare settings and clinical contexts."

Rethinking the patient: Using Burden of Treatment Theory to understand the changing dynamics of illness
CR May, et al.
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:281

Read more here.

How to take charge of improvement

"Leading improvement work across the NHS is a practical pursuit. It requires a clear, unambiguous goal that will push you to do things differently. It requires making intricate connections across all parts of the health and social care system, as well as agile working from policy to boards, wards, patient pathways and commissioning."

No more leaving it to chance: How to take charge of improvement
J Williamson
Health Service Journal, 2nd July 2014

Read more here.

Commissioning for outcomes

"The purpose of this document from the Quality and Outcomes Working Group is to stimulate discussion amongst Clinical Commissioning Group members on the practical tools we now require to be developed for all 211 CCGs, as well the barriers that need to be removed, to support our commissioning for outcomes."

Commissioning for outcomes: A narrative from and for clinical commissioners
NHS Commissioning Assembly
June 2014

Read more here.

Conditions triggering local incident reviews in UK hospital maternity units

"Future guidance concerning local serious incident review processes should include how the list of conditions triggering a review should be managed in the light of changing clinical and safety priorities."

Conditions triggering local incident reviews in UK hospital maternity units: A national survey
A Shah, O Mohamed-Ahmed, C McClymont, M Knight
The Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2014, 5(7):1-5

Read more here.

Translation of cancer research

"This service configuration case study shows that the gains actually realised in the NHS may differ from those observed in trials – in this particular instance suggesting a situation where trial gains may underestimate what is now being achieved, though the reverse may be true in other cases."

Investigating time lags and attribution in the translation of cancer research: A case study approach
S Guthrie, S Hanney, J Grant
RAND Europe
2014

Read more 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.

Closing the Gap through Changing Relationships: evaluation

"The Health Foundation’s Closing the Gap through Changing Relationships programme was launched in 2010. The programme funded seven projects, which aimed to change one or more of three types of relationships:

1. between the individual using a service and those who work in healthcare provision
2. between people using services and the wider healthcare system
3. between communities and the wider healthcare system."

Read the report and supporting material here.

ROMA: A guide to policy engagement and influence

"ROMA (RAPID Outcome Mapping Approach) is an approach to improving your policy engagement processes, to influence change."

ROMA: A guide to policy engagement and influence
Overseas Development Unit
2014

Read more here.

Adaptation of health care for migrants: whose responsibility?

"Health care professionals do not consider it to be their responsibility to adapt to ethnic diversity. If health professionals do not feel a responsibility to adapt, they are less likely to be involved in culturally competent health care."

Adaptation of health care for migrants: whose responsibility?
M Dauvrin, V Lorant
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:294

Read more here.

A team-work approach to improving health service provision

"The development of relationships was seen to be to be an important part of promoting effective resource sharing, training opportunities, government networking and resource mobilisation and will be important for other health networks to consider."

Networking between community health programs: a team-work approach to improving health service provision
NJ Grills, R Kumar, M Philip, G Porter
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:297

Read more here.

Framework for integrating health and social services

"This issue brief describes three essential components for integrating health, including physical and behavioral health services and public health, and social services:

1. a coordinating mechanism
2. quality measurement and data-sharing tools, and
3. aligned financing and payment"

A state policy framework for integrating health and social services
T McGinnis, M Crawford, SA Somers
The Commonwealth Fund
July 2014

Read more here.

A commissioner's guide to primary care mental health

"Ten lessons have been derived from 108 international, national and regional case studies. Lessons which cover community based care, proactive wellbeing, accessible services and coordinated mental healthcare."

A commissioner's guide to primary care mental health
NHS London Strategic Clinical Networks
July 2014

Read more here.

Read a summary from the Commissioning Elf here.

Medical engagement: A journey not an event

"The organisations we profile in this report share a common goal of achieving and exceeding their current levels of medical engagement so that it becomes core to the culture of the organisation."

Medical engagement: A journey not an event
J Clark, V Nath
The King's Fund
July 2014

Read more here.

Identifying unwarranted variation across mental health and wellbeing indicators in England

"Within the health and social care system in England, there is a major challenge to deliver value at low costs, whilst reducing unwarranted variation in outcomes, quality, safety and costs and working to prevent disease. Despite data being available, this is the first Atlas of Variation to focus solely on unwarranted variation in mental health in England."

The CentreForum Atlas of Variation: Identifying unwarranted variation across mental health and wellbeing indicators in England
H Taggart
CentreForum
July 2014

Read more here.

First edition of the Specialised Commissioning Stakeholder Newsletter

"This newsletter has been developed by NHS England primarily to update you about the work of the specialised commissioning task force, which was established in order to make some immediate improvements to the way in which we commission specialised services, and also to develop longer-term plans for the commissioning of these important services."

Read more here.

Into the red? The state of the NHS' finances

"Commissioners found it harder to balance their budgets in 2013/14 than the previous financial year."

Into the red? The state of the NHS' finances: An analysis of NHS expenditure between 2010 and 2014
S Lafond, S Arora, A Charlesworth, A McKeon
Nuffield Trust
July 2014

Read more here.

Advancing the case for free social care at the end of life

"Last autumn Macmillan exposed the fact that every day around 100 people with cancer die in hospitals in England having said they wanted to die at home."

Can we live with how we're dying? Advancing the case for free social care at the end of life
Macmillan Cancer Support
June 2014

Read more here.

The new era of thinking and practice in change and transformation

"This new White Paper from NHS Improving Quality examines leading trends in change and transformation from multiple industries across the world."

The new era of thinking and practice in change and transformation: A call to action for leaders of health and care
H Bevan, S Fairman
NHS Improving Quality
July 2014

Read more here.

Commissioning mental health services for people from black and minority ethnic communities

"Regardless of their ethnic background, everyone who uses a mental health service (or cares for someone who does) should have equitable access to effective interventions, and equitable experiences and outcomes. Commissioners have a legal duty to ensure this."

Guidance for commissioners of mental health services for people with black and minority ethnic communities
Joint Commissioning Panel for Mental Health
July 2014

Read more here

Read a summary from the Commissioning Elf here.

Integrated health and social care in England

"The paper offers an overview of the current call for integrated health and social care services in England, the rationale behind the push for integration, the facilitators and barriers to this way of working, and the related workforce and funding issues."

Integrated health and social care in England: the story so far
Royal College of Nursing
May 2014

Read more here.

Framework for personalised care and population health

"This framework has been developed to underpin our national programme to maximise the impact of nurses, midwives, health visitors and allied health professionals on improving health outcomes and reducing inequalities."

A framework for personalised care and population health for nurses, midwives, health visitors and allied health professionals
Department of Health, Public Health England
July 2014

Read more here.

Future organisational models for the NHS

"The Dalton review will include an exploration of different ways in which high-performing organisations might help those providers in difficulty – including buddying arrangements, franchising, turnaround and the creation of hospital chains."

Future organisational models for the NHS: Perspectives for the Dalton review
The King's Fund, Foundation Trust Network
July 2014

Read more here.

Managing the care of people with long-term conditions

"Effective management of long-term conditions (LTCs) is widely recognised to be one of the greatest challenges facing the 21st-century National Health Service in England."

Managing the care of people with long-term conditions: Second report of session 2014-15
House of Commons
July 2014

Read more here.

Local authority health scrutiny

"The primary aim of health scrutiny is to strengthen the voice of local people, ensuring that their needs and experiences are considered as an integral part of the commissioning and delivery of health services and that those services are effective and safe."

Local authority health scrutiny: Guidance to support local authorities and their partners to deliver effective health scrutiny
Local Government Team, Department of Health
June 2014

Read more here.

Understanding the new NHS

"In reading this guide, we hope that the structures of the NHS, and your place within it, become a little clearer."

Understanding the new NHS: A guide for everyone working and training within the NHS
NHS England
June 2014

Read more here.

Focus on....the health and care of older people

"This publication provides a compilation of information on older people living in England to give a broad picture of their health, care and wellbeing."

Focus on....the health and care of older people
Health & Social Care Information Centre
June 2014

Read more here.

Local conversations on health inequalities

"Everyone is a stakeholder in their local community; some have an expert or professional view, others report their lived experience."

Local conversations on health inequalities
Public Health England
June 2014

Read more here.

Tackling health inequalities

"If we are to make our healthcare system more efficient and effective we need to engage people with their health and consider different approaches to preventing ill health."

Tackling health inequalities: The case for investment in the wider public health workforce
Royal Society for Public Health
June 2014

Read more here.

Allowing new models of healthcare to be provided for NHS patients

"Most clinicians and managers within the NHS continue to defend the service models and organisations they have grown up with, believing that the model that they work within is the only way of delivering safe health and social care."

Going with change: Allowing new models of healthcare to be provided for NHS patients
P Corrigan, M Parish
Reform
June 2014

Read more here.

European cross border healthcare: Information for commissioners

"This document sets out the implications for commissioners of the European Union (EU) Directive on patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare, which became UK law on 25 October 2013."

European cross border healthcare: Information for commissioners
NHS England
June 2014

Read more here.

NHS 111 commissioning standards

"This document sets out the Commissioning Standards for the NHS 111 service in England which has been jointly developed between CCGs and NHS England."

NHS 111 commissioning standards
NHS England
June 2014

Read more here.

Prioritising person-centred care - the evidence

"Person-centred care involves placing people at the forefront of their health and care. It ensures people retain control, helps them make informed decisions and supports a partnership between individuals, families and services." National Voices has produced these documents which contain "the evidence from 779 systematic reviews of ways to make person centred care happen."

Access the documents here.

Review of social determinants and the health divide in the WHO European Region

"The review has collected new evidence on the magnitude and pathways related to health inequalities in the European Region and the most effective interventions and policy approaches to address them."

Review of social determinants and the health divide in the WHO European Region: final report
World Health Organization: Regional Office for Europe
UCL Institute of Health Equity
Updated reprint 2014

Read more here.

Accountable clinicians and informed patients

"A patient’s entire stay in hospital should be coordinated and caring, effective and efficient with an individual named clinician – the Responsible Consultant/Clinician – taking overall responsibility for their care whilst retaining the principles of multidisciplinary team working."

Guidance for taking responsibility: Accountable clinicians and informed patients
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
June 2014

Read more here.

Facing the future: smaller acute providers

"This review has aimed to evaluate whether non-specialist smaller acute providers in the NHS in England face greater challenges than other providers in delivering quality, sustainable care."

Facing the future: smaller acute providers
Monitor
June 2014

Read more here.

Accelerating improvement through systems engineering

"Through implementation of these strategies [outlined in the document], systems tools and methods can play a major role in improving the value of the health-care system and improving the health of all Americans."

Better health care and lower costs: Accelerating improvement through systems engineering
Council of Advisors on Science and Technology
Executive Office of the President of the United States
May 2014

Read more here.

Commissioning to meet hearing need and for better access, outcomes, quality and choice

"This evidence-based approach has the potential to bring significant efficiency savings and allow available resources to be redeployed in order to meet growing demand."

Commissioning to meet hearing need and for better access, outcomes, quality and choice: guidance for commissioners and providers
National Community Hearing Association, British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists
June 2014

Read more here.

The open data era in health and social care

This is "a blueprint for the National Health Service (NHS England) to develop a research and learning programme for the open data era in health and social care."

The open data era in health and social care
S Verhulst, BS Noveck, R Caplan, K Brown, C Paz
NHS England
June 2014

Read more here.

Key ingredients for effective public involvement in health care improvement and policy decisions

"A number of interacting active ingredients structure and foster the public’s legitimacy, credibility, and power. By paying greater attention to them, policymakers could develop and implement more effective public involvement interventions."

What are the key ingredients for effective public involvement in health care improvement and policy decisions? A randomized trial process evaluation
A Boivin, P Lehoux, J Burgers, R Grol
The Milbank Quarterly, 2014, 92(2):319-350

Read more here.

Effective public involvement in health care improvement and policy decisions

"A number of interacting active ingredients structure and foster the public’s legitimacy, credibility, and power."

What are the key ingredients for effective public involvement in health care improvement and policy decisions? A randomized trial process evaluation
A Boivin, P Lehoux, J Burgers, R Grol
The Milbank Quarterly, 2014, 92(2):319-350

Read more here.

What is the evidence on the economic impacts of integrated care?

"Failure to better integrate or coordinate services along the care continuum may result in suboptimal outcomes and available evidence of integrated care programmes points to a positive impact on the quality of patient care and improved health or patient satisfaction outcomes."

Policy summary 11: What is the evidence on the economic impacts of integrated care?
E Nolte, E Pitchforth
European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
World Health Organization
2014

Read more here.

Improving cardiovascular disease commissioning

Public Health England’s National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network (NCVIN) has published Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) focus packs as part of Commissioning for Value, a collaborative project between PHE, NHS Right Care and NHS England.

Find out more here.

Use of health and social care by people with cancer

"This report focuses on the two periods when people with cancer make greatest use of hospital care – in the period around and following diagnosis, and at the end of life."

Use of health and social care by people with cancer
X Chitnis, A Steventon, A Glaser, M Bardsley
Nuffield Trust
May 2014

Read the summary here.

Read the full report here.

A brief history of quality improvement

"A persistent reminder of our shared aim in improving health care may catalyze collaboration and understanding across communities, and motivate a welcome acceleration of progress."

A brief history of quality improvement
GJ Parry
Journal of Oncology Practice, 2014, 10(3):196-198

Read more here.

Right Care reading list: Priority-setting

NHS Right Care regularly publishes reading lists on specific themes relevant to the Right Care programme. The latest one is a reading list providing the best evidence on Priority-setting/Prioritisation.

Access the reading list here.

Improving population health one person at a time?

"This qualitative interview study explored perceptions of the phrases ‘population health’, ‘public health’ and ‘community health’."

Improving population health one person at a time? Accountable care organisations: perceptions of population health—a qualitative interview study
DJ Noble, T Greenhalgh, LP Casalino
BMJ Open, 2014;4:e004665

Read more here.

Promoting engagement by patients and families to reduce adverse events in acute care settings

"While patient engagement in safety is appealing, there is insufficient high-quality evidence informing real-world implementation."

Promoting engagement by patients and families to reduce adverse events in acute care settings: a systematic review
Z Berger, TE Flickinger, E Pfoh, KA Martinez, SM Dy
BMJ Quality & Safety, 2014;23:548-555

Read more here.

Improving the quality of costing in the NHS

"Having a clear understanding of the cost of running an organisation is crucial to identify and realise long-term, sustainable savings."

Improving the quality of costing in the NHS: Payment by Results data assurance framework
Capita
June 2014

Read more here.

Key concepts in consumer and community engagement (CCE)

"This study describes CCE-related key concepts and provides new insight into their relationship with different CCE-related terms."

Key concepts in consumer and community engagement: a scoping meta-review
P Sarrami-Foroushani, J Travaglia, D Debono, J Braithwaite
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:250

Read more here.

Clinicians in management

"Managers' professional background may be both a resource and constraint, and also determine the influence strategies they use."

Clinicians in management: a qualitative study of managers' use of influence strategies in hospitals
I Spehar, JC Frich, LE Kjekshus
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:251

Read more here.

Nurses and their work environment affect patient experience

"Nurses must gain autonomy over their own practice in order to improve patient experiences."

How nurses and their work environment affect patient experiences of the quality of care: a qualitative study
RAMM Kieft, BBJM de Brouwer, AL Francke, DMJ Delnoij
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:249

Read more here.

Quality improvement financial incentives for general practitioners

"Across all literature in this review, there was a lack of explicit acknowledgement of whether the outcomes measured were absolute or relative improvement."

Quality improvement financial incentives for general practitioners
J Oliver-Baxter, L Brown, M Raven, P Bywood
Primary Health Care Research & Information Service
May 2014

Read more here.

Reframing professional boundaries in healthcare

"Various (cost-)effectiveness studies demonstrate that nurse practitioners can deliver as high quality care as physicians and can achieve as good outcomes."

Reframing professional boundaries in healthcare: A systematic review of facilitators and barriers to task reallocation from the domain of medicine to the nursing domain
MGH Niezen, JJP Mathijssen
Health Policy, published online 01 May 2014

Read more here.

Patient Engagement Resource Hub

The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement has created this Hub, which contains a resources and tools to support patient engagement and quality improvement. Find out more here.

Interpersonal communication in the process of knowledge mobilization

"Findings suggest that interpersonal communication is associated with knowledge mobilization and highlight how the network structure could be improved for further dissemination efforts."

The role of interpersonal communication in the process of knowledge mobilization within a community-based organization: a network analysis
HL Gainforth, AE Latimer-Cheung, P Athanasopoulos, S Moore, KAM Ginis,
Implementation Science, 2014, 9:59

Read more here.

The role of informal networks in creating knowledge among health-care managers

"Managers of health and well-being services develop and maintain knowledge collectively."

The role of informal networks in creating knowledge among health-care managers: a prospective case study
V Ward, R West, S Smith, S McDermott, J Keen, R Pawson, A House
Health Services and Delivery Research, 2014, 2(12)

Read more here.

Networked innovation in the health sector

"We further highlight the implications of this analysis for policy and practice by discussing how network structures and boundary-spanning roles and activities can be tailored to different KT objectives."

Networked innovation in the health sector: comparative qualitative study of the role of Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) in translating research into practice
H Scarbrough, D D'Andreta, S Evans, M Marabelli, S Newell, J Powell, J Swan
Health Services and Delivery Research, 2014, 2(3)

Read more here.

Unexpectedly long hospital stays as an indicator of risk of unsafe care

"The unexpectedly long length of stay (UL-LOS) indicator is a useful addition to other patient safety indicators by revealing variation between hospitals and areas of possible patient safety improvement."

Unexpectedly long hospital stays as an indicator of risk of unsafe care: an exploratory study
I Borghans, KD Hekkert, L den Ouden, S Cihangir, J Vesseur, RB Kool, GP Westert
BMJ Open, 2014;4:e004773

Read more here.

Public sector commissioning of local mental health services from the third sector

"If commissioners are to lead the transformation of mental health services then there needs to be sufficient investment in their capacity and expertise to ensure that they have the tools and time to undertake this role."

Public sector commissioning of local mental health services from the third sector
J Rees, R Miller, H Buckingham
Third Sector Research Centre: working paper 122
May 2014

Read more here.

Co-production in commissioning decisions

"The research indicated that coproduction may be an important factor for satisfaction with decision-making in the commissioning of healthcare services."

Coproduction in commissioning decisions: is there an association with decision satisfaction for commissioners working in the NHS? A cross-sectional survey 2010/2011
S Taylor-Phillips, et al.
BMJ Open, 2014;4:e004810

Read more here.

Reforming the NHS from within

"Large-scale structural reforms under successive governments have proved a major distraction and should be avoided in future."

Reforming the NHS from within: beyond hierarchy, inspection and markets
C Ham
The King's Fund
June 2014

Read more here.

A councillor's guide to the health system in England

"This guide provides:

• a quick introduction to the health and social care system since the reforms of 2012 for all councillors who do not lead on health issues
• a brief outline of the purpose of the reforms and how they are intended to improve health
• a description of the different parts of the health system, national, regional and local their interrelationships with each other and with social care and the wider role of local government"

A councillor's guide to the health system in England
Local Government Association
May 2014

Read more here.

Supporting people to manage their health

"Patient activation is a unique concept that captures a patient’s knowledge, skills and confidence in managing their health and health care and the likelihood that they will put these into action."

Supporting people to manage their health: an introduction to patient activation
J Hibbard, H Gilburt
The King's Fund
May 2014

Read more here.

Mind the gap between recommendations and implementation

"Using the findings of incident investigations to improve patient safety management is well-established and mandatory under Swedish law. This study seeks to identify the mechanisms behind successful implementation of the recommendations of incident investigations."

Mind the gap between recommendation and implementation—principles and lessons in the aftermath of incident investigations: a semi-quantitative and qualitative study of factors leading to the successful implementation of recommendations
J Wrigstad, J Bergstrom, P Gustafson
BMJ Open, 2014, 4:e005326

Read more here.

Health inequalities in European cities

"More funding should be put towards academic research on effective universal policies, evaluation of their impact and training policymakers and officers on health inequalities in city governments."

Health inequalities in European cities: perceptions and beliefs among local policymakers
J Morrison, et al
BMJ Open, 2014, 4:e004454

Read more here.

The role of team climate in improving the quality of chronic care delivery

"The implementation of transition programmes requires a supportive and stimulating team climate to enhance the quality of chronic care delivery to chronically ill adolescents."

The role of team climate in improving the quality of chronic care delivery: a longitudinal study among professionals working with chronically ill adolescents in transitional care programmes
JM Cramm, MMH Strating, AP Nieboer
BMJ Open, 2014, 4:e005369

Read more here.

Improving the physical health of adults with serious mental illness

"The results showed considerable variation in the extent to which programs succeeded in integrating primary care and behavioral health care services."

Improving the physical health of adults with serious mental illness
DM Scharf, et al.
RAND Corporation

Read more here.

Spreading improvement ideas

"Based on a review of 477 studies, there is evidence that spreading good practice in local internal teams can be facilitated by targeting key individuals, providing focused and proactive training and internal marketing."

No. 20: Spreading improvement ideas: Tips from empirical research
D de Silva
The Health Foundation
May 2014

Read more here.

UK healthcare expertise

This is a collection of documents providing "information about the UK's different healthcare capabilities including case studies of successful overseas partnerships and projects with the UK."

Document titles include:

• Primary care: working in partnership 
• Education and training in healthcare: working in partnership 
• Infrastructure for health: working in partnership 
• Digital health: working in partnership 
• Health systems development: working in partnership 
• Healthcare: Public Private Partnerships

Using balanced metrics and mixed methods to better understand QI interventions

"Improving quality while maintaining or reducing costs requires balancing competing demands to bring value to healthcare."

Using balanced metrics and mixed methods to better understand QI interventions
PJ Kaboli, HJ Mosher
BMJ Quality and Safety, 2014, 23:437-439

Read more here.

Leadership: easier said than done

"While organisations are seen to be better at understanding leadership at the highest levels in the hierarchy, many are now seeking to devolve leadership down the line, expecting more junior managers and employees without managerial responsibility to treat the organisational agenda as their own."

Leadership: easier said than done
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
April 2014

Read more here.

Responding to service user involvement in mental health services

"The background to this report is the increasing policy emphasis on user involvement in health service planning and delivery, specifically in mental health, and theoretical frameworks concerned with organisational change and new social movements."

How do managers and leaders in the National Health Service and social care respond to service user involvement in mental health services in both its traditional and emergent forms? The ENSUE study
D Rose, M Barnes, M Crawford, E Omeni, D MacDonald, A Wilson
National Institute for Health Research
Health Services and Delivery Research, 2014, 2(10)

Read more here.

The Dementia Roadmap

"The Dementia Roadmap provides high quality information about the dementia journey alongside local information about services, support groups and care pathways to assist primary care staff to more effectively support people with dementia and cognitive impairment, their families and carers."

Access the Roadmap here.

Patients' right to choose any clinically appropriate provider

"This document sets out interim guidance to help commissioners, GPs and providers implement the new (1 April 2014) legal right for patients to choose any clinically appropriate provider of mental health services upon referral for a patient’s first outpatient appointment."

Interim guidance: Implementing patients' right to choose any clinically appropriate provider of mental health services
Publications Gateway Reference: 01594
NHS England
May 2014

Read more here.

Culture and leadership in the NHS

"To instil cultures of compassionate care throughout NHS organisations, our health service should model collective leadership, where everyone takes responsibility for the success of the organisation as a whole, not just for their own jobs or work area."

Culture and leadership in the NHS: The King's Fund 2014 survey
The King's Fund
May 2014

Read more here.

Measuring quality at a system level: an impossible task?

"The authors describe a highly consultative and iterative process used to measure quality across the continuum of care, and the challenges experienced in approaching this type of measurement, and they highlight some of the early findings."

Measuring quality at a system level: an impossible task? The Toronto Central LHIN experience
R Solomon, C Damba, S Bryant
Healthcare Quartely, 2013, 16(4):36-42

Read more here.

Behaviour change interventions to promote prescribing of generic drugs

"Based on the evidence, financial incentives with educational intervention and audit/feedback look promising but decision-makers should take into account the practicality and costs of the interventions before implementation."

Behaviour change interventions to promote prescribing of generic drugs: a rapid evidence synthesis and systematic review
T Moe-Byrne, D Chambers, M Harden, C McDaid
BMJ Open, 2014, 4:e004623

Read more here.

Doing challenging research studies in a patient-centred way

"Our study provided information to help ensure that a challenging trial was patient centred in its design."

Doing challenging research studies in a patient-centred way: a qualitative study to inform a randomised controlled trial in the paediatric emergency care setting
K Woolfall, et al.
BMJ Open, 2014, 4:e005045

Read more here.

Using social media and Internet data for public health surveillance

"More recently, ubiquitous and unstandardized data collected from the Internet have been used to gain insight into emerging disease events."

Using social media and Internet data for public health surveillance: the importance of talking
DM Hartley
The Milbank Quarterly, 2014, 92(1):34-39

Read more here.

Looking forward to later life

"There are no major public institutions dedicated to providing early support and investment in later life, only health and social care which deal in crises."

Looking forward to later life: taking an early action approach to our ageing society
Community Links Early Action Task Force
2014

Read more here.

Patient empowerment: for better quality, more sustainable health services globally

"This report highlights some of the lessons and examples from this increasingly global patient empowerment movement. The primary focus is on the role of individuals in their own healthcare, although overlap with the equally important issues of public involvement in health and empowerment in social care are recognised."

Patient empowerment: for better quality, more sustainable health services globally
All Party Parliamentary Groups on Global Health
May 2014

Read more here.

The RSPH guide to commissioning for health improvement

"Commissioning for health improvement cannot be effective if issues are seen in silos but each service should be a strategic step towards a better, healthier society where health equity is seen as a matter of social justice."

The RSPH guide to commissioning for health improvement
Royal Society for Public Health
May 2014

Read more here.

Developing collective leadership for health care

"Leaders need to ensure that all staff adopt leadership roles in their work and take individual and collective responsibility for delivering safe, effective, high-quality and compassionate care for patients and service users."

Developing collective leadership for health care
M West, R Eckert, K Steward, B Pasmore
The King's Fund
2014

Read more here.

Transforming dementia care in hospitals

"All nine Trusts felt that organisations should invest in development programmes such as this to support improvements in the experience of care for people with dementia and their families."

RCN development programme: transforming dementia care in hospitals: evaluation report
University of Worcester Association for Dementia Studies, Royal College of Nursing
2014

Read more here.

Measuring what really matters

"The paper describes the principles of person-centred care and the activities that a person-centred system should undertake in different contexts."

Measuring what really matters
A Collins
The Health Foundation
April 2014

Read more here.

Enabling better access to primary care for vulnerable populations

"This short report focuses on models of primary care that are designed to promote registration with and access to good primary and continuing care on an equitable basis."

Promising practice: enabling better access to primary care for vulnerable populations
Department of Health
April 2014

Read more here.

Inclusive practice

"The National Inclusion Health Board’s Data and Research Working Group identified the need for a literature review that encompasses, with respect to the 4 vulnerable groups (asylum seekers/refugees, Gypsies/Irish Travellers, people who are homeless, and sex workers): 
a) Interventions (or service models) that improve access to/registration in primary care; 
b) Interventions which have been shown to reduce the risk of inappropriate admission/readmission to hospital."

Inclusive practice: vulnerable migrants, gypsies and travellers, people who are homeless, and sex workers: a review and synthesis of interventions/service models that improve access to primary care and reduce risk of avoidable admission to hospital
PJ Aspinall
University of Kent
February 2014

Read more here.

Observational evidence and strength of evidence domains: case examples

"The cases highlighted in this paper demonstrate how observational studies may provide moderate- to (rarely) high-strength evidence in systematic reviews."

Observational evidence and strength of evidence domains: case examples
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
April 2014

Read more here.

'Practical' resources to support patient and family engagement in healthcare decisions

"This scoping review for patient/family engagement tools and guides is a good start for a resource inventory and can guide the content development of a patient engagement resource kit to be used by patients/families, healthcare providers and administrators."

'Practical' resources to support patient and family engagement in healthcare decisions: a scoping review
K Kovacs Burns, M Bellows, C Eigenseher, J Gallivan
BMC Health Services Research, 2014, 14:175

Read more here.

Strengthening the practice of health policy and systems research

"System change begins and ends with people because people, operating in various roles, ultimately make up any system and fundamentally shape how it works."

People-centred science: strengthening the practice of health policy and systems research
K Sheikh, A George, L Gilson
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2014, 12:19

Read more here.

Barriers and facilitators to evidence-use in program management

"This paper reviews the literature on barriers and facilitators to evidence-informed decision-making experienced by program management decision-makers within health care organizations."

Barriers and facilitators to evidence-use in program management: a systematic review of the literature
S Humphries, T Stafinski, Z Mumtaz, D Menon
BMC Health services Research, 2014, 14:171

Read more here.

Expanding the use of telehealth: promise and potential pitfalls

"Telehealth may improve access, but not always for the populations we expect."

Expanding the use of telehealth: promise and potential pitfalls
A Mehrotra
RAND corporation
May 2014

Read more here.

Comorbidities: a framework of principles for system-wide action

"Comorbidities are a helpful focus to bring different parts of the system together to address shared health concerns and prevent fragmentation."

Comorbidities: a framework of principles for system-wide action
Department of Health
April 2014

Read more here.

New commissioning guides from the National Surgical Commissioning Centre

The National Surgical Commissioning Centre has published the following two commissioning guides:

• Emergency surgery for the acute abdomen 
• Provision of general children's surgery

A framework for measuring and monitoring safety

"The purpose of this Practical guide is to support NHS organisations to apply a framework for measuring and monitoring safety."

Practical guide: a framework for measuring and monitoring safety
The Health Foundation
April 2014

Read more here.

The NHS Productivity Challenge

While it is true that there is also an increasing consensus around what makes a high-quality, sustainable health and care system, three inputs are needed to achieve this service and unlock the greater efficiency and improved outcomes it can offer:

• more time
• more money for transformational change and short-term support
• measures to support change and value for money.

The NHS Productivity Challenge: experience from the front line
J Appleby, A Galea, R Murray
The King's Fund
May 2014

Read more here.

Local government briefings

"NICE has developed local government briefings for a range of different public health topics. These briefings are meant for local authorities and their partner organisations in the health and voluntary sectors, in particular those involved with health and wellbeing boards."

Read them here.

Managing patients with complex needs: London case study

"On both human and economic terms, supporting people the NHS has too often failed is an affordable and effective investment."

Managing patients with complex needs: evaluation of the City and Hackney Primary Care Psychotherapy Consultation Service
M Parsonage, E Hard, B Rock
Centre for Mental Health
April 2014

Read more here.

Examining and addressing evidence-practice gaps in cancer care

"While the number of publications investigating evidence-practice gaps in cancer care increased over a ten-year period, most studies continued to describe gaps between best evidence and clinical practice, rather than rigorously testing interventions to reduce the gap."

Examining and addressing evidence-practice gaps in cancer care: a systematic review
J Bryant, A Boyes, K Jones, R Sanson-Fisher, M Carey, R Fry
Implementation Science, 2014, 9:37

Read more here.

Well London’ and the benefits of participation

"Well London is a multicomponent community engagement and coproduction programme designed to improve the health of Londoners living in socioeconomically deprived neighbourhoods."

‘Well London’ and the benefits of participation: results of a qualitative study nested in a cluster randomised trial
J Derges, A Clow, R Lynch, S Jain, G Phillips, M Petticrew, A Renton, A Draper
BMJ Open, 2014, 4:e003596

Read more here.

Assessing the real-world data policy landscape for health and healthcare in Europe

"Real-world data (RWD) is an umbrella term for different types of data that are not collected in conventional randomised controlled trials. In the healthcare sector, RWD can be obtained from many sources and includes patient data, data from clinicians, hospital data, data from payers and social data."

Assessing the real-world data policy landscape for health and healthcare in Europe
C Miani, E Robin, V Horvath, C Manville, J Cave, J Chataway
RAND Europe
2014

Read more here.

Healing medical product innovation

"To spur inventors to create medical products that lower health care spending and promote health, policymakers need to address the perverse financial incentives that lead inventors and investors in the opposite direction."

Healing medical product innovation
S Garber, SM Gates, EB Keeler, ME Vaiana, AW Mulcahy, C Lau, AL Kellerman
RAND Corporation
2014

Read more here.

A new settlement for health and social care

"The solution, we believe, is to have a single, ring-fenced budget for health and social care which is singly commissioned, and within which entitlements are much more closely aligned."

A new settlement for health and social care: interim report
The King's Fund
2014

Read more here.

Investing in recovery

"This report provides the most up-to-date economic evidence to support the business case for investment in effective, recovery-focused services."

Investing in recovery
Rethink Mental Illness, Centre for Mental Health, London School of Economics and Political Science
April 2014

Read more here.

Read a summary from the Commissioning Elf here.

Balancing quality and finance to deliver greater value

"Collaboration between clinical, financial and management colleagues is needed to do this, as well as strong engagement of patients and staff."

Two sides of the same coin: balancing quality and finance to deliver greater value
NHS Confederation
April 2014 - Issue 271

Read more here.

Inequalities among adults with a chronic disease

"Low SES groups seem to be faced with a double burden: first, increased levels of health impairments and, second, lower levels of valuated HRQL once health is impaired."

Health-related quality of life and socioeconomic status: inequalities among adults with a chronic disease
A Mielck, M Vogelmann, R Leidl
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2014, 12:58

Read more here.

Increasing the scale and adoption of population health interventions

"This analysis articulates the processes of how decisions to scale up interventions are made, the roles of evidence, and contribution of different professional groups."

Increasing the scale and adoption of population health interventions: experiences and perspectives of policy makers, practitioners, and researchers
AJ Milat, L King, R Newson, L Wolfenden, C Rissel, A Bauman, S Redman
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2014, 12:18

Read more here.

BMJ Quality & Safety: a collection of key articles

"This special collection reflects the depth and breadth of content from BMJ Quality & Safety, which encourages innovation and creative thinking to improve the quality of health care and the science of improvement."

Read the articles here.

Skilled for improvement?

"The Learning Communities Initiative aimed to explore the use of organisational techniques such as learning communities and communities of practice. It set out to work with selected improvement groups in the NHS to help them learn collectively about proven improvement methods (‘improvement science’) and to examine how the learning process – and hence the enhancement of quality – could be better deployed in future improvement initiatives."

Skilled for improvement?
The Health Foundation
March 2014

Read more here.

Reducing harm to patients

"The example set by Virginia Mason illustrates that a bold ambition, set by an organisation’s leadership and communicated to all staff, has the potential to deliver tangible improvements in safety and the creation of a sustainable safety culture."

Reducing harm to patients
The Health Foundation
March 2014

Read more here.

The four health systems of the United Kingdom: how do they compare?

"This report is the fourth in a series dating back to 1999 which looks at how the publicly financed health care systems in the four countries of the UK have fared before and after devolution."

The four health systems of the United Kingdom: how do they compare?
G Bevan, M Karanikolos, J Exley, E Nolte, S Connolly, N Mays
The Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust
April 2014

Read more here.

Redirecting innovation in U.S. health care

"Our work for this project focused on identifying promising policy options to change which medical technologies are created in the first place, with these two related policy goals:

1. Reduce total health care spending with the smallest possible loss of health benefits.
2. Ensure that new medical products that increase spending are accompanied by health benefits that are worth the spending increases."

Redirecting innovation in U.S. health care: options to decrease spending and increase value
S Garber, SM Gates, EB Keeler, ME Vaiana, AW Mulcahy, C Lau, AL Kellerman
RAND Corporation
2014

Read the full text and supporting material, including case studies here.

Supporting public service transformation

"The primary audience for this document is cost-benefit analysis practitioners. By reading it, they will gain a clear understanding of the technical approaches developed by New Economy to demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of public policy interventions."

Supporting public service transformation: cost benefit analysis guidance for local partnerships
HM Treasury, Public Service Transformation Network, New Economy
April 2014

Read more here.

Reducing the need for restrictive care

"The aim is to provide a framework within which adult health and social care services can develop a culture where restrictive interventions are only ever used as a last resort and only then for the shortest possible time."

Positive and proactive care: reducing the need for restrictive interventions (summary of key actions)
Department of Health
April 2014

Read more here.

The 10 building blocks of high-performing primary care

"Achieving the triple aim of health reform—better health, improved patient experience, and more affordable costs—is dependent on a foundation of high-performing primary care."

The 10 building blocks of high-performing primary care
T Bodenheimer, A Ghorob, R Willard-Grace, K Grumbach
Annals of Family Medicine, 2014, 12(2)

Read more here.

Transforming primary care

"Transforming primary care is the next step towards safe, personalised proactive out-of-hospital care for all."

Transforming primary care: safe, proactive, personalised care for those who need it most
Department of Health, NHS England
April 2014

Read more here.