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News and Views

Keep up to date with our latest news and blogs. 

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**Alt text:** Line chart showing casemix-adjusted odds of admission from April 2025 to January 2026. Values fluctuate around 0.9–1.15 from April to August, then rise sharply from September and remain mostly between 1.2 and 1.5. The series peaks at approximately 1.56 in January 2026. Dashed horizontal lines show reference and control limits for the earlier and later periods. 19/08/2026
News

Tracking Hospital Admission Thresholds Within Emergency Departments: A Feasibility Study

This new analysis explores the concept of hospital admission thresholds and assesses the feasibility of tracking these thresholds within emergency departments.

Emergency room entrance sign in a street outside of a hospital 12/08/2026
News

Emergency Departments worked better during the strikes. But why?

New research published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine explores why emergency departments worked better during strikes.

Clean empty bed in a hospital ,Patient bed in hospital,Empty hospital bed 03/08/2026
News

The hidden challenge at the heart of the 10-year plan

A new tool exploring why hospital bed pressure is increasing and what this could mean for future NHS capacity planning.

21/07/2026
News

Strategy Unit to lead the Strategic Commissioning Intelligence Centre

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Scales showing one higher and one lower with hands underneath 13/07/2026
News

NICE vs Not So NICE: Clinical vs Operational Excellence

If operational decisions shape patient outcomes as much as clinical decisions, why doesn't the NHS support them with the same evidence infrastructure?

Doctor putting and stacking wooden block cube which print screen health care and medical icons for healthy and wellness concept. 01/07/2026
News

A new tool to help systems to deliver the left shift

Our new tool to help systems explore opportunities to reduce hospital care.

Two people stand on opposite sides of a number on the ground; one sees a 6, the other sees a 9, each pointing and stating their perspective. 30/06/2026
News

Neighbourhoods and hospital activity: oh yes it can, oh no it can’t?

Simple, intuitive ideas don’t draw critical attention. They stroll about the policy world, untested and unscathed.

An anonymised NHS appointment letter lying on a wooden table, photographed from above with a visible fold crease and NHS logo. 29/06/2026
News

Improving the experience of waiting: the evidence behind new NHS minimum standards

New NHS patient experience minimum standards aim to improve how people experience waiting for elective care

HDR waiting list conference banner 2026 22/06/2026
News

Waiting List Conference 2026: From Backlog to Breakthrough

Reducing elective care waiting lists remains one of the most pressing challenges facing the NHS.

man wearing white sherwani robe beside graffiti 15/06/2026
News

Exploring cultural adaptations in dementia care: our work with the NHS Race and Health Observatory

Understanding what it takes to deliver culturally responsive dementia care.

red and blue ribbon twirls 10/06/2026
News

Improving perioperative flow: using simulation to understand elective care pathways

Why are operations still being cancelled on the day of surgery, despite long waiting lists and high demand? The answer often lies not in a single point of failure, but in how the perioperative pathway functions as a whole.

ambulance in front of wall 05/06/2026
News

The impact of failure demand on the ambulance service

Failure demand is described as the additional work created when services fail to meet people’s needs effectively the first time – and

Colorful wooden Tetris-like blocks are stacked and scattered on a wooden surface with a green background. 02/06/2026
News

Complex problems and Multi-Disciplinary Teams

Many moons ago, I was fortunate enough to observe a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) in Dudley.

Young businesswoman in suit standing in concerete gray labyrinth. 29/05/2026
News

Failure demand isn’t new. So why does it feel like a revelation?

Guest blog by Jacob Lant, Chief Executive, National Voices

A digitally illustrated, isometric view of an impossible staircase labyrinth inspired by M.C. Escher, rendered in a painterly style. Stone staircases loop and intersect in paradoxical, gravity-defying configurations within a deep stone structure. Several small human figures in colourful clothing are scattered across the staircases, appearing to walk in different directions. Vines and small plants grow along the upper edges of the walls, and the overall co 14/05/2026
News

Failure demand as a route to success?

When we began looking at failure demand in the NHS, I assumed most of our time would be spent in familiar territory: productivity metr

emergency fire exit sign hanging from the ceiling 11/05/2026
News

Discharge before noon

Can data on discharge times help us to improve hospital flow?

Colorful watercolor brush stroke on transparent background 06/05/2026
News

Adopting the Core20PLUS5 approach: different strokes for different folks?

This blog describes the headline findings from the first phase of the national evaluation of the Core20PLUS5 approach

Dr Lucy Morgan smiling in front of a board of mathematical equations. Text reads “Inside the Algorithm with Dr Lucy Morgan, live 6th May" 05/05/2026
News

Why NHS models should be built to be reused

Our Head of Simulation, Dr Lucy Morgan, recently appeared on the new podcast Inside the Algorithm, hosted by Cambridg

Space shuttle rocket isolated on blue cyan background with copy space. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. 29/04/2026
News

Neighbourhood health should not be judged (solely) by its ability to reduce hospital activity

In 1962, President John F. Kennedy arrived at NASA headquarters for a progress update on the planned trip to the moon.

Caricature drawings satirising the conducting style of Gustav Mahler when he was director of the Vienna State Opera, 1897-1907 15/04/2026
News

Commissioners as conductors?

Traditional NHS commissioning alone is not enough, and must be complemented by a “conductor” role that actively coordinates partners and drives system-wide change. Together, commissioners provide strategic direction while conductors enable delivery, which is essential for improving outcomes in complex health systems.

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