Charisma

In this long read, which first appeared in the HSJ, Fraser Battye - our Head of Policy – looks at the role of charisma and innovation in the way that NHS resources are allocated.

Ara Darzi, Wes Streeting and English health policy. Part 2: cutting the knot

Following on from part one, Fraser continues exploring the Gordian Knot of English health policy.

Ara Darzi, Wes Streeting and English health policy. Part 1: the Gordian Knot

Health policy is not at a crossroads, it is in a bind. Strands so entangled, so complex they resemble a Gordian knot. Can this knot be untied?

The risks of risk stratification

Medical history is full of bizarre and gruesome procedures.

Want to ease pressure in urgent care? Simply cut community services!?!

What should decision makers do with analysis that challenges deeply held assumptions? In this blog, Fraser Battye reflects on a surprising recent finding about community services.

Part-time GPs and the decline in continuity of care: a cause or a symptom?

In our recent paper we explore why levels of care continuity have been declining and what might be done to turn things around.

Two sides of the same coin

Hospital demand arising from GPs not seeing patients, is eating into the resources that they would use to manage down the elective backlog. In turn, this is creating more demand for GPs.

Are GP consultation rates rising or falling? Who or what should we believe?

If the "data suggests" GP appointments are substantially higher than pre-pandemic, then what is behind patients reporting recieving fewer appointments?

Urgent Community Response – What Works?

The Strategy Unit, with our partners Ipsos, has been commissioned by NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSEI) to provide a long-term national evaluation of the Urgent Community Response programme rolled-out across England. The programme aims to shift resources to home and community-based services as part of the NHS commitment to providing the right care, to the right people, at the right time. And there are a range of outputs from the early work that provide learning for local systems as they develop their services.

Bringing patient flow modelling into general practice

With general practice appointments hitting the highest numbers on record (34.8 million in England alone in November 2021), careful organisation and planning for patient appointments is increasingly important.

The impact of social care on demand for urgent hospital care: have we reached a consensus?

The care home COVID crisis and the effects of longstanding staffing and funding shortages has meant that social care has featured heavily in the media over the last 12 months. 

Strategy Unit releases opensource model for planning vaccine centre capacity

The UK is running its largest ever vaccination programme. The stakes are enormous.

Key opportunities for eye health and well being

Eye health and sight loss services have historically had a lower profile in service provision compared to many other specialities. There is a view that the importance of eye health has been underrepresented in many Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) plans.

They don’t believe you

Continuing our mental and physical health guest blog series, Sophie Corlett the Director of External Relations at Mind provides some perspectives from people with physical ailments who are users of mental health services.

Mind and body: inseparable twins

Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of the Health Foundation, reflects on the relationship between mental and physical health and the need for better integration of care.

Let’s face the music and (not) dance

David Frith leads our strategy consultancy work with NHS and third sector organisations.

Why community alternatives to hospital admission don’t (typically) reduce total admission levels

Repeatedly, published evaluations show that community/primary care services interventions with a stated intention to reduce total (or forecast total) emergency admissions to hospital don’t achieve the expected result**

Humans and system: challenging the false dichotomy between mental and physical health - Dr Hilary Grant

Warp and weft – recognising that physical and mental health are interwoven - By Professor Sir Muir Gray

On World Mental Health Day, we’re delighted to present a guest blog by Professor Sir Muir Gray, the first in a new series of commi