Scaling Neighbourhood Health: what does it take?
A deep dive exploring how neighbourhood health can move from promising local innovation to consistent delivery at scale.
Despair now accounts for one-sixth of all years of life lost
Deaths from drug misuse, alcohol use and suicide, often referred to as deaths of despair, are on the rise. New research, by the Strategy Unit and the Health Foundation, show how deaths rates vary by sex and socio-economic deprivation, and how these rates changed during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Using evidence effectively for strategic commissioning
A new series of videos to help commissioners find, interpret and apply evidence for better decisions.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Complex problems and Multi-Disciplinary Teams
Many moons ago, I was fortunate enough to observe a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) in Dudley.
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
Discharge before noon
Can data on discharge times help us to improve hospital flow?
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
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.
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.
Diagnosing the problems of non-diagnosis
Some descriptions of healthcare seem to be taken straight from the film Minority Report.
Continuity in primary care: the safest bet we aren’t able to make?
In this long-read, which first appeared in the HSJ, Fraser Battye asks whether focusing on continuity might also improve access to primary care
What explains the recent growth in hospital activity?
In this long read, Fraser Battye describes our analysis of what has driven the growth in hospital activity.
A journey into intersectionality
A practical exploration of intersectionality, testing theory through quantitative analysis of hospital readmissions.
The enduring ‘messy programme’ with ‘mixed results’
The diagram below shows me at my most cynical.
Strengthening ethnicity data across the NHS: developing the national improvement plan
Our analysis and stakeholder engagement supported NHS England to develop the national Ethnicity Recording Improvement Plan.
A fairer funding future for general practice: lessons from Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB
Our evaluation of the Health Equity Payment (HEP) scheme in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland highlights how flexible, needs-based GP funding can support more equitable care.