The Midlands Decision Support Network in association with The Strategy Unit are hosting INSIGHT 2022 our annual festival of learning and sharing events for the NHS, local government and other partners across health and care.

The number of outpatient attendances in England is now approaching 100 million each year. In 2017/18, the estimated cost of this care was over £9 billion - or 8% of the total NHS England budget.

Yet there are significant gaps in our knowledge. We don’t know enough about the purpose and function of outpatient appointments. Without this knowledge, the NHS will struggle to ensure that the billions spent on these services are delivering best value for the patient and the public.

From our previous work, with Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation, we know that lockdown had a significant effect on attendance at Emergency Departments (ED). We also know that this effect was very unevenly distributed: some demographic groups stayed away far more than others.

Whether or not to admit a patient is one of the most routine yet important decisions a doctor in an Emergency Department (ED) makes. We might like to think that this decision is dependent solely on the clinical characteristics of the patient. But this is not the case.   

Earlier this year, the Strategy Unit reported how levels of attendances at consultant-led emergency departments dropped dramatically in the early days of the COVID pandemic. Rates crept back up during the first lockdown but never reached pre-pandemic levels, and rates fell away again as the local tiered and subsequent national lockdowns were imposed. 

Dr Anna Lock, Justine Wiltshire and Lucy Hawkins reflect on the Strategy Unit's innovative end of life care analysis. How can this work help clinicians to improve services?

In our recent analysis of healthcare use in the last 2 years of life, we point out an important change that’s taking place to life and death in the UK. 

A series of guest blogs from Professor Sir Muir Gray, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health FT Medical Director - Dr Hilary Grant, Health Foundation Chief Executive - Jennifer Dixon, Mind's Director of External Relations - Sophie Corlett, GP & Clinical Director - Dr Paul Turner, and Diabetes UK - Colette Marshall.

NHS England and NHS Improvement (NHSE & I) are exploring the opportunity of applying seasonal profiling in elective care.

We are very pleased to announce that The Strategy Unit has been invited to be a founding member of the new Urgent and Emergency Psychiatric Care Centre for Research and Training at Aston  Medical School.This is in recognition of the work we have done in advancing Rapid Assessment Interface and Discharge services through evaluation.