The government set out the next steps in its plan to reform the National Health Service in England, following consultation on its July 2010 White Paper. It confirmed plans to hand the commissioning of services to family doctors, and to give local authorities powers of scrutiny over local health services.
Source: Liberating the NHS: Legislative Framework and Next Steps, Cm 7993, Department of Health/TSO
Links: Report | Hansard | DH press release | Conservative Party press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Labour Party press release | ADASS press release | Kings Fund press release | LGA press release | Monitor press release | NCT press release | NHS Confederation press release | NHS Employers press release | Patients Association press release | RCGP press release | RCM press release | RCN press release | SEC press release | TUC press release | Unite press release | BBC report | Morning Star report | Guardian report | Community Care report | Nursing Times report
Date: 2010-Dec
A report said that the respective healthcare reform processes in the United Kingdom and the United States of America were converging on to a similar model that represented a greater sense of balance between clinician and patient, and between state and individual.
Source: Jacque Mallander, Louise Inman, Rick McNabb and David Welbourn, Achieving Integrated Care: Lessons from the US and the UK to improve quality and affordability in healthcare, Matrix Knowledge Group/Optimity Advisors
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Nov
A literature review examined the concept of 'public value' in the National Health Service. Most literature on public value was normative and/or exhortatory in tone. However, recent contributions reflected a growing recognition of the need to develop the theoretical and empirical foundations of the concept.
Source: Iestyn Williams and Heather Shearer, Public Value and the English NHS: A review of the literature, Organization
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Nov
The Department of Health published a business plan for the period 2011-2015.
Source: Business Plan 2011-2015, Department of Health
Links: Plan
Date: 2010-Nov
An article examined intergovernmental relations and health policy in the wake of devolution. It identified 'bottom-up' issues, in which health policy divergence created intergovernmental friction, and 'top-down' issues, in which broader conflicts affected health. Mechanisms of co-ordination and dispute resolution were 'probably inadequate' for managing conflict.
Source: Scott Greer and Alan Trench, 'Intergovernmental relations and health in Great Britain after devolution', Policy & Politics, Volume 38 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Oct
A paper said that the reforms outlined in the new coalition government's White Paper on the National Health Service in England, such as handing commissioning responsibilities to groups of family doctors, could deliver more seamless care for patients. However, policy in areas such as commissioning, competition, incentives, and regulation needed to be developed to better support moves towards integration. There was also a need to involve both clinicians and members of the public in service redesign.
Source: Chris Ham and Judith Smith, Removing the Policy Barriers to Integrated Care in England, Nuffield Trust
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Sep
A think-tank report said that the government's proposal (in the July 2010 White Paper) that family doctor consortia should carry out the bulk of National Health Service commissioning constituted a 'radical and bold step'. The plan had the potential to bring primary care closer to patients, with a stronger focus on prevention. However, there were a number of practical barriers – including problems of accountability, patient engagement, service quality, and estate management.
Source: Stuart Carroll and Gary Jones, 'Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS' – Opportunities and Challenges, Bow Group
Date: 2010-Aug
A report examined the future of healthcare and how, or if, it would be possible to maintain a high-quality health service in the period to 2020. It said that the National Health Service would be forced to fundamentally change the way it provided healthcare, slowly shifting more of the burden from the state towards the individual.
Source: Visions of Britain 2020: Health and Wellbeing, Friends Provident/Future Foundation
Links: Report | Friends Provident press release
Date: 2010-Aug
The new coalition government published a draft 'structural reform plan' for the Department of Health. The plan set out how the department would implement the coalition government's key policy aims, in particular taking power away from Whitehall and putting it into the hands of people and communities.
Source: Department of Health: Draft Structural Reform Plan, Department of Health
Links: Plan
Date: 2010-Jul
The new coalition government published a White Paper on the structure of the National Health Service. Groups of family doctors would be given freedom and responsibility for commissioning care for their local communities. Strategic health authorities and primary care trusts would be abolished. Patients would be able to choose which family doctor practice they registered with, regardless of where they lived, and choose between consultant-led teams.
Source: Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS, Cm 7881, Department of Health/TSO Links: White Paper | Hansard | DH press release | BMA press release | NAPC press release | Patients Association press release | NHS Confederation press release | NHS Employers press release | CQC press release | RCN press release | Acevo press release | ECCA press release | ADASS press release | Kings Fund press release | SMF press release | Civitas press release | Civitas briefing | CIHM press release | Rethink press release | Turning Point press release | Mind press release | Addaction press release | Alzheimers Society press release | Green Party press release | Guardian report | Community Care report | Telegraph report | Pulse report | BBC report | Socialist Worker report
Date: 2010-Jul
A think-tank report set out a framework for the reform of health and social care services. It said there was a need for: an extension of integrated preventative care; a refocusing of local commissioning on improved health and social outcomes; and a radical reconfiguration of services in support of more home-based care.
Source: Health Working Group, Improving Health Outcomes: A guide for action, 2020 Public Services Trust
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jul
A think-tank report examined whether new measures should be taken to manage the demand for health services in order to relieve pressure on the National Health Service. There were major savings to be made: but they needed to be driven by high-quality local commissioners, with central government taking far less responsibility for health services. This would mean a political shift away from the idea of a uniform NHS towards an acceptance of locally varied, diverse provision.
Source: David Furness and Barney Gough, From Feast to Famine: Reforming the NHS for an age of austerity, Social Market Foundation
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jul
A new book examined social theories relating to health and illness. Using case studies, it looked at the expanding jurisdiction of medicine over issues such as binge drinking, obesity, the prominence of therapy, and the search for happiness.
Source: Peter Kennedy and Carole Kennedy, Using Theory to Explore Health, Medicine and Society, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2010-Jun
The new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government announced (in the Queen's Speech) plans for a Health Bill, designed to establish an independent National Health Service Board, strengthen the role of the Care Quality Commission and Monitor, and cut the cost of NHS administration by one-third.
Source: Queen's Speech, 25 May 2010
Links: Text of Speech | Kings Fund press release | NHS Confederation press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Telegraph report | BBC report | Nursing Times report
Date: 2010-May
A manifesto for health policy was published, written by women health experts.
Source: What Women Want: A Manifesto for Health 2010, 2020health
Links: Manifesto
Date: 2010-Mar
A report examined the challenges that an incoming government would face in the management of the health service. The demands of a spending squeeze combined with lifestyle factors, the aging population, and the increasing cost of healthcare meant that the National Health Service was facing 'one of the most difficult moments in its history'.
Source: Rising to the Challenge: Health priorities for the government and the NHS, NHS Confederation
Links: Report | NHS Confederation press release
Date: 2010-Mar
The opposition Conservative Party published its draft election manifesto on the health service. It said that the National Health Service would be a Conservative government's 'number one priority'.
Source: Draft Manifesto 2010: Our Reform Plan for the NHS, Conservative Party
Links: Conservative Party press release
Date: 2010-Feb
A think-tank report (by the opposition Liberal Democrat health spokesperson) set out strategies for National Health Service reform, designed to ensure that it was able to improve existing healthcare provision and reduce costs. The key to reforming the NHS lay in transforming it from a centralized bureaucratic service to one that emphasized local accountability. This would enable it to both respond to the needs of local communities and control costs. Moreover, by setting patients and healthcare practitioners free, standards could be improved.
Source: Norman Lamb MP, The NHS: A Liberal Blueprint, CentreForum
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Feb
A report examined how health impact assessment was being used within the wider impact assessment process within government. Government departments (other than the Department of Health itself) were found to be taking health impacts into account, and in some instances were providing excellent examples of analysis: but there was still more that could be done.
Source: Putting Health in the Policy Picture: Review of how health impact assessment is carried out by government departments, Department of Health
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Feb
The opposition Conservative Party published its draft manifesto plans for the National Health Service. It called itself 'the party of the NHS', and pledged that it would never change the principle that healthcare should be free at the point of use and available to everyone based on need, not ability to pay. It also said that it was committed to protecting health spending in real terms. But it said that a decade of 'top-down, bureaucratic mismanagement' had consistently undermined the professionalism and motivation of NHS staff and skewed priorities away from patient care. It set out a reform plan based on the principles of decentralization, accountability, and transparency.
Source: Conservatives Draft Manifesto 2010: Chapter One – Our Reform Plan for the NHS, Conservative Party
Links: Manifesto | Conservative Party press release | NHS Confederation press release | Rethink press release | RCN press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Pulse report | Telegraph report | Personnel Today report | Nursing Times report | Inside Housing report | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2010-Jan
