What did we learn from our development work with primary care networks in 2022?

Kings Fund – January 2023

During 2022, we worked with primary care networks (PCNs) all over England. Similar themes came up in different places, and we’d like to share some insights so PCN leaders can think about these issues in their own contexts. Integrated care system leaders and those commissioning PCN development may also find it useful to see the kinds of issues they may be able to support PCNs to address.  

Blog – What did we learn from our development work with primary care networks in 2022?

MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR ELECTRONIC PATIENT RECORD SYSTEM

NHS Providers – January 2023

This guide is for trusts who have an electronic patient record system (EPR) already in place and want to realise the transformational opportunities it presents. It focuses on the role of the board in leading these changes. In December 2022, NHS England estimated that 181/211 trusts in England had some form of EPR and it is expected that at least 90 per cent of trusts will have implemented an EPR by December 2023.

Guide – MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR ELECTRONIC PATIENT RECORD SYSTEM

Department of Health and Social Care: Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22

Department of Health and Social Care – 26th January 2023

The annual report and accounts gives an overview of the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) resources and how it has used them to fulfil its statutory functions during the financial year 2021 to 2022. The report describes DHSC’s performance against objectives and includes the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s annual report on the performance of the NHS in England.

Read the annual report – Department of Health and Social Care Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22

Case study: Working together on South West London’s ‘virtual ward’ reduces length of stay in hospital and eases winter pressures

NHS England – 30 January 2023

“The virtual ward has kept me at home, able to cope and nursed me back to health. I think it’s a wonderful service.” This is the view of 89-year-old virtual ward patient ‘Sheila’ of the service in Sutton in South West London. Partnership working on a ‘virtual ward’, with capacity of up to 100 virtual beds, is reducing unnecessary hospital admissions and reducing the amount of time patients have to stay in hospital by two to three days, easing the pressure on the whole system.

Link – Working together on South West London’s ‘virtual ward’ reduces length of stay in hospital and eases winter pressures

Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services

NHS England – 30th January 2023

To support recovery, this plan sets out a number of ambitions, including:

• Patients being seen more quickly in emergency departments: with the ambition to improve to 76% of patients being admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours by March 2024, with further improvement in 2024/25.
• Ambulances getting to patients quicker: with improved ambulance response times for Category 2 incidents to 30 minutes on average over 2023/24, with further improvement in 2024/25 towards pre-pandemic levels.

NHS England has engaged with a wide range of stakeholders to develop the plan, and it draws on a diverse range of opinion and experience, as well as views of patients and users.

The Department of Health and Social Care, who produced the content on actions being taken in social care, have led on engagement with the sector.

Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care services

What is the outlook for health funding?

Health Foundation – 24 January 2023

Key points

• The 2022 Autumn Statement saw the Chancellor promise an extra £3.3bn for the NHS and £1.4bn for capital investment in 2023/24 and 2024/25. In cash terms, spending in 2024/25 will be almost £14bn higher than in 2022/23.
• Much of this additional spending will be needed to meet inflation. After accounting for inflation, real-terms funding in 2024/25 will be £6bn higher than in 2022/23.
• This means that in real terms, core day-to-day spending on the NHS will rise by 2% a year by 2024/25, while capital spending will grow by just 0.2%.
• Overall, the Department of Health and Social Care’s funding settlement will increase by 1.2% a year in real terms over the next 2 years. This is higher than planned at the last Spending Review but far below the 3.6% long-term average growth rate.
• The NHS continues to face rising cost pressures that will erode the spending power of this settlement, with pay being the most significant. Health service inflationary pressures may be higher than the government estimates through the central GDP deflator forecast.
• The different methods used to estimate inflation for the whole economy show that the buying power of this settlement is uncertain. The unknown outcome of future pay negotiations and volatility in the cost of other key inputs add further uncertainty around the actual cost pressures the health care sector will face. 

Further information – What is the outlook for health funding?

NHS in England will have one strategy for all major conditions, including cancer

BMJ – 25th January 2023

The NHS in England is set to have a major conditions strategy to help determine policy for the care of increasing
numbers of people in England with complex and often multiple long term conditions.
Conditions covered by the strategy will include cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, dementia,
mental health conditions, and musculoskeletal disorders. Cancer will also be included and will no longer
have its own dedicated 10 year strategy

Further information – NHS in England will have one strategy for all major conditions, including cancer

Government Action on Major Conditions and Diseases – Statement made on 24 January 2023 – UK Parliament

National Patient Safety Strategic Research Needs 2022/23

NHS England – 25 January 2023

Report highlights strategic research needs identified by National patient safety team, including improving safety intelligence, improving organisational safety culture & practice, patient safety behaviour, effective patient safety practices & alternative service delivery models 

National Patient Safety Strategic Research Needs 2022/23

Follow-up on the IMMDS report and the Government’s response

House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee – 17 January 2023

This report states that ministers must act urgently to enable women and children avoidably harmed by medical intervention to receive compensation and care. The report finds that families have waited too long for redress or compensation because litigation through the courts was the only option open to them. Ministers had rejected an alternative approach recommended by the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety (IMMDS)independent review more than two years ago (First do no harm) for a standalone redress agency.

Read the Report – Follow-up on the IMMDS report and the Government’s response

The report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety (IMMDS) Review was published on 8 July 2020.

First Do No Harm – The report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review

Independent health care and the NHS

Kings Fund – 24th January 2023

Discussion around the role of the independent sector in providing health care often focuses on the ‘privatisation’ of the NHS.

Private providers have always played a role in the NHS, and while there was a small increase in NHS expenditure on independent sector providers following the implementation of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, it has flatlined at a lower level since.

Although the role of the independent sector in providing NHS services has not increased substantially in recent years, according to some data sources, private spending by individuals on health care – known as ‘out-of-pocket’ spending – has. As waiting lists continue to grow and the public continues to experience difficulties accessing health services, and as the NHS workforce crisis intensifies, more people may choose to opt out of the NHS and pay for treatment privately.

In this briefing, we set out some of the trends in public and private spending on independent sector health care providers. We consider what factors may be driving these trends, look at the impact this has on household spending among different groups, and consider some of the implications for the public and the NHS.

Download the report (PDF)