03/09/2025
Bevan Brittan provides high quality, comprehensive advice to the NHS, independent healthcare sector and local authorities. This update contains brief details of recent Government publications, legislation, cases and other developments relevant to those involved in health and social care work, both in the NHS, independent sector and local authorities which have been published in the last month.
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Bevan Brittan Free Training Events
There is no charge for any of the events listed below
Webinars
These are internal hour long lunch time training sessions. You can sign up to watch the training sessions remotely via our webinar facility by clicking on the links below..
Inquest Update - 18/09/2025 12:30 - 13:30
Please note that registration for each webinar will close one hour before the webinar starts, so please do ensure you have booked your place in advance to guarantee attendance.
Children and young people
Publications/Guidance
Giving every child the best start in life. This policy paper outlines how the government will improve child development and ensure that all children have the chance to achieve and thrive. The plan aims to meet the ambition that 75% of five-year-olds in England have a good level of development by 2028.
Shifting care from hospital to communities: what are the challenges to achieving this for children and young people? The 10 Year Health Plan aims to move more care into the community and away from hospitals. This long read examines whether this can help improve children and young people's health and the main barriers to bettering community services for those under 25.
Child deaths. NSPCC Learning has published an updated statistics briefing on child deaths due to abuse or neglect. The briefing looks at what data and statistics are available about child deaths due to abuse or neglect in the UK, to help people and the organisations they work for make evidence-based decisions about how best to meet the needs of children.
Child welfare. The Centre for Young Lives has published a new annual report examining the scale and nature of childhood vulnerability in England. Drawing on data from government departments and the Office of National Statistics, the report looks at the number of children experiencing different forms of vulnerability such as poverty, mental health problems, having Special Educational Needs or Disabilities, or growing up in care. It also recognises that there are many vulnerable children that the data does not capture, whose needs remain hidden. The report calls for the establishment of a new data dashboard on childhood vulnerability and for central government departments to make use of a single unified definition of childhood vulnerability.
News
Free speech rules to protect academic freedom come into force. New legal duties on universities and colleges come into force, as government delivers Plan for Change to restore integrity of higher education.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around children please contact Deborah Jeremiah.
Clinical Risk / Patient Safety
Publications/Guidance
Principles for supporting women’s choices in maternity care. These principles have been developed in response to a changing maternity landscape, with more women seeking personalised care and, in some cases, making choices outside standard care pathways. Grounded in real-world practice, these evidence-based principles provide supportive information for midwives and employers navigating complex care scenarios. This will help ensure professionals can support women’s individual choices while delivering safe, high-quality, person-centred care in line with the Nursing and Midwifery Council code and standards.
An exploratory review of maternity and neonatal services. This report is a summary of information collected during an exploratory review of maternity and neonatal services in spring 2025. This review involved meetings with 17 stakeholders and a review of 35 safety concerns submitted to the Health Services Safety Investigations Body.
The Five X More Black maternity experiences report: continuing the conversation on Black maternal care in the UK. This latest report captures the lived experiences of Black women across the UK who have been pregnant or given birth in the last four years. It explores the quality of care, communication with professionals, discrimination and what still needs to change. The report finds that Black women are still facing barriers and the system must do better.
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. This briefing gives an overview of the proposed The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. The bill would allow adults in England and Wales with a prognosis of less than six months to live to be provided with assistance to end their lives, subject to eligibility criteria and conditions.
Mixed-methods evaluation of the Maternity and Neonatal Independent Senior Advocate (MNISA) pilot in England. The MNISA role is being piloted across England following a series of high-profile maternity reviews. The role is designed to support families who have experienced the death or serious injury of their baby, or of a mother during NHS care, to help families navigate processes following the incident, ensure they are listened to and ultimately influence system change. This report outlines the findings of an evaluation to assess the implementation, impact and value of this role.
NHS Resolution annual report and accounts 2024 to 2025. Annual report and accounts from NHS Resolution covering 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025.
Infants, children, and young people with life-limiting conditions: learning from child death reviews on palliative and end of life care provision. This report presents national findings on children with life-limiting conditions and analysis on the learning from the child death reviews on service provision. It makes recommendations for improvements in commissioning services, access to medicines and professional training.
Review of patient safety across the health and care landscape. This independent review, carried out by Dr Penny Dash, looked at six bodies and how they work within the wider health and care landscape, with a particular focus on patient safety. The review was asked to consider whether there are overlaps and gaps in functions across organisations and make recommendations as to the future roles of the six organisations. The nine recommendations from the review focus on streamlining the patient safety landscape and improving accountability.
Independent review of the physician associate and anaesthesia associate roles: final report. Independent report by Professor Gillian Leng CBE looking at the safety and effectiveness of physician associates and anaesthesia associates.
Infected Blood Inquiry: compensation. The Infected Blood Public Inquiry recommended that the government should set up a compensation scheme for those infected and affected by contaminated blood, blood products and tissue. The government accepted this recommendation and made regulations to establish the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme in August 2024.
Cases
High Court dismisses claim concerning failure in identifying red flag symptoms for cauda equina syndrome. The King’s Bench Division, in Hepworth v Coates [2025] EWHC 1907 (KB), dismissed a clinical negligence claim brought by the claimant against the defendant, Dr Coates, concerning the alleged failure to identify ‘red flag’ symptoms of cauda equina syndrome (CES). The court held that Dr Coates was not in breach of duty concerning the consultation on 5 November 2018, as she had asked the appropriate questions and had adhered to the expected standard of care for a General Practitioner (GP). Accordingly, the claim failed on the issue of liability.
News
NHS Resolution awards new contract for claims mediation.
Government works with TikTok to help safety for treatments abroad. The Government and TikTok have begun an initiative to partner with medical influencers to create content to show the risks of using social media apps to research overseas medical procedures such as cosmetic surgery, help conduct research and provide advice on how to make trips safe. The Foreign Office will also provide more detailed travel advice for those seeking to travel abroad for operations. Patients will be urged to speak to a UK doctor, take out travel insurance and avoid package holidays that bundle in procedures. The medics will provide a checklist to go through before considering booking a procedure abroad. Government is looking at ways to protect these patients while ensuring the NHS is not to assume responsibility of harmful work. This follows an announcement in a consultation outcome to introduce regulations to address suspicious cosmetic practitioners in England.
Crackdown on unsafe cosmetic procedures to protect the public. New measures to crack down on cowboy cosmetic procedures will be introduced by the government.
Bevan Brittan Events
Inquest Update - 18/09/2025 12:30pm - 13:30pm
How we can help
We are working with clients on formulating policies and making it easier to balance treatment with finite resources. We are helping with social care policies and day to day activities such as contact and isolation, human rights issues and life/death decisions. We are working on notifications of harm and death, RIDDOR, CQC compliance, judicial review, infection control law and grappling with the new regulations and guidance. For more information click here.
If you wish to discuss any clinical risk or patient safety issues please contact Joanne Easterbrook or Daniel Morris.
Digital Health
Publications/guidance
The NHS at a Crossroads: The App That Can Transform Britain’s Health. Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
Artificial intelligence use in NHS communications: insights, risks and recommendations for safe and effective adoption of AI in NHS communications. This report forms part of a wider project being led by the NHS Communications AI Taskforce in partnership with the NHS Confederation. The primary aim of this latest research was to understand how NHS communications professionals are using AI tools; where there is potential to apply these tools more effectively; what barriers, risks and capability gaps need to be addressed; what kinds of support, training and governance will enable safe, ethical and confident AI adoption.
Infrastructure for innovation: getting the NHS and social care ready for AI. What infrastructure needs to be in place to ensure that AI can be used in the health and care sectors? Informed by conversations across health and social care with staff, suppliers, researchers and patients, our new long read considers what’s needed for not only the technical infrastructure, but also the wider environment and system capabilities.
Digital transformation and the productivity and efficiency challenge. This report focuses on the potential of digital transformation in the NHS and explores the potential sources of productivity gains with case studies from across the sector and includes practical advice for NHS boards and senior leaders on driving productivity through technology.
Navigating AI: practical questions for NHS leaders to ask. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded into clinical pathways and new models of care, NHS leaders play a critical role in ensuring safe and ethical implementation that drives benefits for patients and staff. This toolkit is designed to support conversations at each stage of the journey from considering using AI through to implementing solutions into business-as-usual workflows.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around Digital Health please contact Daniel Morris.
Employment/HR
Publications/guidance
Staff engagement at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust. This case study sets out how Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust improved its NHS staff survey scores as well as its staff engagement efforts more generally. Through innovation, using skills and experience within the organisation, and keeping people at the heart of everything it does, the trust created an organisation development vision to ensure that it continues to build a healthy organisational culture, focusing on key areas that make a difference to staff experience.
Supreme Court judgment on the meaning of "sex" in the Equality Act 2010: For Women Scotland: Research Briefing. A House of Commons Library briefing on For Women Scotland Ltd v Scottish Ministers (SC) which concerned how the terms "man", "woman" and "sex" should be interpreted in the Equality Act 2010 (EA) in light of the Gender Recognition Act 2004 (GRA). It looks at the interaction between the GRA and EA, the Scottish legal proceedings that led to the Supreme Court's decision, the judgment, implications for the interpretation of other legislation and the rights of trans people, the Government's response, Equality and Human Rights Commission interim guidance; and the response from parliamentary committees.
Budget-friendly recognition. This case study describes how Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust implemented a low-cost, fair and equitable recognition strategy.
Workplace experiences 2025: the state of medical education and practice in the UK. This annual report is based on evidence from an annual survey of thousands of doctors, supported by in-depth interviews and other research. It highlights where action needs to be taken to address workplace pressures and help retain doctors across all four countries of the UK.
Work indifference: a sign of burnout for agile workers that reduces staff support and empathy. This research, carried out by the University of Sussex, explores how work indifference is a sign of burnout for agile workers that reduces staff support and empathy. It argues that the NHS should monitor indifference as a red flag for burnout. When detected, work arrangements may need to be adapted to reduce demands. Managers and organisations could also benefit from training, to recognise and support staff who express indifference.
From burnout to belief: reflections on reforming the NHS from within. NHS staff are in survival mode. With the publication of the 10 Year Health Plan, now is the time to tackle the workforce crisis, writes Sharon Nash (Senior Consultant, The King's Fund).
Exploring the earnings of NHS doctors in England (2025 update). This updated explainer explores how doctors' pay has changed over time, how it compares to other salaries in the wider economy and how it compares with what doctors in other countries are paid. This updates revisits some of the key measures around doctors’ pay.
NHS employers: reducing health inequalities through local recruitment. Employment is one of the most powerful levers to improve health and reduce inequalities. As the country’s largest employer, the NHS has a unique opportunity to lead by example. This report showcases how four NHS organisations are tackling health inequalities by transforming their recruitment and employment practices.
Sickness absence toolkit. This toolkit provides guidance for NHS managers to have supportive conversations around sickness absence.
News
Baroness Amos to spearhead maternity and neonatal Investigation. Baroness Amos has been selected to lead the independent investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal care to drive urgent improvements to care and safety.
Big rise in sackings for sexual misconduct
How we can help
We can offer support and advice on managing many workforce issues including flexing your workforce to respond to the pandemic, managing bank staff, redeployment, vulnerable groups, sick pay, leave options, supporting staff well-being, presenteeism, remote and home working, through FAQs, helpline or policy guidance and practical day to day advice.
If you wish to discuss any employment issues generally please contact Jodie Sinclair, Alastair Currie, Oonagh Sharma, James Gutteridge, Andrew Uttley, Joanna Burrows and Lee Carroll.
Finance
Publications/guidance
An engine for economic growth? Why it won’t be a piece of cake for the NHS. With the newly published life sciences sector plan coming soon after the 10 Year Health Plan for England, this long read reflects on the government’s plans for the NHS as a driver of economic growth and investment and what this might mean for patients and NHS services.
How we can help
For more information on issues around finance, please contact Claire Bentley.
Governance
Publications/guidance
Assessing provider capability: guidance for NHS trust boards. These documents aim to support NHS boards in assessing their organisation’s capability on an annual basis against a range of expectations across six areas: strategy, leadership and planning; quality of care; people and culture; access and delivery of services; productivity and value for money; and financial performance and oversight.
Leading NHS groups: findings from interviews with group leaders in England. For a growing number of NHS trusts, group membership is seen as a means of delivering economies of scale and greater standardisation and reliability. Group membership can also hold appeal as it brings trusts under the umbrella of a central leadership team that is often highly experienced. This analysis focuses primarily on the leadership of NHS groups. Based on interviews with group leaders, it examines two key leadership roles: the group chief executive and the site leader (sometimes referred to as site chief executive or managing director). These roles exemplify one of the critical differences between the management of groups and NHS trusts: the division of strategic and operational leadership between a central group and local site-based leadership teams.
How we can help
For more information on issues around governance, please contact Claire Bentley.
Health Inequalities
Publications/Guidance
Addressing health inequalities through employment: challenges and opportunities for strategic authorities
Employment is one of the most important determinants of physical and mental health and, despite some variation in devolution settlements, the unique powers that strategic authorities (SAs) have in relation to regional employment policy are a powerful lever with which health inequalities can be addressed. This research, carried out by Centre for Local Economic Strategies and The King’s Fund, draws on insights from mayors and SA officers to highlights ways in which employment programmes could be scaled and amplified to achieve greater impact on narrowing health inequalities.
Race inequalities for NHS staff: looking back on the WRES data. Amid a sense of decline in support for equality, diversity and inclusion initiatives, Shilpa Ross (Fellow, The King's Fund) examines the latest Workforce Race Equality Standard data. Has the NHS taken enough action?
Public health: inequalities and prevention. This document provides an overview of current public health challenges in the UK and asks how can we mitigate health inequalities and ensure fair and timely access to health care for everyone.
NHS employers: reducing health inequalities through local recruitment. Employment is one of the most powerful levers to improve health and reduce inequalities. As the country’s largest employer, the NHS has a unique opportunity to lead by example. This report showcases how four NHS organisations are tackling health inequalities by transforming their recruitment and employment practices.
Inequalities in life expectancy. Measures of health, such as life expectancy, vary substantially between different parts of the UK. What are government targets to reduce health inequalities? How do local areas compare? What are the trends in life expectancy over time?
How we can help
We have a multidisciplinary team advising NHS commissioners and providers on all aspects of tackling health inequalities, ranging from:
- advising on the new legal framework and compliance with the relevant statutory duties, particularly in the context of service reconfiguration;
- addressing workforce inequalities;
- taking action on patient safety to reduce health inequalities;
- the role of the Care Quality Commission in tackling health inequalities; and
- lessons to be learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around health inequalities please contact Julia Jones.
Independent Health
Publications/Guidance
Going private 2025. This report looks at public attitudes to private health care. It aims to understand why more people are choosing private health care. It also hopes to help inform work by the private health care industry to continue to improve the service it offers to patients and consumers, particularly in terms of helping people understand and navigate the system.
NHS reliance on beds in the independent sector for mental health care. Around 28% of mental health care beds are found in the private sector and not NHS trusts. In this Kings Fund analysis, they consider what this means for mental health care and the role the independent sector plays.
DHSC announces new regulatory framework for cosmetic procedures. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced a series of regulatory reforms aimed at improving safety standards in the cosmetic procedures industry. Under the proposed measures, only suitably qualified healthcare professionals will be permitted to carry out the highest-risk procedures, such as non-surgical Brazilian butt lifts. These procedures must be performed within facilities registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Lower-risk treatments, including Botox and dermal fillers, will be subject to a new licensing regime administered by local authorities. Practitioners will be required to meet stringent criteria relating to safety, training and insurance. Additional safeguards will restrict access to high-risk procedures for under-18s, unless authorised by a healthcare professional. Practitioners who will breach these rules will face enforcement action and financial penalties from the CQC. The proposals form part of the government’s Plan for Change and will undergo further public consultation and parliamentary review before implementation.
Publications/Guidance
Crackdown on unsafe cosmetic procedures to protect the public. New measures to crack down on cowboy cosmetic procedures will be introduced by the government.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around housing please contact Julia Jones or George Riach
Information sharing/data
Publications/guidance
How DHSC processes special category data. Find out how DHSC processes special category and criminal offences personal data in line with GDPR requirements.
Patient health records: Access, sharing and confidentiality. This briefing describes the laws around accessing and sharing patient health records and plans to improve data sharing in the NHS in England.
Medication not given: discharge from an acute hospital to the community. Medication is the most common intervention for patients in the NHS. In the most serious cases, delayed and missed medication can cause catastrophic effects. This report highlights the importance of information sharing between services to ensure patients are confident in medication self-administration.
How we can help
Our specialist team brings a unique combination of experience and skill from across the health, social care, and local authority sectors to help you meet the wide ranging challenges faced organisationally as you deal with the various and complex legislation in respect of information law. That team understands the practical way those legal frameworks impact the range of issues faced, as well as the diverse nature of both public and regulatory expectation in relation to “personal data”, “data protection”, “freedom of information”, “access to health records” and wider “information governance”. As well as assisting your organisation in dealing with challenging requests for disclosure, we can also help to provide strategic advice in relation to policy and information security, as well as bespoke organisational training on key legal issues.
If you wish to discuss any information law and / or governance issues facing your organisation, and how we may help, please contact Jane Bennett.
Integrated Care
Publications/Guidance
ICB clusters and mergers: what you need to know. In March 2025, NHS England announced that integrated care boards (ICBs) should reduce their running and programme costs by 50% to become more efficient and reduce duplication, by December 2025. To meet these cost reductions the majority of ICBs have agreed ‘clustering’ arrangements, with two or more ICBs working together across a larger footprint but remaining separate organisations legally. This briefing explains what clustering is, which ICBs are doing it and how it differs from merging.
NHS integrated care board (ICB) funding in England. NHS England funding allocations distributed to Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in 2024/25.
Truly fit for the future? The 10 Year Health Plan explained. What impact will Fit for the Future: The 10 Year Health Plan for England have for people, patients, staff and the health and care system? In our new explainer, we set out the main policy ideas and analyse what the plan will mean for patients, and for staff and leaders working in the system, as well as highlighting opportunities and challenges as people start putting the plan into action.
NHS oversight framework 2025/26. This guidance describes NHS England's approach to assessing integrated care boards (ICBs), NHS trusts and foundation trusts, ensuring public accountability for performance and providing a foundation for how NHS England works with systems and providers to support improvement. The framework sets out how NHS England will assess providers and ICBs, alongside a range of agreed metrics, promoting improvement while quickly identifying where organisations need support.
How ICSs are moving care closer to home – four case studies. Nobody wants to be in hospital if they can avoid it and an unnecessary hospital stay can be detrimental to health – just getting to a hospital can be challenging for some people. Moving the NHS away from hospital as the default location for care is key to the government's 10 Year Health Plan for England. This process has been underway for a number of years and progress has been made in getting people home earlier or avoiding a hospital admission in the first place, often with different organisations working closely together. These case studies from different ICSs around the country share innovative approaches to moving care closer to home.
Same cycle – different bike? Sarah Smith, a public health consultant, reflects on strategic commissioning for population health and the steps needed to prepare integrated care boards for the future.
Making commissioning strategic. The idea of ICBs becoming strategic commissioners has been under development since late last year. As the 10 Year Health Plan sets out, ICBs will be tasked with improving population health outcomes setting a long-term, evidence-informed strategy and ensuring resources are allocated effectively. This briefing explores how a more strategic approach to commissioning can benefit patients and communities and how providers are central to its success.
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around integrated care, please contact Anna Davies.
Inquests
Publications/Guidance
High Court refuses application for judicial review over coroner’s determination of Article 2 non engagement. The Administrative Court, in R (on the application of Fatheya Ali) v HM Assistant Coroner for Inner North London [2025] EWHC 2131 (Admin), refused a renewed application for judicial review concerning the coroner's determination that art 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights was not engaged. The court concluded that there was no arguable basis to challenge the coroner’s decision, which found no operational duty on the part of the hospital to prevent the death of the claimant’s brother, Mahamoud Ali. The evidence did not substantiate a foreseeable, substantial, present, and continuing risk to life.
Bevan Brittan Events
Inquest Update - 18/09/2025 12:30 - 13:30
How we can help
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around inquests, please contact Amanda Wright- Kluger, Tracey Longfield or Claire Leonard.
Mental Health
Publications/Guidance
Mental Health Bill [HL] 2024-25: progress of the bill. This briefing provides an overview of the progress of the bill through the House of Commons prior to report stage.
FAQ: ADHD statistics (England). Frequently Asked Questions about ADHD statistics in England, including prevalence, waiting lists, and waiting times.
Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) data collection. Guidance for councils with adult social services responsibilities (CASSRs) on how to complete the DoLS data return for the 2025 to 2026 reporting period.
Cases
Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board v AB & Anor [2025] EWCOP 24 (T3). Judgment concerning an urgent capacity assessment for AB, a 17 year old refusing nutrition.
Patricia's Father v Patricia . Court of Protection | [2025] EWCOP 30 (T3) It was in the best interests of a 25-year-old woman to lift orders that she should not receive nasogastric tube feeding with restraint or any other medical treatment against her wishes. The woman was malnourished, weighing 19kg, and refused to consume the calories required to walk without an aid.
St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v MN Court of Protection | [2025] EWCOP 28 (T3) | The Court of Protection granted an NHS hospital's trust's application for declarations that a person living in a specialist care home for people with severe mental health conditions lacked litigation capacity and the capacity to make decisions regarding investigative medical examinations.
AB, Re (Disclosure of Position Statements) [2025] EWCOP 25 (T3). Judgment concerning practice and procedure for disclosing position statements to an observer
County Council v AB Court of Protection | [2025] EWCOP 27 (T3) | In the context of proceedings concerning a vulnerable adult who had been removed to Jamaica by her mother in breach of a best interests order, the Court of Protection discussed the various steps that could be taken to help locate missing vulnerable adults, including third-party disclosure orders and compelling persons to file evidence and attend court to provide sworn evidence.
Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust v FF & Anor [2025] EWCOP 26 (T3), Ex tempore judgment following an application by the Trust to stop using restraint to provide nutrition to FF, who has a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa.
G (A Child) [2025] EWHC 1974 (Fam) (28 July 2025). Judgment regarding whether it is the best interests of a 17 year old child to be deprived of his liberty.
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v GWS & Ors (Capacity) [2025] EWCOP 23 (T3). Decision concerning an 18 year old's capacity to decide on medical treatment.
Jake (A Child), Re. 2025 EWHC 2230. The court could not exercise its inherent jurisdiction under the Children Act 1989 s.100 to grant a local authority's application for a deprivation of liberty order in respect of a 16-year-old who had been released on licence after serving a custodial sentence for serious sexual offences. The local authority had not shown a reasonable cause to believe that the child was likely to suffer significant harm in the absence of a deprivation of liberty order: he was being managed by a youth offending team and he was very likely to have his licence revoked if he absconded or breached its conditions.
News
Mental Capacity Act reform stalled: urgent action needed as system unravels
How we can help
We are experts in advising commissioners, providers and care co-ordinators on the relevant legal frameworks. We deal with complex issues such as deprivation of liberty, state involvement, use of CCTV monitoring, seclusion, physical restraint and covert medication. We can help providers with queries about admission and detention, consent to treatment, forensic service users, transfers, leave, discharge planning and hearings. We can advise commissioners on all matters concerning commissioning responsibility, liability and disputes. For more information click here
If you wish to discuss any mental health issues facing your organisation please contact Hannah Taylor or Simon Lindsay
Primary Care
Publications/Guidance
Digital triage in GP: enhancing access to care or increasing inequalities? GP trainee Ellie Watkins takes a look at two different approaches to GP access. What can be learnt from these approaches and how can we ensure patients get equitable access?
News
Millions more appointments as more than 2,000 extra GPs recruited Boost is part of Plan for Change to rebuild the NHS by shifting healthcare from hospitals into the community and ending the 8am scramble.
How we can help
For ways in which we can help with Social Care issues click here.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around social care please contact Claire Bentley.
Social Care
Publications/Guidance
The current state of dementia diagnosis and care in England. Care England, in partnership with Dementia Forward and care providers, conducted a national survey to capture the experiences of people living with dementia, their families and care staff. This report highlight gaps and inequalities in the dementia care pathway and outlines a set of policy recommendations in response. The report includes case studies which highlight the current flaws of the current system, while offering a range of solutions to ensure all those on the dementia care pathway are supported through pre and post diagnosis, without waiting for crisis before action occurs.
Overseas recruitment: the ‘short-term fix’ for the social care workforce that is now at an end. From 2022, social care visas provided a short-term fix for vacancies in the workforce. But given this visa route ended in July, and plans to tackle recruitment at home are not likely to take effect until 2027, Simon Bottery (Senior Fellow, The King's Fund) asks what if we need another short-term fix?
How we can help
For ways in which we can help with Social Care issues click here.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around social care please contact Claire Bentley.
General
Publications/Guidance
Assisted dying in practice: international experiences and implications for health and social care. This report explores 15 jurisdictions across the world to see what the UK can learn from other countries as the UK and Scottish Parliaments debate bills to legalise assisted dying and potentially set up assisted dying services. It finds that that safe and effective implementation will require substantial planning, infrastructure and funding, all of which are scarce in today’s NHS amid staff cuts, reorganisation, tight finances and variation in access to end of life care.
NHS winter preparedness. This briefing describes the pressures faced by health services during the winter, and how the NHS in England prepares for these.
NHS productivity. This briefing sets out how and why healthcare productivity is measured, reflecting different views on what should be measured and what different measures mean. It also lays out recent trends in NHS productivity, the explanations given for these trends, and outlines the potential changes that have been proposed to increase productivity.
The NHS: a suitable case for treatment? This report makes the case that the NHS is not fit for purpose and is in urgent need of reform. It finds that NHS performance ranks near the bottom of highly developed countries on key health outcomes including life expectancy, avoidable mortality and waiting times.
News
The mythbuster: Doctors can’t manage care by themselves
Bevan Brittan Articles
The role of health and care professionals in relation to modern slavery victims
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