This report is a flexible summary, with the aim of sharing and highlighting a wide range of data and policy information relating to London general practice published in a given week. Where we view information to be of significant interest it is reproduced directly below the links to make the key points quicker to digest.
Please feel free to share any useful stats/links you think we could include in future reports.
Official bodies
NHS Digital
- All recent data releases can be seen here.
- Letter: Changes to the GP Contract in 2025/26 [11/3].
- Report: Special schools eye care – proof of concept evaluation report [12/3].
Department of Health and Social Care
- Press release: World’s largest quango scrapped under reforms to put patients first [13/3].
- Changes to NHS England will reduce bureaucracy, make savings and empower NHS staff to deliver better care for patients.
- Statement to Parliament: NHS England: Health and Social Care Secretary’s statement [13/3].
UK Health Security Agency
- Guidance: Hot weather risks and their impact on health [13/3].
- Guidance: Cold weather risks and their impact on health [13/3].
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
- Guidance: Advertising and Promotion following agreement of the Windsor Framework [11/3].
- Guidance: UK-wide licensing for human medicines [12/3].
- Press release: Minister visits MHRA to see cutting-edge science protecting patients and supporting the NHS [14/3].
BMA
- Press release:BMA investigation finds more than 32,000 doctors’ shifts unfilled in hospitals in London in six months [11/3].
- Press release: BMA demands end to PA postcode lottery after review concludes no evidence of their safety [12/3].
- Press release:BMA responds to the Government’s plan to abolish NHS England [13/3].
Policy, think tanks, charities and representative bodies
The Health Foundation
- How do we solve our work and health challenges? [14/3].
- The article by Sacha Romanovitch discusses the challenges of work and health, emphasising the need for a new approach.
- Rising Work-Limiting Health Conditions: 8.2 million working-age people report work-limiting health conditions, with 3.9 million currently in work.
- System Failures: The current system fails many people by providing support and intervention too late.
- Reframing Work and Health: A new approach is needed that views health as a spectrum and focuses on prevention and early intervention.
- Collaboration: Employers, government, and individuals must work together to create a supportive system for healthier working lives.
Ipsos
- Public prioritises cutting energy bills and NHS waiting times, but lacks confidence in Labour’s ability to deliver [14/3].
- The public wants Labour to prioritise cutting energy bills and NHS waiting times out of a range of targets and milestones – but people are negative about progress so far.
- The public see responsibilities for individuals, employers and government in enabling more people with health conditions to stay in employment and return to work [10/3].
- Since the pandemic more people of working age have been unable to work because of ill health. This has a negative impact on the UK economy.
- A majority of the UK public see people of working age with a long-term health condition, as having responsibility to manage this, so they can continue to work (88%). Yet a large proportion of the public also think employers (83%) and government (78%) have responsibility in helping support employees and people respectively to manage their long-term health conditions to stay in employment.
YouGov
- What do NHS workers say are the biggest problems with the health service? [12/3].
- 86% of NHS staff see the service as being in a weak state, with just 38% expecting the current government to turn it around
- When asked what are the biggest causes of the problems facing the NHS today, 50% of health service staff identify insufficient funding as a top issue, while 48% say increasing demand and 46% say staff shortages are the main things to blame for the current state of the NHS.
- A third of NHS staff (34%) also see poor management within the health service as a top contributor to its issues, while 22% see bad government policy as one of the NHS’s biggest problems. The legacy of Covid-19 looms large as a problem for the NHS for one in six health service workers (17%), while similar numbers (15-16%) say the same of both privatisation and bureaucracy within the health service.
Nuffield Trust
- The reasons for NHS England’s rise and fall are not going away [13/3].
- With the news that NHS England will be abolished, Mark Dayan and Leonora Merry look at how far things have changed since NHSE was created 12 years ago.
- Creation and Abolition: NHS England was created to reduce political interference in health services but is now being abolished to bring management back under democratic control.
- Persistent Issues: The NHS continues to face financial woes, duplication of roles, and low public satisfaction, issues that NHS England was meant to address.
- Political Involvement: Despite efforts to limit political meddling, political leaders have continued to intervene in NHS operations.
- Public Health Neglect: The goal of focusing on public health and prevention has not been achieved, with funding for public health services remaining inadequate.
The King’s Fund
- The government wants a ‘neighbourhood health service’. The first step is to agree what that means. [10/3].
- This article discusses the government’s vision for a “neighbourhood health service,” highlighting three approaches: NHS-led for coordinated care, local government-led for broader social issues, and community-led focusing on local leadership. Discussing the need for consensus among partners to ensure effective collaboration.
NHS Race & Health Observatory
- Patients report alarming lack of trust in NHS primary care providers [7/3].
- Results of a survey on the level of trust that Black, Asian and ethnic minority patients have with NHS primary care service providers reveal alarming levels of discrimination and mistrust.
London Trusts
Barts Health NHS Trust
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Article: This month, a global community of liver patients, researchers and healthcare professionals will come together for the UK‘s first Advanced Advocacy Academy. The event, held at King’s College Hospital, brings together 150 attendees, including people living with liver disease and professionals working to improve patient care [14/3].