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.
- Guidance: AAA screening: waiting times standards [22/4].
- Guidance: Your guide to NHS breast screening [22/4].
- Policy: Interim clinical commissioning policy: Remdesivir and molnupiravir for non-hospitalised patients with COVID-19 [22/4].
- Guidance: National infection prevention and control [25/4].
Department of Health and Social Care
- Press release: Breakthrough in bowel cancer research will speed up diagnosis [23/4].
- Government backs world-leading trial of cutting-edge technology to diagnose bowel cancer earlier, harnessing the power of technology to treat patients.
- Press release: Government launches call for evidence on men’s health [24/4].
- Call for evidence will inform England’s first ever men’s health strategy to tackle the life expectancy gap.
- Press release: AI doctors’ assistant to speed up appointments a ‘gamechanger’ [27/4].
- Interim trial data shows that the revolutionary technology has dramatically reduced admin.
- Press release: Latest health data reveals thousands of patients now seen quicker [27/4].
UK Health Security Agency
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
- Press release: Marstacimab approved to treat patients aged 12 years and above (weighing at least 35 kg) with haemophilia A or B [22/4].
- Press release: MHRA approves first UK treatment for Friedreich’s ataxia, omaveloxolone [23/4].
- Press release: Patients with asthma reminded of the increased risk of severe asthma attacks from overusing blue inhalers [24/4].
Policy, think tanks, charities and representative bodies
The Health Foundation
- On the cusp: early insights on non-clinical AI in the NHS [25/4].
- This article discusses how non-clinical AI is being used in the NHS for tasks like scheduling and managing patient flow, which helps reduce administrative burdens and allows staff to focus more on patient care. It also mentions challenges such as data quality and the need for staff training.
- Do the government and the public share the same priorities for the NHS? [22/4].
- The article explores whether the UK government and the public share the same priorities for the NHS.
- Public priorities: The public prioritises reducing waiting times, increasing NHS staff, and improving mental health services.
- Government focus: The government has focused on structural reforms and digital transformation.
- Alignment: There is some overlap, but the public’s immediate concerns often differ from the government’s long-term strategies.
- How can access to GPs be improved?
- The government has big ambitions for improving GP access and shifting more of the NHS budget into primary care, including Labour’s manifesto commitments to ‘bring back the family doctor’. However, details on how the government plans to do this are limited and the new GP contract is mostly a stopgap ahead of bigger renegotiations to come.
- The NHS must get more out of the EPRs it has purchased [19/4].
- This article says that the NHS needs to use Electronic Patient Records (EPRs) better. Although almost all trusts have EPRs, many aren’t using important features like integrated prescriptions and record-sharing. The Health Foundation suggests that the government should create a strategy to improve EPR usage and trusts should make their own plans to use these systems effectively.
Ipsos
- Prostate cancer: knowledge gaps in symptoms and risks revealed by Ipsos poll, but strong public support for increased testing [22/4].
- Ipsos UK released the findings of a poll on prostate cancer, in partnership with the Daily Mail. The data reveals widespread awareness gaps and highlights the need for greater public education. The survey explored public perceptions of prostate cancer symptoms, risk factors, and testing.
Smart Thinking
Think tank: Pro Bono Economics
- Underfunded, under resourced and under the radar [24/4].
- This article discusses the challenges faced by the women and girls’ social sector in the UK. Key points include:
- Underfunding: Many organisations are struggling with financial constraints, making it difficult to meet the increasing demand for services.
- Resource limitations: These organisations often operate at full capacity with limited resources.
- Increased demand: 91% of organisations surveyed reported a rise in demand for their services over the past year.
- Competition for funding: The competitive funding environment exacerbates these challenges, with 43% of respondents citing it as a major issue.
- Service reductions: Over a quarter of organizations have had to reduce services due to pressures around costs and demand.
Nuffield Trust
- What do Trump’s tariffs and US-UK trade negotiations mean for the NHS? [25/4].
- This article discusses concerns that Trump’s tariffs and US-UK trade negotiations could lead to higher drug prices and regulatory changes affecting the NHS. It also mentions the possibility of US companies gaining more access to the UK healthcare market, emphasising the need to protect the NHS from negative impacts.
- Supervision of clinicians in the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme: what more is needed to assure safety and quality? [24/4].
- Since its introduction in 2019, the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme has led to significant changes in the skill mix of the general practice workforce, with a rapid increase in roles such as physiotherapists, physician associates and advanced practitioners. Studies have highlighted the challenges of integrating some of these roles into practices, with highly variable arrangements for support and supervision. This article discusses ways to develop supervision for ARRS clinical roles in ways that help to assure safety and quality, and the policy changes that would be needed to achieve this.
- The King’s Fund
- Improving children’s health: the critical role of nutrition and the impact of ultra-processed foods [23/4].
- The King’s Fund set out a series of actions that the government should take to improve children’s health and wellbeing – with a number of these recommendations centred around improving children’s nutrition.
London Trusts
Barts Health NHS Trust
- Article: Their hospitals rank among the world’s best medical institutions according to a global survey covering more than 30 countries [25/4].
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust