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.
- Regulatory: Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust [27/5].
- Policy: National Cancer Drugs Fund list [29/5].
Department of Health and Social Care
- Press release: £340 million pharmacy boost brings faster care to the high street [29/5].
- Patients will benefit from more services and treatments from their community pharmacy, as part of a new deal.
- Guidance: Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework: financial year 2026 to 2027 [29/5].
UK Health Security Agency
- News: UKHSA update on the hantavirus cruise ship outbreak [26/5].
- Guidance: High consequence infectious disease: country specific risk [27/5].
- Guidance: Seasonal influenza vaccine uptake reports: pre-release access list [28/5].
- Guidance: Pertussis: guidelines for public health management [29/5].
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
- News: Don’t let this heatwave affect your medicines: Three important tips from the MHRA [26/5].
- Press release: Precautionary recall of blood pressure medication (Crescent Pharma Limited Ramipril 2.5mg capsules) after packaging error [28/5].
- Press release: Two arrested during the MHRA’s largest ever seizure of unlicensed weight loss medicines [29/5].
BMA
- Press release: Resident doctors announce four days of strike action in England after new health secretary fails to change offer [27/5].
- Press release: GP Committee for England vote overwhelmingly to explore an alternative strategy for general practice [27/5].
Office for Health Improvement and Disparities
- Guidance: Mental health data and analysis: a guide for health professionals [28/5].
Policy, think tanks, charities, and representative bodies
The Health Foundation
- Making fit notes fit for purpose [29/5].
- This blog argues that while fit notes were intended to help people stay in or return to work with appropriate support, in practice they are still largely used as a simple sign-off for sickness absence, with little advice given on returning to work. It highlights that GPs often lack the time and specialist expertise to have meaningful work-focused conversations, limiting the system’s impact. New government pilots aim to address this by introducing caseworker-led support and shifting some responsibility away from clinicians, but the article stresses that real improvement will depend on building capacity, better coordination between services and employers, and embedding specialist work and health support into the system
- Four questions for the single patient record [27/5].
- This blog examines the UK government’s proposal for a single patient record (SPR), intended to bring together NHS and social care data to improve the quality and coordination of care, but highlights major unanswered questions about how it will work in practice. While the ambition to improve data sharing is widely supported, the article argues that success will depend on resolving key issues around technical design, interoperability and standards, as well as building trust among patients and clinicians—particularly given proposed changes to data governance and lower public trust in central government handling health data. It also stresses the complexity of implementation, including the need for significant investment, staff training and phased rollout, and warns that simply creating the system will not guarantee benefits. Ultimately, real transformation will require rethinking how care is delivered using better data, and the government’s ability to address these challenges will determine whether the SPR succeeds where past NHS IT programmes have struggled.
- From legislation to delivery: will devolution improve health outcomes? [27/5].
- This blog argues that devolution could play a key role in improving health outcomes in England, particularly as healthy life expectancy declines and inequalities widen, but its success will depend on how effectively powers are used in practice. It highlights that most health outcomes are shaped by wider determinants such as housing, employment and transport, giving new strategic authorities and mayors an opportunity to act as “system convenors” and align local partners around shared goals. While recent legislation, including the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Act, creates stronger expectations and new duties to improve health and reduce inequalities, progress so far is uneven and constrained by unclear responsibilities, limited capacity and lack of dedicated funding. Ultimately, the piece concludes that real impact will rely less on formal powers and more on collaboration, leadership and the ability of local systems to translate national policy into coordinated, place-based action.
- Home truths: linking data for healthier homes [26/5].
- This blog argues that poor housing is a major driver of ill health and widening inequalities in the UK, with issues like damp, cold, and insecure tenancies linked to worse physical and mental health outcomes. It highlights new analysis from the Networked Data Lab showing how linking housing and health data at a local level can reveal patterns of inequality—such as higher exposure to poor conditions among certain ethnic groups and private renters—and help target interventions more effectively. While government policies like the Renters’ Rights Act and Warm Homes Plan could improve conditions, their success depends on adequate funding, enforcement, and better data sharing between organisations. Overall, the piece calls for stronger coordination and streamlined data linkage to ensure resources are directed where they are most needed and to support healthier homes.
The King’s Fund
- We know it when we feel it – but what exactly is ‘outstanding’ care? [28/5].
- This blog explains that while people often recognise “outstanding” care when they experience it, it is difficult to define precisely. Drawing on research for the Care Quality Commission, it identifies common features, including strong, inclusive leadership, a culture of continuous learning and improvement, and consistent high standards. Above all, outstanding care is deeply person-centred—focused on understanding individuals’ needs and building genuine relationships—rather than relying on isolated examples of innovation. Overall, it concludes that outstanding care is a combination of interlinked factors that together create consistently exceptional experiences.
YouGov
- Would you support or oppose resident doctors (formerly junior doctors) going on strike over pay and job insecurity? [28/5].
- A YouGov survey of 5,492 GB adults found that public opinion is divided but leans against strike action by resident doctors over pay and job insecurity. Overall, 37% said they support strikes (13% strongly, 24% somewhat), while a larger 52% oppose them (31% strongly, 21% somewhat), and 11% are unsure. This suggests that although a significant minority back industrial action, a clear majority remain opposed.
London Trusts
Barts Health NHS Trust
- Article: Staff recently had the privilege of attending The King’s Trust 50th Anniversary Garden Party at Buckingham Palace [26/5].
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust
- Article: Following the closure of the top floor of the main outpatients building late last year, they are now working to close the whole building by March 2027 [29/5].
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust