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: NHS provider directory and registers of licensed healthcare providers [29/9].
- Guidance: Online consultations – frequently asked questions and support resources [29/9].
- Report: Five years of a greener NHS: progress and forward look [30/9].
Department of Health and Social Care
- Guidance: NHS cost recovery – overseas visitors [30/9].
- Information for NHS bodies who need to make and recover hospital charges from overseas visitors.
- Press release: £500 million for first ever fair pay agreement for care workers [30/9].
- Government invests £500 million into first ever fair pay agreement in major milestone for care worker pay.
- Press release: Online GP appointment requests available everywhere from today [1/10].
- From today, patients will be able to request appointments online throughout the day rather than calling their surgery or visiting in person.
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
- Press release: MHRA crackdown on illegal ‘Botox’ after victims left seriously ill [29/9].
- Guidance: Clinical trials for medicines: collection, verification, & reporting of safety events [1/10].
- News: Sir David Spiegelhalter: Regulation in an age of personalised medicine [2/10].
BMA
- Press release: GPs in England give Health Secretary 48 hours to avoid dispute over unsafe online access plans [29/9].
- Press release: New online hospital must pay attention to needs of patients, says BMA [30/9].
- Press release: GPs enter dispute with Government over unsafe online access rules [1/10].
Policy, think tanks, charities, and representative bodies
The Health Foundation
- Nurse ‘graduate guarantee’: supply solution or short-term fix? [1/10].
- This blog critically examines the UK government’s “Graduate Guarantee” policy, which promises job opportunities for every newly qualified nurse and midwife in England. While the initiative aims to address immediate employment challenges caused by recruitment freezes and a surplus of graduates, it is a temporary fix with limited funding and no long-term commitment.
- The blog warns that without structured support and retention strategies; new nurses may struggle to integrate and face unemployment once the short-term posts end. It also highlights systemic issues in workforce planning, such as the disconnect between nurse education intake and job availability, and the NHS’s heavy reliance on international recruitment. The blog calls for a more strategic, long-term approach in the upcoming 10-Year Health Plan to sustainably grow and support the domestic nursing workforce.
The King’s Fund
- Clinical leadership in transition: reflections on the 10 Year Health Plan [3/10].
- This blog reflects on clinical leadership in the context of the UK’s 10 Year Health Plan, highlighting both its bold ambitions and fragile foundations. Clinical leaders welcomed the plan’s shift toward community-based, preventive, and digitally enabled care but expressed concern over unrealistic expectations around AI reducing workforce needs and the lack of a clear delivery strategy. The concept of “guerrilla leadership”—adaptive, locally driven initiatives—emerged as a powerful metaphor for the kind of change needed. Leaders called for compassionate realism, equity in neighbourhood care, and workforce wellbeing to be treated as strategic priorities. Ultimately, the blog argues that meaningful reform must be co-created with frontline staff and communities, not dictated from Whitehall.
Nuffield Trust
- What’s shaping public satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the NHS? [30/9].
- This blog by Bea Taylor explores the sharp decline in public satisfaction with the NHS, as revealed by the 2024 British Social Attitudes survey, where only 21% of respondents expressed satisfaction. Using logistic regression analysis, the blog identifies key drivers of dissatisfaction—particularly poor experiences with A&E services, hospital waiting times, and perceived declines in care quality. Conversely, satisfaction is linked to positive views of GP services, A&E, hospital wait times, and NHS communication. The analysis suggests that improving hospital waiting times and maintaining quality care are crucial to rebuilding public trust. While access issues dominate public priorities, satisfaction is more influenced by personal experiences and human aspects of care, highlighting the need for targeted reforms beyond just performance metrics.
YouGov
- Do Britons think paracetamol is safe for pregnant women, following Donald Trump’s claims? [3/10].
- Donald Trump claims a link between the use of painkiller Tylenol (a brand name for paracetamol) by pregnant women and an increased risk of autism in some children. The scientific consensus rejects the president’s view, and here in the UK the NHS reiterated its recommendation that paracetamol is safe for pregnant women to use. A YouGov study has investigated whether the British public question the safety of paracetamol. The results show that:
- 73% of Britons believe paracetamol to be safe for pregnant women,
- While 9% consider it unsafe, and 19% are unsure.
Care Quality Commission
- CQC rates London Borough of Croydon’s adult social care provision as good [2/10]
- The CQC has rated the London Borough of Croydon as good, in how well they are meeting their responsibilities to ensure people have access to adult social care and support under the Care Act (2014).
London Trusts
Barts Health NHS Trust
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust