NHS

Involving consumers in research and development agenda setting for the NHS : developing an evidence-based approach

This review aims to assess how consumers are involved in deciding what research should be undertaken and if they have any influence. This systematic review was published by EPPI-Centre in 2004. Systematic reviews aim to find as much as possible of the research relevant to the particular research questions, and use explicit methods to identify what can reliably be said on the basis of these studies.

Quest for quality: an inquiry into the quality of healthcare support for older people in care homes - a call for leadership, partnership and improvement

Report that describes current NHS support for care homes. It tells a story of unmet need, unacceptable variation and often poor quality of care provided by the NHS to the estimated 400,000 older people resident in UK care homes.

Individual patient budgets: background and frequently asked questions (Policy paper 1)

Following Lord Darzi’s pledge to pilot direct payments and individual budgets in health care, this paper provides a brief background to the concept and principles of these ways of working, before focusing in more detail on some frequently asked questions.

The paper is intended to help inform forthcoming pilots, and was initially commissioned by NHS West Midlands as part of their Investing for Health strategy.

GP budget holding: lessons from across the pond and from the NHS (Policy paper 7)

Paper which draws on evidence from the US as well as on previous experience in the NHS of GP commissioning in different forms, to identify lessons for policy makers as they take this policy forward.

While the government is on the right lines in promoting GP budget holding, the paper suggests that there is a need for caution in promoting budget holding as a universal solution without regard to the capabilities of practices to manage a budget and the safeguards that need to be put in place to avoid the downside risks.

'The billion dollar question': embedding prevention in older people's services - 10 'high imapct' changes (Policy paper 8)

This paper seeks to identify ‘10 high impact changes’ with regards to prevention in older people’s services. Such an approach builds on the work of the NHS Institute, who have published a series of guides on high impact changes in a range of areas including service improvement and delivery (NHSI,2004) and nursing and midwifery (NHSI, 2009).

In many ways, it is also more of a discussion paper, which reviews the emerging evidence, but which is very conscious of the limited nature of the evidence.

Health and Social Care Bill 2011: co-ordinating document for the impact assessments and equality impact assessments

This document, and its Annexes, is the IA of the Health and Social Care Bill.

It assesses the benefits, costs and risks of implementing the policies proposed in the NHS White Paper Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS that require primary legislation.