The epidemiology of malpractice claims in primary care

"This review of malpractice claims in primary care highlights diagnosis and medication error as areas to be prioritised in developing educational strategies and risk management systems."

The epidemiology of malpractice claims in primary care: a systematic review
E Wallace, J Lowry, SM Smith T Fahey
BMJ Open, 2013;3:e002929

Read more here.

Examining the barriers to and tensions in delivering effective healthcare in UK care homes

"Care home staff played an important, yet little recognised, role in delivering healthcare to residents."

Examining the barriers to and tensions in delivering effective healthcare in UK care homes: a qualitative study
I Robbins, A Gordon, J Dyas, P Logan, J Gladman
BMJ Open, 2013;3:e003178

Read more here.

Hospital strategies associated with 30-day readmission rates for patients with heart failure

"Several strategies were associated with lower hospital RSRRs for patients with heart failure."

Hospital strategies associated with 30-day readmission rates for patients with heart failure
EH Bradley, L Curry, LI Horwitz, H Sipsma, Y Wang, MN Walsh, D Goldmann, N White, IL Pina, HM Krumholz
Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, 2013, 6(4):444-450

Read more here.

Patient and public engagement - still an aspiration?

"Local health economies have so far not been successful in engaging with patients and the public."

Patient and public engagement - still an aspiration?
Tea Break Debates
Primary Care Commissioning, People Matters Network
July 2013

Read more here.

Helping people live better for longer

"This guide is designed to provide an overview of the Department of Health post-April 2013."

Helping people live better for longer
Department of Health
July 2013

Read more here.

New models of primary care

"This report, commissioned by NHS Midlands and East as part of its primary care ambition, clearly shows why general practice must continue to grow and adapt. It looks at new models of primary care created to address these challenges, and shows in particular the power of GP practices working together and sharing ideas and resources as networks, federations and super-partnerships."

Securing the future of general practice: new models of primary care
Nuffield Trust
July 2013

Read more here.

Commissioning care and support for older people with high support needs

"Many models of care and support are based on mutually valued relationships and older people's contributions, but most operate beneath the radar of public sector commissioners."

Commissioning care and support for older people with high support needs
J Carrier
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
July 2013

Read the summary here.

Review into the quality of care and treatment provided by 14 hospital trusts in England

"The purpose of this review was to determine whether there are any sustained failings in the quality of care and treatment being provided to patients at these trusts."

Review into the quality of care and treatment provided by 14 hospital trusts in England: overview report
Professor Sir Bruce Keogh KBE
National Health Service (NHS)
July 2013

Read more here.

Six lives: progress report on healthcare for people with learning disabilities

"One of NHS England’s objectives is to ensure that vulnerable people, particularly those with learning disability and autism, receive safe and appropriate high-quality care."

Six lives: progress report on healthcare for people with learning disabilities
Department of Health
July 2013

Read more here.

More care, less pathway: a review of the Liverpool Care Pathway

"The Review considered evidence from many quarters: written submissions from members of the public and health professionals with experience of the LCP, as well as professional bodies and other organisations; a review of academic literature; a review of relevant hospital complaints; and surveys of health professionals."

More care, less pathway: a review of the Liverpool Care Pathway
Baroness Julia Neuberger (Chair of Review Panel)
July 2013

Read more here.

Rewiring public services: adult social care and health

"The next phase of development in social care and health services must be towards integration: integrated services are much more likely to improve people’s health and wellbeing in ways which treat them with dignity and respect, and it makes financial sense to get rid of duplication and waste."

Rewiring public services: adult social care and health
Local Government Association
June 2013

Read more here.

Urgent and emergency services

"Growing demand on A&E departments will make them unsustainable if effective action is not taken quickly to relieve the pressures on them."

Urgent and emergency services
House of Commons Health Committee
July 2013

Read more here.

Retrospective record review in proactive patient safety work

"By adding a retrospective record review of randomly selected records to conventional incident-reporting, health care providers can gain a clearer and broader picture of commonly occurring, no-harm incidents in order to improve patient safety."

Retrospective record review in proactive patient safety work: identification of no-harm incidents
K Schildmeijer, M Unbeck, O Muren, J Perk, K Pukk Harenstam, L Nilsson
BMC Health Services Research, 2013, 13:282

Read more here.

A decade of reversal: an analysis of 146 contradicted medical practices

"The reversal of established medical practice is common and occurs across all classes of medical practice. This investigation sheds light on low-value practices and patterns of medical research."

A decade of reversal: an analysis of 146 contradicted medical practices
V Prasad, A Vandross, C Toomey, M Cheung, J Rho, S Quinn, SJ Chacko, D Borkar, V Gall, S Selvaraj, N Ho, A Cifu
Mayo Clinic Proceedings, published online 22 July 2013

Read more here.

Clinical commissioning groups: supporting improvement in general practices?

"The King's Fund and the Nuffield Trust are working together to assess the implementation and impact of CCGs. Between 2012 and 2015, we are following the evolution of clinical commissioning in six case-study sites and will publish the findings annually. This first report is based on fieldwork conducted before CCGs had become fully authorised. It provides an overview of developments through to March 2013, plus an assessment of the opportunities and challenges ahead."

Clinical commissioning groups: supporting improvement in general practices?
C Naylor, S Ross, N Curry, H Holder L Marshall, E Tait
The King's Fund, Nuffield Trust
July 2013

Read more here.

Consultant treatment outcomes

"On this page there are links to information about individual consultants in a number of clinical areas. It includes results for a range of operations and treatments to help people make decisions about their care. The data show where the clinical outcomes for each consultant sit against the national average."

Access the data here.

Incorporating evidence review into quality improvement

"These responsive evidence reviews appear to be a promising approach to integrating evidence review into QI processes."

Incorporating evidence review into quality improvement: meeting the needs of innovators
M Sherwood Danz, S Hempel, YW Lim, R Shanman, A Motala, S Stockdale, P Shekelle, L Rubenstein
BMJ Quality and Safety, 5th July 2013 Online First

Read more here.

NHS Standard Contract 2013/14 - guidance on variations process

"This document explains the process for proposing, agreeing and effecting local variations to NHS Standard Contracts, covering both eContracts and paper contracts."

NHS Standard Contract 2013/14 - guidance on variations process
NHS England/Commissioning Development/NHS Standard Contract
July 2013

Read more here.

The wisdom of the crowd

"This publications contains interviews and essays with a cast list of 65 health and political leaders, consisting of current and former health secretaries and ministers, senior civil servants, clinicians, managers, academics, patient representatives, journalists and other key individuals."

The wisdom of the crowd
Edited by N Timmins
Nuffield Trust
July 2013

Read more here.

Webinar: Personal health budgets and integrated care go under the microscope

16th and 18th July - online

"To support members to implement joint personal budgets, NHS Confederation is holding two webinars which will delve into key lessons from pilot sites, disseminate practical advice on overcoming challenges and help shape the support developed nationally for their roll-out."

Mental health providers are invited to take part on 16 July (12.45pm to 1.30pm)

Commissioners for all sectors are invited to attend the webinar on 18 July (12.45pm to 1.30pm)

Find out how to register here.

The NHS belongs to the people

"Better management by patients will mean fewer hospital visits and lower costs to the NHS overall."

The NHS belongs to the people
NHS England
July 2013

Read more here.

Spending on health and social care to 2015-16

"This briefing examines the key issues underlying debates on health funding."

Spending on health and social care to 2015-16: Parliamentary briefing
Nuffield Trust
July 2013

Read more here.

Management of long term conditions

"Our analysis concluded that without unprecedented, sustained increases in health service productivity, including more effective management of chronic conditions, funding for the NHS in England will need to increase in real terms between 2015/16 and 2021/22 to avoid cuts to the service or a fall in quality."

Management of long term conditions: Health Committee inquiry submission: Parliamentary Briefing
Nuffield Trust
May 2013

Read more here.

Does quality affect patients' choice of doctor?

"In this report we investigate the effect of the practice quality on patients' choices amongst practices, allowing for other factors such as distance to the practice, the gender and age of practice GPs, their country of qualification, and the type of practice contract and whether the practice is permitted to dispense as well as prescribe."

Does quality affect patients' choice of doctor? Evidence from the UK
R Santos, H Gravelle, C Propper
Centre for Health Economics, University of York
June 2013

Read more here.

NHS buildings: obstacle or opportunity?

"This is the first in a series of four papers that aim to crystallise ideas for change in areas where, we believe, new thinking is required....The NHS has many under-utilised properties, and a significant amount of its estate is in poor condition or not fit for its current purpose."

This paper looks at ways to make the best use of NHS property and suggests alternative ways of accommodating NHS staff.

This paper looks at ways to avoid becoming 
NHS buildings: obstacle or opportunity?
N Edwards
The King's Fund
July 2013

Read more here.

Managing the transition to the reformed health system

"This report examines how the Department of Health and the NHS implemented the transition from the existing to the reformed health system."

Managing the transition to the reformed health system
National Audit Office
July 2013

Read more here.

The Cavendish Review

"This Review can only ever be a first stage on a long journey. These recommendations are intended to start that journey, by ensuring that support staff are treated as a strategic resource in health and social care."

The Cavendish Review: an independent review into healthcare assistants and support workers in the NHS and social care settings
C Cavendish
July 2013

Read more here.

Fulfilling potential, making it happen

"Creating personalised services for disabled people marks a real commitment to building services around the needs of the individual."

Fulfilling potential, making it happen
Department for Work and Pensions
July 2013

Read more here.

Lessons for England: integrated care in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

"The aim of this report is to describe the approach taken to integrated care in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales with a view to drawing out the lessons for England."

Integrated care in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales: lessons for England
C Ham, D Heenan, M Longley, DR Steel
The King's Fund
July 2013

Read more here.

Addressing the 'postcode lottery' in local resource allocation decisions

"This paper reports on how the National Prescribing Centre competency framework was developed, and presents a potentially transferable methodology for advancing a competency framework to support individual and organisational learning and improvement."

Addressing the 'postcode lottery' in local resource allocation decisions: a framework for clinical commissioning groups
J Russell, T Greenhalgh, H Lewis, I MacKenzie, N Maskrey, J Montgomery, C O'Donnell
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2013, 106(4):120-123

Read more here.

Evidence-based commissioning in the English NHS

"This paper investigates the types of evidence (empirical or practical) used to make commissioning decisions in Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England."

Evidence-based commissioning in the English NHS: who uses which sources of evidence? A survey 2010/2011
A Clarke, S Taylor-Phillips, J Swan, E Gkerekdakis, P Mills, J Powell, D Nicolini, C Roginski, H Scarbrough, A Grove
BMJ Open, 2013, 3:e002714

Read more here.

Achieving an integrated digital care record

"This document sets out the benefits case for adopting safe digital record keeping as a precursor to achieving integrated digital care records across the health and care system. It provides further details and support for NHS Trusts, including Foundation Trusts, relating to their progress from paper to paper-light and ultimately paperless record keeping. It provides full details of the process for applications to the Safer Hospitals, Safer Wards Technology Fund."

Safer hospitals, safer wards: achieving an integrated digital care record
NHS England
July 2013

Read more here.

A new approach to delivering mental health services

"This report presents the findings of a new survey of over 2,000 young people in the UK, describing their experiences of mental health. The survey was conducted by independent polling company YouGov and sheds light on the problems of poor mental health, the associated stigma, and young people’s experience of seeking support."

Alone with my thoughts: recommendations for a new approach to young people's mental health support
MindFull
July 2013

Read more here.

Reforming healthcare systems on a locally integrated basis

"Health system reforms aimed at creating geographically based networks influenced primary healthcare practices both among themselves (horizontal collaborations) and with hospitals (vertical collaborations)."

Reforming healthcare systems on a locally integrated basis: is there a potential for increasing collaborations in primary healthcare?
M Breton, R Pineault, JF Levesque, D Roberge, R Borges Da Silva, A Prudhomme
BMC Health Services Research, 2013, 13:262

Read more here.

Patient empowerment in long-term conditions

"Although many measures of empowerment exist, no measure has been developed specifically for patients with long-term conditions in the primary care setting. This study presents preliminary data on the development and validation of such a measure."

Patient empowerment in long-term conditions: development and preliminary testing of a new measure
N Small, P Bower, CA Chew-Graham, D Whalley, J Protheroe
BMC Health Services Research, 2013, 13:263

Read more here.

Spending Round 2013

"The key announcement was that NHS spending will be protected."

Spending Round 2013: analysis and response
NHS Confederation
June 2013

Read more here.

NHS Clinical Leadership Programme

"This report presents an evaluation of the Fellowships in Clinical Leadership Programme, which combines leadership training and quality improvement initiatives with the placement of temporary external clinical champions in Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust."

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust Fellowships in Clinical Leadership Programme: an evaluation
C Miani, S Marjanovic, M Morgan Jones, M Marshall, S Meikle, E Nolte
RAND Europe
June 2013

Read more here.

Support for commissioning for self-harm

"This resource supports commissioners to drive up quality, and ensure that self‑harm is being adequately addressed, in a range of generic services that are commonly used by people who self‑harm."

CMG50: NICE support for commissioning for self-harm
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
June 2013

Read the full document and supporting material, including the commissioning and budgeting tool, here.

Strengthening partnerships between the NHS and the voluntary sector

"NHS and voluntary sector providers have a key role to play in delivering the priorities set out in the NHS Mandate, alongside commissioners and others in the wider health and care system."

Working together to deliver the Mandate: strengthening partnerships between the NHS and the voluntary sector
R Addicott
The King's Fund
July 2013

Read more here.

Commissioning treatment for dependence on prescription and over-the-counter medicines

"Commissioners will want to ensure that commissioned services include appropriate clinical governance mechanisms to ensure safe and effective prescribing of medicines liable to dependence and for the treatment of dependence, and to prevent and detect diversion of prescription medicines by patients."

Commissioning treatment for dependence on prescription and over-the-counter medicines: a guide for NHS and local authority commissioners
Public Health England
June 2013

Read more here.

Care, compassion, competence, communication, courage, commitment

"The 6Cs Live! Communication hub will offer support and help to staff to deliver the six areas of action by signposting to evidence based tools and techniques as well as examples of how colleagues from across the country have delivered improvement in these areas."

Access 6Cs Live! here.

Nursing a safer future

"Nurses are well placed to make care safer and are doing impressive work to improve the safety of their patients."

Nursing a safer future: how nurses are using proactive approaches to manage patient safety
Health Foundation, Nursing Times
July 2013

Read more here.

Patient-reported outcomes in meta-analyses

"Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized trials that include patient-reported outcomes (PROs) often provide crucial information for patients and clinicians facing challenging health care decisions. "

Patient-reported outcomes in meta-analyses - Part 1: assessing risk of bias and combining outcomes
BC Johnston, DL Patrick, JW Busse, HJ Schunemann, A Agarwal, GH Guyatt
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 2013, 11:109

Read more here.

Facilitated patient experience feedback can improve nursing care

"These findings suggest that merely informing nurses of patient survey results in writing does not stimulate improvements, even if results are disaggregated by ward, but the addition of ward meetings had an important and significant impact."

Facilitated patient experience feedback can improve nursing care: a pilot study for a phase III cluster randomised controlled trial
R Reeves, E West, D Barron
BMC Health Services Research, 2013, 13:259

Read more here.

Improving health outcomes for people with chronic illness

"In order to address the challenges faced by people with chronic illness, health policy must be more closely aligned with the identified needs and wants of people affected by chronic illness than is currently the case."

A patient-centred approach to health service delivery: improving health outcomes for people with chronic illness
M Mirzaei, C Aspin, B Essue, YH Jeon, P Dugdale, T Usherwood, S Leeder
BMC Health Services Research, 2013, 13:251

Read more here.

Explaining health managers' information seeking behaviour and use

"Managers are overwhelmed with too much information of various types and quality, yet often cannot find the information they need."

Explaining health managers' information seeking behaviour and use: final report
C Edwards, R Fox, S Gillard, S Gourlay, P Guven, C Jackson, M Chambers, V Drennan
National Institute for Health Research Service Delivery and Organisation Programme
May 2013

Read the full report here.

Putting innovation to work

"Better Care Faster believes that more effectively identifying and disseminating high-value breakthroughs in chronic disease management (CDM) offers one of the best hopes for our province to improve the quality and efficiency of our public health care system."

Putting innovation to work: improving chronic disease management and health system sustainability in Ontario
Better Care Faster Coalition
June 2013

Read more here.

Improving infection control

"Improved implementation of procedural good practice may occur through many different routes, of which program participation is only one."

Explaining Matching Michigan: an ethnographic study of a patient safety program
M Dixon-Woods, M Leslie, C Tarrant, J Bion
Implementation Science, 2013, 8:70

Read more here.

Leading health care in London

"The aim of this report is to provide an update on the service changes taking place in the NHS in London, and in particular to address the question of who will lead these changes in the NHS structures that came into effect in April 2013."

Leading health care in London: time for a radical response
C Ham, N Edwards, B Brooke
The King's Fund
June 2013

Read more here.