Under the scan: patients’ views of X-rays and scans in the UK

"The survey findings highlight the current lack of capacity in UK radiology services to deliver X-ray and scan results for all patients within 28 days."

Under the scan: patients’ views of X-rays and scans in the UK

The Patients Association and The Royal College of Radiologists

August 2016

Read more here. 

Are reductions in emergency department length of stay associated with improvements in quality of care?

"We sought to determine whether patients seen in hospitals who had reduced overall emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) in the 2 years following the introduction of the Ontario Emergency Room Wait Time Strategy were more likely to experience improvements in other measures of ED quality of care for three important conditions."

Are reductions in emergency department length of stay associated with improvements in quality of care? A difference-in-differences analysis
MJ Vermeulen et al.
BMJ Qual Saf 2016;25:489-498 doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2015-004189

Read more here.

Implementation of a Shoulder Soft Tissue Injury Triage Service Improves Time to Surgery

"Our new service resulted in surgical repair of traumatic rotator cuff tears 29 days faster than the traditional system with an extra 38% of patients having surgery within 90 days of injury - a benchmark thought to improve outcome. Future work will aim to improve this percentage further and include long term patient follow up of outcome measures after surgery."

Implementation of a Shoulder Soft Tissue Injury Triage Service in a UK NHS Teaching Hospital Improves Time to Surgery for Acute Rotator Cuff Tears.
M Bateman, G Davies-Jones, A Tambe, DI Clark
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2016;5: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u211254.w4531

Read more here.

Delays and interruptions in the acute medical unit clerking process

"Interruptions and delays regularly occurred during the admission process in the study hospital which impacts adversely on patient experience and compliance with the recommended 4-h timeframe, further work is required to assess the impact on patient safety. Data obtained from this observational study were used to guide operational changes to improve the process."


Delays and interruptions in the acute medical unit clerking process: an observational study
AJ Basey, TD Kennedy, AJ Mackridge, J Krska
JRSM Open February 2016 vol. 7 no. 2 2054270415619323

Read more here.

Closer to critical? QualityWatch

"Our third annual statement, Closer to critical?, aims to help policy-makers, healthcare leaders, patient groups and others make sense of quality across health and social care, primarily in England. We observe that while there are many areas of excellent care, there are also increasingly clear signals that in some areas quality is deteriorating."

Closer to critical? QualityWatch annual statement 2015
The Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust
November 2015

Read more here.

Services for people with neurological conditions: progress review

"Part One of this report sets out a range of data on the quality of neurological services since we reported in 2011, including waiting times and emergency admissions."

Services for people with neurological conditions: progress review
Department of Health and NHS England
National Audit Office
July 2015

Read more here.

Waiting time reduction in intravitreal clinics by optimization of appointment scheduling

"This study was designed guided by the Model for Improvement framework to reduce waiting times and visit duration in the intravitreal therapy clinic, while improving patient and staff experience. In our aim to provide good quality, patient-centred care and constantly improve, we optimised the appointment profile and patient flow."

Waiting time reduction in intravitreal clinics by optimization of appointment scheduling: balancing demand and supply
M Ugarte
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u208924.w3618

Read more here.

General Practice in England

"This briefing paper provides general background for Members and their staff on NHS primary medical services provided by general practitioners (GPs) in England. It gives an overview of commissioning arrangements as well as information on changes to GP contracts and funding arrangements."

General Practice in England
Commons Briefing papers CBP-7194
E Blow, T Powell
May 2015

Read more here.

How is the NHS performing? April 2015

"As the NHS begins a new financial year and we move from one parliament to another, it is clear from the performance on key headline targets and standards and from our latest survey of finance directors that the NHS will face huge challenges this year – very possibly the most difficult for many years."

How is the NHS performing? April 2015: Quarterly monitoring report
J Appleby, J Thompson, J Jabbal
The King's Fund

Read more here.

Are people waiting longer for health care?

"This overview considers the performance of the NHS in England in providing timely access to health care during the current parliament. We look at available data on waiting time targets across key services, including accident and emergency (A&E), ambulances, cancer treatment, secondary care and primary care."

Are people waiting longer for health care?
T Gardner
The Health Foundation
March 2015

Read more here.

The NHS under the coalition government: NHS performance

"Our verdict overall is that NHS performance held up well for the first three years of the parliament but has now slipped, with waiting times at their highest levels for many years and an unprecedented number of hospitals reporting deficits. "

The NHS under the coalition government: Part two: NHS performance
J Appleby, B Baird, J Thompson, J Jabbal
The King's Fund
March 2015

Read more here.

How is the NHS performing? January 2015

"Slightly more than 4 out of 10 trust finance directors forecast an overspend by the end of this year – the highest proportion since our survey began in March 2011 – and just over three-quarters say they are fairly or very concerned about staying within budget by the end of the next financial year."

How is the NHS performing? January 2015: Quarterly Monitoring Report
J Appleby, J Thompson, J Jabbal
The King's Fund

Read more here.

Improving patient flow in pre-operative assessment

"This improvement project sought to decrease waiting times for patients at a pre-operative assessment service at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness, and to increase the proportion of patients who were seen on the same day as the decision to operate was made."

Improving patient flow in pre-operative assessment
C Stark, A Gent, L Kirkland
BMJ Quality Improvement Reports 2015;4: doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u201341.w1226

Read more here.

Accident and emergency survey 2014

"Read the results of our latest survey which asked people about their experiences of accident and emergency (A&E) departments in 2014."

Accident and emergency survey 2014
Care Quality Commission

Read more here.

Children's and adolescents' mental health and CAMHS

"There are serious and deeply ingrained problems with the commissioning and provision of Children’s and adolescents’ Mental Health Services. These run through the whole system from prevention and early intervention through to inpatient services for the most vulnerable young people."

Children's and adolescents' mental health and CAMHS: Third Report of Session 2014–15
House of Commons Health Committee
October 2014

Read more here.

Focus on: A&E attendances

"We explored a range of factors thought to be contributing to increased pressure on A&E in the English NHS and tested whether recent changes in these factors could explain the current pressures observed in the system." 

Focus on: A&E attendances: Why are patients waiting longer?
I Blunt
Nuffield Trust, The Health Foundation
July 2014

Read more here.

Diagnosing bowel cancer early: right test, right time

"With the added pressures that the increase in demand is likely to present, ensuring endoscopy units continue to be of the highest quality is paramount to prevent people from dying prematurely."

Diagnosing bowel cancer early: right test, right time
Bowel Cancer UK
2014

Read more here.

The four health systems of the United Kingdom: how do they compare?

"Overall, this research suggests that despite hotly contested policy differences between the UK health systems since devolution on structure, competition, patient choice and the use of non-NHS providers, there is no evidence linking these policy differences to a matching divergence of performance, at least on the measures available across the four UK countries."

The four health systems of the United Kingdom: how do they compare?
G Bevan, M Karanikolos, J Exley, E Nolte, S Connolly, N Mays
The Health Foundation, Nufffield Trust
April 2014

Find out more and access all of the resources here.

How is the health and social care system performing?

"The Quarterly monitoring report combines publicly available data on selected NHS performance measures with views from NHS trust finance directors, clinical commissioning group (CCG) finance leads, and local authority directors of adult social services."

How is the health and social care system performing? Quarterly monitoring report
The King's Fund
January 2014

Read more here.

Government response to the House of Commons Health Select Committee Report into Urgent and Emergency Services

"There is a pressing need for clearer information to be produced which can detail where urgent care cases present across the system and the case mix of urgent patient presentations; it is also important to monitor waiting times for urgent and emergency services in order to ensure that services are accessible to patients in urgent need of care."

Government response to the House of Commons Health Select Committee Report into Urgent and Emergency Services (Second Report of Session 2013-14)
Department of Health
October 2013

Read more here.