Considers the future challenges and opportunities for the NHS, and interpret leadership in a range of contexts. Includes contributions from three Clinical Commissioning Groups with reflections on their own engagement in, and experience of, these issues. Items address some of the most complex or controversial debates in healthcare – such as decommissioning, integration, engagement, and leadership. Some present research findings and set out the next steps for further exploration, while others are reflections on the
existing evidence base and provide a critical commentary on implications for future developments.

Briefing from the NHS Confederation primarily aimed at members of health and wellbeing boards, but relevant to both statutory and VCS partners, gives an overview of the knowledge, expertise and insight that voluntary and community sector organisations may hold about their local communities and diverse groups of people within these, as well as the different ways this knowledge can be used to enhance joint strategic needs assessments (JSNAs) and commissioning.

Why day to day behaviour needs to match aspirations and how to use vocabulary that helps everyone understand what makes your company or team special.

Hospital bed blocking occurs when hospital patients are ready to be discharged to a nursing home but no place is available, so that hospital care acts as a more costly substitute for long-term care. We investigate the extent to which higher supply of nursing home beds or lower prices can reduce hospital bed blocking. We use new Local Authority level administrative data from England on hospital delayed discharges in 2010-13. The results suggest that delayed discharges do respond to the availability of care-home beds but the effect is modest: an increase in care-homes bed by 10% (250 additional beds per Local Authority) would reduce delayed discharges by about 4%-7%. We also find strong evidence of spillover effects across Local Authorities: higher availability of care-homes or fewer patients aged over 65 in nearby Local Authorities are associated with fewer delayed discharges.

Report that evaluates the first two waves of new style hospital inspections, covering inspections carried out in 18 hospital trusts between September 2013 and April 2014. The authors found that the new approach commands strong credibility, in particular through the use of specialists to inform assessments, and the granular detail of ratings within services rather than at provider level.

The GMC is responsible for regulating doctors and the PSA oversees the regulation of all healthcare professionals, protecting the health and safety of the public by ensuring fitness to practise. This consultation is seeking views on proposed changes to the way each body carries out its regulatory functions.

This short guide seeks to answer the questions merging providers often ask us about the UK merger review process. It is designed to highlight important aspects of the process of merger review and provide an overview of the substantive test. It is therefore not intended to be comprehensive.

NHS providers considering a merger are urged to contact Monitor early in their planning to ensure proposals work well for patients. These guidance documents will help NHS providers navigate their way through a transaction such as a merger or acquisition.

Update from Monitor on progress made at 11 NHS trusts and foundation trusts that were put into special measures in July 2013. Practical measures that have led to significant changes at some of the trusts include: recruiting extra staff, using better systems to manage the way patients are moved throughout their stay from admission to discharge (known as ‘patient flow’), better managing patients with life threatening conditions and placing renewed emphasis on the quality of care provided.

Reveals that over half (53.7%) of health and social care managers signalled doubt that greater integration of health and social care will take the pressure off the NHS. Other key concerns and issues included uncertainty on whether their organisations could deliver safe and compassionate care; an appetite for greater collaboration between the public and private sector; and increasing financial pressure inspiring greater innovation.