Delivering sustainability and transformation plans: from ambitious proposals to credible plans – The King’s Fund
Sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) have been developed in 44 footprints across England, with the aim of transforming care in line with the NHS five year forward view. But can the proposals in STPs be delivered? Our new report looks in detail at the content of the 44 STPs and the opportunities and challenges for implementation. The report is accompanied by a short briefing that discusses the seven key opportunities and challenges facing the STPs.

Brexit and health and social care: Secretary of State for Health’s evidence – House of Commons Health Select Committee
This document provides a brief overview of the evidence given at the session with the Secretary State for Health which took place on 24 January 2017. It discusses the Department of Health’s involvement with Brexit negotiations and the impact on resourcing to the NHS.

Quarterly performance of the provider sector as at 31 December 2016 – NHS Improvement
This publication brings together data on the performance of NHS providers over quarter three of 2016/17. If finds that the demand for emergency treatment coupled with a significant reduction in bed available has led to providers collectively underperforming against several key health care standards. This sustained focus on providing emergency care has led to a loss of income for providers with a deficit of £886m reported at the end of the quarter.

State of the health system: beds in the NHS – British Medical Association (BMA)
This paper presents NHS bed data from across the UK and it examines the causes and consequences of bed pressures within the health system. The report finds that in England, average bed availability has decreased over the past thirty years, with mental health beds seeing a large decline. It also finds that over the past five years, average bed occupancy rates have increased, even in areas such as day beds where the number of beds has increased but the demand has also increased as well.

NHS Wi-Fi launched in GP surgeries – NHS Digital 
More than five million patients will be able to access free to use Wi-Fi in early adopter GP practices, enabling them to link in with local health clinics and services and paving the way for future developments in digital patient care.

Facilitating women’s choice of midwife
The Royal College of Midwives has published Facilitating women’s choice of midwife: RCM guidance: practical approaches to managing with flexibility.  This guidance is designed to help midwives and their managers to better meet the needs of responding to women’s wishes for a specific midwife to be present at the birth of their baby.

What caused the spike in mortality in England and Wales in January 2015? – London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
This study analyses the data surrounding a spike in mortality in England and Wales in January 2015. It found no evidence that the rise in mortality was attributable to data anomalies or cold weather and the data indicated that flu was unlikely to be the main cause. The researchers also examined NHS performance data during this period and found that the excess mortality in January 2015 coincided with evidence of health system failures.

NICE guidance
Clinical guidelines (updated)