Funding, news and events from March 2022 

Events 

Webinar: Speeding up NHS service transformation – how can we do better? 

On 23 March we were joined by Dr Tim Ferris, NHS England’s Director of Transformation, to explore the next steps for service transformation at scale. Find out more and catch up. 

Current opportunities   

New programme launching soon: Emotional Support for Young People 

On 6 April, the Health Foundation is set to launch an exciting new programme for research teams exploring young people’s mental health. The programme will support up to five teams across the UK – with up to £200,000 funding – to further their research into the emotional support that young people experience. Interested? Check our current opportunities from 6 April to find out more and apply. 

Funding available for two new REAL Centre research units 

We have launched an ambitious new programme, that will provide independent research that builds on the work of the REAL Centre to help improve long-term decision making in health and social care. Our REAL Research Units programme will offer research teams in the UK £7.45m to set up two new research units. Deadline for expressions of interest is 12:00 (midday) 17 May 2022. Find out more and apply.

Florence Nightingale Award for Excellence in Healthcare Data Analytics  

The third round of the Florence Nightingale Award for Excellence in Healthcare Data Analytics is now open for entries. The award is led by Royal Statistical Society and supported by the Health Foundation. Find out more. 

Blogs and long reads 

Tracking progress on health: keeping it simple 

Health should be at the heart of government decision making. Gwen Nightingale and Katherine Merrifield consider the potential of the newly relaunched ONS health index to track progress and understand the local picture. Read more.

How can the UK COVID-19 Inquiry bring about meaningful change? 

Tim Gardner considers where the inquiry should focus its attention and what may be learned from the past 50 years of NHS inquiries – and public inquiries more generally. Read more.

Building public understanding of health and health inequalities 

When asked what influences health, the public consistently points to individual behaviour and access to health care. We explore how communication approaches can build understanding of the range of factors that shape health, such as housing and work. Read more.

Campaigning for health: join us  

Our new Head of the Collaboration for Wellbeing and Health, Carrie Hume, explains her interest in health inequalities and why public campaigning from across sectors is so important. Read more.

Prevention research matters more than ever  

In our recent webinar series, we heard from UK Prevention Research Partnership (UKPRP) projects about new approaches to research into the primary prevention of non-communicable diseases. What insights and themes are emerging? Read more.

Publications 

A matter of life and death: Explaining the wider determinants of health in the UK

How can we build greater public understanding of the wider determinants of health? Our new report from FrameWorks Institute provides an evidence-based framing strategy for shifting understanding and building greater support for action to address the wider determinants of health. Read the report.

Access to and delivery of general practice services 

New analysis by the Improvement Analytics Unit examined data from 146 GP practices in England using the askmyGP online consultation system between March 2019 and September 2021. It found that 10% of patient care requests made to GP practices indicated a preference for a face-to-face consultation. Read the briefing.

News 

A government that truly valued the nation's health would have gone further today to protect families 

A government that truly valued the nation's health would have gone further to protect families, says Jo Bibby in response to the Spring Statement. Read more.

Analysis finds 10% of patient care requests indicate a preference for face-to-face GP consultation 

Analysis by the Improvement Analytics Unit finds that 10% of patient care requests made to GP practices indicate a preference for a face-to-face consultation. Read more.

Health Foundation appoints new Director of Innovation and Improvement 

We are delighted to announce that from May, Dr Malte Gerhold will be taking up the position of Director of Innovation and Improvement at the Health Foundation. Malte will lead our work to encourage faster improvement and innovation in care. Read more. 

Fully funded workforce strategy needs to be central to NHS recovery plans  

Despite the best efforts of staff to manage the pressure, it is clear that the NHS continues to be stretched to its limits, says Tim Gardner, in response to today’s performance stats from NHS England. Read more.

More choice over NHS services no replacement for having staff and capacity to deliver them  

Addressing inequalities should be at the heart of any new plans for NHS reform, says Hugh Alderwick. Read our full response to Sajid Javid's vision for long-term NHS reform. Read more.  

Six NHS anchor institutions awarded funding to progress and test anchor practice and generate new learning 

We’re delighted to announce six NHS anchors have been selected by the Health Foundation and NHS England to receive funding to make progress on their anchor ambitions, test their approach, and generate new and valuable learning for Health Anchors Learning Network. Read more.

Government's proposed amendment to the Care Act would be a step in the wrong direction 

In response to the House of Lords vote to reject the government’s amendment to the Care Act, Anita Charlesworth, Director of Research and the REAL Centre at the Health Foundation, said ‘Members of the House of Lords have taken the right decision on social care reform by rejecting the government’s proposed changes to the Care Act. The government’s amendment is a step in the wrong direction.’ Read more.

‘Fundamental shift’ needed if government is to improve health in the poorest areas 

David Finch, Assistant Director of Healthy Lives at the Health Foundation, said the ONS data shows that the gap between the healthiest and least healthy areas of the country has further widened by 1.3 years on the government’s preferred levelling up metric when reviewing data on the number of years people are expected to live in different health states in local authority areas in the UK (2018 to 2020). Read more.

Independent review will strengthen evidence to tackle health inequalities in Scotland 

The Health Foundation has launched a new independent review into health inequalities in Scotland. The review will explore trends in health inequalities in Scotland over the last twenty years, looking at the factors shaping them and future policy implications. Find out more.

This content originally featured in our email newsletter, which explores perspectives and expert opinion on a different health or health care topic each month.