UK social care and health policy

Social care managed to recruit more staff in 2022/23, thanks to an influx of overseas workers. But a long-term solution is what’s really needed, says Simon Bottery.

Our report shares insights and evidence about how to collaborate well to build a stronger collaborative ethos across health and care services.

This is a living freely available resource for anyone sourcing and developing search strategies for healthcare topics. It is a work in progress and we will be updating it regularly.

In May 2023, National Voices brought together around 50 members and people with lived experience in response to an invitation from the NHS Assembly to offer insights and recommendations on future directions for the NHS in the lead up to its 75th anniversary. 

Insights were sought around five key themes, and discussions were informed by an overview from existing evidence prepared by Healthwatch England.  

The themes were: 

1. Prevention 
2. Personalisation 
3. Participation: 
4. Primary and community care 
5. Partnerships  

Our report found that any future developments within the NHS must focus on responding to what matters to people and ensuring that the basic building blocks are in place, such as equity of access and simple communication.

As the NHS turns 75, the Chief Executives of the Health Foundation, Nuffield Trust and The King’s Fund have written to the leaders of the three largest political parties in England.

key findings in the first interim report of the IPPR Commission on Health and Prosperity. onset of sickness had a profound impact on earned income; constituted a key barrier to economic participation; and worsened job satisfaction. We also found that sickness was both more prevalent – and more detrimental – to people in lower income groups. 

Billy Palmer and Lucina Rolewicz  Nuffield Trust draw on published data to explore the trends in, reasons for, and impact of sickness absence in the NHS. The briefing primarily focuses on hospital and community services in England, since this is where most is known, although we do compare to trends in other sectors and health services in the other UK nations, where data permits.

More than eight out of ten young carers (82%) feel lonely during the summer holidays, according to worrying new research¹ released today by Action for Children and Carers Trust.

Unpaid carers provide an invaluable service to society, but they shoulder a financial penalty in doing so. This report looks at the financial impact of unpaid care, and how policies can help mitigate it.

The 'Size and structure of the adult social care sector and workforce' is one of our most important annual publications. It includes current information on the number of organisations, number of workers and number of job roles. The report also includes trends.

Official statistics on a range of topics including infection control measures and COVID-19 vaccinations in adult social care settings.

We interviewed district council officers and integrated care board (ICB) staff in four sites from around England to better understanding the current relationships between local government and ICBs, what good practice looks like, what enables it and the outcomes it produces.

Locality’s research into the factors for successfully involving VCSE organisations in neighbourhood health ecosystems.