The Patient Experience Library

Shifting influence, the unaccountable millions paid by industry to healthcare organisations

BMJ, Shifting influence: the unaccountable millions paid by industry to healthcare organisations, 24th October 2024

Exploring the GP-patient relationship, a historical narration

The relationship between patients and their doctor is a fundamental concept-particularly within general practice. Many patients and general practitioners (GPs) have a 'common- sense' recognition of the interpersonal connection, usually over time, that makes a relationship meaningful. GPs have consistently striven to emphasise the importance of this connection. While much research has explored the components and influences affecting intersubjective connections, less attention has focused on how the historical, professional, sociopolitical and philosophical contexts have influenced their experience and portrayal. However, recent claims of a crisis in UK general practice resulting from declining relational encounters suggest these are important considerations. In this paper, episodic narration (chronicling) is used to explore five different ages of UK general practice: the emergent period (1815-1948); the expansion of coverage (1949-1965); the professionalisation of general practice (1966-1988); the age of marketisation and neoliberalisation (1989-2004); and the age of technology and fragmentation (2004-present day).

The state of health care and adult social care in England 2023/24

More people are struggling to get appointments to see a GP at the same time as the number of people registered with a GP has increased. In our survey of 1,600 adults who had accessed care in the last year, the 2 services that people had the most difficulty accessing were GP services (59%) and dental services (23%). Between March 2020 and March 2024, the number of patients registered with a GP in England has increased by 5%, from 60 to 63 million. The number of people waiting more than 2 weeks for a GP practice appointment increased by 18% from 4.2 million in February 2020 to 5 million in March 2024. The number waiting over 4 weeks also increased, from approximately 1 million in February 2020, to 1.4 million in March 2024. The 10 integrated care system areas with the highest proportions of patients waiting over 2 weeks for a GP appointment were in comparatively rural areas - with half of these in the South West of England. Demand and capacity pressures on NHS primary dental services contribute to problems in accessing care that are leading to the deterioration in people's oral health. There is notable regional variation in the proportion of NHS dental work being completed - ranging from 48% to 97% - with rural areas tending to provide less NHS treatment. Schoolchildren living in the most deprived areas were more than twice as likely to experience tooth decay than those living in the least deprived areas. And people in the most deprived areas of England were nearly 3 times more likely to be admitted to hospital for treatment that could potentially be avoided with timely and effective care in the community. Our targeted assessments of the responsiveness of GP practices found that some practices demonstrated improved availability and accessibility of appointments and provided proactive outreach to patients.

Protecting patients and the NHS through full transparency in industry-NHS collaborations - Policy Brief

This policy brief recommends legislative changes in three key areas based on patient experience, international best practices, and research evidence. These reforms will promote transparency by being comprehensive, enforceable, and actionable. In doing so, they will support the Labour Government's core missions to strengthen the NHS and drive investment in life sciences. Following the scope of the IMMDS Review, the proposed reforms focus on England, but their core transparency principles are relevant for all devolved administrations within the UK.

Enter and View Report - Langley Haven Care Home, 30 Rambler Ln, Slough SL3 7RR

Experiences of health and social care services in Sheffield, Key insights from August - September

During August and September 2024, we gathered insights from 428 individuals accessing health and social care services across Sheffield. Highlights have included care and treatment received when attending GP appointments, dental practices and hospital settings.

BLMK ICS Digitising Social Care (DiSC) Programme, Catalogue of products

The BLMK Digitising Social Care (DiSC) programme aims to transform social care delivery across Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes through the strategic implementation of digital technologies.

State of Caring 2024 - The impact of caring on: finances

A total of 12,500 carers and former carers responded to the survey. This report summarises their responses. As not all respondents completed every question in the survey, some figures are based on responses from fewer than 12,500 people.

Pharma pours millions into the NHS for non-research work-but we don't know what the money is being spent on

Many industry payments to NHS organisations are unexplained and disclosure figures can't be trusted. This raises questions about unrecognised conflicts of interest, find Hristio Boytchev, Piotr Ozieranski, and Mostafa Elsharkawy

Redcar and Cleveland Adult Social Care Groups and Services Mapping

As part of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's commitment to working with adults and carers to plan, design, commission, deliver, and evaluate Adult Social Care (ASC) services. They want to know if the services they offer make a difference to the challenges that adults and carers face and if they improve their quality of life. It has been recognised that they cannot make improvements to services without feedback from the wider community, staff, and partners. Healthwatch South Tees has undertaken the lead role of engagement, responsible for gathering feedback from local people who use adult social care services to effect real change in their department. This work has been divided into several smaller projects to influence real change. This short report is to provide context into the work carried out to review and expand the current mapping information about groups and services throughout Redcar and Cleveland. The purpose of this activity is to include a cross-section of these organisations in future engagement opportunities and to highlight any areas that are missing both in terms of geographic location and demographic.