Health landscape report: 26-30 June 2023

This report is a flexible summary, with the aim of sharing and highlighting a wide range of data and policy information relating to London general practice published in a given week. Where we view information to be of significant interest it is reproduced directly below the links to make the key points quicker to digest. 

Please feel free to share any useful stats/links you think we could include in future reports.  

Official bodies   

NHS England 

• NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (see also Londonwide LMCs’ comment on the Plan) 

 NHS Digital  

• All recent data releases can be seen here.  
• Data: Network Contract DES (MI) – April 2023 [29/6]. 
• Article: Money-saving deal gives NHS staff access to latest digital tools [29/6]. 
• Data: Appointments in General Practice, May 2023 [29/6]. 
  • 28.7 million appointments in May 2023. 
  • 43.9% took place on the same day that they were booked. 
  • 90.6% of all appointments were attended. 
  • 47% were carried out by a GP and 20.6% were carried out by nurses. 
  • 69.8% were carried out face to face. 

 General Medical Council 

• Article: GMC response to the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan [30/6]. 

 10 Downing Street 

• Speech: PM speech launching the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan [30/6]. 
• Article:What the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan means for you [30/6]. 

 NHS Assembly 

• Report: The NHS in England at 75 [27/6]. 

Policy, think tanks, charities and representative bodies   

New Statesman 

• Wes Streeting MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, was questioned about Labour’s policy on general practice by GP Dr Phil Whitaker for the magazine’s podcast. 

 Policy Exchange 

• Report: Medical Evolution – Measures to improve the interface between primary and secondary care [29/6]. 
  • The equivalent of 15 million GP appointments per year are spent dealing with issues in care management between GP practices and hospitals. 

 Mind 

• Data: More than a third of adults lack confidence in mental health hospitals after string of scandals [20/6]. 

 The Migration Observatory 

• Report: Migration and the health and care workforce [27/6]. 

 British Heart Foundation 

• Article: Nearly 100,000 more deaths involving heart conditions and stroke than usual since pandemic began [22/6]. 
  • “There has been significant disruption to the detection and management of conditions that put people at much greater risk of a heart attack or stroke, like high blood pressure. NHSE figures show that 2 million fewer people were recorded as having controlled hypertension in 2021 compared to the previous year.” 

 National Voices 

• Report: Accessible and inclusive communication within primary care: What matters to people with diverse communication needs [26/6]. 
• Report: A shift to multidisciplinary teams in general practice: What this means for people experiencing health inequalities and frequent users of primary care services [26/6]. 

 Centre for Policy Studies 

• Speech: The Secretary of State for Health sets out ‘A Conservative Approach to Prevention’ [29/6]. 

 NHS Providers 

• Article: Chief Executive Julian Hartley highlights year one of integrated care systems has been tough – here’s what they need in year two [30/6]. 
• Article: Chief Executive Julian Hartley also mentions that a radical new approach to NHS strikes is needed [29/6]. 

 King’s Fund 

• Report: How does the NHS compare to the health care systems of other countries? [26/6]. 

 Nuffield Trust 

• Report: Sickness absence in the NHS in England [29/6]. 
  • Monthly sickness absence rates in 2022 never once fell below even the peak in the pre-pandemic year and, on average, the reported rate for NHS staff was 29% higher than in 2019 (5.6% v 4.3%). 
  • The reported level of sickness absence – some 27 million days across 2022 – equates, on average, to around 74,500 full-time equivalent staff, including 20,400 nurses and 2,900 doctors. 

 Institue for Government 

• Article: The NHS workforce plan is welcome – but just one part of improving the health service [30/6]. 

 Bright Blue 

• Event: Has the NHS become unmanageable? with Matthew Taylor [20/7]. 

Polling 

YouGov 

• Data: Do you have a favourable or unfavourable opinion of the BMA? [29/6]. 

Ipsos 

• Data: British public think Labour have the best policies on key issues but are often unsure how they would tackle them [27/6]. 
  • 31% said the NHS was most important when deciding how to vote at the next General Election (the highest issue). 
  • 41% think Labour has the best policies on healthcare. 
  • Almost two-thirds were unable to name a member of Labour’s shadow cabinet. Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting was known by 5%. 

London Trusts   

Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust 

• Article: Opening of Same Day Emergency Care at King George Hospital sees almost 20 per cent improvement in performance [28/6]. 
• Article: Topping out ceremony as new theatre building reaches its highest point [26/6]. 

Barts Health NHS Trust 

• Article: Research Centre for Healthy Ageing set to open at Whipps Cross Hospital [26/6]. 

Central and North West Central NHS Foundation Trust 

• Report: NWL ICS publish May 2023 insight reports from residents in North West London [30/6]. 

London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust 

• Article: Artificial Intelligence is being employed to help better understand sickle cell disease and how it affects patients’ lives on a day-to-day basis. [28/6]. 

South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust 

• Press release: The Prince of Wales launches new national homelessness campaign from Lambeth mental health service [26/6]. 

Social media  

• Dr Amir Khan, a TV GP and author, reacts to the NHS Workforce Plan in this thread.