Welfare Reform on the Web (August 2007): National Health Service - primary and community care

Dear Gordon...

S. Gimson

Community Practitioner, vol. 80, July 2007, p. 16-17 Describes the Family and Parenting Institute's campaign to save and strengthen threatened universal health visiting services. The Institute is writing to Gordon Brown to emphasise that the government's parenting agenda is at risk without health visitors.

Let patients hold their healthcare purse strings

V. Alakeson

The Guardian Society, 4th July 2007, p.15

In this comment piece the author argues that the treatment of chronic health problems, which affects six in ten adults in the UK, could be more effectively managed by the introduction of 'patient control'. Alakeson suggests that the NHS should look to the social care sector as a possible model for non-clinical management of patients' illnesses. In the proposed system, patient-choice over non-clinical treatment such as home-help or diet control would be facilitated by direct payments.

Service delivery and organisation

C. Smith (editor)

Health Service Journal, vol.117, July 19th 2007, supplement, 17p

This supplement aims to disseminate research evidence to the NHS management community. Focusing on primary care it covers:

• Patients' views on continuity of care by GPs. Speed of access is important to patients with straightforward needs, but those with complex conditions value relational continuity of care.
• The impact of the patient choice on provision of continuity of care
• The impact of moving services from hospitals to primary care
• Contribution of nurses, midwives and health visitors to the development of children's services
• The role of GPs with special interests