Reports

Patient - registered to receive care

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

National Voices was asked by NHS England and Improvement to explore the experience of waiting for care. We wanted to understand how waits, delays and cancellations impact on people and their families, particularly those living with long term and multiple conditions.

This insight work was commissioned as part of a review of care standards (waiting time targets) for elective care, in the winter before the Covid-19 outbreak. Currently people using the NHS have rights to treatment via the NHS Constitution and for many services there are waiting standards, including the 18 week waiting time for consultant-led treatment.

Read the report to find out the three steps for improving the experience of patients while they wait for elective services

Download patient._noun._adjective._october_2020.pdf (2 MB)

The Bigger Picture: Learning from two decades of changing NHS care

Wednesday, 21 October, 2020

An understanding of the past helps us to prepare for the future. In this, the REAL Centre's first report, we look back at the care and treatment provided by the NHS in England over the past two decades – as measured by health care activity. Measures of activity – what the NHS does – form the basis of much NHS planning. Together with measures of quality, these are used as proxies for understanding the contribution the NHS makes to population health. Understanding the drivers of this activity is therefore crucial to service and resource planning.

In this report, we provide a framework for understanding the drivers of health care activity. We describe how supply and demand side factors interact, and how policy can influence the care the NHS provides. We look at the overall trends in activity and how specific services have changed. Where possible, we estimate the proportion of any change that can be explained by four demographic factors: population size, age, gender, and proximity to death. We then explore what drives the remaining change, unexplained by demography.

Download The_Bigger_Picture_WEB.pdf (1.07 MB)

Your care during COVID - HealthWatch Cambridgeshire & Peterborough

Thursday, 8 October, 2020

A message from CEO Sandie Smith, HealthWatch Cambridgeshire. “The response to our survey has been amazing. And I want to say a big thank you to the people of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough for taking the time, during very difficult circumstances, to share their stories and trust them to us."

Our final report shows

Older people, those with disabilities or long-term health conditions, carers and those not online were hit hardest by the pandemic and subsequent service changes.
Three in ten people avoided getting help for a health problem.
Out of those that did get help, three out of four rated it highly.
One in three people told us that the pandemic had a high or significant impact on their mental health and wellbeing.
The shutdown of dental services worsened existing problems around access to high street NHS dental care.
Although some people have taken to online hospital or GP appointments, they don’t work for everyone. Many people don’t have the internet and those with sensory impairments find remote consultations hard to access.

Download Covid report - Oct 2020 .pdf (767.88 KB)

Rolling Out Social Prescribing

Thursday, 1 October, 2020

This report sets out the findings of research conducted by National Voices for NHS England to explore the perspectives and experiences of the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector in relation to the NHS rollout of social prescribing. We heard from over 300 people through a series of interviews, workshops and online engagements between December 2019 and June 2020.

NHS England has made a significant commitment to ensure that social prescribing is available across the country, including the recruitment of over 1,000 specialist link workers during 2020/21, with more in the pipeline. This was a hugely welcome move, and testament to the work of colleagues within NHS England as well as across the wider health system and the VCSE sector. The commitment represents a major step towards realising the vision in the NHS Long Term Plan of personalised care for all. Social prescribing is increasingly recognised as a vital tool in the NHS’s strategic shift towards population health management. As a bridge between clinical services and the VCSE sector, it can enable people to access individualised help, and support community-based efforts to address the social determinants of health.

Download Rolling out Social Prescribing.pdf (1.6 MB)

National Voices Annual Report 2020

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

I am pleased to introduce the National Voices Annual Report for 2019-20. This year has been one of change for us, and with the Covid-19 crisis taking hold at the end of the year, it also marked the beginning of an important period for the charity sector and the whole country. Despite this challenging backdrop, National Voices has had a very successful year, demonstrating its unique and vital role in changing health and care, and growing its membership, income and influence.

Charlotte Augst - Chief Exec

Download nv_annual_report_and_accounts_2019-20_compressed.pdf (2.11 MB)

Rapid data: We need it now (and in the future)

Friday, 11 September, 2020

Lessons from the COVID-19 experience should shape a better system for rapid nationwide data reporting

The lessons learned from the COVID-19 experience around what it takes to provide high-value rapid information to the government, regions and hospitals across the country should not be lost as healthcare environments attempt to return to normal. Continuous data entry, integrated analysis and timely reporting are all essential to organise and provide optimal care to patients

The National Institute for Cardiovascular Outcomes Research (NICOR) has worked with the cardiovascular Professional Societies and individual hospitals to ensure a continuous flow of data, to assess the impact of COVID on patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). A close collaboration between NHS Digital, NICOR and the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership with NHS England has also transformed the information governance landscape by creating a linked ‘cardiovascular data spine’. This has enabled data to be collated and analysed rapidly to inform Government and NHS policy.

Download NICOR COVID 2020 Report.pdf (1.92 MB)