Health and care sector latest developments

Patient experience to impact hospital funding 

Hospitals will have funding tied to patient satisfaction.
 
In an early release from the ten-year health plan, reported by The Guardian, healthcare providers could lose some of their funding if patients are unhappy.
 
The government has argued that this new policy will amplify patient voices and will initially be run as a trial.
 
Health leaders are unconvinced about the measures, with Matthew Taylor explaining that without careful design and evaluation, ‘there is a risk that providers could be penalised for more systemic issues.’

Rebellion continues despite concessions, with 150,000 set to be pushed into poverty 

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has delivered a ministerial statement on proposed welfare reforms, confirming concessions to existing claimants of the tariff as well as announcing an additional £300 million in employment support.  

The changes will cost ‘around £2.5 billion in 2029-30’, The Telegraph reports, as the total spending on employment support for sick and disabled people reaches £3.8 billion over the Parliament.  

Kendall also confirmed her department will press ahead with the changes to the four-point eligibility rules for new claimants and stated that the terms of reference for the PIP review will be published today.  

Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, Debbie Abrahams, criticised the move, arguing that this should fall under the scope of the PIP review, The Guardian reports.  

Despite the U-turn, The Independent points out that according to the government’s own estimate, cuts will still push 150,000 working-age people into relative poverty, even if Sky News is reporting that No.10 says this ‘doesn’t reflect the whole picture’.  

This has left Starmer to face a sizeable rebellion, with Andy Burnham still against the bill, along with an estimated 50 others. Ministers have not yet ruled out withdrawing whip for dissenters. 

Non-acute sectors to get tech funding boost 

NHS England director Alex Crossley has announced plans to dramatically increase technology funding for community and mental health services, reversing the current model that heavily favours acute hospital trusts. 

Speaking to HSJ, Crossley acknowledged that mental health electronic patient records are inadequate and lack basic functionality, while community services need substantial investment to support the government's neighbourhood team strategy.

The shift comes as part of a £10 billion technology investment programme running until 2027-28, although Crossley warned the full funding is contingent on achieving a 2 per cent productivity target, with around £2.1 billion expected to be released in the current financial year.

Several regulatory bodies to be axed

A number of NHS regulatory bodies are set to be axed.
 
As reported by HSJ, the government is planning to scrap numerous national patient watchdogs, commissioning support units, and many local Healthwatch organisations.
 
These plans include the abolition of Healthwatch England, some of whose functions will be moved into DHSC, which is introducing a new national director of patient experience.
 
With the Patient Safety Commissioner, Health Services Safety Investigation Body, and National Freedom to Speak Up Guardian's Office also being affected, Wes Streeting has kept true to his previous claim that the abolition of NHSE was the ‘beginning, not the end’.
 
Chief executive of Healthwatch England, Louise Ansari, expressed sadness at the decision, but emphasised the need for ‘a smooth transition of our functions to the NHS and government, so that the voices of patients and the public continue to be heard.’
 
Meanwhile, Matthew Taylor, welcomed steps to reduce duplication, but reminded the government that failings in care ‘led to these bodies being set up in the first place’. He advised treading carefully ‘to ensure their vital missions continue in future.’

Government sets new standard for retailers in anti-obesity drive 

The government has announced plans to work with food retailers in the fight against obesity.
 
As part of the ten-year health plan , large retailers will be set a new standard to improve the healthiness of the average basket of goods.
 
Citing public health experts who suggest that cutting 50 calories from a daily diet would lift millions out of obesity, the government explains that businesses will be free to decide how to meet the new standard.
 
The health secretary praised the role played by supermarkets, emphasising his desire to ‘work with them and other businesses to create a level playing field.’
 
The Opposition has criticised the new measures, with the BBC reporting Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately told Sky News, ‘Telling people what to buy, I think, is not up to government’. She added that she believes ‘in personal responsibility’.
 
Despite this, health organisations have responded warmly to the plans, with Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, arguing that the government ‘has rightly identified the root cause of obesity-related ill health: a food system that makes healthy eating difficult.’
 
The Health Foundation has also welcomed the measures. But, director of policy Hugh Alderwick called on the Government to introduce a ‘much wider package of measures to tackle obesity across the population’.

National Pharmacy Association analysis: patients spend at least 6 million hours in A&E with minor conditions 

At least 6 million hours of time in accident and emergency departments (A&E) was taken up last year by patients with issues that could have been treated in a community pharmacy, new analysis by the National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has found.

This includes patients going to A&E with blocked noses, common colds, acne and requesting routine medication.

The NPA found that £215 million is wasted a year treating patients with minor ailments in A&E that have the potential to be safely and quickly dealt with by their local pharmacist.

The NPA have argued this saving could be higher if the clinical role of pharmacies were expanded by the NHS.

New analysis by the NPA of NHS England data into conditions treated in accident and emergencies (A&E) in 2023/24 found that:
· 325,000 people visited A&E with a sore throat or a cold, costing the NHS £44 million that year alone.
· 62,000 people visited A&E with nose bleeds and 18,000 with blocked noses, whilst 40,000 people visited A&E with eczema and 1,000 attended with acne.
· A number of patients also attended A&E with conditions that can be treated through the Pharmacy First initiative. This included 18,000 patients with infected insect bites and 196,000 urinary tract infections.

Ruth Rankine responded stating:

“Pharmacy continues to play an ever-increasing role in primary care, providing vital support to GPs and their teams and helping to reduce pressure on emergency and urgent care services. This new report shows that there are still large numbers of people going to A&E who could receive care more quickly from GPs and pharmacies, which is more convenient for them and more cost-effective for the NHS.

“Pharmacy First has been a very good starting point to increasing the amount of support pharmacists can offer the public. We welcome its expansion along with the roll out of independent prescribing and more coming on stream, but there is still the need to cut bureaucracy and improve digital interoperability to allow for greater integration between the different parts of the system.

“Our community pharmacy members are ambitious, innovative and want to work with partners to deliver new models of care, and better support local communities. With the upcoming ten-year plan expected to speed up the shift towards the NHS becoming a neighbourhood-based, integrated care model, pharmacy stands ready to provide a reimagined front door to the NHS.”

NHS England exempts ICBs from 2025-2026 performance segmentation 

As reported in HSJ, NHS England has decided that ICBs will be exempt from the performance segmentation regime for 2025-2026 while they undergo job cuts and major reorganisation.

The NHS Oversight Framework for 2025-2026, finalised after over a year of development, states that ICBs should focus on reducing their running costs by 50 per cent and adapting to the new ICB blueprint.

Trusts, however, will be scored on 28 performance metrics, including access, care quality, and financial health. Those with poor performers and capability will enter a new ‘provider improvement programme’ failure regime.

The framework is in place for one year and will be revised for 2026-2027 based on the ten-year health plan.

Medicine shortages in UK now the ‘distressing new normal’ 

As reported in The Independent, medicine shortages in the UK have become a ‘distressing new normal’ and pose a significant risk to public health, according to a new report by Community Pharmacy England (CPE).

The CPE survey found that 90 per cent of pharmacy workers report ongoing patient inconveniences, with 73 per cent stating that supply issues are endangering patient health.

The shortages are leading to patients visiting multiple pharmacies, and 79 per cent of pharmacists report incidents of aggression when medication is either unavailable or delayed.

AI to flag patient safety issues 

AI is to be used to flag patient safety issues in the NHS.
 
A new early warning system will use the technology to spot safety issues in real time and trigger inspections earlier.
 
With the roll out of the system already underway, the government has announced that a new Maternity Outcomes Signal System will launch in November, flagging higher than expected rates of stillbirth, neonatal death and brain injury.
 
The health secretary said the system will catch ‘unsafe care before it becomes a tragedy.’
 
Shifting from an analogue to a digital NHS is one of the key shifts of the forthcoming ten-year health plan, and Wes Streeting has also told the Financial Times that robot-assisted surgeries are set to become standard for some procedures, with hospitals being paid less if they fail to use the technology.

UK household income drops at the fastest rate in two years

UK real household disposable income fell 1 per cent in Q1 of 2025, the steepest decline since 2023, as wage increases were cancelled out by higher taxes and inflation.

As the Financial Times notes, this threatens the government’s key economic milestone of improving household income.

Despite strong Q1 economic growth of 0.7 per cent, economists predict slower expansion, due to weakening job markets, the impact of US tariffs, and continued inflationary pressures undermining consumer spending power.

Tony Blair Institute proposes changes to Spending Review process

The Tony Blair Institute has argued that Britain's traditional Spending Review system wastes public money by funding ineffective projects while underfunding worthy initiatives.

The Times reports that they proposed replacing departmental bidding processes with continuous technology-driven monitoring that tracks project performance in real-time.

They claim that this ‘always on’ approach would enable ministers to quickly terminate failing programmes and redirect resources to successful ones, similar to private sector accountability.