the invaluable Social Care 360 is out - with excellent digest thread here by Simon Bottery explaining potential factors behind some of the more unexpected trends observed (small increase in number of people receiving support; decrease in vacancies; fall in total local govt. spend)

🆕 The first of our briefings in the run up to the #GeneralElection supported by Nuffield Foundation sets out 5 things the next government must do to support and strengthen the #NHS workforce. 🧵 nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/what-…

Important thread by Lucinda Allen spotlighting the predominantly female social care workforce, to mark this international women's day 👇

Was great to chat with Markel UK's The Cover. In the wake of the announcement of new career pathways for #socialcare staff, I talked about how, in isolation, these measures won't suffice and called for a comprehensive package of reform!
the-cover.com/articles/socia…

🆕 With #SocialCare in England lagging behind other systems around the world, whoever wins the next election will not be able to ignore the issue for long.

Natasha Curry describes what should be done to build public support for meaningful reform. 👇
nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/shif…

Just out and open access. Spoiler alert - we need much more and better evidence on the health and care workforce! Please do share/RT. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hp…

Strike action over the festive period meant it would be challenging for the #NHS to sustain progress on getting waiting lists down. Let’s look at today’s publication of performance statistics to see how the service fared on this, as well as on other key indicators of performance:

As expected, the long-awaited 2022-23 accounts for the Dept of Health & Soc Care show the DHSC spent £950m more that year than Parliament gave it permission. This is the first health dept vote breach in history. But there’s more to it than that. A thread >>

call for evidence: improving pay for care staff👇the Nuffield Trust & Health Foundation Lucinda Allen Cyril Lobont are investigating options to improve social care pay in England. We are looking for international examples of reforms, do get in touch if you have research/ experience

Continuing the tradition of short-term injections to prop up services, govt announces councils to get extra £500m for social care. Helpful but councils say it's not enough. We need sustainable long-term funding & strategy to address deep-rooted issues gov.uk/government/new…

Today MPs will debate the state of NHS dentistry and options for reform. Here’s our Nuffield Trust briefing, drawing on Liz Fisher, Nigel Edwards and Wilf Williams’ recent report

nuffieldtrust.org.uk/resource/oppos…

Our new paper:
‘Training needs for staff providing remote services in general practice: a mixed-methods study’, out today in The British Journal of General Practice
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bjgp.org/content/74/738…

This development from home office - setting the threshold for international recruits to bring family to £29k - may help workers in some sectors but unlikely to help in social care (care workers & senior care workers ineligible, but registered managers may benefit)

The alarming conclusions from our dentistry report about the future of NHS provision are rightly leading coverage today. But the report also is a treasure trove of data about the state of the service. Here are some of them 🧵

Today's announcement on immigration should set alarm bells ringing for the social care sector. We know there are 152,000 vacancies and people are struggling to access the care and support they need: 🧵

New data out today shows October 2023 now holds the record most general practice appointments at 34.3 million.

Our updated GP data tracker gives the full scoop but more info in thread below, including how the number is probably even bigger.

health.org.uk/news-and-comme…