The government’s 10-Year Health Plan outlines a major shift in NHS priorities, aiming to move care closer to communities, emphasise prevention, and harness digital tools. Central to this vision is an expanded role for community pharmacy, raising questions about how the sector will adapt and whether it is equipped to meet these ambitions.

Subject Access Requests (SARs) are rising sharply across the NHS, placing increasing strain on trusts. With mounting regulatory pressure and limited resources, Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust has taken action, introducing automation to ensure timely responses and protect sensitive patient data.

Despite being a global leader in robotics research, the UK lags far behind in real-world adoption – especially in healthcare, where pressures on the NHS are mounting. With billions in potential savings and significant efficiency gains on the table, now is the time to bridge the gap between innovation and implementation, writes Naomi Battison from The National Robotarium.

The report calls on the NHS to adopt multi-faceted measures that better reflect long-term investment, patient outcomes and workforce resilience, alongside greater evaluative and technical integration to bridge the gap between local insights and national decision-making.

Strategic realignment over the next 10 years is important. But what are the practical, inarguable early wins the government must try to achieve for an NHS now? Dr Mark Ratnarajah, UK Managing Director of C2-Ai and practising NHS paediatrician, offers some answers.

The government is pledging to increase access to clinical trials for millions under its Plan for Change, which will eventually see the NHS App notify users of clinical trials based on their health data and interests.

Diabetes and obesity cases in the UK are rising rapidly, putting increasing pressure on health and care services. But supported digital self-management tools are delivering measurable results, helping patients lose weight, increase physical activity, and in many cases, achieve remission, writes Keren Miller, Clinical Lead Dietitian for Diabetes and Diabetes Remission at Oviva.

The move sees Wigan Council join a growing number of local authorities aiming to better support unpaid carers through accessible, round-the-clock digital tools and resources.

The new RPS Greener Pharmacy Toolkit provides prompts to introduce more sustainable practices to reduce emissions, improve patient care, prevent ill health, tackle medicines waste and achieve efficiency savings.

Dr Naomi Chinn, Clinical Diabetes Lead at NHS Humber and North Yorkshire ICB, sat down with PPP to discuss her advocacy of community-based diabetes care, its positive impact on both patients and the workforce, and the role of integrated neighbourhood teams, collaboration and networking.

At a recent dinner hosted by Public Policy Projects and HealthPathways, senior NHS executives and leaders gathered to reflect on one of the most urgent challenges in health and care today: how to deliver a meaningful ‘left shift’ – moving care out of hospitals and into community settings, as outlined in the forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan. The conversation offered a candid look at the structural barriers that continue to impede progress, while also spotlighting the leadership, collaboration, and bold action required to overcome them.

UK general practice is under intense strain, with rising demand and limited resources pushing many surgeries to the brink. Documented care pathways are emerging as a key solution, offering a practical route to more efficient, consistent, and sustainable care.

Despite the major digital transformation efforts ongoing across the NHS, money alone will not solve the challenges the health service faces. Neither will simply bolting AI solutions onto outdated processes, writes Peter Corpe, Industry Leader, UK Public Sector at Appian.

The time for a coordinated, pathway-driven response to frailty is now, writes Dr Jon Tose, GP at Northern Moor Medical Practice and Clinical Lead at HealthPathways UK.

A new report from SignHealth finds that the NHS is potentially flouting equality law, leading to serious failings that have left deaf people and people with hearing loss in the dark about their own health.

Findings suggest new hope for patients suffering with disease that has a poor response rate to current treatments.

New report from NHS Providers features practical approaches taken by trusts and partners to improve patient flow and quality of care.

Edge Health’s George Batchelor and Lucia De Santis explain the need to develop localised solutions to drive the NHS’s elective care recovery.

Integrated Care Journal recently spoke to Dr Ashton Harper, Head of Medical Affairs (UK & Ireland) at Roche Diagnostics, to examine the heart failure diagnostic pathway and identify where the biggest opportunities in NHS diagnostics exist.

Dr Jean Challiner, Medical Director for Medinet, outlines how the NHS must harness spare capacity from all corners of the health and care sector to meet this period of unprecedented service demand.

Seasonal pressures and existing backlogs look set to increase demand for non-emergency transport this winter. Writing for ICJ, ERS Medical’s Chief Executive Andrew Pooley, and Quality and Governance Director Simon Smith, outline why they are pushing hard for winter transport resilience.

In taking decisive action to bring down elective care backlogs, Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System has demonstrated the value of industry collaboration – made possible by the new ICS construct.

With virtual wards vital to the NHS’s ability to function this winter, three experts assess what is needed to bridge the gaps in provision ahead of increased demand.

Medicines used to treat serious and long-term conditions are not being prescribed as often as they should be following the pandemic, raising fears that this could be causing avoidable deaths from heart disease and strokes. 

The West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN) has released its 2021-22 Impact Report, highlighting the innovative solutions that have contributed to improving health and generating income growth across the West Midlands, and nationally. 

Public Policy Project’s ICS Network has urged the NHS to leverage its position as England’s largest employer and to realise its potential for social and economic rejuvenation.

The latest report from Vanguard, Assessing the current state of play of CDC delivery across England, 2021, provides much needed clarity on the current status of CDC rollout and identifies where more support is required to achieve regional equality in healthcare provision.

Maria Kane, Chief Executive of North Bristol NHS Trust, addresses the need for defined and aligned metrics to provide one overall picture of system wide activity and reveal where improvements can be made.

The new 'Check and Cancel' feature was integrated into the practice’s existing cloud-telephony system, reducing the number of missed appointments and boosting patient access to GP services.

Negotiations have concluded around the implementation of the Pharmacy First scheme, which is now set to launch in full on 31st January 2024.

Amid news that no funding is expected for community acute respiratory hubs this winter, Dr Owain Rhys Hughes explains why these are a shining beacon of innovation that the NHS cannot afford to overlook.

Service uses population health data to identify those most at risk of having surgery postponed

PPP’s report stresses the need to support and empower the pharmacy sector and align its priorities with system-level health and care objectives.

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has published a new report outlining how independent pharmacies are ready to redefine their role within the NHS. 

Report calls on government to “go further and faster” in giving more capability to pharmacy to prescribe prescription-only medicines and reduce pressure on general practice.

More than 240,000 online patient registrations have been completed through new national online service designed to make registering patients quicker and easier.

Patients to receive quicker, more convenient access to NHS care from high street pharmacies, in a major expansion of services under new plans to improve access to primary care.

Findings from pharmacy tech startup Charac reveals more than half of patients do not use their local pharmacies for anything more than minor illnesses.

Integrated Care Journal recently spoke to Dr Ashton Harper, Head of Medical Affairs (UK & Ireland) at Roche Diagnostics, to examine the heart failure diagnostic pathway and identify where the biggest opportunities in NHS diagnostics exist.

Health Education England is extending a new online tool for clinicians, GeNotes, designed to help them access vital care for their patients. 

Despite the already catastrophic impact of the government's mini-budget, the first casualty of the government’s short-termist approach to governing was health and care.

Global market leading health and care technology company, Tunstall Healthcare is investing in the next generation of health, housing and social care professionals with the launch of a new range of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) accredited courses.

1 million carers across England are benefiting from tech-powered support, as 1 in 4 (25 per cent) local authorities across the country have joined an initiative providing essential, digital services for all those who look after loved ones in their communities over the course of this year.

Navodi Kuruppu spoke with Lynne Reedman, Founder and Service Lead for DUET Diabetes, and Martin Scivier, diabetes patient and advocate, and #dedoc° member, to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on care home residents with diabetes, the importance of peer support, and the urgent need to prioritise care for vulnerable and older populations.

With the number of people who will require at-home care set to increase, innovation to boost capacity and drive efficiencies in social care is desperately needed, writes Fiona Brown, Chief Care Officer at Lilli.

2023 Sector Pulse Check report describes the current situation in social care as “arguably more perilous than ever”.

Delayed discharge cost the NHS an estimated £1.7 billion in 2022/23. RIVIAM's Hospital Discharge service connects third sector partners and NHS trusts with the data they need, speeding up discharge, reducing readmission rates and supporting system-wide efficiency.

This content is supported by Access Group.

Gavin Bashar, Managing Director at Tunstall Healthcare, discusses why it’s important to protect the dignity of vulnerable people and how technology can be used to achieve this while improving health and care outcomes.

Structural weaknesses, unaddressed by successive governments, left social care struggling to provide the service and protection that people needed during the initial waves of Covid-19.

The North West Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (NW ADASS) has published guidance to support Adult Social Care (ASC) Commissioners in increasing the implementation of the Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) across the ASC market.

Care England, as a member of the Care Provider Alliance, which brings together the main national associations that represent independent and voluntary adult social care providers in England, published a report on the current state of social care in England this week.

As social care workers and providers grapple with sharply rising energy costs this winter, Community Integrated Care has launched a new programme to support social care workers, people using services and family carers.

Care England has this week written to the newly appointed Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, calling for the Conservative manifesto promise to ‘fix social care’ to be delivered in his premiership.

As a Health Foundation report finds care home staff are more likely to be living in poverty than other health workers, figures from Skills for Care show the social care vacancy rate has risen to a record-high.

Association of Directors of Adult Social Services reports dramatic rise in numbers of those seeking review or start of social care provision.

The Queen’s Speech yesterday outlined government plans to change the Mental Health Act 1983, empowering the individual to have more control over their care.