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The Independent IT Review (IIR) was commissioned following the Penny Dash report, which highlighted issues with poorly performing IT systems hampering the Care Quality Commission (CQC)’s ability to roll out the Single Assessment Framework (SAF). That report made seven recommendations, including the need to rapidly improve operational performance, fix the Provider Portal (PP) and Regulatory Platform (RP), and improve the quality of reports. This review addresses the following questions: How and why did the reach a point where its IT solutions caused significant organisational disruption? Is the IT solution salvageable, based on the current contractual relationship with suppliers and subcontractors? If so, what needs to be done to make the IT solutions, the overall operating model, the programme management and contractual controls fit for purpose? If not, how should the CQC proceed to build or buy and implement an IT solution that is fit for purpose in the shortest possible time?

This article, co-authored by IHI President Emeritus and Senior Fellow Don Berwick, highlights how healthcare in the US is failing patients and presents a vision of a system that better supports the nation’s needs. 

Published every 4 years to coincide with federal leadership transitions, the National Academy of Medicine’s Vital Directions for Health and Health Care series analyses the top health policy needs for the nation. The 2025 edition, published in Health Affairs, presents an expert overview of six key priorities: transforming health care payment and delivery; integrating AI into health care; modernising public health; addressing the health impacts of climate change; improving women’s health; and advancing the biomedical research enterprise. As leaders inside and outside government navigate complex challenges, the Vital Directions series provides actionable, evidence-based guidance. From Laggard To Leader: Why Health Care In The United States Is Failing, And How To Fix It Artificial Intelligence In Health And Health Care: Priorities For Action Four Opportunities To Revitalize The US Biomedical Research Enterprise Updating US Public Health For Healthier Communities Critical Steps To Address Climate, Health, And Equity New Directions For Women’s Health: Expanding Understanding, Improving Research, Addressing Workforce Limitation

The Patient Information Forum (PIF TICK) criteria have been updated after consultation with the PIF TICK Steering Group. The update takes in new developments including artificial intelligence and health information translation. This webinar explains the changes in the criteria, the timetable for implementation and how PIF will support members through the change. To support members with the responsible use of AI, a Framework for Policy Creation on the Use of AI in Health Information was also launched at the event. Speakers from PIF and Prostate Cancer Research introduced the new criteria and showcased examples of how AI can be used for good in health information. Related reading: Balancing the risks and benefits of AI in the production of health information

Professor Cathie Sudlow OBE was commissioned to lead the independent review by the Chief Medical Officer for England, NHS England’s National Director for Transformation, and the UK National Statistician. Scientists often have to wait months or even years to securely access health data before they can carry out crucial research into conditions like dementia, cancer, and heart disease. The Sudlow Review is a call to action for policymakers and healthcare leaders, and emphasises that health data should be seen as critical national infrastructure requiring careful leadership and vital investment. The review includes five recommendations that highlight the need to remove barriers, streamline processes, and enable safe and secure data use across the UK. Five recommendations The Sudlow Review’s recommendations provide a pathway to establishing a secure and trusted health data system for the UK: Major national public bodies with responsibility for or interest in health data should agree a coordinated joint strategy to recognise England’s health data for what they are: a critical national infrastructure. Key government health, care and research bodies should establish a national health data service in England with accountable senior leadership. The Department of Health and Social Care should oversee and commission ongoing, coordinated, engagement with patients, public, health professionals, policymakers and politicians. The health and social care departments in the four UK nations should set a UK-wide approach to streamline data access processes and foster proportionate, trustworthy data governance. National health data organisations and statistical authorities in the four UK nations should develop a UK-wide system for standards and accreditation of secure data environments (SDEs) holding data from the health and care system.

New research has revealed what is hampering digital adoption across the NHS, as leaders look to unlock the full potential of technology and usher in the digital revolution. A survey, conducted by NHS Providers, indicates that everything from financial constraints, day-to-day pressures, and obsolete IT infrastructure are hamstringing the health service. This blog from the National Health Executive looks at the barriers, the current digital capability and the next steps.

The USA President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology have released their report to the US President, Joe Biden, on patient safety. The report contains recommendations aimed at dramatically improving patient safety in Amercia. Recommendation 1: Establish and maintain Federal leadership for the improvement of Patient Safety as a national priority. 1A - Appoint a Patient Safety Coordinator reporting to the President on efforts to transform Patient Safety among all relevant Government Agencies. 1B - Establish a multidisciplinary National Patient Safety Team (NPST) and ensure inclusion of persons from populations most affected. Recommendation 2: Ensure that patients receive evidence-based practices for preventing harm and addressing risks. 2A - Identify and address high-priority harms and promote patient safety though incentivizing the adoption of evidence-based solutions and requiring annual public reporting immediately and quarterly public reporting within 5 years. 2B - Create a learning ecosystem and shared accountability system to ensure that evidence-based practices are implemented and goals for reduced harms and risks of harm for every American are realized. 2C - Advance interoperability of healthcare data and assure access to the tracking of harms and use of evidence-based solutions. 2D - Improve safety for all healthcare workers and their patients through supporting a just culture of patient and clinician safety in healthcare systems. Recommendation 3: Partner with patients and reduce disparities in medical errors and adverse outcomes. 3A - Implement a “whole of society approach” in the transformational effort on patient safety. 3B - Improve data and transparency to reduce disparities. Recommendation 4: Accelerate research and deployment of practices, technologies, and exemplar systems of safe care. 4A - Develop a national patient safety research agenda. 4B - Harness revolutionary advances in information technologies. 4C - Develop federal healthcare delivery systems’ capacities and showcase results as exemplars for safer healthcare.

A Kind Life works with NHS organisations to help them shape a culture that cultivates kindness and nurtures high performance. The company offers a range of training courses and programmes focused on areas such as recruitment, leadership, feedback and conflict resolution.

This free eGuide will aid your strategic communications design, and show you how you can develop strategic communications that support and educate populations and patients to make better lifestyle decisions and live healthier lives. In the eGuide, you’ll discover: Why is behavioural change critical for prevention? What are the fundamental elements of strategic healthcare communications. How to develop your vision for patient activation communications to become a reality. The guide is free, but you will need to submit your details download the Apteco guide from their website.

In this report, Patient Safety Learning considers the roles and responsibilities of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in relation to patient safety, and how this fits in with the wider patient safety landscape in England. This article contains a summary of the report, which can be read in full here or from downloading the attachment below. Action is needed to ensure that ICSs are not ‘patient safety free zones’, says Patient Safety Learning. A year on from ICSs being placed on a statutory footing, a new report, The elephant in the room: Patient Safety and Integrated Care Systems, argues that there needs to be a greater focus on the role that they play in patient safety. The report sets out what we mean by avoidable harm in healthcare, outlining the scale of this problem and the need for a transformation in approach to improving patient safety. It also looks at the landscape of different coordinating groups and organisations in England that have roles and responsibilities to improve patient safety and reduce avoidable harm. What is revealed is a complex and fragmented environment, lacking strong measures for cross-organisational thinking and coordination to address complex systemic threats to patient safety. Considering the creation and initial development of ICSs, the report highlights how there has been little mention of their role in, or impact on, patient safety. It illustrates that although patient safety has not been set as explicit priority for ICSs, the delivery of safe care runs implicitly through each of their main aims. It goes on to consider the potential role that ICSs can potentially play in helping to embed and improve patient safety. Recommendations Considering the steps that could be taken to address the current gap that exists between patient safety and ICSs, and the wider fragmentation of the patient safety landscape in which they operate within, the report makes the following recommendations: The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England should consider introducing a fifth aim for ICSs making explicit their role in helping to improve patient safety and reduce avoidable harm. NHS England should update the NHS Patient Safety Strategy to account for ICSs being placed on a statutory footing in July 2022 and set out their roles and responsibilities in relation to this. The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England should consider revising the remit of the National Patient Safety Committee to take on a greater role in coordinating and joining-up the existing patient safety landscape in England. The National Patient Safety Committee should regularly publish agendas, papers and the minutes of its meetings to help inform all bodies that may be impacted by this, such as ICSs and individual healthcare providers, and also patients and the wider public. Patient Safety Learning comment: Patient Safety Learning Chief Executive Helen Hughes said: “ICSs present a significant opportunity to drive improvements in patient safety in local health systems across the NHS. However, we think patient safety remains the ‘elephant in the room’ in the development of ICS roles and responsibilities. Currently there is not clear guidance or support to ensure that ICSs treat patient safety as a core purpose of healthcare. We believe they need to have specific aims for reducing avoidable harm and improving patient safety. There also needs to be clarity on where the patient safety role of ICSs fits into the wider healthcare system. The landscape of organisations with patient safety roles and responsibilities in England is fragmented and lacks coordination, often ill-suited to tackling complex systemic challenges to patient safety. We believe that the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England need to consider how to better join-up this system, to promote cross-organisational working, coordination and ultimately reduce avoidable harm.”

Authors of this article argue that: "...navigating the pandemic asked a lot of employees - and while they delivered, it came at a cost. Relentless sprinting means many employees are running on fumes. To create more sustainable change efforts, leaders must prioritise change initiatives, showing employees where to invest their energies. They also must manage change fatigue by building in periods of proactive rest, involving employees in change plans, and challenging managers to help build team resilience."