Blogs

Our blogs highlight the voices of people working across the health and social care sector, talking about a range of timely issues.

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- 14 September 2022
It’s Not Impossible: Reflections on Coproduction and Best MSK Health
Sue Brown
In this blog, Sue Brown, CEO of the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance, reflects on her experience of working with NHS England to improve services for people living with musculoskeletal conditions.
- Person-centred care
- Lived experience
- 7 September 2022
The more the merrier (and wiser!)
Clare Woodford
As the new Integrated Care Systems get underway in difficult circumstances, Clare Woodford from Macmillan Cancer Support reflects on how National Voices membership has created opportunities to shape the rollout of the reforms.
- National Voices’ Conference on ICSs
- Integrated care
- 1 September 2022
Health and social care Multi-Disciplinary Teams: will Integrated Care Systems encourage them to come together or play apart?
Robin Miller, Agato Pacho and Garry Brough
Whilst Integrated Care Systems only became legal entities in July 2022, more person-centred and co-ordinated care in England has been in development for over 50 years. One of the most common approaches to encourage health and social care professionals to work together over these decades has been multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs). This blog reflects on two virtual workshops held at the National Voices Integrated Care Systems (ICS) event in June 2022.
- National Voices’ Conference on ICSs
- Integrated care
- Primary care
- 20 July 2022
A reflection: NHS ConfedExpo 2022
Pavi Brar
Last week Charlotte, Sarah, Keymn, and I travelled up to sunny Liverpool to attend NHS ConfedExpo 2022, one of the biggest and most significant healthcare conferences in the UK. We were joined by around 4,000 health and care leaders and their teams, with the aim of coming together to share learning and drive change in health and social care.
- Lived experience
- Health inequalities
- COVID-19
- Integrated care
- 12 July 2022
Changing lives, changing places, changing systems
Charlotte Augst and James Sanderson
In this blog National Voices’ Chief Executive Charlotte Augst and Director of Personalised Care at NHS England, James Sanderson share reflections on the new National Voices report Changing lives, changing places, changing systems: Making progress on social prescribing. The report sets out an agenda for action to ensure that NHS England’s investment in social prescribing delivers change for people, places and systems.
- Person-centred care
- Health inequalities
- Integrated care
- 16 June 2022
The Bill and the Bees: The Health and Care Act 2022
Jason Yiannikkou
Jason Yiannikkou, a Director in the Department of Health and Social Care, discusses the Health and Care Act which received Royal Assent in April. He reflects on the importance of partnership working with local government and the VCSE sector in the delivery of integrated care, and the next phase of reform.
- Integrated care
- 26 May 2022
Valuing Lived Experience – Learning with National Voices
Keymn Whervin and Rachel Matthews
“Courage calls to courage everywhere and its voice cannot be denied.” Millicent Fawcett, suffragist
- Voices for Improvement
- Lived experience
- 12 May 2022
The road to (elective) recovery…
Pavi Brar
By Pavi Brar (Policy and Insight Officer, National Voices), in collaboration with Stella Vig (National Clinical Director for Elective Care, NHSE)
- Patient Noun Adjective
- Timely Access to Care
- Hospital waiting lists
- COVID-19
- Digital health and care
- 7 March 2022
Poverty in later life
Morgan Vine
Living in poverty can have a huge impact on every area of someone’s life. In January 2022 the national older people’s charity Independent Age released their new report Poverty in later life, exploring whether people past state pension age enter or exit poverty, and why.
- Health inequalities
- 17 February 2022
Learning together – How coaching and mentoring skills can reset relationships to improve care 
Rachel Matthews
It’s just over a week since we welcomed people to ‘Valuing Lived Experience – Learning with National Voices’.
- Voices for Improvement
- Lived experience
- Health inequalities