Health and social care

For the first time in over a decade, the NHS broadly stuck to its planned 2025-26 budget – but partly because hospital activity grew more slowly. 

Originally published in VoxDev, this comment looks at the effect of community health teams on health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.

A focus on improving existing services rather than new entitlements or tax cuts

A manifesto with more support for families with children, but important question marks over how to fund its giveaways.

A manifesto with a vision for a bigger state but no detail on how to pay for it.

A manifesto with more spending for priorities, but which also increases the chance of cuts to some other areas.

Planned reforms to the Soft Drinks Industry Levy will have little impact on the government’s efforts to tackle obesity. 

English hospital services are in a relatively poor state - yet still look substantially better on many measures than those in Scotland and Wales

A plan bold in ambition, but lacking in fiscal credibility

Welsh health and education systems are underperforming – with cuts to spending on some public services likely post-election.

Movement between occupations is becoming increasingly common for NHS support staff, but much more so in wealthier parts of the country.