New Key policy and guidance documents

Key policy and guidance documents

Depending on the type of organisation or function you lead there will be specific policy and guidance documents related to your work. The documents here are the keystone documents. The NHS England website has further materials on the wider system and service. The usual health and social care policy think tanks and membership organisations  such as The King’s FundThe Nuffield Trust, Social Care Institute for Excellence,  NHS Providers and the NHS Confederation will also have analysis of key policy documents and changes which are also useful in making sense of policy and guidance.

The resources on this microsite include downloadable versions of the Long Term Plan and the People Plan, focusing on the key goals and enablers to reduce health inequalities and deliver safe high quality care which is fit for the future. The page includes deep dives into key areas of work and case studies.

The NHS People Plan, developed collaboratively with national leaders and partners, sets a vision for how people working in the NHS will be supported to deliver care and identifies the actions NHS England will take to help them.

These documents set out the headlines for how we will ask NHS leaders and organisations to operate with their partners in Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) from July 2022 and guidance in respect of what the employment commitment is, its application in practice and how it affects people.

The 2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance sets out our priorities for the year ahead. This guidance reconfirms the ongoing needed to restore services, meet new care demands and reduce the care backlogs that are a direct consequence of the pandemic.

The 2023/24 priorities and operational planning guidance reconfirms the ongoing need to recover our core services and improve productivity, making progress in delivering the key NHS Long Term Plan ambitions and continuing to transform the NHS for the future.

Searchable version of the Health and Care Act

The constitution sets out rights for patients, public and staff. It outlines NHS commitments to patients and staff, and the responsibilities that the public, patients and staff owe to one another to ensure that the NHS operates fairly and effectively. All NHS bodies and private and third sector providers supplying NHS services are required by law to take account of the constitution in their decisions and actions.

State of Care is the CQC’s annual assessment of health care and social care in England. The report looks at the trends, shares examples of good and outstanding care, and highlights where care needs to improve.

In this briefing, we analyse the challenges for health and social care following the publication of The NHS long term plan and look at the implications of the plan for activity levels and the workforce in the NHS in England