Uncategorized

Mobile & Outreach Unit Outfitting

Equipping a Mobile Health Outreach Van: What the Vehicle Itself Needs to Deliver Care

Before a mobile unit can run a clinic, the vehicle itself needs power, cold chain, layout and access...

Inside Better Health for London: The 2014 Report’s Core Recommendations

What did Better Health for London actually propose? A plain-language guide to the 2014 report’s ten...

Accessible & Inclusive Clinic Design

Bariatric Seating and Wheelchair Access: What BS 8300 Requires

What BS 8300, HBN 11-01 and the Equality Act actually require for bariatric chairs, adjustable furni...

Methodology & Editorial Standards

Funding Transparency and Conflicts of Interest: The Disclosure Standards Behind Trustworthy Health Publishing

Why credible health information sites disclose who funds them, and the frameworks – PIF TICK, ICMJE...

Who Sat on the London Health Commission? The Panel Behind the 2014 Report

A look at who made up the London Health Commission’s panel in 2013-14, and why its cross-sector comp...

What Counts as High Blood Pressure? NICE’s Diagnostic Thresholds Explained

NICE guideline NG136 sets the exact readings that turn a raised blood-pressure result into a hyperte...

Community Mental-Health Provision

NHS Talking Therapies Self-Referral: How to Access Support Without a GP

How NHS Talking Therapies self-referral works, what it treats, and why waiting times for this route...

Community Nursing Equipment

How the NHS Community Equipment Service Works: Getting Nursing Equipment Into the Home

Commodes, hoists and pressure mattresses do not arrive at a home by accident. Here is how referral,...

Triage & Assessment Kit

The Manchester Triage System: How Five Colours Decide Who’s Seen First

How the Manchester Triage System’s five colour categories and the vital-signs kit behind them decide...

Remote Patient-Monitoring Kit

Connectivity Without Broadband: How Virtual Ward Kits Reach Every Patient

How remote monitoring kits use built-in 4G hubs and phone-based check-ins to reach patients without...

Mobile & Outreach Unit Outfitting

Inside a Mobile Breast Screening Unit: The Equipment, Power and Standards Behind Each Scan

What’s inside an NHS mobile breast screening unit — from digital mammography and power systems to th...

Methodology & Editorial Standards

The Hierarchy of Evidence: How This Review Ranks and Cites Public-Health Research

How the London Health Infrastructure Review weighs studies, sources claims, and issues corrections w...

Defibrillators & AEDs Explained

How Does a Defibrillator Work? AEDs and The Circuit Explained

How an AED reads a heart rhythm, decides whether to shock, and why The Circuit registry now links th...

Point-of-Care Diagnostics

Deploying Point-of-Care Diagnostics: What the Regulations Actually Require

What UK regulation, ISO accreditation and local governance actually require before a GP practice can...

Access & Provision Gaps

Pharmacy First in London: Why Access to the Scheme Still Depends on Your Postcode

Nearly every London pharmacy signed up to Pharmacy First. Claims data shows delivery of the scheme s...

Access & Provision Gaps

Personal Wheelchair Budgets: Why NHS Wheelchair Provision Varies Across London’s ICBs

NHS wheelchair services are commissioned locally, so eligibility, voucher value and waiting times di...

Accessible & Inclusive Clinic Design

Induction Loops at Reception: The Hearing Accessibility Fix Most Clinic Fit-Outs Skip

Why hearing loop systems at glazed reception counters are a legal requirement, not an optional extra...

First-Response & Community Resuscitation

Event First Aid Cover in London: What the Purple Guide Actually Requires

What London event organisers must actually provide for first aid cover, from the Purple Guide’s risk...

Defibrillator Readiness & Upkeep

Defibrillator Pad Replacement: Why Even Unused AEDs Need New Parts

Defibrillator pads and batteries expire even when a public AED is never used. Here is why, and how e...

Sudden Cardiac Arrest Explained

Agonal Breathing: The Cardiac Arrest Sign That Looks Like Normal Breathing

Agonal breathing is a gasping reflex after cardiac arrest that bystanders often mistake for normal b...

Parity of Esteem

The Mental Health Investment Standard: How London’s ICBs Report on Funding Parity

Parity of esteem became a legal duty in 2012. The Mental Health Investment Standard is how NHS bodie...

Cold Chain Breach Response: What Happens When Vaccine Storage Fails

What community immunisation teams must do in the hours after a fridge or cool box strays outside 2 t...

Borough Health Briefings

Childhood Obesity in London: What the NCMP Data Reveals Borough by Borough

NCMP data shows London’s childhood obesity rate exceeds the England average, but the gap between bor...

Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring: Why One Clinic Reading Isn’t a Diagnosis

Why a single clinic blood pressure reading isn’t a diagnosis, and what NICE’s ambulatory monitoring...

Choosing Screening & Monitoring Equipment

Blood Pressure Monitor Calibration: The Standards Behind Accurate Screening

A device that reads wrong is worse than no device at all. How UK standards govern calibration for BP...

Ten Years On

Stroke and Trauma Centralisation: What Ten Years of Data Show

A decade after Better Health for London, the case for centralising stroke and trauma care is one of...

Borough Health Briefings

The London Life Expectancy Gap: What the Borough Data Actually Shows

Life expectancy varies by up to seven years between London boroughs. Here is what the borough-level...

How Independent Was the London Health Commission? Governance and What Came After

The London Health Commission was independent in practice, not just name. How it was set up, how it r...

NHS Health Checks and Pharmacy Screening: London’s Two Routes to Catching Hypertension Early

How London’s GP-based NHS Health Check and community pharmacy blood pressure service work together t...

How Better Health for London Built Its Evidence Base

Before Better Health for London made 60 recommendations, its inquiry ran a year-long evidence exerci...

Air Quality & Respiratory Health

Indoor Air Pollution in London Homes: The Respiratory Risk Outdoor Monitoring Misses

London tracks outdoor air with one of the world’s densest monitoring networks. Indoor air, where res...

Triage & Assessment Kit

Eyewash Stations in Minor Injuries Units: What BS EN 15154 Requires

What BS EN 15154 actually requires of an eyewash station, and why the standard matters for same-day...

Mobile & Outreach Unit Outfitting

Lone Worker Safety Devices: Equipping London’s Outreach and Home-Visiting Teams

Panic alarms, GPS check-in apps and fall detectors sit alongside dressings and diagnostics on a mode...

Integration of Health & Social Care

NHS Continuing Healthcare: The Checklist That Decides Who Pays for Care

How the NHS Continuing Healthcare Checklist decides whether the NHS or a means-tested council budget...

Vaccine Fridge Temperature Monitoring: Data Loggers vs Min/Max Thermometers

How UKHSA’s daily recording standard works, and how min/max thermometers compare with continuous dat...

Economic Inactivity and Ill Health: Why More Londoners Are Leaving Work Sick

Long-term sickness has overtaken every other cause of economic inactivity in the UK. Here’s what the...

Defibrillators & AEDs Explained

AED or ICD? The Two Devices Both Called a ‘Defibrillator’

ICD or AED? One device lives inside a chest, the other hangs on a wall. Here’s the real difference,...

First-Response & Community Resuscitation

First Aid at Work Regulations: What London Employers Must Actually Provide

The 1981 Regulations require every workplace to assess its own risk, not follow a fixed checklist. H...

Assistive & Independence Technology

The Disabled Facilities Grant: Funding Home Adaptations for Independent Living in London

How the Disabled Facilities Grant funds ramps, stairlifts and level-access showers for London reside...

Equipping the Modern GP Surgery

Diagnostic Instrument Sets: The Compliance Standards Behind Every GP Consulting Room

Otoscopes, ophthalmoscopes and the calibration rules behind them: what CQC and MHRA actually expect...

Urgent Treatment Centre vs Walk-In Centre: What’s Actually Different in London

Walk-in centres are being replaced by standardised Urgent Treatment Centres. Here’s what changed for...

Accessible & Inclusive Clinic Design

Changing Places Toilets: The Accessible Facility Most Clinic Fit-Outs Still Miss

Changing Places toilets serve patients standard accessible loos exclude. What the space, hoist and b...

Point-of-Care Diagnostics

CRP Point-of-Care Testing: How a Fingerstick Result Changes an Antibiotic Decision

How CRP point-of-care testing helps GPs decide whether a chest infection needs antibiotics, backed b...

Defibrillator Readiness & Upkeep

The Defibrillator Checklist: What a Weekly AED Visual Check Should Cover

A working defibrillator checklist covers more than a green light. Here is what a weekly visual check...

Obesity & Metabolic Health

NHS Weight Management Programme: How the Tier System Decides Who Gets What Support

England’s Tier 1-4 weight management pathway routes patients toward specialist care – but access sti...

Smoking, Air & Lung Health

The Targeted Lung Health Check: How London Screens Smokers for Early Lung Cancer

How the NHS Targeted Lung Health Check identifies lung cancer earlier in London’s current and former...

Air Quality & Respiratory Health

Which London Boroughs Have the Worst Air Quality? Comparing the Evidence

London’s air pollution varies sharply by borough. We compare the monitoring data and what the divide...

Triage & Assessment Kit

Wound Closure Strips: Equipping Same-Day Triage for Minor Lacerations

Why adhesive wound closure strips belong in every minor injuries triage kit, and the clinical criter...

Choosing Screening & Monitoring Equipment

Equipping NHS Health Checks: Blood Pressure, Cholesterol and BMI Kit

How GP practices and community providers specify the blood pressure, cholesterol and BMI kit an NHS...

Obesity & Metabolic Health

GP Exercise Referral Schemes: How London’s 12-Week Programmes Work

How London’s GP exercise referral scheme works: who qualifies, what the 12 weeks involve, and why th...

Community Mental-Health Provision

Mental Health Crisis Cafes: London’s Walk-In Alternative to A&E

How London’s borough-run crisis cafes and sanctuaries offer walk-in, out-of-hours mental health supp...

Ten Years On

GP Federations to Primary Care Networks: What London’s Model Actually Delivered

Ten years after Better Health for London called for GP federations, we trace what became of that mod...

Damp and Mould in London Homes: What Awaab’s Law Now Requires of Landlords

Damp and mould is a formally assessed housing hazard in England. Here is how Awaab’s Law now sets fi...

Parity of Esteem

The SMI Physical Health Check: What Parity of Esteem Delivers in Practice

Parity of esteem isn’t just a legal principle – it’s a specific annual check. Here’s what it actuall...

Assistive & Independence Technology

Environmental Control Systems: How Voice, Switch and Eye-Gaze Technology Restore Home Independence

How environmental control systems let people with severe disabilities operate lights, heating, doors...

The Mayor of London Has No Power Over the NHS. So Why Commission a Health Review?

The Mayor of London has no formal authority over the NHS. Here is the legal basis the London Health...

Community Nursing Equipment

The T34 Syringe Driver: How Community Nurses Deliver Continuous Medication at Home

What a T34 syringe driver is, how it delivers round-the-clock medication in a patient’s own home, an...

Urgent Treatment Centre Waiting Times: Why They’re Faster Than A&E, and What Actually Decides Them

Why UTC waits run shorter than A&E, what NHS standards actually require, and the factors that decide...

Obesity & Metabolic Health

GLP-1 Weight-Loss Injections on the NHS: The Eligibility Rules Explained

How BMI thresholds and comorbidity counts decide NHS access to Mounjaro and Wegovy, and why the two...

Choosing Screening & Monitoring Equipment

Pulse Oximeter Accuracy and Skin Tone: What Screening Programmes Should Check Before Buying

Why pulse oximeter readings can vary with skin pigmentation, and the standards and manufacturer evid...

Nine Hearings and 50 Roadshows: How the 2014 Health Commission Gathered Evidence

Before Better Health for London was written, the Commission ran a 13-month evidence exercise. Here i...

Smoking, Air & Lung Health

Vaping vs Smoking: What the Evidence Actually Shows for Harm Reduction

What OHID and Cochrane evidence actually says about vaping as a quit-smoking tool, and how it fits L...

Equipping the Modern GP Surgery

The GP Surgery Anaphylaxis Kit: What the Guidance Requires

What a GP surgery’s anaphylaxis kit should actually contain, why ampoules are preferred to auto-inje...

Air Quality & Respiratory Health

The Daily Air Quality Index Explained: What London’s Pollution Bands Mean for Your Lungs

A plain-English guide to the UK’s Daily Air Quality Index and what its Low-to-Very-High bands actual...

Relieving A&E Pressure

Community Falls Response Services: How London Keeps Fallen Older Residents Out of A&E

Falls response teams reach older people at home after a fall, treating many on the spot instead of c...

Integration of Health & Social Care

Discharge to Assess: How the NHS and Councils Share Patient Discharge

Discharge to assess moves patients out of hospital before care needs are assessed. Here is how NHS t...

Urgent Treatment Centres: What They Treat and Where They Fit In London Care

A plain-English guide to what an urgent treatment centre actually treats, how it differs from A&E an...

Vaccine Fridge Standards: Cold-Chain Compliance for Community Immunisation

What the 2-8°C storage standard for vaccine fridges actually requires of GP practices and pharmacies...

Remote Patient-Monitoring Kit

After the Virtual Ward: How Monitoring Kits Are Collected, Cleaned and Reused

What happens to pulse oximeters, BP cuffs and tablets once a virtual ward patient recovers, and the...

Blood Pressure Cuff Size: The Screening Error Hiding in Plain Sight

The wrong cuff size can add or hide up to 20mmHg on a blood pressure reading. Here’s why fit matters...

Point-of-Care Diagnostics

Who Owns Point-of-Care Testing Quality Assurance in a GP Practice?

Deploying a near-patient testing device is the easy part. Here is who is actually accountable for ke...

Methodology & Editorial Standards

Evaluating Health Information Sources: The Standards Behind This Review’s Citations

How this Review decides which sources to trust — primary data, disclosure, and quality checks — befo...

Defibrillator Readiness & Upkeep

Defibrillator Servicing and The Circuit: What Keeps a Public AED Rescue-Ready

Defibrillator servicing is a distinct job from siting one: pad and battery expiry, weekly checks, an...

Community Mental-Health Provision

How Community Mental Health Teams Work Across London’s Boroughs

How London’s CMHTs are structured borough by borough, who staffs them, and how referral into one act...

The Ten Aspirations of Better Health for London: The 2014 Report’s Targets Explained

The 2014 Better Health for London report set out ten aspirations with specific numeric targets. Here...

Ten Years On

Moving Care Out of Hospitals: What a Decade of NHS Bed and A&E Data Shows

Better Health for London called for care to shift out of hospitals. A decade on, NHS bed and A&E fig...

Commissioning & ICB Strategy

Weighted Capitation: How NHS England Decides What Each London ICB Gets

How the weighted capitation formula moves NHS money from national budgets to London’s four ICBs, and...

Sudden Cardiac Arrest Explained

Sudden Cardiac Arrest vs Heart Attack: Why the Difference Decides Survival

Cardiac arrest and heart attack are not the same emergency. Understanding the difference explains wh...

Relieving A&E Pressure

Does NHS 111 Actually Keep People Out of A&E? What the Evidence Shows

NHS 111 was built to divert callers away from A&E. Over a decade of London and national evidence, th...

Defibrillators & AEDs Explained

Do You Need Training to Use a Public Defibrillator? What UK Law Actually Says

No, UK law does not require training to use a public-access AED. Here’s what the device, the SARAH A...

Integration of Health & Social Care

The Better Care Fund Explained: How London Pools NHS and Council Budgets

How Section 75 agreements let London’s ICBs and councils pool NHS and social care budgets under the...

Equipping the Modern GP Surgery

Autoclaves and Instrument Decontamination: What GP Surgeries Must Get Right

Why decontamination equipment, not just diagnostic kit, sits at the centre of CQC compliance for a m...

Sudden Cardiac Arrest Explained

Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Survival: What London’s Own Data Shows

UK cardiac arrest survival is low overall, but London Ambulance Service data shows how sharply the o...

LHC Public Policy Committee14 Aug 2026

Commissioning & ICB Strategy

Integrated Care Boards vs Integrated Care Partnerships: How London Actually Commissions Care

ICBs hold the NHS budget; ICPs set the strategy. Here’s how the two bodies actually divide London’s...

LHC Public Policy Committee14 Aug 2026