General practice characteristics associated with pay-for-performance in the UK: a systematic review.

Background: The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), a pay-for-performance programme, has been the most widespread quality initiative in National Health Service (NHS) general practice since 2004. It has contributed between 25% and 8% of practices' income during this time, but concerns about its effect on equity have been raised.

Aim: Understand which practice characteristics are associated with QOF performance.

The changing shape of English general practice: a retrospective longitudinal study using national datasets describing trends in organisational structure, workforce and recorded appointments.

Objective: To describe trends in the organisational structure, workforce and recorded appointments by role in English general practice.

Design: Retrospective longitudinal study.

Setting: English general practice.

Electronic health record-based behaviour change interventions aimed at general practitioners in the UK: a mixed methods systematic review using behaviour change theory.

Objectives: Electronic health record (EHR) systems are used extensively in healthcare; their design can influence clinicians' behaviour. We conducted a systematic review of EHR-based interventions aimed at changing the clinical practice of general practitioners in the UK, assessed their effectiveness and applied behaviour change theory to identify lessons for other settings.

Design: Mixed methods systematic review.

Workplace-based knowledge exchange programmes between academics, policy-makers and providers of healthcare: a qualitative study.

Background: Workplace-based knowledge exchange programmes (WKEPs), such as job shadowing or secondments, offer potential for health and care providers, academics, and policy-makers to foster partnerships, develop local solutions and overcome key differences in practices. Yet opportunities for exchange can be hard to find and are poorly reported in the literature.

Objectives: To understand the views of providers, academics and policy-makers regarding WKEPs, in particular, their motivations to participate in such exchanges and the perceived barriers and facilitators to participation.

Barriers and facilitators to clinical behaviour change by primary care practitioners: a theory-informed systematic review of reviews using the Theoretical Domains Framework and Behaviour Change Wheel.

Background: Understanding the barriers and facilitators to behaviour change by primary care practitioners (PCPs) is vital to inform the design and implementation of successful Behaviour Change Interventions (BCIs), embed evidence-based medicine into routine clinical practice, and improve quality of care and population health outcomes.

Methods: A theory-led systematic review of reviews examining barriers and facilitators to clinical behaviour change by PCPs in high-income primary care contexts using PRISMA. Embase, MEDLINE, PsychInfo, HMIC and Cochrane Library were searched.

Dark Nudges and Sludge in Big Alcohol: Behavioral Economics, Cognitive Biases, and Alcohol Industry Corporate Social Responsibility.

Unlabelled: Policy Points Nudges steer people toward certain options but also allow them to go their own way. "Dark nudges" aim to change consumer behavior against their best interests. "Sludge" uses cognitive biases to make behavior change more difficult.

Lessons for 'large-scale' general practice provider organisations in England from other inter-organisational healthcare collaborations.

Policymakers in England are increasingly encouraging the formation of 'large-scale' general practice provider collaborations with the expectation that this will help deliver better quality services and generate economies of scale. However, solid evidence that these expectations will be met is limited. This paper reviews evidence from other inter-organisational healthcare collaborations with similarities in their development or anticipated impact to identify lessons.

Exploring the training and scope of practice of GPs in England, Germany and Spain.

Objective: To explore general practitioner (GP) training, continuing professional development, scope of practice, ethical issues and challenges in the working environment in three European countries.

Method: Qualitative study of 35 GPs from England, Germany and Spain working in urban primary care practices. Participants were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling techniques.

The impact of new forms of large-scale general practice provider collaborations on England's NHS: a systematic review.

Background: Over the past decade, collaboration between general practices in England to form new provider networks and large-scale organisations has been driven largely by grassroots action among GPs. However, it is now being increasingly advocated for by national policymakers. Expectations of what scaling up general practice in England will achieve are significant.

Time to go global: a consultation on global health competencies for postgraduate doctors.

Background: Globalisation is having profound impacts on health and healthcare. We solicited the views of a wide range of stakeholders in order to develop core global health competencies for postgraduate doctors.

Methods: Published literature and existing curricula informed writing of seven global health competencies for consultation.

Voluntary Health Insurance expenditure in low- and middle-income countries: Exploring trends during 1995-2012 and policy implications for progress towards universal health coverage.

Background: Most low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) rely significantly on private health expenditure in the form of out-of-pocket payments (OOP) and voluntary health insurance (VHI). This paper assesses VHI expenditure trends in LMIC and explores possible explanations. This illuminates challenges deriving from changes in VHI expenditure as countries aim to progress equitably towards universal health coverage (UHC).