GIRFT Greatest Hits 2025: Our top ten most downloaded guidance

Physician Assistant in Anaesthesia Scope of Practice 2025 – RCoA RCoA - December 2025 In 2024 we published the Interim AA Scope of Practice, supported by the Association of Anaesthetists. It was subsequently endorsed by the Leng Review, whose recommendations were accepted in full by the…

Standards for Maternity Care – RCOG RCOG - December 2025 The Maternity Service Standards Framework provides practical guidance to support commissioners and service providers to deliver safer, more equitable and compassionate maternity care across the UK. The Framework sets clear standards linked…

Breaking new ground: Local authority stop smoking services and wider tobacco control in England, 2025 ASH - Dec 2025 New government investment has delivered expanded stop smoking services that are working hard to reach smokers in all communities and reduce health inequalities. Findings are from…

Principles for providing patient care in corridors NHS England - 11th Dec 2025 Guidance to support point-of-care staff in delivering the safest and highest quality care possible when corridor care has been deemed unavoidable. This guidance replaces the Principles for Providing Safe and Good…

Body Worn Video Cameras (BWVC) Worn by Police Accompanying Patients in the Emergency Department – RCEM RCEM - Dec 2025 This guidance has been developed to assist Emergency Department (ED) staff in managing patients who attend the ED accompanied by police officers wearing body worn video cameras…

Evidence of mindsets that enable or block the implementation of decent, agile working in the NHS: a research report with recommendations University of Sussex Business School This report draws on four years of evidence gathering and collaboration through the agiLab knowledge-exchange to identify…

Advancing the surgical workforce: UK Surgical Workforce Census Report Royal College of Surgeons of England The 2025 UK Surgical Workforce Census reveals a profession that remains deeply committed to patient care but that is operating under increasing pressure. Over half of respondents identified…

Bringing care closer to home: reducing inappropriate out of area placements in mental health services NHS Confederation Inappropriate out of area placements can have severe consequences for patients, carers and the wider system. This report highlights that impact, presents ways of responding to…

Teenage pregnancy prevention: Strengthening local leadership Local Government Association Report highlights how local government have worked together with community partners like community pharmacy to reduce under-18 conception rates. It looks at evidence, challenges, and opportunities for further…

Brief guide: Patient and carer race equality framework (PCREF). Care Quality Commission (CQC); 2025. This guide sets out what the CQC inspectors and Mental Health Act reviewers look at when checking how providers implement the Patient and carer race equality framework (PCREF). It applies to NHS…

Catheter Care. – RCN Royal College of Nursing (RCN); 2025. Continence is one of the fundamentals of nursing care and maintaining continence can significantly increase a patient’s quality of life. This update reflects NMC guidance around the standards that nurses must maintain throughout their…

Royal College of Anaesthetists issues advice in response to shortages of commercially prepared epidural infusions The Royal College of Anaesthetists This guidance, following consultation with the NHS and the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain & Ireland, published in response…

MHRA Safety Roundup: December 2025 Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency Roundup covers mesalazine and idiopathic intracranial hypertension, transition to new formulation of Rybelsus (semaglutide tablets) and risk of medication error, and letters, medicines recalls and device…

Principles for providing patient care in corridors NHS England - 11th December 2025 Guidance to support point-of-care staff in delivering the safest and highest quality care possible when corridor care has been deemed unavoidable. This guidance replaces the Principles for Providing Safe and Good…

Adverse Weather and Health Plan. UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA); 2025. The Adverse Weather and Health Plan aims to protect individuals and communities from the health effects of adverse weather and to build community resilience Adverse Weather and Health Plan.

Alcohol and drug misuse prevention, treatment and recovery guidance. Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID); 2025. Information and other resources to support commissioners, service providers and others providing alcohol and drug interventions. Change made: Added ‘Co-occurring mental…

Primary and community healthcare support for people living with frailty National Audit Office Report examines the effectiveness of the government’s approach to identifying and managing frailty in non-hospital based services in England, setting out the growing problem of frailty, the government’s…

Today saw the launch of Youth Matters, the first national youth strategy in almost two decades, a ten year commitment to improving outcomes for young people. Find out more about what this means for mental health in our latest blog from our Associate Director of Policy Kadra Abdinasir bit.ly/492hq8N

Traumatic experiences are the norm among people in prison. Our new report Dealt an ACE evaluates the impact of Pact’s (the Prison Advice and Care Trust) project which supported young men in prison who have experienced childhood trauma.

Cardiovascular disease prevention, 2025 report (CVDPREVENT) CVDPREVENT, The report identifies two key opportunities for improvement relating to potential missed diagnosis for cardiovascular related conditions, and NICE recommended cholesterol targets. In addition to a call for NHS England to keep…

Emergency paediatric surgery (NCEPOD) NCEPOD This report contains a number of key findings relating to multiple aspects of care such as training, regional networks, care pathways, and timely access to services. Specifically, it states that only half the hospitals reviewed had an emergency theatre…

Eating Disorders: Service Mapping Report 2025 (NAED) National Audit of Eating Disorders (NAED), This report shares the first findings from the new National Audit of Eating Disorders (NAED), detailing data provided about services in England between January and May 2025. In its first year, the audit…

Paediatric critical care audit 2025 (PICANet) The Paediatric Intensive Care Audit Network (PICANet)  The report describes key metrics and outcomes related to transport and admission events in order to monitor the delivery and quality of care against agreed standards, and evaluate clinical…

Supporting people with serious mental illness to live well out of hospital NHS Confederation Out of area placements in Oxfordshire have reached their lowest level through a supported housing service (the Response Littlemore Campus) for people with complex mental health challenges. Supporting…

Reducing out of area placements via service redesign and referral management NHS Confederation Workforce capacity issues in the East of England region mean that bed numbers have been reduced, both within NHS and independent sector services. This has led to a large number of children and young…

Reducing demand for mental health inpatient beds in Somerset NHS Confederation A collaborative approach to admissions avoidance and early supportive discharge in Somerset, introduced by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, has reduced demand for inpatient beds for mental health patients in crisis.…

Children, violence and vulnerability 2025: mental health and experiences of violence Youth Endowment Fund (YEF) The YEF surveyed nearly 11,000 children aged 13 to 17 in England and Wales for its annual Children, Violence and Vulnerability report. The findings are being shared across several…

‘Falling through the G-App’: a snapshot of the patient experience of kidney disease diagnosis Kidney Care UK Despite NHS guidelines stating that ‘patients shouldn’t be receiving serious diagnoses through digital channels without adequate support or context’, this report provides evidence that far…

Acute limb ischaemia – A review of the quality of the care provided to adults with acute limb ischaemia A report published by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (2025) Read the report - Risking Life and Limb

Management of Neonatal Pain – A BAPM Framework for Practice BAPM - 20th November 2025 Families expect health care professionals to recognise, measure, prevent and treat pain in neonates, and health care professionals have a duty of care in this respect, especially in view of the adverse long-term…

Principles of Care for Adults with a Tracheostomy Living within a Community Setting ENT UK 20 November 2025 We are pleased to highlight the new Principles-of-Care (PoC) documents, created as part of the NTSP initiative. These resources address the rising number and increasing clinical complexity…

Kingdon review of children’s hearing services: final report Department of Health and Social Care This document is the final report of the independent review of children’s hearing services in England. The review was chaired by Dr Camilla Kingdon. The review undertook extensive engagement,…

Maternity Outcomes Signal System (MOSS) standard operating procedures NHS England The Maternity Outcomes Signal System (MOSS) was developed by NHS England in response to the East Kent Reading the signals report. These standard operating procedures, along with the accompanying 8 annexes, explain…

Clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment DHSC - Published 28 November 2025 UK clinical guidelines recommending interventions for people with harmful patterns of drinking and alcohol dependence, supporting and promoting good practice. Clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment

HIV Action Plan for England, 2025 to 2030 DHSC - Dec 2025 The HIV Action Plan 2025 to 2030 sets out how the government will enable every level of the healthcare system to work together to engage everyone in prevention, testing and treatment, tackle stigma, and reach our ambition to end new HIV…

Bracing for winter – RCN RCN This report examines the increasing pressures on the NHS in England and its implications for corridor care as we enter the winter period. It explores how rising demand, pressures, and challenges with patient flow for emergency and elective services has contributed to…

Independent review into mental health conditions, ADHD and autism: terms of reference Department of Health and Social Care This publication sets out the terms of reference for an independent review into the prevalence, trends and inequalities associated with mental health conditions, ADHD and…

Closing referral black holes: how to improve experiences and reduce NHS workload Healthwatch England This research finds that one in seven patients who have been referred by their GP are stuck waiting for specialist care due to GP referrals being delayed, lost, or rejected. The poll was of 2,622…

Shaping change together: co-producing innovation in social care Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) This report shows that co-production (working in equal partnership with people who draw on care and support, carers and frontline staff) is vital to making new ideas work in practice. It…

Making the NHS Friends and Family Test ‘fit for the future’ Picker Institute Europe This report sets out a roadmap for reforming the NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT), with recommendations for the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and local NHS providers. It explores the historical…

Towards excellence: a review of brain tumour care for children across the UK Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission This review of paediatric neuro-oncology services highlights both the excellence and inequities in care for children and young people with a brain tumour. Covering 15 centres,…

Position statement: Using virtual support technology in CT and MRI The Society of Radiographers (SoR) The Society of Radiographers (SoR) recognises the growing interest in the application of virtual support technology (VST), also known as remote operation, within diagnostic Computed Tomography…

Practical advice and key actions in new GIRFT handbook for optimising the care of patients with IBD GIRFT - 20th Nov 2025 GIRFT has developed a new handbook pulling together examples of innovative practice, proven solutions and practical actions to help optimise the care of NHS patients with…

PACS procurement tips and tricks – The Royal College of Radiologists The Royal College of Radiologists Procuring or replacing a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) is a complex process that requires careful planning, collaboration and technical understanding. The success of a PACS…

Securing the NHS workforce for the future: our recommendations for action Kings Fund The 10 Year Health Plan is hugely ambitious in scope, and its success depends on robust and strategic workforce planning, with clearly defined actions and responsibilities at local, regional and national levels.…

Enabling the independent sector to invest and deliver more NHS services is essential to success of 10 Year Health Plan – new report IHPN IHPN’s new report – ‘Building Better Health’ has been co-authored with Future Health co-founder and former Department of Health and Social Care Special Adviser,…

Do hospitals exhibit efficiency differences justifying local price variation? A retrospective study of lengths of stay for renal transplant in NHS England University of York We report an analysis undertaken on renal transplantation and services that are subject to a centralised purchasing and…

The contractual mechanisms to deliver a neighbourhood health service: considerations for NHS leaders Key points The government’s 10 Year Health Plan has put the shift from hospitals to community through a neighbourhood health service at the heart of its reform agenda. While many of our members…