Between March and December 2020 the Health Foundation; King’s Fund; Nuffield Trust; and the Strategy Unit collaborated to provide analytical support to the health and care system to help in the fight against COVID-19.

Poor air quality is the largest environmental risk to public health in the UK and central London has the highest levels of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide.  The Guy’s and St. Thomas’ charity, now operating its programmes under the Impact on Urban Health banner, have committed to 10 years of funding to improve air quality-related health in the residents of South London boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. The charity commissioned the Strategy Unit to explore the health of several key groups and the factors that most influence health alongside air quality within the area.

There are few clearer measures of societal health than homelessness. On this count, and despite its enormous material wealth, England is in poor shape. Relative to the recent past, and any country we might want to compare ourselves to, we have a problem with homelessness.

NHS specialised services provide care for people with complex or rare medical conditions. Treatments for these conditions are often expensive: While specialised services support a small proportion of the population, approximately one-sixth of the total NHS budget - over £19 billon - was allocated to this area in 2019/20.

The reports published here, address two important and enduring questions about specialised services:

Early in the Covid pandemic, it became clear that people’s mental health would suffer. Whether through bereavement, unemployment, social isolation, not being able to access support services – or a host of other routes – an alarming picture began to emerge and attract attention.

Promoting whole-system action on the wider determinants of healthy life expectancy in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic

Health and care services get just one opportunity to support people at the end of their life. When this support is compassionate and appropriate, unnecessary suffering can be avoided and grieving can be eased. When this is not the case, harm and distress can result. The difference in these experiences can be profound.

Anchor institutions are large, typically non-profit, public sector organisations whose long-term sustainability is tied to the wellbeing of the populations they serve. They also have a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of their local communities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic we have seen rapid changes in ways of working. We have seen an increase in collaboration, particularly through digital platforms, the sharing of data, and people describing ‘true system working’.

So how do we capture innovations and changes in practice? How do we learn from them? How to we identify what should be continued and what should not? How do we sort promising, effective changes from those that are ineffective – or even potentially harmful?

Barriers to accessing mental health care during pregnancy and the first postnatal year (perinatal period) seem to be greater for ethnic minority women.