The knowledge, skills, experience and resources of voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations are crucial to the widespread implementation of care and support planning suggests a new discussion paper from National Voices.
The report, What is the role of VCSE organisations in care and support planning?, argues that charities have a vital role in supporting people to develop care and support plans, and in working with people with long-term conditions and their clinical teams to put the plans into practice.
This article updates previous evidence on the role of primary care in the management of depression and related disorders, unexplained physical symptoms, and severe and enduring mental illness. Regarding depression and related disorders, there is now evidence for the benefits of non-medical interventions and collaborative care, providing alternatives to the simplistic over prescription of antidepressant medication. For severe and enduring illness, the emphasis in primary care is now on the effective management of comorbid physical health problems. The article also summarises best practice for the primary care assessment and management of dementia, including the need for holistic review of care quality and the potential benefits of collaborative care. Finally, it notes the growing emphasis on primary mental healthcare in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Login using your SSSFT NHS OpenAthens for full text. SSOTP - request a copy of the article from the library - www.sssft.nhs.uk/library
As part of our “Perspectives on primary care” series, which highlights the issues different people face, we hear what a group of people have to say about their experiences of primary care.
A new breakfast club for patients is proving a success at John Coupland Hospital, Gainsborough.
Monday to Wednesday every week patients from a different bay enjoy making their own breakfast and cup of tea with support from therapy staff on Scotter Ward at John Coupland Hospital.
The hospital is run by Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust (LCHS). “From the beginning of July we’ve been running breakfast club three times a week,” explained Claire Williams Occupational Therapist for LCHS. She added: “While patients are being supported to pour their cereal, butter their toast and make a hot drink. We are preparing patients for returning home and gaining confidence in daily living skills following an illness or an injury. “We are able to have an informal chat with them on a more one to one basis and assess their needs.”
Proactive Care, the West Sussex joined up service across the NHS and social care, won the Improving out of Hospital Services for Older People Award at the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Academic Health Science Network Expo and Awards 2016.
The award went to the Coastal West Sussex Proactive Care service which consists of thirteen local teams.
Sussex Community NHS Trust is the lead provider of this service which is multi-agency and multidisciplinary.
Proactive Care supports people who have a long-term condition and/or the frail elderly. They support people to remain in their own homes for as long as possible and to avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital. By working together with GPs and a range of health and social care providers, Proactive Care identifies, plans and cares for the whole needs of each patient to provide personalised care.
A computer simulation model is now available, designed to help commissioners and providers to predict the impacts of service changes before they are made.
The tool – called the Commissioning Simulation Model – has been launched by NHS England’s Long Term Conditions Year of Care Commissioning Programme, together with Simul8 Corporation, following testing with care economies around the country.
NB. US study.
Background
Poorly managed hospital discharges and care transitions between health care facilities can cause poor outcomes for both patients and their caregivers. Unfortunately, the usual approach to health care delivery does not support continuity and coordination across the settings of hospital, doctors’ offices, home or nursing homes. Though complex efforts with multiple components can improve patient outcomes and reduce 30-day readmissions, research has not identified which components are necessary. Also we do not know how delivery of core components may need to be adjusted based on patient, caregiver, setting or characteristics of the community, or how system redesign can be accelerated.
Managing demand for planned health care is described in this report as a “wicked problem” – demand for healthcare is outpacing capacity to meet it.
Health economies have tried various approaches to managing demand; referral management centres, expanded roles, direct access amongst others. But the evidence base has been mixed, of variable quality and sometimes conflicting findings.
This synthesis of evidence sets out to understand what works but with a particular focus on context, to understand what works, in what settings and why.
The new contract will see an investment of £220 million for 2016 to 2017, part of which will provide a pay uplift of 1% for GPs.
This agreement is the start of a process for investment, support and reform in general practice which both sides are working together to achieve, with a bigger package due to be announced soon.
There is new evidence on how tailoring a discharge plan to the individual compares with a routine process of discharging people from hospital, from a Cochrane review comparing these approaches.
Conclusions Greater supply of primary care is associated with lower premature mortality even in a health system that has strong primary care (England). Health systems need to sustain the capacity of primary care to deliver effective care, and should assist primary care providers in identifying and meeting the needs of socioeconomically deprived groups.
Health minister, Alistair Burt, told delegates at 100% Optical that patients shouldn’t see GPs for every medical ailment, and that CCGs need to use the whole range of health professionals – including those in eye care – to innovate in health delivery.
Speaking for the first time to an exclusively optical audience on Saturday (6.2.16), the minister responsible for primary care services said that he was determined to ensure that the development of primary care was not centred solely around general practice and that all primary care professions are recognised and valued.
Lean healthcare is claimed to contribute to improved patient satisfaction, but there is limited evidence to support this notion. This study investigates how primary-care centres working with Lean define and improve value from the patient's perspective, and how the application of Lean healthcare influences patient satisfaction. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Devolution of health and social care spending to Manchester—known as “Devo Manc”—has created a new obstacle to creating new care models, a seminar in London heard on 10 February.
Terry Dafter, director of adult social care in Stockport, Greater Manchester, described how social care, community health services, and primary care were being combined under pooled funding from the borough council and the Stockport clinical commissioning group. The care model being developed is a multispecialty community provider (MCP), as described in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View.
In the latest in our series of blogs looking at the issues different groups of consumers face when using primary care services, we share what we found when we spoke to a group of over 65s, in partnership with Healthwatch Surrey.
COMMERICAL: A legal challenge from a private provider has forced commissioners to undertake a full procurement process for several GP services in Hull. Please contact the library to receive a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai
Delayed transfers of care have risen steadily for the past two years and are becoming a major area of policy focus during 2016. HSJ analyses the figures by area. Please contact the library to receive a copy of this article - http://bit.ly/1Xyazai