Health and Social Care update from our work as Strategic Partner (SP) to the Department of Health, NHS England and Public Health England.
Disability Rights UK leads a user-led consortium as one of 22 strategic partners in the voluntary sector. Our name is ‘Win-Win Alliance – disabled people leading change’. This programme is commissioned by our system partners, the Department of Health, NHS England and Public Health England. As strategic partner we are well placed to raise particular challenges facing our members of disabled people’s user-led organisations. We also ensure that information and opportunities to engage with system partners reach our members through this and other updates, forums, meetings and discussions, and we regularly inform about funding opportunities (which you may pursue with or without Disability Rights UK). For any comments and/or ideas about how to strengthen ‘disabled people leading change’, please get in touch with Bernd.Sass@disabilityrightsuk.org
Specific news
NHS England forms new alliance to support people with long term health conditions: Coalition for Collaborative Care
NHS England has joined forces with a range of national health and care organisations to form a major new alliance committed to improving care and support for people with long-term conditions. The Coalition for Collaborative Care (C4CC) will champion a system-wide transformation of how those with long term conditions receive and use care to help them better manage their condition and maximise their well-being.
To read more, go to: http://www.england.nhs.uk/2014/11/21/c4cc/
Sue Bott, Disability Rights’ Director of Policy and Development is part of the C4CC.
Independent report demands action for those with learning disabilities
NHS England has published a report into care for people with learning disabilities. The report makes recommendations, for consideration, on how a national commissioning framework could address shortcomings in current support for people with learning disabilities.
To read the report, go to: http://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/transforming-commissioning-services.pdf
January - March 2015 CQC Inspection Programme – getting insights from people with learning disabilities
The Care Quality Commission has published its inspection plans for January - March 2015. They are very keen to hear from people with a learning disability and those who support them about their experiences of care to inform our inspection teams. This includes learning disability partnership boards and local groups working with people with a learning disability.
CQC would like you to share any relevant feedback about the quality of care provided by these organisations and any of the services they provide. This includes evidence of high-quality care as well as concerns you have identified. They will use your information to help the inspection team plan the inspection and what to look for on the inspection. The evidence will not contain personal or confidential information and we understand that any references to examples you share will be anonymised.
CQC would like to thank you in advance for your support and any evidence you may want to send them to inform CQC inspections and for cascading this information to other people and organisations who may be interested in it.
CQC will be carrying out publicly announced inspections in the following sectors:
- Acute Hospitals
- Mental Health, including substance misuse services
- Community Health Services (CHS)
- Ambulances
- Independent Healthcare Providers (IHC)
Inspections will take place at: Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, Weston Area Health, Yorkshire Ambulance Service, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Peninsula Community Health, Clifton Park Hospital Ramsay Healthcare, Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Nottingham
(Circle Partnership), Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, County Durham and Darlington NHS FT,
Spire Liverpool, BMI Blackheath, Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust, Chilston Clinic, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, Harley Street Clinic, Central and North (West) London NHS Foundation Trust, Nuffield Health Bristol - Chesterfield Hospital, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, Barlborough NHS TC, Care UK, The Spencer Private Hospital, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust,
Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust.
During January - March CQC will also carry out inspections for:
- Adult Social Care services including care homes, home care and hospices
- NHS GP practices and GP out of hours services
- Dentists (pilot work to test our new approach)
These are not publicly announced. However CQC would be interested in any information you may have about these services.. You can contact us and send information via enquiries@cqc.org.uk or by phoning 03000 616161.
You can find out more about the new CQC inspection methodology here.
There are some differences in our approach to inspecting different services, but they all aim to answer five key questions about an organisation:
- Is it safe?
- Is it effective?
- Is it caring?
- Is it responsive to people’s needs?
- Is it well-led?
All these services (apart from dentists) will now be rated as outstanding; good; require improvement; or inadequate.
NHS ENGLAND outside of the law regarding key sections of the NHS Act - NHS England primary care decisions 'unlawful', High Court rules
NHS England is acting unlawfully by failing to properly involve and inform patients about its primary care commissioning decisions, a High Court judge has said. In a ruling with wide ranging implications for the commissioning body, Justice Popplewell found NHS England had and continued to flout key sections of the NHS Act. These require commissioners to ensure individual patients are consulted or informed about the “development and consideration” of decisions about or changes to primary care where they affect health services they might use.
The lawyers who brought the case claim NHS England could now face legal challenges over its historic decisions about primary commissioning. According to court papers, Justice Popplewell declared that NHS England “has acted unlawfully by reason of its failure to make arrangements for the involvement of patients in primary care commissioning decisions as required by the National Health Service Act 2006”.
The case was bought by lawyers from Leigh Day on behalf of Danny Currie, a patient registered at the Jubilee Street Practice in Tower Hamlets, which was threatened with closure after NHS England scrapped the minimum Practice Income Guarantee. Although the commissioning body later agreed a two year funding agreement for the Practice, lawyers for Leigh Day argued that patients such as Mr Currie should be involved in any decision that affected services they used.
Richard Stein, a partner at Leigh Day, said that the judge’s declaration “confirms that NHS England will be taking decisions about dealing with GP practices and the sector every day which are in fact unlawful until they put proper arrangements in place as they are required by law”.
“It is shocking that the body responsible nationally for producing guidance for other bodies to carry out these obligations haven’t done so themselves.”
Mr Stein said the declaration could mean that patients would have to be involved in discussions on changes to the GP contract, which are currently being held between NHS England and the British Medical Association. According to the court papers, NHS England conceded it had acted unlawfully, telling the court it was “taking active steps to bring itself into compliance with this duty”.
NHS E launches initiative to help patients take control of their health
NHS England’s ‘Realising the Value Programme’ will provide £500,000 to help a charity or not for profit organisation identify ways of supporting patients to self-care. The programme will also support the spread of self-care across local communities, and the NHS, to empower people to take an active role in health.
The deadline for applications is 9th January 2015. For more information and how to apply, go to: http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/patients/realising-value/
Over 11,800 people have pledged to protect antibiotics by becoming Antibiotic Guardians
Over 8,100 healthcare professionals and 3,600 members of the public have now pledged to do their own part to help reduce antibiotic resistance.
The Antibiotic Guardian was launched in September by Public Health England as part of activities to support European Antibiotic Awareness Day. The campaign will continue to run throughout the year to encourage more people to make pledges to help save our antibiotics.
Do your part to help save our antibiotics and make a pledge here.
NHS prepared for cold winter pressures - plans for winter in place earlier than ever before
NHS leaders, GPs, social services and other health professionals have run one of the widest winter planning exercises the NHS has ever seen.
Local medical experts identified pressure points and a range of measures to address them, including:
- more action to keep people out of hospital
- closer involvement of GPs and social service organisations
- a public information campaign encouraging people with non-urgent medical problems to use the full range of NHS services
To read more, go to: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nhs-well-prepared-for-cold-winter-pressures
“Look after yourself this winter. If you know someone who is frail or elderly or has a serious health problem, then help look after them too. Help or encourage them to go to their pharmacy or GP before one problem leads to another and they end up in hospital.”
Senior clinicians at NHS England urge the public to seek early advice if they feel unwell over winter, particularly those who are very young, the elderly and frail or have existing health problems.
They published analysis that shows many of the pressures faced by the NHS over the winter occur because of a seasonal rise in the number of patients attending A&E departments who need to be admitted to hospital.
They said a key way of addressing winter pressures on hospital A&E departments is to encourage the prevention and early treatment of illnesses, particularly breathing problems.
See: http://www.england.nhs.uk/2013/11/15/wint-ad/
Finally, you may find the following account on self-care helpful which also refers to winter pressures: http://www.england.nhs.uk/2014/11/19/jonathon-hope/
Shaping Our Lives and User Voice seeking focus group members
Shaping Our Lives and User Voice are researching ways people can get involved in making positive changes to the services and systems they use. They want to support the involvement of people who are experiencing multiple disadvantages (mental health issues, homelessness, drug and alcohol misuse and violence or abuse with other diversity aspects), to influence and change systems and services they come into contact with, resulting in better outcomes.
They are holding a focus group on 14th January 2015. If you are interested in attending this focus group, please email becki@shapingourlives.org.uk for further details.
Funding to avoid hospital admissions
Cabinet Office is funding voluntary organisations to take forward projects that that will provide extra help to hospitals by supporting older people during winter months - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/26million-funding-for-volunteers-that-support-hospitals
Transforming the Commissioning of Services for People with Learning Disabilities and/ or Autism
NHS England has published an independent report into the future care of people with learning disabilities and/or autism.
NHS England asked Sir Stephen Bubb, Chief Executive of charity leaders body ACEVO, to make recommendations for developing a national commissioning framework, recognising that more needs to be done to transform care for people with learning disabilities and/or autism.
The work will support NHS England’s current activity on transforming services to deliver better care now – working alongside other national partners – and re-shaping services to improve health outcomes in the longer term.
The report – ‘Transforming the Commissioning of Services for People with Learning Disabilities and/ or Autism’ - has been developed with input from healthcare specialists, the voluntary sector, local government and people with learning disabilities, their families and carers, and is available here: http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/qual-clin-lead/ld/
The Win-Win Alliance – Disability Rights UK have argued – by focusing on the example of cancer screening uptake – that commissioning services and support for learning disabled people needs to be revamped. In the given example of cancer screening it is unacceptable that GPs can still simply sort out people with learning disabilities and not engage them with screening services. In the absence of sanctions and/or incentives, it is down to the conscience of every individual GP to decide whether or not to spend (more) time on people with learning disabilities. We think people with learning disabilities should be supported to develop experience and outcome measures according to which GPs and other staff (including peer supporters) would be paid a significant part of their unit costs for delivering this service.
Almost 500 men have potentially lifesaving surgery through screening New figures from Public Health England’s NHS Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening programme show that 487 men received potentially lifesaving surgery during 2013 to 2014.
In England, around 1 in every 70 men aged 65 years has an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). An AAA is a dangerous swelling (aneurysm) of the aorta, the main blood vessel that runs from the heart down through the abdomen to the rest of the body. If left untreated, the aneurysm can rupture, and 8 out of every 10 people with a ruptured AAA die before they reach hospital, or don’t survive the emergency surgery.
To see more please go to: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/almost-500-men-have-potentially-lifesaving-surgery-through-screening
The right partnerships - a Strategic Partner response to the NHS England Five Year Forward View
The Health and Care Voluntary Sector Strategic Partnership welcome the long view taken in the NHS England Five Year Forward View, particularly with its emphasis on more control for patients, families and communities; better models of care; promoting wellbeing; and ill health prevention through partnership working. We are pleased to see that NHS England and Public Health England are working closely together to promote a healthier nation (with concurrent publication of PHE's priorities in From Evidence into Action Opportunities to Protect and Improve the Nation's Health) and that this resonates with the new preventative duty brought in with the Care Act. The voluntary and community sector (VCS) is well placed to support system partners co-produce both innovative and integrated ways of working that promote better models of care and wellbeing.
Read more here: http://nhfshare.heartforum.org.uk/RMAssets/SPP/StrategicPartnerResponseto5YFV.pdf
GP practices to work with Jobcentres, following £1bn investment
GP Practices will be expected to work closely with job centres, social services and other community services in return for the £1bn funding promised to primary care, the health secretary announced today.
Addressing the House of Commons, Jeremy Hunt confirmed that £1bn was to be invested in ‘community and primary care facilities’ over the next four years as part of the Autumn Statement, while £200m was to be used to fund pilots of the new ‘Multispecialty Community Providers (MSPs)’ outlined in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View, which will see GPs employing community service providers as well as hospital consultants.
That money, which is being sourced from £1.1 billion worth of fines slapped on misbehaving banks, will be accompanied by £1.7 billion extra investment from the Treasury into ‘front line services’, said the Health Secretary.
Mr Hunt also announced that CCGs will soon be able to commission public health services as part of the ‘co-commissioning’ drive. Chancellor George Osborne yesterday announced on the BBC that the Government was to invest in NHS services, and trailled that GP surgeries were to receive £250m a year over the next four years.
The Health Secretary confirmed this funding in Parliament, and said that new ‘primary care facilities’ would be expected to join with other, non-health, services such as job centres, although provided little more detail about how this would work. He said: ‘To deliver world-class community care we need much better physical infrastructure. So today I can announce a £1bn investment fund in community and primary care facilities over the next four years. This will pay for new surgeries and community care facilities in the places where people most want them, near their own homes and families. These new primary care facilities will also be encouraged to join up closely with local job centres, social services and other community services’.
Charging migrants – implications and consequences
A new charging regime for primary care is scheduled come into force next year. It is targeted at migrants who are in the UK for less than six months and who have not paid a new health surcharge.
The charging regime is set to apply to primary care such as minor surgeries, A&E, and services outside of hospital. At some point, most likely after May 2015, the Department of Health will be looking at whether charging should be extended to all commissioned services. It is vital to keep track of these changes and contribute to the consultations and lobbying on these policies.
These changes could have significant impacts on migrants and the work of supporting organisations. The Race Equality Foundation and others believe that the charges have the potential to impact health, and encourage racial profiling. There are still ongoing negotiations on health charging, and in particular to try and exempt certain people considered vulnerable from paying.
For more information please follow the link to a set of briefings written for the Race Equality Foundation, or email samir@racefound.org:
GP services get £100 million boost
NHS England has once again opened the application process for the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund. The £100 million fund is open to bids from GPs wanting to extend access to GP services through improvements such as offering weekend appointments and longer opening hours.
To read more, go to: http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/qual-clin-lead/calltoaction/pm-ext-access/#wave2
Feeling under the weather campaign launched
A campaign to persuade people to seek advice early from their pharmacist if they are feeling unwell has now launched. The ‘feeling under the weather’ campaign, commissioned by NHS England, particularly encourages older people and those with respiratory conditions, to nip health problems in the bud by seeking early advice from their local pharmacist.
For more information on the campaign, go to: http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/winter/earlyadvice/
Formal launch of MyNHS
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has formally launched MyNHS. This is a new site on NHS Choices where people can compare the performance of their local NHS hospital, their care services and their local authority with up-to-date information.
The launch comes 1 year after the government’s response to the Francis Inquiry on Mid Staffordshire. It is the first time such a wide range of performance indicators has been made available to the public in this way.
To read more, go to: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/formal-launch-of-mynhs
The WWA has offered help with this – as ULOs and Centres for Independent Living are already listed on NHS Choices for example, we think it is crucial to build a platform that promotes (the right to) peer support and with this the need for strong local support infrastructures.
Plans to transform health and improve services using technology unveiled
Radical new plans to improve health through digital technology have been unveiled by the National Information Board, chaired by NHS England’s National Director for Patients and Information, Tim Kelsey. The plans set how technology should work better for patients by 2020, through advancements including online access to their GP records.
To read more, go to: http://www.england.nhs.uk/2014/11/13/leaders-transform/
HIV infections continue to rise
A new report published by Public Health England this week, in advance of National HIV Testing Week, shows that there are now nearly 110,000 people living with HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) in the UK. Around a quarter of these (26,100) are unaware of their infection and at risk of passing on the virus to others through unprotected sex. Encouragingly, the proportion of people diagnosed with a late stage of HIV infection fell from 57% in 2004 to 42% in 2013.
The report shows around 6% of gay and bisexual men are now living with HIV. This rises to 13% in London - with 3,250 newly diagnosed in 2013, an all-time annual high. It is estimated that over 7,000 gay men have an HIV infection that remains undiagnosed and that an estimated 2,800 men acquired HIV in 2013. These figures underline the need to further increase both the numbers and frequency of HIV tests, which is critical to tackling the ongoing high levels of HIV transmission: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/hiv-infections-continue-to-rise