Health and Social Care update from our work as Strategic Partner to the Department of Health, NHS England and Public Health England
This month’s update includes reflections on Disability Rights UK’s events and workplan, and on how this will support local user-led organisations and finally news and insights on volunteering and Winterbourne View progress report for example.
http://disabilityrightsuk.org/policy-campaigns/health-and-social-care-reforms
NHS England to set out tendering process for personal health budgets support services
Informally Disability Rights UK has heard of a tendering process for personal health budgets support services to be launched in January/February 2014. From April 2015 people in NHS Continuing Care will have a right to a personal health budget (the previous right to ‘request’ a personal health budget has been significantly strengthened). There are plans to extend this right beyond NHS Continuing Care to other care areas and a range of Clinical Commissioning Groups are already working on this. Support services are needed to assist personal health budget holders the different stages from accessing a personal health budget, advocacy, assessment through to monitoring.
Specifications of the service are likely to build on what has been established in Direct Payment Support services in social care. It has been recognised that disabled people’s user-led organisations should play a key part in this as they already do in social care.
We will keep you up to date. If in the meantime you wish to discuss any of this as a Disability Rights UK member, please contact our Strategic Partnership Manager under Bernd.Sass@disabilityrightsuk.org .
Informing CQC inspections - update on work in Southampton (Solent NHS Trust for both acute and mental health: end February), Dudley (NHS Acute Trust: 28 February) Eastbourne (out of hours care at Station Health Centre: early March) - participants sought for survey and focus groups!
Disability Rights UK has been asked by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to help find disabled people in advance of the local CQC inspections who are happy to share their experiences in a discussion group and/or a survey. Participants in a discussion group will receive a voucher of £15 but they need to have used acute care (at Dudley) or mental health and community health services (at Solent NHS Trust) and GP/Out of hours services (at Eastbourne Station Health Centre) in the last 12 months so that they are able to take part.
Please get in touch with Bernd if you fulfil any of these requirements and are interested in taking part OR know someone who might do to whom you could forward this info. You can email him: Bernd.Sass@disabilityrightsuk.org or call his mobile: 07906 521536.
The CQC wishes to build up local and regional disability networks, and Disability Rights UK feels the forthcoming CQC inspections provide a valuable opportunity for disabled people to have their say and – in the longer term - shape how services will be commissioned. The CQC has issued a ‘Statement of Involvement’. More details about this can be found here: http://www.cqc.org.uk/public/sharing-your-experience/involving-people-who-use-services/launching-our-statement-involvement
Care Quality Commission’s new approach to inspecting community health care
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) have published their ‘fresh start’ document, which sets out new ways for inspecting health care in the community. This will include more inspections carried out by larger teams and spending more time observing care.
Health services are now increasingly likely to be delivered in people’s homes, health centres and community hospitals and this makes joined up care between different providers and agencies important.
The new approach to inspecting these services will see teams include:
- expert CQC inspectors
- sector specialists and clinicians – for example nurses, health visitors, allied health professionals such as occupational therapists, GPs, paediatricians, sector directors and managers
- experts by Experience – our comprehensive inspections will always involve people who have experience of using care services.
You can read more about the new plans by visiting the CQC website: http://www.cqc.org.uk/public/news/new-approach-inspecting-community-health-care
Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) – a local campaigning tool?!
With the support of a number of Strategic Partners (including Disability Rights UK), the Department of Health (Sam Pryke) has made outcomes information on adult social care services more accessible to people who use care and support services, and the wider public.
A key role of the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework (ASCOF) is to support improvement in adult social care services, by enabling local people to hold their council to account for the quality of the services they provide. To this end, an online tool was assessed to present data from the ASCOF in a user-friendly way for use by the public to enable them to find out about their local authority’s social care services, and to support them in conversations with their local authority about these.
Together with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) the ASCOF website was launched on 11th November and can be accessed at: http://ascof.hscic.gov.uk/. It can also be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/ or http://www.nhs.uk/carersdirect/social-care/pages/how-local-authority-social-services-perform.aspx. The website to be highlighted on NHS Choices to ensure easy access to the general public.
On the ASCOF website, users can select their local authority from the map or drop-down menu, or type in their postcode to find information on outcomes including quality of life, satisfaction with care services and feeling safe. Local authority performance is shown against national, regional and similar local authorities’ performance.
There is continuing work with the HSCIC to scope the options for further enhancing the functionality and presentation of the tool. This will be informed by a programme of engagement to reach members of the public and people who use care and support and also local authorities, voluntary and community sector, local Healthwatch organisations, and national stakeholders including the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and Local Government Association.
NHS England’s chief financial officer:‘We must tackle health inequalities’
New funding formula for local health commissioners more accurately reflects population changes and includes a specific deprivation measure
Funding for NHS commissioners will rise from £96bn to £100bn over the next two years, so despite wider public sector budget cuts the NHS is being protected from inflation at a time of austerity.
Changes to the way in which funding levels for local health services are worked out will help ensure that funding matches the needs of local populations, it was heard yesterday.
Following an extensive review, NHS England’s Board yesterday agreed a new funding formula for local health commissioning based on more accurate, detailed data and including a deprivation measure specifically aimed at tackling health inequalities.
For further information, go to: http://www.england.nhs.uk/2013/12/18/tackle-health-inequalities/
Ombudsman to offer better public redress service
An independent review, published on 29 November 2013, recommends that the government reforms the Local Government Ombudsman, which deals with poor council services.
The independent review also recommends that consideration be given to the creation of a single public services ombudsman for England. Establishing a 1-stop-shop for problems or complaints will make it easier for the public to register complaints and seek redress. www.gov.uk/government/news/ombudsman-to-offer-better-public-redress-service
Green Light Toolkit to improve mental health services for People with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism
The Green Light Toolkit to improve mental health services for People with Learning Disabilities and/or Autism was launched by the Department for Health at Learning Disabilities Today in London on 28th November 2013.
Commissioned by the NHS Confederation, supported by the Department of Health, developed by the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) and building on the report Reasonably Adjusted? published in 2012, the Green Light 2013 Toolkit includes:
- An audit framework to support reviews
- An 'easy read' version of the audit framework and toolkit
- A database of examples of reasonable adjustments made by services as a resource for people seeking to innovate and share learning
For more information, go to the NDTi website: http://www.ndti.org.uk/major-projects/green-light-toolkit-2013/
Public Health England – examples of service integration sought!
Public Health England (PHE) is working to develop a narrative to make the case for integration from a public health perspective. PHE want to develop a document, that can be used locally, which demonstrates the importance of prevention to the integration agenda.
To do this, they want to identify examples of innovative and effective integration projects currently taking place around the country which can be used as examples of good practice. These examples should also include a focus on prevention. For Disability Rights UK we have put forward our programme on ‘user-driven commissioning’ as we believe this provides an excellent example of disabled people themselves pulling the levers to wrap support around their needs and aspirations and thereby bringing about integration. This programme is based on partnerships between commissioners and user projects in five local areas who work through three stepping stones: supporting people to pool their personal (health) budgets so that they can achieve economies of scale through micro-commissioning, disabled people using the collective insights gained along the way to influence de- and re-commissioning and, finally, disabled people delivering peer support as integrated element of new co-produced and commissioned care pathways. http://disabilityrightsuk.org/policy-campaigns/health-and-social-care-reforms/user-driven-commissioning-building-%E2%80%98lived-experience
PHE want to know if any of your members and networks have undertaken any projects which fall within this definition, too. For example, is there work going on where organisations are working together in an integrated way to tackled several issues in order to address a need identified in the local population?
Please get back to Sophie Roscoe as soon as possible if you have any information on this Sophie.Roscoe@phe.gov.uk . She will email you a template detailing the information they are looking to identify from each project. PHE pointed out that it would be really helpful if you could provide them with this info, although they understand that you may be in the early stages of your work and not have identified all the benefits yet.
NHS England sets out how it will assure commissioners are best meeting the needs of local people
NHS England has now published assurance frameworks for CCGs and direct commissioners. The frameworks set out how NHS England will assure that CCGs and NHS England’s own direct commissioning functions are operating effectively to commission safe, high quality and sustainable services within their resources. www.england.nhs.uk/2013/11/28/ass-frmwk/
King's Fund Report: Volunteering in NHS acute hospitals
On 21 November the King’s Fund published a report that looks at the scale and value of volunteering in NHS acute hospitals. The report sponsored by the Department of Health highlights the benefits volunteers bring to the health service, with survey respondents demonstrating the critical role they play in improving patient experience. To find out more, go to: http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/volunteering-acute-trusts-
Winterbourne View progress report
A review of progress in improving the quality of care for vulnerable people, following abuse of residents at Winterbourne View hospital has been published. To read Winterbourne View: Transforming Care One Year On, go to: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/winterbourne-view-progress-report
Detailed data on “never events” will help NHS care become even safer
NHS England has published more detailed data than ever before about “never events” – the serious errors in care that put patients at risk of harm and that should not happen if full preventative procedures are in place. For the first time, provisional quarterly data on the number of never events happening at each hospital trust in England will be published, for patients, healthcare professionals, managers, stakeholders and the public to see and understand. Until now, data has been published only annually, and only at national, aggregated level. The data is available on the NHS England website, and will be updated in three months’ time. From April 2014, the data will be updated every month. To find out more, go to: http://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/patientsafety/never-events/ne-data/
When the wisdom of crowds meets the kindness of strangers: why patient and citizen participation is fundamental to high quality health and care services – Tim Kelsey
When patients are ignored, they are most at risk; that was the central conclusion of the report by Robert Francis into Stafford hospital. Don Berwick, in his safety review, said the NHS should be ‘engaging, empowering and hearing patients and theirs carers all the time’. The most important goal of a modern health service is to listen and act: this is the essence of care – and to do so transparently so that poor patient experience does not go undetected and excellence can be celebrated. For further information, go to: http://www.england.nhs.uk/2013/12/11/tim-kelsey-5/
Survey of voluntary sector engagement with the health and wellbeing boards
Regional Voices has published the results from a recent survey of the voluntary sector around engagement with the health and wellbeing boards. 434 people responded sharing their experiences from across England.
Specific questions were asked to voluntary and community sector (VCS) representatives on health and wellbeing boards (HWB), Healthwatch reps on the boards and to the wider VCS, interested in engaging with the HWB about voluntary sector involvement - responses have been incredibly useful- for shaping support and for lobbying.
Link to the full survey results: www.regionalvoices.org/hwb-reps/survey
Link to an article which includes a summary of the results and recommendations for VCS reps, Healthwatch reps, health and wellbeing boards, infrastructure organisations and national health bodies: http://www.regionalvoices.org/surveyresults
CCG funding allocations published by NHS England following adoption of new formula
NHS England has this week published the funding allocations that Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will receive over the next 2 years, which will see their funding rise from £96 billion to £100 billion.
This new funding formula based on more accurate, detailed data follows an extensive review, which included a submission from PHE. It includes a deprivation measure specifically aimed at tackling health inequalities.
This means that all CCGs that decide on local health services will receive a funding increase matching inflation in the next 2 years, with the most underfunded areas, and those with fast-growing populations, receiving more.
More details about the review can be seen here: http://www.england.nhs.uk/2013/08/15/rev-all-wrkshp/