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Patients will receive better, more joined-up care under new plans announced to improve the links between health and social care. The integration white paper sets out a vision for an integrated NHS and adult social care sector which will better serve patients and staff. Despite the best efforts of staff, the current system means that too often patients find themselves having to navigate complex and disjointed systems. Those with multiple conditions can be left feeling frustrated at having to repeatedly explain their needs to multiple people in different organisations, while others can end up facing delayed discharge because the NHS and local authorities are working to different priorities in a way that is not as joined up as it could be. The white paper sets out some of the ways health and care systems will draw on the resources and skills across the NHS and local government to better meet the needs of communities, reduce waiting lists and help level up healthcare across the country. Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: "Better integration is vital to stop people falling into the gaps between health and social care. Ensuring our health and care systems work in unison will mean we can support hardworking staff, provide better care to patients and deliver value for the taxpayer." "Our Integration white paper is part of our wider plans to reform and recover the health and social care system, ensuring everyone gets the treatment and care they need, when and where they need it." The plans set out in the white paper will ensure care is more personalised and accessible and remove the burdens on patients. Better information sharing will mean people will no longer have to remember key facts such as dates of diagnosis or medicines prescribed, taking pressure off patients to coordinate their own care. Local health services will be tailored to the specific needs of the community to ensure the right services are available. This could mean for example more diabetes clinics in areas with higher obesity, or additional support for people to stop smoking in communities where there are higher numbers of smokers. The integration white paper is the next step in delivering the government’s promise of a health and social care system fit for the future. It builds on both the Health and Social Care Bill and the People at the Heart of Care white paper which set out a 10-year vision for social care funded through the Health and Care Levy, and follows the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlog of elective care. Dedicated plans to tackle health disparities are set to be published in due course. Read press release Source: Gov.uk, 9 February 2022

A vulnerable man detained for 10 years was failed by a system meant to care for him, an independent NHS investigation has found. Clive Treacey, a man who lived his life in the care of NHS and social care authorities, experienced an “unacceptably poor quality of life”, and was not kept safe from harm before his death at just 47. The findings of the independent review, The Independent and Sky News can reveal, have concluded Mr Treacey’s death was “potentially avoidable” and comes after years of his family “fought” for answers. His family are now pursuing a second inquest into his death after the review found a pathologist report and post-mortem used by coroners did not follow guidelines, along with new CCTV footage from the night he died. NHS England commissioned the review, under the Learning Disability Mortality Review Programme, in January 2020 – three years after Mr Treacey’s death and after his family was initially denied a review. In an exclusive interview with The Independent, Mr Treacey’s sister, Elaine Clark said: “We have fought on because Clive deserved nothing less. He spent his entire life being incarcerated and so did we, his entire family. He didn’t matter. His voice didn’t matter. His human rights didn’t matter. His life choices didn’t matter. The system and its people believed he did not matter and nobody in it had enough ambition to do anything differently." “Well Clive did matter. It matters what happened to him. It matters that it’s still happening to other people. And it matters that nothing seems to be changing we are one family but there are many others like us.” Read full story Source: The Independent, 9 December 2021

Health and care sector workers in England who decline to be fully vaccinated could be moved to back-office roles, a UK government minister has suggested, as a consultation on plans to mandate COVID-19 and flu vaccinations was launched. The six-week consultation process will take views on whether vaccine requirements should apply for health and wider social care workers – those in contact with patients and people receiving care. It would mean only those who are fully vaccinated, unless medically exempt, could be deployed to deliver health and care services. Speaking on Times Radio, Helen Whately, the minister for care, said the government was working with care homes and other settings to see if workers who refused the vaccine could be redeployed. She said: “You can look at whether there are alternative ways somebody could be deployed, for instance, in a role that doesn’t involve frontline work, or doesn’t involve being physically in the same setting as the patient – whether it’s, for instance, working on 111, something like that." But she suggested that people who refused to get vaccinated against coronavirus should not work in social care. Speaking on Sky News, Whately said care homes had been hit particularly hard by Covid, and added: “The reality is that one of the best ways we can protect people living in care homes is through making sure that staff are vaccinated.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 9 September 2021

This interview with April Kapu, DNP, APRN, ACNP-BC, FAANP, FCCM, FAAN, a critical care nurse, discusses how Nurse Practitioners are changing healthcare, the likelihood of all states granting full practice authority to NPs, and what the American Association of Nurse Practitioner members can expect from her for the next two years. Read full story. Source: American Medical Association, 16 August 2021

Providers fear 'fragmentation' of specialised services as NHS England begins delegating specialised services budgets to integrated care systems under reform plans. One leader of a specialist trust told HSJ: “There is a real risk of fragmentation. You can already see some of the conversations around various services around how people want to keep patients within their own ICS. There is the potential there for systems to buck the trend of centralising specialist services. Rather than bringing expertise and quality together, systems looking after budgets will look to set up their own specialist services.” Read full story (paywalled). Source: HSJ, 17 August 2021

Some frontline NHS staff who have been double vaccinated may be allowed to continue working even if they are exposed to someone who has Covid-19. This decision comes after concerns were raised regarding staff shortages and where absences could result in "significant harm". Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said: "As we learn to live with this virus, it's important that we ensure frontline staff can keep providing the best possible care and support to people up and down the country. These new rules will fortify our collective defences against this awful virus, by allowing fully vaccinated frontline NHS and social care staff to continue to work when needed." Read full story. Source: BBC News, 19 July 2021

On 6th July the government published a new Health and Care bill detailing new proposals and a package of reforms to the UK health and care system. However, the bill does not make ministers accountable for NHS workforce planning. The Royal College of Nursing has long campaigned for ministers to be legally accountable. RCN Acting General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen has said "“Ducking the question of workforce accountability will also make it even harder for the government to deliver on the pledge of 50,000 more nurses – vital for the delivery of safe care to patients.” Read full story. Source: Royal College of Nursing, 06 July 2021

NHS staff will now be able to request flexible working arrangements from the first day in post. Previously, staff had to be in service for at least 6 months before they could put in a request. It has been found a lack of work-life balance was a significant cause of why staff left the healthcare service. The new rule will come into effect on 13 September 2021 and staff will be allowed to make an unlimited number of flexible working applications and submit them without justification or provide specific reasons. Read full story. Source: Royal College of Nursing, 29 June 2021

New research shows a rise in sharps injuries among healthcare workers around Europe over the last year. Respondents of the research said the rise in sharps injuries may be due to staff shortages and higher pressures and stress on healthcare staff. The survey, which covered more than 300,000 healthcare workers, found workers were being put at unnecessary risk of contracting deadly diseases such as HIV, Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C, with nurses being the ones primarily affected by the sharps injuries. The article concludes that more interventions need to be done to protect healthcare workers. Read full story Source: The Brussels Times, 15 June 2021

The World Health Organisation has said cuts to the UK budget may put millions of lives at risk of dying from "neglected tropical diseases", leaving some of the poorest people in the world exposed. The diseases listed included elephantiasis, trachoma and Guinea Worm. According to the WHO, the UK was able to provide funding to at least 19 countries before the aid cut. There are now fears that vital medicine, an estimated at 277 million tablets used to treat tropical diseases would now expire. The financial impact of the pandemic, according to the The Foreign Office, meant the aid cuts were necessary. Read full story. Source: BBC News, 17 June 2021