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Showing results for tags 'Social Care'.
Found 97 results
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Content ArticleLack of capacity in social care is having a severe effect on NHS services as hospitals are unable to discharge patients without appropriate care arrangements in place. This is causing delays right across the healthcare system. In this report, NHS Confederation highlights the risks to patient safety caused by the workforce crisis affecting social care in England. In the Confederation's latest survey, 99% of healthcare leaders agreed that there is a social care workforce crisis in their local area, and almost all agreed that it is worse than a year ago and expect it to deteriorate into this winter. The report recommends the government focus on the following key priorities to deal with the crisis: Increase pay in the social care sector, starting by immediately implementing a national care worker minimum wage Publish a long-term, properly funded plan to develop the care workforce and offer career progression opportunities Commit to increasing overall investment to increase access to care to those who need it, meet future demand and pay more for care
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Content ArticleThis strategy sets out the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s vision for how data will be used to improve the health and care of the population in a safe, trusted and transparent way. It: provides an overarching narrative and action plan to address the current cultural, behavioural and structural barriers in the system, with the ultimate goal of having a health and care system that is underpinned by high-quality and readily available data marks the next steps of the discussion about how we can best utilise data for the benefit of patients, service users, and the health and care system This strategy applies to England only. The strategy shows how data will be used to bring benefits to all parts of health and social care – from patients and care users to staff on the frontline and pioneers driving the most cutting-edge research. It is backed by a series of concrete commitments, including: investing in secure data environments to power life-saving research and treatments using technology to allow staff to spend more quality time with patients giving people better access to their own data through shared care records and the NHS App.
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Content ArticleRichard Murray, Chief Executive of The King's Fund, writes about what the recent passing of the Health and Care Act 2022 tells us about the government's approach to health and care, and highlights key issues the system faces. He highlights two areas of focus, workforce and social care, and looks at how problems in these areas are affecting the people who work in and use health and care services.
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Content ArticleThe formation of Integrated Care Systems (ICS) as part of the Government’s plan to integrate health and social care ought to be an opportunity for a once-in-a-generation improvement in the quality of social care provision. For too long the social care sector has been in crisis due to increasing demands on the system which have not been met with enough funding or a sensible organisational structure. Integration, if done properly, would alleviate many of the current problems and result in a better care experience for those who need care. However if integration is mishandled the Government will miss this unique opportunity and the crisis will continue, and indeed probably become more acute.
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Content ArticleDuring the 20th century the locus of care shifted from large institutions into the community. However, this shift was not always accompanied by liberation from restrictive practices. In 2014 a UK Supreme Court ruling on the meaning of ‘deprivation of liberty’ resulted in large numbers of older and disabled people in care homes, supported living and family homes being re-categorized as ‘detained’. Placing this ruling in its social, historical and global context, this book presents a socio-legal analysis of social care detention in the post-carceral era. Drawing from disability rights law and the meanings of ‘home’ and ‘institution’ it proposes solutions to the Cheshire West ruling’s paradoxical implications.
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Content ArticleThe subtext of this monthly review of European healthcare issues from Roger Steer is to identify whether Europe can offer lessons to the UK on health and social care issues or indeed how Europe can learn its own lessons and put flesh on the bones of its previous promises of a Social Europe.
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Content ArticleThis guidance from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) should be used to help reduce the spread of Covid-19 in adult social care settings. It applies from 4 April 2022 and should be read in conjunction with: the infection prevention and control (IPC) resource for adult social care, which should be used as a basis for any infection prevention and control response the adult social care testing guidance, which details the testing regimes for all staff, as well as any resident and outbreak testing where applicable.
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Content Article
PRSB: Social Prescribing Standard V0.2
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Social prescribing
For many people, improving their health and wellbeing requires a holistic approach and support by professionals who can help them focus on what matters to them to live well. Social prescribing supports people to understand their needs and connects them to local community (non-clinical) often voluntary services which can provide the help they need. -
Content ArticleThis statement from Hugh Alderwick, Director of Policy, outlines the Health Foundation's response to the House of Commons votes on the Health and Care Bill on 30 March 2022. He highlights the potential for the policies voted through to increase health inequalities, and to stall attempts to improve health and care workforce planning.
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Content ArticlePlans to establish integrated care systems (ICSs) as statutory bodies in the health and care bill foreshadow further changes to the organisation of the NHS. Unlike previous reorganisations, the changes expected to occur in 2022 have developed from within the NHS rather than being imposed by the government. Not only this, but leaders in the NHS have also played a major part in shaping the nature of these changes in partnership with the centre. This paper from the NHS Confederation focuses on the changes needed to create the conditions in which ICSs can improve outcomes for patients and the public and outlines a series of simple rules to guide those leading the reform programme. The ideas put forward are intended to provide a basis for debate with healthcare leaders and others in England about next steps. The paper starts from the premise that a key role of leaders is to harness the intrinsic motivation of health and care staff and public health teams to perform to the best of their abilities. The distinctive contribution of ICSs is to work with partners in making use of all available assets and leading improvements in patient care and outcomes that require actions across the organisations and services that make up the health and care system. Staff must be fully engaged in this work as it is through their actions that patients and the public will experience improvements
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Content ArticleThis Joint Committee on Human Rights inquiry will look at human rights concerns in care settings in England, highlighting areas in which the human rights of patients, older people and others living with long-term disabilities, including learning disabilities and autism, are currently undermined or at risk.
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Content ArticleThis article in The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine looks at the issue of systemic racism in long-term services and supports (LTSS) including nursing homes and home- and community-based care in the USA. The authors highlight segregation and disparities, with Black, Indigenous, and persons of colour (BIPOC) users having less access to quality care and reporting poorer quality of life. The authors make a number of policy recommendations to address these health inequalities in LTSS: Targeted increases to Medicaid reimbursement tied to direct care, and targeted enhanced Medicare and/or Medicaid reimbursement to LTSS providers that serve a disproportionate share of Medicaid or underserved older adults. Pay for performance incentives should focus on improving care among LTSS providers who serve individuals with disadvantaged status because of systemic racism and that operate above and beyond a person's clinical severity and comorbidity. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should develop an overall health equity measure which would help capture how well providers meet the needs of diverse populations. Care Compare quality scores by race and ethnicity should be used internally and shared with states to develop culturally appropriate policies. Race and ethnicity-specific quality measures should be included on state-level report cards to incentivise action among states and tailor solutions to the local context. Promote culture change in nursing homes, with an ultimate goal of creating a person-centred, homelike model of care. Expand access to Medicaid-waivered home- and community-based services. Ensure that home- and community-based services are culturally appropriate. Promote integrated home- and community-based programs that can be targeted to BIPOC users to address existing disparities in outcomes.
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Content ArticleThis interactive timeline from The King's Fund sets out reviews and other significant developments concerning NHS and social care leadership in England between 2008 and 2022.
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Content ArticleThis document sets out the Northern Ireland Department of Health's ambitions to improve medication safety in Northern Ireland, in line with the World Health Organization's Third Global Patient Safety Challenge 'Medication without Harm'. It outlines the need for safer use of medicines in Northern Ireland and highlights four ways in which the Department for Health will address these challenges: Engagement with patients and the public Introducing new systems and practice Engagement and training of health and social care staff Reducing the burden of avoidable harm from high-risk medicines by building good practice in to the supply of all medications
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Content ArticleThis article in the journal JAMA Network Open aimed to determine if the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Safety Program for Improving Antibiotic Use, an educational initiative to establish antibiotic stewardship programs focusing on patient safety, is associated with reductions in antibiotic use in long term care settings. The authors looked at 439 long term care settings and found that participation in training on antibiotic stewardship from AHRQ was associated with a reduction in antibiotic use and urine culture collection. Fluoroquinolones, an antibiotic class targeted by the AHRQ safety program, had the greatest decrease.
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Content ArticleThe announcement of the Messenger Review triggered some immediate concerns. The service has been subjected to a string of leadership reviews over the last decade. The initial media briefing, attributed to ministers, came across as unfairly critical of current NHS leadership. And there were worries about the potential for unhelpful distraction at a time of huge operational pressure. But the review brings a vital opportunity we must not miss. In light of the proposed Messenger Review, Chris Hopson delineates four areas of improvement where the NHS can improve its leadership capability and capacity
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Content ArticleThe COVID-19 pandemic placed unprecedented pressure on councils and care providers. A new report from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman analyses just how those organisations coped.
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Content Article
Open Letter to the Chief Executive, Health and Safety Executive
SafeDavid3 posted an article in Regulatory issues
Letter outlining potential legal non-compliance by persons involved in issuing Infection Prevention and Control Guidance. -
Content ArticleA report looking at how the government can lock in the lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic to build a more robust, sustainable and joined-up system of social care.
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Content ArticleThis report by the Health Foundation examines shifts in public attitudes towards health, the NHS and social care caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It highlights key findings from the first wave of the Health Foundation's new programme of polling research, delivered in partnership with Ipsos, that will track public views on health and social care every six months.
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Content ArticleThis integration white paper sets out a vision for an integrated NHS and adult social care sector which will better serve patients and staff.
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Systemic safety inequities for people with learning disabilities: a qualitative integrative analysis of the experiences of English health and social care for people with learning disabilities, their families and carers (28 January 2022)
Patient-Safety-Learning posted an article in Learning disabilities
This study in the International Journal for Equity in Health aimed to understand the care experiences of people with learning disabilities, and explore the potential patient safety issues that they and their carers raised. The authors examined the lived experience of care for people with learning disabilities through focus groups and narratives posted on the public platform Care Opinion. The study identified a series of safety inequities and gaps in systems affecting people with learning disabilities. The authors recommend considering interventions to protect against these inequities at a policy and organisational level and highlight that policy needs to span both health and social care. -
Content Article
The Integrator: The discharge debacle (HSJ, 13 January 2022)
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Discharge
HSJ’s inboxes are currently heaving with frustration and fury on a rare consistency of theme; the build up of medically fit patients who can’t be discharged from hospitals. Here’s one example from an exasperated, experienced manager, who spoke of “real failure in social care – long stays growing and no capacity to discharge to, a. Homes closed due to infection, b. Homes going out of business c. Homes unable to come and assess patients as no spare staff, d. No care packages as staff sick or none available due to lack of capacity e. social workers and others needed to make assessments in very short supply”. “We keep getting told we’ll cope and get through but we’re really not… The will to continue is beginning to break down with refusals to redeploy and high sickness absence on top of enforced absence due to covid. A seemingly mad commitment to grind through elective stuff… -
Content ArticleThe National Care Forum (NCF) represents not-for-profit organisations providing care and support services to adults in the UK. The NCF conducted a survey of its members over a five day period from 5-10 January 2022, considering the impact of the Covid-19 Omicron variant. Its results highlighted increased pressure faced by the care sector in this period, with staff absence being compounded by existing high vacancy rates and difficulties and delays with testing.
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Content Article
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In this blog, Lotty Tizzard, Patient Safety Learning's Content and Engagement Manager, looks at some of the patient and staff safety issues surrounding insulin delivery. These issues have been identified by a new working group set up by the Safer Healthcare and Biosafety Network (SHBN), and she also highlights potential solutions the group will explore. The SHBN is an independent forum focused on improving healthcare worker and patient safety. It has established a working group on improving injection technique and delivering dual safety in diabetes care. The working group consists of clinicians, policy-makers, charities, manufacturers and patients who are concerned about high numbers of preventable safety incidents related to diabetes treatment.
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