Integrating mental and physical health: the role of general practice

The Kings Fund has published several items including an article by Chris Naylor which considers the prospects for better integration of mental health care with general practice and the importance of integrated care provision. This follows on from the recent publication of NHS England’s implementation plan for The five year forward view for mental health. 

The Kings Fund  report-  Bringing together physical and mental health: a new frontier for integrated care describes examples of services that have developed a more integrated approach.

Will NHS.UK be the next GOV.UK?

A blog post from the King’s Fund about the possibility of a single NHS portal for all services. NHS.uk is currently the site NHS Choices, an information site for patients who want to know about information about health and local services amongst other things, but the possibility is being mooted of it being the one stop portal for booking appointments, managing repeat prescriptions, and (eventually) for accessing health records and care plans.

A healthy culture for quality patient care

The Kings Fund have updated web pages which look at the six characteristics of a healthy culture in the NHS. Areas including values, teamwork, performance, leadership and learning are covered.

There is also a tool for organisations to assess their culture and to identify the ways in which it is working well and the areas that need to change.

Access the tools here

Think tanks echo Confed call for transformation fund

Click here for article

Click here for article

The health service in England needs a dedicated fund to finance and drive forward essential changes to services, a new Health Foundation and King’s Fund report has concluded, echoing long-standing calls by the NHS Confederation for such a measure.

In a detailed report published on Wednesday (22 July), the think tanks say a transformation fund would support and accelerate a shift to new models of care, as per the Forward View, and help to unlock efficiency savings.

Integrated care: the end of the hospital as we know it?

‘Hospitals are often seen as an impediment to integrated care. The concern frequently voiced is that their dominant role in the health system makes it harder for commissioners to shift resources into the community and to develop more co-ordinated services that cross organisational boundaries.’

This blog post talks about how the role of hospitals compared to other healthcare providers, particularly in the community, can change and develop as integrated care is brought in more. It also contains a link to the publication discussed in the blog post.

Leading change in diagnosis and support for people living with dementia

DementiaAccording to The King’s Fund, there are an estimated 850,000 people with dementia in the United Kingdom – a figure set to double over the next two decades – plus an estimated 500,000 carers for people with dementia.

On 24 February, The King’s Fund and the Alzheimer’s Society are hosting a one-day conference to celebrate recent progress in support for people and families living with dementia.

King’s Fund: Putting patients with long-term conditions in control

Institute for Public Policy Research

 Patients in control: why people with long-term conditions must be empowered

patientsin_controlThis report argues that more should be done to recognise and support the amount of self-management done by people with long-term conditions and their carers, and to enable people to work in partnership with healthcare providers to agree the services that fit their needs.

CQC: Review of children’s transition to adult health services

Care Quality Commission (CQC)

From the pond into the sea: children’s transition to adult health services

This review found that young people with complex health needs do not always receive the necessary care and support when they move on to adult care services. The transition process can be a vulnerable time for young people and their families. During this period, they stop receiving health services that they may have had since a young age and move on to equivalent adult services which can be structured and funded differently. The review found that there are many committed professionals providing high-quality care but that system-wide change is needed in order to make the transition between services smoother for patients and families.

 

Click for report

“This report describes a health and social care system that
is not working, that is letting down many desperately ill
youngsters at a critical time in their lives. We have put the
interests of a system that is no longer fit for purpose above
the interests of the people it is supposed to serve.”

The Kings Fund: Acute oncology on the acute medical unit

This toolkit aims to improve the care of cancer patients admitted to hospital as an emergency with medical problems due to their cancer or their treatment. It stresses the importance of patients having access to cancer specialists as soon as possible, and suggests that NHS trusts set up acute oncology services, which can work with the team in the acute medical unit to help in the management of patients with acute oncology problems.

2013: Reading List for Leadership students

If you are about to embark on a period of study you may find this reading list on Leadership very helpful.

It is produced by The King’s Fund Information and Library Service and the selected items are from items held by the Information and Library Service or are freely available on the Internet. It does not aim to be comprehensive, or to be a ‘recommended reading list’ – but to give an indication of the sorts of resources The King’s Fund can make available on this important topic.

Please don’t forget that there are more useful links and resources to be found on our Health Management page.

King’s Fund Statistics

Moving care in the community

Royal College of Nursing (RCN)

Moving care to the community: an international perspective
Moving care out of hospitals and into the community has been a UK wide priority for over a decade; however despite the government’s commitment to invest in the community, there is a mismatch between reality and rhetoric. This report sets out the current policies and initiative in the above-mentioned countries to move care closer to home; outlines the impact of these reforms on the nursing workforce; and offers recommendations for key stakeholders in the UK.

King’s Fund publish patient-centred leadership report

23 May 2013

A transformation of systems, leadership and organisational culture is needed throughout the NHS if the lessons of the Francis Inquiry are to be learned and acted on, according to a new report published today by The King’s Fund and supported by the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management.

Founding Director Peter Lees was delighted to be asked to advise on Patient-centred leadership: Rediscovering our purpose as a member of The King’s Fund reference group, and FMLM members were also included in a group of more than 900 NHS professionals who took part in The King’s Fund’s Leadership Survey 2013.

The full report and survey results can be read on The King’s Fund website here.

The King’s Fund

Learning from the LINks: resources for Healthwatch
These resources aim to preserve examples of good practice from the work of Local Involvement Networks (LINKs) and are also intended to help volunteers and staff feel supported in the transition to local Healthwatch. Resources are grouped around four themes: leadership and governance; representation; engagement; and influencing.

Making it Real tools

Extract from The King’s Fund

Think Local Act Personal

Making It Real tools
The Making it Real programme encourages organisations that pay for or provide social care services to get real about improving people’s lives. These tools have been produced in order to support this programme and include practical examples of what organisations are doing to transform their services, in partnership with the people who use them and will help people to understand and engage in the personalisation of the care and support agenda.

Feedback from medical graduates

Extract from British Medical Association (BMA)

Cohort study: 2006 medical graduates
This longitudinal study of medical graduates of 2006 finds that more than one in four junior doctors feel they do not have the time to deliver the quality of care that patients deserve. It also highlights problems with staffing shortages and rising levels of stress.

The hospital complaints system: a case for urgent treatment?

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

This report highlights systemic problems leading to missed opportunities to learn from mistakes and make NHS hospitals better. A 2012-13 analysis of the main reasons why patients, their families and carers brought their complaint to the ombudsman after their hospital has failed to deal with it include poor explanations, no acknowledgement of mistakes, inadequate financial remedy and unnecessary delays.

Cavendish Review terms of reference

The Cavendish Review was announced in February 2013. This document outlines the areas the review will be investigating, including: considering what can be done to ensure that all people using services are treated with care and compassion by healthcare and care assistants in NHS and social care settings; and making recommendations about the recruitment, training, management, development and support of those staff, who do a challenging but vital job in health and care settings.

The King’s Fund: News for March

Lifecourse tracker: wave 1 spring 2012: interim summary report
This report is a summary of the first stage of research that records how health behaviours vary across life stages. It forms a baseline against which changes in behaviour over time and seasonal variations can be assessed and also informs the Department of Health’s social marketing strategy.

Living well for longer: a call to action to reduce avoidable premature mortality
This discussion paper aims to challenge and inspire the health and social care system to take action to reduce the numbers of people dying prematurely.

Cardiovascular disease outcomes strategy: improving outcomes for people with or at risk of cardiovascular disease  
This strategy document provides advice to local authority and NHS commissioners and providers about actions to improve cardiovascular disease outcomes. It sets out outcomes for people with or at risk of cardiovascular disease in line with the NHS and public health outcomes frameworks.

The King’s Fund: Hospital workforce: fit for the future?

Royal College of Physicians (RCP)

Hospital workforce: fit for the future?
This report brings together findings from the medical registrar report and the 2011 RCP consultant census and looks at the key challenges that are facing the medical workforce. It concludes that there needs to be a rethink of the skills in which doctors are trained, in order to better meet patients’ needs; while the role of the medical registrar and the esteem in which it is held must be reassessed and better valued.

Asthma quality standard

The King’s Fund
This quality standard on the diagnosis and treatment of asthma in adults, young people and children aged 12 months and older argues that an integrated approach to services is vital. The new quality standard on asthma consists of a prioritised set of specific, concise and measurable statements that, when delivered collectively, should contribute to improving the effectiveness, quality, safety and experience of care for people with the condition.

The King’s Fund: Information overload: tackling bureaucracy in the NHS

NHS Confederation

nhsstructure_post_2013A useful paper which lays out clearly the challenges faced by the new NHS structure post April 2013.

This report aims to bring about a reduction of the bureaucratic burden on the NHS to help organisations focus on securing the best patient care. It calls on the Department of Health and arms length bodies to take action to tackle this issue, following a review of progress made to reduce bureaucracy in the health service.

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