Continue to use A & E and attend appointments unless told otherwise, during strike action
With strike action continuing in the NHS, people who need care have been advised to use services as they usually would – 999 or A&E in a life-threatening emergency and NHS 111 online for other health concerns. Patients with appointments who haven’t been contacted otherwise should attend as normal and community services such as GPs and pharmacies should be largely unaffected by the strike. Junior doctors are due to strike for five days from 13 July and radiographers from 25 – 27 July, depending on the outcome of recent pay negotiations.
Driving better health outcomes through integrated care systems: The role of district councils
The King's Fund has issued a report based on interviews with district councils and integrated care boards (ICB) in four sites from around England to better understanding their current relationship, what good practice looks like, what enables it and the outcomes it produces. It concludes that district councils have a number of assets that make them indispensable parts of ICSs and through these assets they make vital contributions to the health of communities.
Building a better understanding of adult social care
A new paper by Jon Glasby and colleagues, published in the BMJ, suggests that adult social care is often largely “invisible”—low profile, poorly understood, and therefore often neglected by the public, the media, and policy makers. The authors say we need to raise awareness of the importance of social care (with policy makers and the broader public), better understand the breadth of the contribution it makes, and develop a more positive vision for adult social care more generally.
Paying for dementia care
Alzheimer's Society have produced a briefing on paying for dementia care explaining how it isn't free, and people may need to pay for some of the care they or someone they know needs. The briefing is intended to help understand the different ways to pay for care, and the amount people might be expected to pay.
Research into improving financial incentives for the part time care workforce
Laing Buisson are conducting research into how the current welfare benefits system affects part time care workers, who also receive welfare benefits, and the hours that they work. The think tank's aim is to improve the financial incentives for part time care workers and the current care workforce capacity. Part-time care workers in the UK who receive welfare benefits are invited to complete a form if they would like to share their experiences.
England Rare Diseases Action Plan 2023
The Department of Health and Social Care have published a second action plan setting out how they and delivery partners will implement the UK Rare Diseases Framework in England. This includes 13 new actions to ensure that everyone living with a rare disease gets the treatment, care and support they need.
Increase in virtual wards to support children at home
Meanwhile an expansion of NHS virtual wards will see more children treated at home. The intention is to expand the hospital at home service to cover children in every region of England from July 2023. This follows trials in Blackpool, Dudley and Dorset. NHS England produce a virtual wards bulletin - sign up for the bulletin.
Unless MMR vaccination rates improve, London could see a measles outbreak
With new modelling suggesting that London may be at risk of measles outbreaks, a new campaign is due to start to improve MMR vaccination rates among including teenagers, young people and under vaccinated communities.
Report finds end of life care in England is 'variable and inequitable'
An investigation by the Healthcare Safety Investigations Branch has found that health and care services in England are not always able to provide individualised, equitable and coordinated palliative and end of life care to meet the holistic needs of people and their families. The report said the availability of palliative and end of life care across England is variable and inequitable, influenced by the location of third-sector organisations, available charitable donations and NHS commissioning, and workforce shortages, with limited guidance for integrated care boards.
It’s my information, keep it safe!
As part of National Co-production Week, Better Security, Better Care shared top tips from service users on how organisations can share how their information is used, part of a report created to identify what people know about the data care services hold about them, and how it can be more accessible (Source: Digital Social Care July newsletter). There is a video on Co-production here: Co-production: what it is and how to do it | SCIE.
