Health Management and Policy Alert

Front door frailty: advice on setting up services

British Geriatrics Society - 

Front door frailty services (FDF) exist to identify people living with frailty as soon as they present to a hospital, to ensure that they are diverted to appropriate services as quickly as possible and, ideally, to ensure they are discharged to their normal place of residence (home or care home) the same day. Evidence suggests that these services benefit older patients as well as reducing pressure on hospitals. They have had a positive impact everywhere they have been introduced. This guide sets out five principles that should underpin FDF services to older people presenting at emergency departments. It provides tips on establishing services from those who have been through the process.

• Guide
• Press release

 

Longer, better lives: a manifesto for cancer research and care

Cancer Research UK - 

This manifesto sets out the measures and commitments Cancer Research UK states the next government can make to help prevent 20,000 cancer deaths every year by 2040. It has been developed with the insights of cancer patients and experts from across health, life sciences, government and academic sectors.

• Manifesto
• Press release

A review of health and social care in women’s prison

NHS England - 

The National Women’s Prisons Health and Social Care Review was established in 2021, driven by a commitment to improve health and social care outcomes for all women in prison and upon their release. The Women’s Review has been informed by women with lived experience, led by an independent chair and guided by a multi-agency Board with input from HMPPS and NHS England. The outcome of the Review is set out in this report and sets out the shared commitment to improve health and social care outcomes for all women in prison and upon their release.

• Report
• More information

Improving health and care at scale: learning from the experience of systems

NHS Confederation - 

NHS England has outlined plans to develop an improvement approach - NHS IMPACT - to support continuous improvement. There are also ambitions for integrated care systems (ICSs) to become ‘self-improving systems’. This report, written and researched by Sir Chris Ham and jointly commissioned by the NHS Confederation, the Health Foundation and the Q community, reviews the experience of a number of ICSs identified as being at the forefront of this work, focusing on the approaches they have taken and the results achieved.

• Report
• More detail

Improvement as mainstream business: the strategic case

Health Foundation - 

Improvement approaches, which provide a systematic means of bringing about measurable improvements in the quality and outcomes of care for patients as well as care productivity, have been in common use in some health care settings for more than 20 years, often producing impressive results where they are deployed well. Yet approaches to improvement are far from being embedded into the core strategy and operations of every health care organisation or system-wide partnership of organisations. This briefing examines why this is still the case, argues that embedding improvement approaches across all health care settings is now vital, and describes what needs to happen to shift improvement from the margins to the mainstream of health care.

• Briefing
• More detail

Caring for adults with learning disabilities in acute hospitals

Health Services Safety Investigations Body - 

In the UK it's estimated that over 900,000 adults have a learning disability. This report finds that despite national efforts to address inequity, the health and care system does not always meet the needs of people with a learning disability when they are cared for in hospital.

• Report
• More detail

A review of advocacy for people with a learning disability and autistic people who are inpatients in mental health, learning disability or autism specialist hospitals

National Development Team for Inclusion - 

This report covers in depth research about people’s views and experiences of accessing, commissioning, working alongside and delivering a range of types of independent advocacy for people with a learning disability and autistic people who are inpatients in mental health, learning disability or autism specialist hospitals. It highlights the systemic, legislative, cultural, service level and human issues which impact on people’s experiences of independent advocacy while they are in hospital, as well as sharing ideas about how these can be improved.

• Report
• More detail

Nursing care needs standard

Professional Record Standards Body - 

It is estimated that nurses spend more than 25 per cent of their time on administration and looking for documentation to inform care. This standard reflects best practice and standardises documentation across different nursing settings, helping free nurses from the administrative burden of repetitive data entry and giving them more time to provide care. It also helps people and their families avoid having to ‘tell their story’ repeatedly. It standardises information that a nurse in a care home or community setting can access and share in the same way as a mental health or hospital nurse, with a focus on the person’s overall wellbeing.

• Standard
• Press release

Access to urgent and emergency care

Public Accounts Committee - 

This report warns of wide regional variations in the quality of patients’ access to urgent and emergency care. It finds that ambulance services covering large rural areas, for example services in the South-West and East of England, were particularly challenged and disproportionately affected by problems stemming from the flow of patients elsewhere in the system. The report further warns that not enough is being done to tackle delayed discharges, with beds unable to be released for new patients.

• Report
• Press release

Spotlight on sepsis: your stories, your rights

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman - 

Despite some progress on diagnosis and treatment of sepsis since the publication of the PHSO's report, Time to act in 2013, lessons are not being learned and repeated mistakes are putting people at risk. This report highlights that the same serious failings are still happening, and that significant improvements are urgently needed to avoid more fatalities. Failings include delays in diagnosis and treatment, poor communication and record-keeping, and missed opportunities for follow-up care.

• Report
• Press release