Will STPs deliver the changes we wish see in our health and care services?

Will STPs deliver the changes we wish see in our health and care services? Sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) are based on the notion that collective action is needed to address the significant pressures now facing health and care services in England. Thelogic of this is sound – but developing the plans has been far from easy, and implementing them will require leaders and organisations across a local STP footprint to work together in new ways. In our new report, Sustainability and transformation plans in the NHS, we make a number of recommendations as to how leaders and organisations might do this. The King's Fund

See also:

• Controversial plans right way forward for the NHS The King's Fund
• NHS bosses 'tried to keep cuts secret' BBC News
• Maternity units and A&Es under threat as the NHS tackle a budget crisis The Daily Mail
• 'Secret' plans to close A&E departments could put lives at  risk, leading doctors warn The Daily Telegraph
• STPs 'far from perfect' but NHS has no plan B, warns think tank GP Online
• Patients and staff shut out of NHS transformation plans, says thinktank The Guardian
• NHS plans to close hospitals and A&E departments kept secret from the public, investigation finds The Independent
• NHS cost-cutting plans 'kept secret from public and media' ITV News
• GPs 'least involved' in sweeping plans for NHS change, warns King’s Fund Pulse

Adult social care: market shaping

Adult social care: market shaping This guidance is aimed at people who buy social care services, including local authority and clinical commissioning group commissioners, as well as personal budget holders and people who fund their own care, care service providers and potential investors in the care sector.

The adult social care market refers to independent care sector providers and support organisations – those that provide Care Quality Commission regulated services, such as care and home care, as well as unregulated care, such as personal assistants, volunteers and communities and informal family carers, and wider support services. Department of Health

New case study - improving staff engagement through the workforce development strategy

New case study - improving staff engagement through the workforce development strategy Our new case study from Kettering General Hospital shares their experiences of how they've improved their staff engagement levels through the implementation of a workforce development strategy. NHS Employers

Using data to identify good-quality care for older people

Using data to identify good-quality care for older people This report describes the results of a pilot analysis of the effectiveness of using routine health care data to determine areas that have made quality improvements in the care of frail and older people over time. It focuses on a few indicators that were mainly derived from acute emergency hospital use and applies statistical analyses to them at the local authority area level. It concludes that there is scope to use these methods and approaches not only to track past change, but also as part of real-time monitoring of ongoing interventions. Nuffield Trust

The damage: care in crisis

The damage: care in crisis This report is based on a survey of more than 1000 home care, residential support and day services staff across the UK and it finds that budget cuts are having a direct impact on the quality of care. 63 per cent of staff surveyed report having less time to spend with their users due to staff shortages and 36 per cent said that the rationing of supplies had increased. UNISON

Delivering adult social care in challenging times

Delivering adult social care in challenging times This report outlines the issues and funding pressures facing county authorities in delivering adult social care. The results of a survey of county directors of adult social care reveals that 88 per cent believe their budgets to be 'severe' or 'critical' and 12 per cent report their current funding levels as 'manageable'. The report argues that social care pressures are most acute in county areas due to the fastest-growing elderly populations and the proportionately reduced funding in county authorities. City Councils Network

Dementia now leading cause of death

Dementia now leading cause of death Dementia, including Alzheimer's Disease, has overtaken heart disease as the leading cause of death in England and Wales, latest figures reveal. BBC News

Cancer screening in the community

Cancer screening in the community Health services are attempting to reach deprived communities by offering them mobile cancer screening. BBC News

See also:

• Breaking the link BBC News

Virgin Care wins £700m contract to run 200 NHS and social care services

Virgin Care wins £700m contract to run 200 NHS and social care services Deal for Bath and north-east Somerset area sparks new fears about private firms’ role in providing publicly funded healthcare

Sir Richard Branson’s health firm Virgin Care has won a £700m contract to deliver 200 types of NHS and social care services to more than 200,000 people in Bath and north-east Somerset.

The contract, which was approved on Thursday, has sparked new fears about private health firms expanding their role in the provision of publicly funded health services. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Virgin Care given £700m health contract in Bath and North East Somerset BBC News

Revealed: dozens of children still treated on adult psychiatric wards

Revealed: dozens of children still treated on adult psychiatric wards Despite ‘scandalous’ practice being outlawed six years ago, vulnerable minors are still being treated in adult settings

Dozens of children and young people with mental health problems are still being treated on wards containing adults with sometimes severe psychiatric problems despite ministers having supposedly outlawed the practice in 2010, the Guardian can reveal.

Mental health campaigners condemned the persistence of the problem and said it was completely unacceptable for vulnerable minors to be subjected to what many find a “terrifying” experience. The Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb, who had responsibility for mental health care in the coalition government, said putting children on adult wards was scandalous and must be ended at once. Continue reading... The Guardian

One in three NHS hospitals are failing their stroke patients

One in three NHS hospitals are failing their stroke patients Thirty-two per cent of hospitals in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were given the bottom two grades of D or E for their stroke care between April and July this year. The Daily Mail

Patients to get instant tests at chemists to see if they need antibiotics under NHS plans

Patients to get instant tests at chemists to see if they need antibiotics under NHS plans Anyone with a sore throat should go to see their pharmacist instead of their GP to get an instant test to see whether they need antibiotics, the head of the NHS is to announce.

The plan, designed to stop antibiotic resistance and to alleviate pressure on family doctors, will ensure far quicker treatment for common ailments, Simon Stevens will say.

The revolution in “smart innovation” is part of a national plan to modernise the health service in the face of "unprecedented demand" and amid warnings that the health service is facing its toughest winter yet. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Sore throat sufferers urged to take pharmacy test BBC News
• Sore throats to be tested by pharmacists instead of GPs under NHS move The Guardian