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In this month's edition...
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Response to the Care Act (2014) consultation
Clinks have responded to the Care Act (2014) consultation on the draft regulation and guidance for implementation on Part 1 of the Act in 2015/16 brought by the Department of Health. Our main recommendations include that commissioners involve the voluntary sector and service users in all stages of the commissioning cycle; local authorities work in partnership both operationally and strategically with the voluntary sector as they are able to engage with offenders and ex-offenders who often do not engage with statutory health services; and that appropriate screening tools are used by local authorities as part of an initial assessment of a prisoner’s health and social care needs. Download the response here
Grants awarded for health and care projects
30 voluntary sector projects have been awarded grants from the Department of Health as part of the Innovation, Excellence and Strategic Development fund. Funded projects include those from Clinks members Samaritans, who will increase support given to those bereaved by suicide; The Care Leavers Association, who will make health professionals more aware of the health issues facing care leavers; and Centre for Mental Health, who will establish Individual Placement and Support (IPS) services in six partnership areas. Voluntary Sector Health and Care Strategic Partners, The Race Equality Foundation has also been awarded a grant. You can find the full list of funded projects here
Funding allocation for social care duties
The Department of Health is seeking views from care providers on how the funding should be allocated for three new adult social care duties that local authorities will be granted as part of the Care Act 2014. These duties will be: additional assessments for the cap on care costs; universal deferred payment agreements; and social care in prisons. The consultation closes on 9th October. Find out more and give your views here
Providing feedback on health services
The Department of Health is inviting comments on the draft of an NHS complaints guide. The guide is to sit alongside the NHS Constitution and help patients and the public understand how they can raise concerns if NHS care or services fall short of the standards in the NHS Constitution. The Department is inviting comments to ensure that the guide is as clear and helpful as possible for patients and the public. You can make comments until the 8th September. The draft guidance and online survey are here. Clinks has produced a guide on the rights and complaints procedures for health services which you can download here
Giving young people a voice in health services
The Young People's Health Partnership, a coalition of charities working to give young people more of a voice in health services, is encouraging commissioners and health care providers to take part in Take Over Day on the 21st November. The day, organised by the Children's Commissioner, aims to give children and young people the chance to work with adults for the day and be involved in decision-making, experience the world of work and make their voices heard, while adults and organisations gain a fresh perspective on what they do. Look out for the Take Over Day toolkit published by the Partnership this month, in the meantime you can find out more here
Making health information more accessible
NHS England has launched a consultation on a draft version of the 'accessible information standard', a framework of requirements and recommendations which health and social care organisations must follow, in the form of a formal guidance document. The standard aims to establish a clear and consistent framework, and provide direction to the health and adult social care system, such that disabled patients, service users, carers and parents receive accessible information and communication support. The consultation is open until the 9th November, take part here
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Improving access to mental health services for BAME communities
'Race, mental health and criminal justice: Solutions for better practice, integration and patient experience' is a conference hosted by Clinks, NACRO and the Race Equality Foundation [6th November, Central London, free] that will explore strategies and good practice for ensuring people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities with mental health problems are able to access the services they need. Evidence shows that BAME communities with mental health problems are more likely to access services via the Criminal Justice System. Speakers include Kate Davies OBE (Head of Health & Justice, NHS England) and Jabeer Butt (CEO, Race Equality Foundation). Click here for more information and to book your place
Demonstrating the impact of volunteering
'Valuing volunteering in Health and Social Care: using research to make the case for investment' is a symposium hosted by the Health and Social Care Volunteering Fund, CSV and Leeds Metropolitan University [2nd October, Leeds, free], that will explore how the voluntary sector can use research to demonstrate the impact of volunteering to commissioners and funders in the health and care economy. The event will feature contributions from both researchers and representatives of UK and European civil society organisations who are developing their capacity to improve the way in which they capture the impact and social value of volunteering interventions in improving health and well-being. Participants will be encouraged to share their own experiences and consider the importance of measuring impact and the opportunities and challenges involved in doing so. Find out more, and book your place, here
Supporting those affected by sexual and domestic violence
'Challenging Inequality: The Equality Act 2010 and the public sector equality duty' is Women's Resource Centre event [8th October, London, free] that aims to promote the knowledge of how to use the Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty as tools to challenge decisions that undermine equality amongst organisations working to support those affected by sexual and domestic violence. The event will include conferences, workshops and a speed networking session and aims to give attendees an increased knowledge of the Equality Act 2010 as well as enhance their ability to implement their own legal obligations under the Act. Find out more, and book your place, here
Improving mental health crisis care
Mind is working with the Department of Health to promote the Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat at regional roadshows across England [17th September, Reading | 15th October, Kennington | 27th October, London]. The roadshows will aim to support local partners from the health, community and voluntary, and criminal justice sectors partners set up their own local crisis care declarations, with the expectation that all areas across England will have their own local declaration by the end of 2014. The Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat, published in February 2014, sets out the standard of response people should expect, and principles that partners should follow when working together. Find out more, and book your place, here
Explore solutions to issues important to health and well-being
NHS England are hosting their Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the Citizen's Assembly meeting [18th September, London, free]. The Citizen Assembly meeting is an opportunity for patients, carers and members of the public to debate, deliberate and work together to explore solutions to issues important to health and well-being in England. NHS Citizen allows members of the public to put forward their thoughts, concerns and vision for the future of the NHS. "NHS Citizen has been at the drawing board stage for over a year, and it is now time to get people together to see how an NHS Citizen Assembly Meeting will work in practice". Book your place at the AGM here, and the Citizen's Assembly meeting here
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Creative digital projects to improve health care
Creative England will provide five investments of £50,000 to small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) based in the Midlands, North, or South of England operating in the digital and creative sectors who wish to bring innovative concepts and/or prototypes to the NHS marketplace. The objective of the fund is to support the development of innovative concepts or prototypes that use digital technology to improve patient care and health services in areas including dementia, social care, and cardiovascular and medication management. Priority will be given to projects which: push creative and commercial boundaries; have the active involvement of the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust and which focus on their priority areas. The fund is open to expressions of interest, and will close on 31st October 2014. Find out more here
Investment for healthy communities
The People's Health Trust Active Funding Programme will open in September for community groups and not-for-profit organisations in various locations in the North of England and London. The programme invests in local communities to help create fairer places to grow, live, work and age, and great ideas which 'make neighbourhoods even better'. Organisations with an income of less than £350,000 a year can apply for a grant of between £5,000 and £25,000 to help with projects lasting between nine months and two years. To be eligible, project should: be designed and led by local people; be small and local; create stronger connections between people; enable people to feel they are doing something positive in their area, making a difference and feeling good about it. Look out for these locations becoming eligible for funding throughout various dates in September; in the meantime, find out more here
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What does good person-centred care look like for offenders in the community?
Clinks was invited by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to submit a brief summary of evidence to help guide the CQC in future inspections. This paper sets out what good person-centred care looks like for offenders in the community, and includes fictionalised case studies developed from discussions with Clinks member organisations providing frontline services to offenders. We highlight barriers or challenges experienced by offenders accessing healthcare as outlined in research reports and from evidence from our members, before suggesting ways that these could be addressed. Download the paper here
Improving health outcomes by using evidence from the voluntary sector
The NHS Confederation have published 'Comparing apples with oranges? How to make better use of evidence from the voluntary and community sector to improve health outcomes', a briefing to show how using evidence from the voluntary and community sector enhances Joint Strategic Needs Assessments (JSNAs) and helps commissioning decisions that better meet the needs of local populations. It gives an overview of the knowledge, expertise and insight that voluntary sector organisations hold about their local communities and diverse groups of people within these, as well as the different ways this knowledge can be used to enhance JSNAs and commissioning. Download the briefing here
Exploring organisational options for the NHS
'Future organisational models for the NHS, Perspectives for the Dalton review' is a publication from The Kings Fund that explores some of the organisational options available to the NHS considering Sir David Dalton's forthcoming review into how to enable the best-performing NHS organisations to establish national groups of hospitals or services as beacons of excellence. To inform the work of the Dalton Review, the publication provides an evidence review and a range of individual perspectives, including those from the voluntary sector, on the following organisational options: buddying; learning and clinical networks; partnerships and joint ventures; managerial and operational franchises; hospital mergers; hospital chains. Download the publication here
Case studies of collaborative working in children's services
The National Children's Bureau have published 'Practice examples of collaboration between children and young people’s health and voluntary sector services'. Using specific case examples, this document shows how the health and voluntary sectors can work together to develop and deliver effective services for children and young people. These case studies represent new and long-established partnerships; health organisations commissioning voluntary sector providers; services delivered in health settings and in the community; and an organisation with collaboration between health and voluntary sector professionals at its heart. Download the case studies here
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Gathering feedback from service users
NHS England has issued guidance to support the introduction of the Friends and Family Test (FFT) for NHS funded services, including those from the voluntary sector. The FFT is a feedback tool that aims to support the fundamental principle that people who use NHS services should have the opportunity to provide feedback on their experience, and that feedback should be used to improve services for patients. The FFT question asks if people would recommend the services they have used and provides a mechanism to highlight both good and poor patient experience. Find out more and download the guidance here
Rights and responsibilities in the NHS
The Department of Health has published an easy read version of the NHS Constitution to help to ensure that it is accessible to a range of audiences. The document establishes the principles and values of the NHS in England and includes: what the NHS believes; how the NHS works; patient rights and NHS promises; the things patients should do to help; and telling the NHS what you think or making a complaint about your care. Download the document here
Accessible national health information
The Network of Public Health Observatories has published the 2014 Health Profiles, which are designed to help local government and health services identify problems in their areas and decide how to tackle them, and aims to improve availability and accessibility of health and health-related information in England. The profiles present a set of health indicators that show how each local authority area compares to the national average. They provide an ‘at a glance’ summary description of people’s health in the area; and maps and charts that show how the health in the area compares to the national and local view. Download the Profiles here
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Tackling child health inequalities
Keith Clements, Policy Officer at the National Children's Bureau considers how we can maintain progress on child health in a blog entitled 'Keeping children at the top of the health agenda is key to tackling health inequalities'. He states that there is a need to realise an increased role for schools in promoting children and young people’s health; we need to make sure that those health services that can improve wellbeing and prevent sickness are adequately funded; and that it will be vital that we tackle child health inequalities from all angles. Read the blog here
Learning from best practice in the NHS
Sir David Dalton has written an article about the importance of the NHS sharing and learning from best practice, whether from inside or outside the NHS. In the article he shares his views on the subject, and talks about the Dalton Review that will be "looking to the best of the NHS, to see how they are structured, to understand how different ways of organising can enable the generation and standardisation of best practice". Read the article here
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About Clinks Offender Health Bulletin
This regular bulletin provides Clinks members with the latest news for voluntary sector organisations involved in the health and care of offenders. It currently has 2321 subscribers.
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