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In this month's edition...
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Last chance to submit evidence for the Care Quality Commission
Thank you to everyone who has already sent us feedback about the health and care services for offenders in Greater London and Yorkshire and Humber. If you’ve not already done so, the deadline is Friday 7th August, so there are just 10 days left to respond. Clinks are gathering evidence for the Care Quality Commission (CQC) about the experiences of people in contact with the Criminal Justice System using healthcare services. Your feedback will help the CQC’s inspectors decide when to inspect a service, what to look out for and what questions to ask to make sure any issues are being addressed. They need to hear about individual stories of good or bad care, and any common issues you have picked up on with healthcare services in your area. Find out more and share your feedback here
Human-centred health care
In a speech to the Kings Fund on 16th July, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt set out the direction of reform for the future NHS, arguing for a human-centred rather than system-centred approach. He said "‘Patient-centric’ is a horrible phrase. How about ‘more human’ - the title of Steve Hilton’s recent book? Because the truth is that decades of building processes around system targets and system objectives, often with the best of intentions, has demoralised staff and patients and dehumanised what should be some of the most human organisations we have." Read the full speech here
Share your views on how the NHS can improve
NHS Citizen has launched 'Gather', a website and programme of events for everyone to talk about how the NHS in England can improve. Anyone can post ideas and suggestions, join discussions and comment on what other people are saying, and in the future you will be able to vote to support the discussions you think are important. A 'Citizens’ Jury' will choose five issues to go to an NHS Citizen Assembly meeting in November 2015 to be discussed by citizens and senior NHS leaders. Find out more here
Youth volunteering in hospitals
Four hospitals will receive an overall fund of £200,000 from the Department of Health to expand the reach and impact of youth volunteering schemes, and to share evidence of the impact that volunteering has had on patients and their families. The 'Young People in Hospitals' programme, run by Nesta, will support Princess Alexandra Hospital in Essex, Royal Free London, University Hospital Southampton, and Western Sussex Hospitals. Find out more here
Experiences of people using end of life care
Do you work with people who are coming to the end of life? The Race Equality Foundation is collecting experiences from people using end of life care, and their families and carers, as part of a review by the Care Quality Commission. People who are in touch with the Criminal Justice System are one of the groups that they are particularly interested in hearing from. For more information please contact Samir Jeraj at samir@racefound.org.uk
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Health and care training courses
The Department of Health, in partnership with Engage for Change, is offering three free health and social care training courses for the voluntary sector, Healthwatch staff, and Patient Participation Groups. 'Understanding the Health and Social Care Environment', 'Facilitation and Engagement in the Health and Social Care Environment', and 'Using Data in the Health and Social Care Environment' are accredited by the Open College Network of Yorkshire and Humber, and the result for learners will be to gain a 3 credit level 3 module which is roughly that of an A level. The next deadline for applications is 21st August, with courses starting on 2nd September. Find out more here, and email info@engageforchange.org.uk to request a booking form.
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Innovative health projects
The Health Foundation's 'Innovating for Improvement' programme will fund up to 20 projects to test and develop innovative approaches and ideas to improve health care delivery and/or the way people manage their own health care, through the redesign of processes, practices and services. The Health Foundation will fund projects that develop innovative ideas and approaches, put them into practice and gather evidence about how their innovation improves quality. Applications can come from any health or health and social care provider organisation in the UK where health care services are delivered free at the point of delivery. The deadline for applications is 4th August. Find out more and apply here
Improving heart health
Grants of £5,000 and £10,000 are available from Heart Research UK to support new, original and innovative projects designed to promote heart health and to prevent or reduce the risks of heart disease in specific groups or communities. Voluntary sector organisations are eligible to apply for the 'Healthy Heart Grants', which are only for projects that strongly promote heart health and not general healthy lifestyle initiatives. The deadline for applications is 31st August. Find out more and apply here
Awards for health and wellbeing charities
The GlaxoSmithKline IMPACT Awards is open to applications from small to medium-sized charities in the UK that are doing excellent work to improve people's health. The Awards aim to recognise excellence in existing work and do not seek to fund new projects. Applicants must target community health needs in the UK and have a track record of achievement in this area. Up to ten winners will receive £30,000 unrestricted funding with one overall winner receiving £40,000. Winners will also receive free training and development valued at up to £6,000, a specially commissioned professional film and photographs along with publicity and press support. Up to ten runners-up will receive £3,000. The deadline for applications is 25th September. Find out more and apply here
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Harris Review: Changing Prisons, Saving Lives
‘Changing Prisons, Saving Lives' is the independent review into self-inflicted deaths of 18-24 year olds in prison custody, led by Lord Toby Harris. Lord Harris said: “Listening to the harrowing stories of families who have lost their loved one through a self-inflicted death in custody has been a humbling experience, and one that the panel and I will remember for a long time. We will also remember the frank, insightful, and often very brave, accounts given to us by the young adults who were, or who still are, in custody.” Download the report here
Young people's substance misuse
Clinks members Addaction and the Young People’s Health Partnership have published 'Young People and Substance Misuse', a briefing about how local services and commissioners can respond to this issue. The latest official data shows that drinking and drug use among young people has more than halved over the past 10 years. Yet there are still significant numbers of young people across the country using and misusing substances, and some of these are at risk of developing severe and enduring substance misuse problems that continue into adulthood. The briefing focuses on early intervention, an area that Addaction believes is vital in any local approach to drug and alcohol misuse among young people. Download the briefing here
Prison Inspectorate annual report
Nick Hardwick, HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales, has published his fifth and final Annual Report 2014-2015. The report highlights how changes to the prison day and reduced availability of custody staff were having a negative impact on healthcare and medication provision in many adult men’s prisons; while in women’s prisons, there were problems in providing comprehensive mental health services for the number and complexity of women needing mental health treatment. Despite this, overall they “saw more aspects of good practice in health services than in other aspects of prison life.” Download the report here
Crisis care for Black and minority ethnic people
'Mental health crisis review – experiences of Black and minority ethnic (BME) communities' is a Race Equality Foundation report showing the findings from a series of interviews and focus groups with BME people who had experience of mental health crisis care in Ealing, Lambeth, Northampton, Sandwell and Southampton. The report finds BME patients experience discrimination and poor services. Download the report here
Young people's mental health research
Youth Access has published 'Health Inequality and Access to Justice: Young People, Mental Health and Legal Issues', a report looking at the association between mental illness in young people, ‘everyday’ social problems and disadvantage. It presents findings from new analysis of English and Welsh Civil and Social Justice Panel Survey data, of the relationship between mental illness and social disadvantage among young people, with a particular focus on the experience of those facing legal issues. The findings indicate that while young people, in general, are the least likely to experience mental illness, those not in education, employment or training (NEET) are far more likely to do so than other young people, and somewhat more likely than those aged 25 to 59. Download the report here
Health and welfare advice
'The Role of Advice Services in Health Outcomes' is a report resulting from an evidence review undertaken through a joint project between the Low Commission and the Advice Services Alliance looking at evidence of both the adverse health impact of social welfare law problems, and the beneficial health impact of receiving good welfare advice. It oulines key findings from 140 research studies in the field, and gives an overview of 58 integrated health and welfare advice services. Download the report here
Engaging with health and wellbeing boards
Regional Voices has published the report from their survey conducted earlier this year on how the voluntary sector is engaging with health and wellbeing boards (HWB). Questions were asked to voluntary sector representatives on HWBs, Healthwatch representatives on the boards, and the wider voluntary sector interested in engaging with HWBs. They say, "Encouragingly, some good practice for how boards involve the voluntary sector is emerging. However, some challenges remain. It feels like the voluntary sector is continuing to be under-utilised by local partners in health and care." The survey report captures good practice and challenges and makes recommendations to help improve development of working links between the voluntary sector, Healthwatch and HWBs. Download the report here
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National profiles on the health of children
Public Health England has published updated 'Child Health Profiles' presenting data across 32 key health indicators of child health and wellbeing. You can select your local area and choose to compare this with other areas on the same chart. The data can be broken down by local authority, Clinical Commissioning Group, or nationally. The Profiles for local authorities are also available as PDFs which include brief analysis and key findings about the situation in each top level local authority. View the Profiles here
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Violence and public health
Sue Ibbotson, Centre Director, PHE West Midlands, has written a blog entitled 'Preventing the disease of violence'. She says, "Violence is a public health issue. Living without the fear of violence is a fundamental requirement for health and wellbeing. This may seem like a statement of the obvious, but the public health response to violence in the UK is relatively untested. Here at PHE West Midlands, we’ve joined West Midlands Police and the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner to introduce the West Midlands Violence Prevention Alliance." Read the blog here
Improving male health for the next generation
National Children's Bureau (NCB) have published the findings from their survey for men, and focus groups with boys. The research looked at their approaches to getting help and advice on health issues, and what men think might help to improve health outcomes for the next generation. This blog by NCB's Emily Hamblin says that previous evidence shows men have poorer health literacy than women, are more likely to engage in behaviours that pose a risk to health, are less likely to acknowledge health issues, and that men tend to under-utilise professional health care services; and NCB's research results seem to support this. Read the blog and download the reports here
The impact of probation reforms on offender health
Russell Webster has blogged about a Probation Journal article by Professor Charlie Brooker, described as 'the UK’s leading authority on offender health'. The article 'Healthcare and probation, The impact of government reforms' looks at how reforms of the NHS and probation have impacted on the healthcare of offenders in the community. Russell says "Professor Brooker concludes with a plea that both the National Probation Service and the new private Community Rehabilitation Companies should be equipping their staff with training to at least recognise mental health disorders and to take some action in attempting to connect probationers to existing services." Read the blog here. The full article text is available for Probation Journal subscribers 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 2,577 subscribers.
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Designed, composed and circulated by Ben Watson, Clinks.