But I don’t speak Finance … I’m a clinician

RCSLT: Published on Feb 24, 2016

Creating partnerships between clinicians and finance colleagues to improve rehabilitation services

Dr Sanjay Agrawal gives his perspective of the imperative for clinicians and finance to working together to enable the commissioning, delivery and demonstration of ‘best possible value’. He also provides practical tips on how to forge effective relationships to achieve this.

Dr Sanjay Agrawal is Consultant Respiratory Intensivist from University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust and also the Senior Responsible Officer for the Close Partnering element of the national Future Focus Finance project.

Developing a Framework for Evaluating the Patient Engagement, Quality, and Safety of Mobile Health Applications

The Commonwealth Fund

This review describes the criteria for evaluating mobile apps for high-need, high-cost populations based on their potential to improve patient engagement and on their quality and safety.

image source: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/

Short and sweet: why the government should introduce a sugary drinks tax

Cancer Research UK and UK Health Forum

This report, produced jointly with UK Health Forum, argues that a 20 per cent tax on sugary drinks could reduce obesity rates in the UK by five per cent by 2025 – equal to 3.7 million fewer obese people.

It also predicts that the tax could save the NHS about £10 million in healthcare and social care costs in 2025 alone.

Image source: CRUK

Read the full report here

Crossing professional boundaries: a toolkit for collaborative working

The King’s Fund was commissioned by Future-Focused Finance to develop a toolkit designed to help finance and clinical staff think about how well they work together and find ways to improve collaboration. The toolkit is free to the NHS and is aimed at leaders from NHS clinical and finance teams who want to encourage collaboration across professional boundaries.

Communication And Respect for people with Dementia

This paper discusses an educational programme designed for multiple disciplines to improve healthcare students’ preparedness to work with people with dementia. It consisted of class-based sessions followed by a volunteer experience interacting with persons with dementia in care homes. This paper discusses the value and impact of this innovative experience.

image source: http://dem.sagepub.com/

Wood, J.H. Communication And Respect for people with Dementia: Student learning – A novel practical experience of undergraduate students interacting with people with dementia in care homes (innovative practice)  Dementia. Published online before print February 23, 2016. 

Investing in prevention

Image source: https://publichealthmatters

Public Health England’s chief economist has published the first in a series of four blogs looking at health economics and the case for investing in prevention initiatives.  The blog focuses on four key questions: does prevention save the health service money; are public health initiatives really providing the best value for money; and how can we better incentivise local authorities, NHS commissioners and health care providers to invest more in prevention and early intervention.

Pharmacists in care homes could save NHS £135m

The NHS could save £135 million a year through the widespread introduction of a pharmacist for every care home across Great Britain according to a new report by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS).

Image source: http://www.rpharms.com/

The report concludes that pharmacist led medicine reviews in care homes can not only improve safety for elderly care home residents but also save the NHS money by preventing avoidable hospital admissions.

image source: http://www.rpharms.com/

Active Ageing and the Built Environment

Research shows that older people with easy access to the outdoors and community facilities are more likely to be physically active and enjoy the health and social benefits that brings. Good built environments also reduce the risk of falls and can reduce health inequalities.

This Housing LIN Practice Briefing looks at active ageing and the different aspects of the built environment that can promote and sustain it, with examples of good and emerging practice and resources for further information.

Full briefing: Active Ageing and the Built Environment

Helping people to be cared for and die at home

This Housing LIN Practice Briefing looks at the importance of end of life care delivered at home, describing the context, inequalities in end of life care, examples of good or emerging practice, and recommendations for actions. Funded by Public Health England, it is intended to be a practical guide for those working in mainstream and/or specialist housing, care and support and public health to understand their respective roles, and how they may work together, to help people to have their end of life care wishes met.

Full briefing: End of Life Care: Helping people to be cared for and die at home

Improving quality in the English NHS: A Strategy for Action

This paper argues that the NHS in England cannot meet the health care needs of the population without a sustained and comprehensive commitment to quality improvement as its principal strategy.

Image source: King’s Fund

Despite a succession of well-meaning policy initiatives over the past two decades, the paper argues that the NHS in England has lacked a coherent approach to improving quality of care. It describes key features of a quality improvement strategy and the role of organisations at different levels in realising it, offering 10 design principles to guide its development. A quality improvement strategy of this kind has never been implemented at such a scale and the challenge in doing so is immense – yet the paper argues that the NHS has no real alternative.

Read the full report here