NHS Improving Quality is working with NHS England to lead a campaign to transform wheelchair services for users and their families.
There are numerous issues with current NHS wheelchair services for people with complex, long term conditions, which impact on the health and wellbeing of users, and their families and carers. Problems include the length of time people have to wait for wheelchairs, secondary health complications resulting from unsuitable wheelchairs, and variable eligibility criteria for NHS funding of wheelchairs.
This report, commissioned by the Department of Health, investigates the costs of unsafe care in the NHS. A rapid review of existing evidence suggests that the costs of preventable, adverse events is likely to be more than £1 billion per year, but could be up to £2.5 billion annually.
Guidance explaining the role of NHS foundation trust board members in developing a clear and well thought out strategy. It describes what to look for when assuring the quality of your NHS foundation trust’s strategy, and points out common pitfalls.
This report aims to inform health care professionals, commissioners and providers about what to consider when implementing shared decision making and self-management support as part of their drive to make person-centred care a reality.
This paper seeks to identify the skills, knowledge and behaviours required of new system leaders and to learn from systems attempting to combine strong organisational leadership with collaborative system-level leadership approaches. It draws on three years’ development work with leaders in health care systems in north-west England, undertaken by the Advancing Quality Alliance (AQuA) and The King’s Fund which has adopted a ‘discovery’ approach to developing integrated care and the leadership capabilities supporting it.
This review into the care provided to people living with dementia found an unacceptable gap in the quality of care that means people are at risk of experiencing poor care as they move between care homes and hospitals. It also highlighted poor practices in sharing information between health and care professionals and the benefits of supporting the mental and physical health of individuals in order to reduce avoidable admissions to hospital and unnecessary long stays in hospital.
This report provides background on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s vision to build a culture of health and discusses how hospitals are contributing to community health improvement. It reports the findings of a review of 300 community health needs assessments, provides strategic considerations for hospital engagement in community health improvement and offers a model of the hospital’s role in building a culture of health.
When visitors come to IHI, they’re greeted with these words displayed behind the reception desk: “We will improve the lives of patients, the health of communities, and the joy of the health care workforce.” Ensuring “joy in work” has been both a core value and a strategic focus for IHI throughout its history. And it isn’t easy – improving patient safety, for example, requires, in part, acknowledging that our systems have harmed patients. There is, however, another side to the safety story. In a new post to the IHI blog, IHI Fellowship Director and Content Manager for Patient Safety, Joelle Baehrend, writes about how highlighting success stories and emphasizing the positive can build momentum and improve outcomes.
This report describes the current financial state of the NHS and the reasons for the deterioration in financial performance and ultimately financial failure. These include weak leadership, legacy costs, PbR, and the impact of the wider health economy.
Key Findings:
Even the best managed organisations face a financial struggle in the current climate.
The balancing act between finance and performance cannot be maintained.
There are many factors that contribute to financial failure and some of these are not under the control of one organisation.
There is a lack of leadership within local health economies following the abolition of strategic health authorities.
National bodies need to agree a shared approach to dealing with funding challenges.
The design and implementation of public involvement process can help support or undermine broad support for public engagement. This briefing paper synthesises existing research on what motivates each group to engage and provides an overview of the specific elements of the design.