Category: Uncategorized

Concerns about the ‘digitally excluded’ raised

Have you noticed how difficult life can be nowadays without a smart phone or laptop? Digital technologies can change how care is delivered, making health and care services more accessible, flexible, person centred, and a better experience for patients and staff while also improving efficiency but until digitally enabled services are inclusive, there is no guarantee they will have this effect, a report by think tank the King’s Fund has said Moving from exclusion to inclusion in digital health and care | The King’s Fund (kingsfund.org.uk).

The authors have also looked in more detail at the barriers faced by digitally excluded people in a separate piece of work Connection Lost (kingsfund.org.uk).

First Government Champion for Personalised Prevention announced

Professor John Deanfield CBE, a professor of cardiology at University College London, who led a review into the NHS Health Check in 2021, has been appointed the first Government Champion for Personalised Prevention. Professor Deanfield’s new role means he has been charged by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to explore and expand the role of technology in helping people better look after their health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

He will, say the DGSC, lead a taskforce with expertise on health policy, health technology, behavioural science, big data and health economics, to develop a set of evidence-based recommendations to deliver a vision for a modern, personalised cardiovascular disease prevention service.

Government to consider radical new approach to prevent life-threatening cardiovascular disease – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Patients in long stay hospitals still facing barriers to care, research finds

Research on the experiences of people with learning disabilities and/or people with autism in ‘long-stay’ hospitals, has found they still face barriers to being discharged and living more ordinary lives in their communities – including overly-complicated treatment systems, lack of psychological support, and a culture of some patients being ‘set up to fail’.

The report, titled Why are we still in hospital? from the University of Birmingham and rights-based organisation Changing Our Lives, sets out findings from a study conducted with 27 people with learning disabilities and/or autistic people living in three ‘long-stay’ hospitals in England, as well as the perspectives of family members, hospital staff, commissioners, social workers, advocates, and social care providers.

Funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, this research has now been used to create a new guide and training video for those working in long-stay hospitals and in the community.

There are currently about 2,000 people with learning disabilities and/or autism in long stay hospitals at any one time. Over half have had a total length of stay of over two years, including 350 people who have been in hospital for more than 10 years.

Jon Glasby, Professor of Health and Social Care at the University of Birmingham, who led the project said: “We’ve known about these issues for more than a decade and yet progress has been painfully slow. One of the reasons for this is because we haven’t done enough to listen to the experiences of people with learning disabilities and autistic people in hospital, their families and front-line staff. Without drawing on this lived experience and practice knowledge, we’re unlikely to come up with solutions that actually work for people.”

An easy read version is also available.

Gaps in knowledge around aspiration pneumonia, British Thoracic Society warns

The British Thoracic Society has published clinical statements on aspiration pneumonia and community acquired pneumonia in people with a learning disability to reduce what it calls a knowledge gap in a clinically crucial area. The clinical statements, which specifically cross-reference each other, provide practical guidance for clinicians and patients alike to avoid aspiration pneumonia being the “Cinderella of pneumonia”.

Aspiration pneumonia is inflammation and infection of the lungs caused by food or liquid being breathed into the lungs, instead of being swallowed. This differs from community acquired pneumonia, which is largely caused by breathing in pathogens such as bacteria or viruses. CAP is a major cause of death and a significant contributor to the increased risk of hospital admission observed in people with learning disability.

Lead author of the BTS Clinical Statement on Aspiration Pneumonia, Professor John Simpson, said:

“Aspiration pneumonia is a common and important clinical problem, particularly in older patients and in people with learning disability. Because there are excellent guidelines on community-acquired pneumonia and hospital-acquired pneumonia, and because aspiration contributes to the development of CAP and HAP, aspiration pneumonia has perhaps become the Cinderella of pneumonia. 

“We hope this statement will raise the profile of, and increase interest in, aspiration pneumonia. Throughout, we have tried to emphasise the importance of preventing aspiration pneumonia, and to stress the value of an interdisciplinary approach to management.”  

British Thoracic Society publishes two new Clinical Statements: The BTS Clinical Statement on aspiration pneumonia and the BTS Clinical Statement on community acquired pneumonia in people with learning disability. | British Thoracic Society | Better lung health for all (brit-thoracic.org.uk)

Commissioner’s concerns about children’s mental health

A report by the Children’s Commissioner Rachel de Souza on children’s mental health services has found an “alarming” postcode lottery when it comes to accessing children’s mental health services. The report follows the Commissioner’s The Big Ask, which surveyed children across England about their mental health. The report states one in five children said they were unhappy with their mental health and Ms De Souze said she is particularly worried about older teenage girls as two in five of 16 to 17 year old girls said they were unhappy with their mental health.

Children’s mental health services 2021-2022 | Children’s Commissioner for England (childrenscommissioner.gov.uk)

The state of NHS estates

NHS efforts to deliver national priorities including elective recovery and improvements in productivity are being put at risk because of a damaging lack of investment in buildings and facilities, a report by NHS Providers has found. It argues major capital investment is crucial to enabling trusts to improve productivity, operational performance and patient care across all sectors. The report can be found here.

No more sticking plasters: repairing and transforming the NHS estate (nhsproviders.org)