NHS Employers, December 2018
NHS Employers toolkit offering guidance, good practice, checklists, top tips, questions and leading examples from across the NHS, to help employers take stock of what may need to be done to sustain a workforce pipeline. It aims to provide practical information on understanding audiences, how to attract the right people and ensuring employees have the best on-boarding experience.
Click here to view the toolkit.
Fair care: A workforce strategy for social care
Institute for Public Policy Research, December 2018
Adult social care is an essential public service and a growing part of our economy. However, the social care system in England faces a workforce crisis which is set to grow in the coming years; by 2028, we estimate there will be a shortage of over 400,000 workers in social care.
The challenges of recruiting and retaining workers in the sector is inextricably linked to low pay and poor working conditions. This is itself related to the under-funding of social care and a commissioning and delivery model based on cost not quality. Providers have competed by driving down pay and conditions, and they have faced little resistance given the limited bargaining power of the workforce and the limited enforcement of employment rights. These factors are combining to create a social care workforce crisis.
The solution is a sustainable long-term funding settlement for social care and a transformation of the social care workforce model. This should be based on the establishment of decent pay and terms and conditions through sectoral collective bargaining, and a professionalisation of the social care workforce. These measures would help ensure high-quality work for care workers, and high-quality care for those who need it.
Click here to view the full report.
Care staffing in the NHS: the good, the bad and the promising
BPP University School of Nursing, December 2018
Report from BPP University School of Nursing looking at nurse recruitment. It finds while it is clear that NHS trusts are having to deal with budgetary pressures and a skills shortage which may be exacerbated by Brexit, they are also facing significant changes to their traditional training models. This includes factors such as cuts to bursaries and the declining numbers of those applying for nursing degrees.
Click here to view the full report.
Community Mental Health Survey 2018
Care Quality Commission, December 2018
Research on the experiences of people receiving community mental health services. It finds that people’s experiences of the care they receive from community-based mental health services have continued to deteriorate. Key concerns are expressed around:
- access to care,
- care planning
- mental health conditions in relation to physical health needs
- financial advice
- advice on benefits.
Click here to view the full report.
Making Every Contact Count Bulletin – December 2018
The Gosall Library, December 2018
This Library bulletin provides further reading to support the ‘Making Every Contact Count’ programme.
There are links to recent research papers and articles in each of the MECC areas to give you further background information and evidence to consolidate what you have learned in your training, and to give you ideas and confidence for using MECC in your day-to-day encounters.
Click here to view the bulletin.
Intellectual engagement and cognitive ability in later life (the “use it or lose it” conjecture): longitudinal, prospective study
BMJ 2018;363:k4925
This longitudinal, prospective, observational study aims to examine the association between intellectual engagement and cognitive ability in later life, and determine whether the maintenance of intellectual engagement will offset age related cognitive decline. The study concludes that self reported engagement is not associated with the trajectory of cognitive decline in late life, but is associated with the acquisition of ability during the life course. Overall, findings suggest that high performing adults engage and those that engage more being protected from relative decline.
Click here to view the full paper.
JAMA Psychiatry – November 2018
The November edition of JAMA Psychiatry is now available. This issue includes articles on using brain-based phenotyping to improve discovery in psychiatry, and a randomized controlled trial of the effect of cannabidiol on medial temporal, midbrain, and striatal dysfunction in people at clinical high risk of psychosis.
Click here to access the full text articles. You will need to login with your LCFT OpenAthens account.
Help at home: Use of assistive technology for older people
National Institute for Health Research, December 2018
This review presents a selection of recent research on assistive technology for older people funded by The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and other government funders. This has been selected with help from an expert steering group. In this review we focus on research around the use of technology in the home, remote monitoring systems and designing better environments for older people.
Click here to view the full report.
Independent Evaluation Of The Guinness Partnership’s Dementia Project
Housing LIN, November 2018
Evaluation of the progress made in becoming a more dementia-friendly organisation. The Guinness Partnership implemented a two year project in 2015 to take forward developments, initially in two pilot areas of Havant and Manchester with a view to rolling out successful approaches more broadly.
Click here to view the full report.
Empowering NHS leaders to lead
Department of Health and Social Care, November 2018
This review was led by Sir Ron Kerr and explored 3 challenges faced by executive leaders across the NHS:
- expectations and support available for leaders
- alignment of performance expectations at the organisational and system level
- level of administrative burden placed upon executive leaders
The review makes a number of recommendations to address these challenges.
Click here to view the full report.