Social Care Bulletin

Interim Appointments to the Health & Social Care Information Centre

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:46:53 +0000

Candy Morris, Sir Ian Andrews and Sir Nick Partridge have been appointed on an interim basis to the board of the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) from 1st April 2013.

Candy Morris has been appointed as Interim Chair and Sir Nick Partridge and Sir Ian Andrews have been appointed as Interim Non-Executive Directors, until substantive appointments are made after an open recruitment process.

NHS-funded nursing care rates increased for 2013

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:41:25 +0000

The NHS contribution towards the costs of a place in a care home with nursing is being increased by 1% for 2013 to 2014.

The funding is for people in a care home who have been assessed as needing the help of a registered nurse.

For eligible care home residents, from 1 April 2013:

the standard rate will be increased to £109.79 per week
the higher rate will be increased to £151.10 per week

These increases are in line with the increase in NHS nursing staff pay of 1% for 2013 to 2014.

When NHS-funded nursing care was introduced in October 2001, the Department of Health made a commitment to regularly assess the payments.

New provider profiles launched

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:48:37 +0000

The Department of Health has launched a new online information tool on local care providers to help people choose and compare good quality care and support.

The Department of Health is shortly launching new online profiles for every registered care and support provider to the public alongside information and advice to help people understand their care and support options.

People will be encouraged to use these new provider profiles on the NHS Choices website to help narrow down their search for good quality, registered care that meets their personal needs and preferences. The profiles are a major step in enabling people to make more informed and confident choices about care for themselves or family members.

What do care providers need to do now?

The new care and support provider area on the NHS Choices website is now ready for you to log on and add your organisation’s details. To get started, you need to register your organisation:

Visit the ‘Your pages’ area of the NHS Choices website, which has further details about the profiles and about how you can easily request editing access.
Or, email NHS Choices direct to request editing access: provide your full name, email address, job title, contact number and postcode for each care organisation profile you would like to manage.
Important note: if your care service is part of a larger organisation or operates from several sites, please contact your head office in the first instance, before requesting editing access.

Let them know how good you are

Registered care providers will be able to use their profiles to tell people what makes their service special and how their support can improve someone’s quality of life.

You can use this search to find your existing profile on the website. The profiles are extremely basic at the moment, but this is an excellent opportunity for you to add – for free – a range of information to promote your care service on one of the most visited websites in the UK. NHS Choices currently receives over 19 million visits per month.

You can use your profile to:

give people a taste of what your organisation offers and of what makes you special.
show how your support could enhance someone’s life, and provide details about the services you offer – for example, whether you provide specialised care for dementia sufferers if you provide residential care, or whether you provide live-in care services if you provide homecare.
tell people about the quality of care you provide using new Transparency and Quality Compact measures agreed by care and support providers – for example how you perform on pressure care management in a residential care home or scheduled visits taking place on time for a homecare agency.
show people how proud you are of your staff and why.
provide useful practical details on things such as visiting times and menu options.

Setting a good example

Take a look at what St Cecilia’s care home in Scarborough, Choice Support Aylesbury and the Good Care Group in London have already done with their profiles.

From April, the provider profiles will also include comments by users of services, their families and carers, which have either been left on NHS Choices or other feedback websites which meet strict moderation criteria. This genuine customer feedback will further help people make decisions about their care.

Liverpool Care Pathway review to hold sessions with families and carers

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 08:40:17 +0000

The independent review of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) for dying patients is holding sessions for families and carers.

The sessions, in which the review panel will listen to to families’ and carers’ experiences of the LCP, are taking place in London on 7 May, Preston on 16 May and Bristol on 20 May.

Putting Patients First: government publishes response to Francis Report

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 08:36:53 +0000

The quality of patient care will be put at the heart of the NHS in an overhaul of health and care in response to the Francis Inquiry.

The quality of patient care will be put at the heart of the NHS in an overhaul of the health and care system in response to the Francis Inquiry. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced today how a culture of compassion will be a key marker of success, spelling an end to the distorting impact of targets and box ticking which led to the failings at Stafford Hospital.

Hospitals and care homes will be encouraged to strive to be the best, the basic values of dignity and respect will be central to care training and, if things go wrong, patients and their families will be told about it.

NICE publishes first joint health and social care quality standards

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 08:34:06 +0000

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published the first joint health and social care quality standards on:

The Department of Health referred these 2 topics to NICE in 2011 and NICE has used them as a pilot before taking on its social care remit from 1 April 2013.

Throughout this process, NICE has worked in partnership with social care and health organisations.

Government publishes initial response to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Public Inquiry Report

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 16:11:46 +0000

In response to the Francis report, government is launching plans to ensure that patients are always put first and people are treated with respect.

The government’s initial response, ‘Patients First and Foremost’, sets out a collective commitment and plan of action for the whole health and care system and everyone who works in it.

Updated NHS Constitution published

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:38:49 +0000

Important areas we have improved in the NHS Constitution include:

patient involvement
feedback
duty of candour
end of life care
integrated care
complaints
patient information
staff rights, responsibilities and commitments
dignity, respect and compassion

We have also made some technical amendments to ensure that the NHS Constitution is up-to-date for the introduction of the new health and care system on 1 April 2013.

Mental Health Awareness Week 13-19 May 2013

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:02:16 +0000

For one week each May, the Mental Health Foundation campaigns around a specific theme for Mental Health Awareness Week. The theme for this year’s campaign, which runs from 13-19 May, will be physical activity and exercise, highlighting the impact they have on mental health and wellbeing.For more information, visit their website

Supporting hospitals to become dementia-friendly

Thu, 14 Mar 2013 14:16:37 +0000

This letter to chief executives of acute trusts follows up on a campaign by The Dementia Action Alliance launched in October 2012, aimed at encouraging all hospitals to commit to becoming dementia-friendly by March 2013.