21.02.14
Care and support planning to deliver person-centred healthcare
A new guide to Care and Support Planning will be launched on NHS Change Day to help explain what it is, why the NHS needs it, and how it can improve health outcomes.
National Voices is launching the guide and pledging to champion care and support planning for NHS Change Day.
According to NHS England, everyone with a long-term condition or disability should have a personalised care plan, but National Voices highlighted research which showed just 3% of people with long-term conditions have a plan in place.
National Voices’ policy advisor, Laura Robinson, said: “Care and support planning makes sure we see people as people, not conditions or disabilities. Those who have tried it – both people who use services and professionals – see it as a better way to work together. Get it right and we will have real, person-centred care. Many people who could benefit haven’t yet heard of care and support planning. Our guide seeks to change this.”
Dr Sue Roberts, of the Year of Care Partnerships, who helped develop the guide, said: “Care and support planning provides a gateway to a truly personalised approach for people with long-term conditions, linking support for self management with good clinical care with and support in the wider community. Professionals who embrace it find that it is a much better way of working as well as a much more enjoyable, person centred one. However, as highlighted by the Year of Care evaluation, people will only be engaged in the process if they have a good understanding of what it involves in practice.
“This guide sets out what good care and support planning should look like and provides people with a starting point to discuss these approaches with the professionals they work with. We look forward to working with National Voices and other members of the Coalition for Collaborative Care to use this guide as a tool to support local leaders in building their House of Care.”
Professor Nigel Mathers, honorary secretary of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said: “On behalf of the RCGP and all our members I wish to strongly endorse this new Care and Support Planning Guide from National Voices. It is designed to explain what care and support planning is, why our patients need it and the four stages of the approach. This model of care has been tried and tested and there is good evidence that it improves health outcomes.
“In addition, it can help us as GPs address the challenges of supporting people with long-term conditions and developing better partnerships with them. This in turn can help us deliver a higher quality of service. The RCGP produced a guide for GPs in 2011 which provides guidance on how to introduce care planning to your practice.”
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