Integrated Care & Social Care

City council rejoins ICS after reforms agreed in privatisation and accountability row

17.04.19: Nottingham City Council is to rejoin its local NHS integrated care system (ICS) after significant reforms were made to the way the system runs in order to address concerns over accountability and privatisation. The local authority’s e...

NHS rolls out new digital portal for home care vacancies in bid to reduce hospital discharge delays

16.04.19: A new digital portal that allows hospital staff to find care home spaces for patients is to be rolled out across the NHS in a bid to reduce delays. The ‘Capacity Tracker’ is being rolled out by NHS England to hospitals, care hom...

Utilising smart meters in assisted living

27.03.19: Dr Sudip Sikdar, consultant old-age psychiatrist, and Pauline Parker, head of research at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust; alongside Dr Carl Chalmers, senior lecturer in computer science, and Dr Paul Fergus, reader in machine learning at Liverp...

Personal Health Budgets: empowering individuals

20.03.19: Jon Baker, PHBChoices director at NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) believes that the extension of Personal Health Budgets (PHBs) is a great opportunity for clinical commissioning groups (CCG) to expand and improve care provision – pr...

Top nurse to lead new integrated care group in Nottinghamshire

18.03.19: A top nurse has been appointed to lead a new health partnership in Nottinghamshire described as an alliance of NHS providers, commissioners, and local authorities. Rachel Munton has been chosen as the first independent chair of the mid-Nott...

Old lock, new key? Sizing up the NHS Long-Term Plan

18.03.19: Tom McCarthy, managing partner at Niche, sizes up the NHS Long-Term Plan. “It's the economy, stupid,” was coined by Bill Clinton’s election strategist, James Carville, in 1992 to emphasise the single most important issue t...

Health, Social Care and Wellbeing at EvoNorth 2019

07.03.19: Under the banner of the Northern Powerhouse, health and social care has been one of the most prevalent themes for the improvement and sustainability of public health in the North. Following the landmark announcement of the NHS Long-Term Plan in...

Transforming the way we treat trauma

06.03.19: In this article, Bevan Exemplar and trauma surgeon Oliver Blocker explains why the NHS needs to change to survive in the way it treats and admits trauma patients. He discusses how new models of care are vital to meet the needs of patients with i...

Three CCGs appoint joint chief executive in integration push

04.03.19: A single chief executive has been appointed to jointly lead three CCGs in the south west in a bid to improve integration across the groups and the region’s STP. Tracey Cox will take up the role of chief executive at Bath and North Eas...

‘Inadequate’ plans to build new mental health hospital next to primary school to be reconsidered by council

05.02.19: Exeter City Council has apologised for an “inadequate” consultation into plans to build a new independent mental health hospital next to a primary school which failed to properly consider the safety of children. The council has...

NHS to recruit army of ‘social prescribers’ to relieve pressure on GPs

28.01.19: An army of workers trained to prescribe social activities as treatments will be recruited by the NHS to help patients deal with “the scourges of modern life” and help take pressure of GPs. The NHS wants social prescribing &lsquo...

NHS to increase community, mental health spends by £4.5bn as part of new digital ICS pledge

07.01.19: Spending on community healthcare will be at least £4.5bn higher five years from now, with health bodies coming together to provide joined-up care in partnership with local government as the NHS plans on having the entire of England covered...

Single chief executive chosen for eight Sussex and East Surrey CCGs

04.01.19: Eight CCGs across Sussex and East Surrey have appointed a single accountable chief executive officer. Adam Doyle has been named as the chief executive officer for all the CCGs in Sussex and East Surrey after serving the same role under the...

Croydon care agency placed in special measures after inspectors find ‘totally unacceptable’ levels of care and care worker response times

03.01.19: A Croydon home care agency has been placed into special measures after the CQC found unsafe levels of care, and, in some cases, inspectors found medicine records showing a potential overdose. The level of care at Medacs Healthcare, Croydon...

Breaking down barriers to integration

12.12.18: Anne Marie Morris, member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and MP for Newton Abbott, outlines the committee’s recent report on the barriers to integration. The PAC’s recent report into the interface between health and...