31.07.15
‘Radical’ support package launched for Vanguard areas
An initial ‘support package’ outlining the new models of care to be adhered by the 29 Vanguard areas has been published today (31 July).
After several meetings with Vanguard leaders, visits to all sites and ongoing discussions and seminars, a package has now been launched by the NHS Five Year Forward View partners to guide relevant areas in their upcoming transformations.
It will be led by Vanguard leaders and national experts in an effort to help the Vanguards successfully implement changes effectively and at pace, as well as maximise shared practices and experiences across the NHS system.
Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, said the package has been designed “with and for the Vanguards” in order to “radically redesign” the way they provide care.
“It provides them with additional tools to move at pace and, importantly, to remove barriers that stop them from delivering the best possible care to patients,” he added.
The package, which covers 2015-16, focuses on eight specific areas including designing new care models, evaluating the impact of their changes, integrating commissioning, harnessing new digital technology. Staff will also be organised around patients and become more ‘modern and flexible’, as well as develop stronger leadership skills.
More patient-centric measures to be tackled include empowering patients and communities and better engaging with patients, locals and staff.
Samantha Jones, New Care Models programme director, said the support package will “reverse the ‘top-down’ approach by empowering the vanguards to commission the national NHS bodies to support them”.
The Vanguards, announced in March, are responsible for leading the development of new models of integrated care which will later be spread nationwide. They were selected after an extensive process involving patients, clinicians and peer review and could benefit over five million patients.
Vanguard leaders and national experts will also lead ‘workstreams’ to refine these ‘radical changes’ in order to tailor it to the specific needs of each vanguard.
Jim Mackey, chief executive of Vanguard Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, has been “heavily involved” in the design of the recent support package and “looks forward to shaping it further as we move forward”.
He added: “We have a very strong track record of working together in Northumberland and welcome this opportunity to think innovatively about how we can further integrate health and social care to create services which are fit for the changing needs of our aging population and the challenges facing the NHS.”
Vanguards will continue having access to a £200m transformation fund with amounts already earmarked for three of the first 29 vanguards. These include £6.5m concentrated on Better Health and Care for Sunderland, £8.3m for Northumberland Accountable Care Organisation, and £4.9 for the South Somerset Symphony Programme.
Another £41m has been approved ‘in principle’ for other organisations and will be confirmed in August. Additional funding for other Vanguards will be approved over the coming months.