NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS Funded Nursing Care

National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS Funded Nursing Care
DHSC updated 14 March 2018

• The national framework for NHS continuing healthcare and NHS-funded nursing care sets out the principles and processes for deciding eligibility. 
• The checklist, decision support tool and fast track pathway tool will help clinicians and practitioners with the decision-making process. 
• CCGs assumed some responsibilities for NHS continuing healthcare from 1 April 2013
• The 2018 version of the national framework document and the associated tools will take effect on 1 October 2018

Safe and Effective Staffing: the Real Picture

Safe and Effective Staffing: the Real Picture
RCN 12 May 2017

• A contribution to the conversation on nurse staffing levels and to patient safety in health care. It contains two new datasets: assessments by Directors of Nursing of the state of the UK’s health systems and its workforce, and data on nurse staff vacancies in Trusts in England.

Guidance on complaints and incidents in homecare services

Guidance on complaints and incidents in homecare services
Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 10 November 2016

• As homecare is often a shared care arrangement involving multiple organisations, it is important that complaints processes which allow the sharing, reporting and learning from complaints is in place and integrated between all parties involved in order to ensure that complaints are received, recorded, investigated, acted upon and reviewed in order to support patient care.
• This new guidance provides detailed practical advice on how reporting and learning systems should operate in homecare services in order to meet the requirements of patients, carers, regulators and other stakeholders. 

New Framework for nursing, midwifery and care staff

Leading Change, Adding Value: A framework for nursing, midwifery and care staff
NHS England May 2016

• This a framework for all nursing, midwifery and care staff, and builds upon Compassion in Practice and is directly aligned with the Five Year Forward View (FYFV) in seeking to develop new ways of working that are person-focused and provide seamless care across the boundary that has traditionally separated health and social care.
• The report presents 10 commitments to support action of nursing midwifery and care staff
• Tools to support the framework
• Appendix A National resources: documents, tools and references
• Appendix B Case studies
• Case study 1 Diabetes training programme: The management of insulin administration in the community by non-registered practitioners 
• Case study 2 Improving outcomes for people living with dementia 
• Case study 3 Liberating the voices of all - recovery coaching in an older persons acute rehabilitation ward 
• Case study 4 Improving patient experience through stratification of the prostate cancer follow up pathway 
• Case study 5 Collaborative working across care sectors to improve patient safety 
• Case study 6 The role of the Enhanced Practice Nurse in Harrow
• Case study 7 Improving infection control in nursing care homes 
• Case study 8 The changing face of modern nursing - “Living Well” 
• Case study 9 Teaching care homes 
• Case study 10 The First Response service - a 24/7 integrated model for urgent mental health care 
• Case study 11 Reacting to Red - Developing a whole health and social care economy approach to preventing and reducing pressure ulcers 
• Case study 12 Releasing nursing time while providing safer care 
• Case study 13 Telemedicine in care homes
• Case study 14 Using social media for reaching women and families in healthcare services 
• Appendix C Impact Measurement Framework

NICE Safe staffing evidence reviews

Safe staffing evidence reviews

HSJ 18 January 2016 (Subscription required)

• NICE has published, through HSJ, four evidence reviews into staffing levels around nursing in A&E, community nursing, inpatient mental health services and management approaches to safe staffing. 
• The move comes after two NICE non-executive directors reversed a previous FOI request decision and concluded that it was in the public interest for the evidence reviews to be made public.

See also the leaked NICE guidance on staffing levels in A&E published by HSJ on 20 January 2016

Government's Care bill, fact sheets and glossary

Care Bill announced
DH, 10 May 2013 updated 23 December 2013, 10 January 2014

• The Government’s Care Bill to reform the law relating to care and support for adults, relating to support for carer and provision about safeguarding adults from abuse or neglect has been published.
• The legislation will
• Help people get compassionate care in hospital, in a care home or in the community, by introducing Ofsted-style ratings for hospitals and care homes, making quality as important as finance and strengthening training for staff.
• Join up care by enshrining in law that everyone should have a personal care plan, access to a personal budget and that carers, for the first time, will have a right to get support themselves if they are found to have eligible needs. There will also be a national minimum eligibility threshold across the country.
• Reform the funding of care so no one will have to sell their home in their lifetime, or lose everything they’ve worked for, to pay for the costs of living in a care home. And a cap on care costs and financial support for more people will protect people from catastrophic costs and provide important peace of mind.
• The includes responses to the  Government’s Caring for our future White Paper (2012), the Francis report. It will also strengthen training and education and research regulation.
• The DH has published a number of Care Bill Fact Sheets to accompany the Bill and a Care Bill Glossary