Forward thinking
The NHS Five Year Forward View, published 23 October 2014, sets out a vision for a sustainable, comprehensive, tax-funded NHS to be proud of. It represents the shared view of the NHS’ national leadership including NHS England, Public Health England, Monitor, Health Education England, the Care Quality Commission and the NHS Trust Development Authority.
The Five Year Forward View sets out how the NHS can thrive in the coming years and what it will look like. A common characteristic of each model is the focus on and investment in prevention and early intervention to reduce demand on hospital services. The intention is to reverse the current situation where the NHS spends more on bariatric surgery than it does on lifestyle coaching and proven interventions to reduce or prevent obesity.
There is also a focus on more engaged relationships with citizens to promote well-being and prevent avoidable illness. And when they do need services, the patient can expect far greater control of their own care.
Service transformation
The document offers several examples of transformational changes to reflect local need, local decisions and the diversity of modern English communities.
“In Kent, 20 GPs and almost 150 staff operate from three modern sites providing many of the tests, investigations, minor injuries and minor surgery usually provided in hospital. It shows what can be done when general practice operates at scale. Better results, better care, a better experience for patients and significant savings.”
It also sets out the six new care models that will be promoted in England over the next five years. These include a care model based on the Accountable Care Organisations discussed at our King’s Fund event last month and a care model for enhanced health in Care Homes – a new area of focus for the AHSN following the launch earlier in the month of our Care Homes collaboratives.
Funding scenarios
The Forward View presents three possible future scenarios in response to the challenges facing public services of a growing population, increasing treatment options and the prevalence of avoidable illness resulting from contemporary lifestyles.
In the best scenario, funding from Government increases in line with population growth (rather than the current ring-fenced ‘flat cash’ budget) and enables the NHS to invest in prevention, early intervention and reduce demand for hospital-based services. This investment enables the NHS to raise its efficiency gains to nearer 3% from a current yearly average of 0.8%. Health technology and innovation will play their part here.
Gearing
The new Government will decide the NHS budget after May’s General Election. What is clear though is that a sustainable NHS is one that is geared towards earlier intervention, with sustained social care and more healthcare outside of hospitals.
Support
The AHSN is here to support this future and we were delighted with the positive feedback to the first region-wide Care Homes Collaborative and interest expressed in a Community of Interest, which we will take forward alongside other activity to support service improvement for Older People with multiple long term conditions.
Nominations now open!
Submissions are now open for the Kent Surrey Sussex Service Improvement and Innovation Awards 2015. The deadline for submissions is approaching fast – there are just two weeks to go!
Please click here to enter. Note that submissions are due by 5pm, Friday 14th November 2014. We look forward to receiving your submission!
HSJ showcases the best innovation in Healthcare
All this week HSJ is celebrating the innovators making a difference to patient care and policy in the health service.
The NHS Five Year Forward View last week set out system leaders’ vision for how the health service can meet public demand and remain affordable over the next five years. On innovation and technology, the forward view said the reason investment has not always delivered the return it should is because care models and working cultures have not been ready.
Invitation to whole system modelling event
System Modelling is a powerful method for testing, understanding the implications of and building consensus around proposed service configurations and care pathway changes.
KSS AHSN is keen to promote the wider use of System Modelling and is holding a one-day event on 6 November 2014 at the Gatwick Holiday Inn. Key features include:
- Aims
- To demonstrate how System Modelling can be used to test and enable healthcare improvement
- To identify how System Modelling can improve services for older people in KSS
- To stimulate interest and connect users and suppliers with an interest in using System Modelling in KSS.
- Outcomes
- Connections made, knowledge exchanged, interest developed
- Users and suppliers with a better understanding of each other and the potential for System Modelling in improving services for older people in KSS
- Candidates identified for KSS AHSN joint project(s).
- Attendance
- Users: NHS, Public Health, Social Care and Local Authority staff involved in service improvement and commissioning.
- Suppliers: Industry, academics and NHS organisations experienced in providing System Modelling software and expertise.
There are slots for Case Study presentations and slots for demonstrations. Please contact Gill Pottsif you are currently active in modelling and are interested in presenting or demonstrating your work / product.
Attendance will be free to AHSN members and presenters and £75 per delegate for others. Please contact: janet.moore10@nhs.net to register andGill Potts for further information.
Jeremy Hunt: message to NHS staff on ‘Sign up to Safety’ campaign
The Secretary of State for Health talks about how improving the safety and quality of care can reduce costs in the NHS:
I am delighted that so many trusts are on board, and I look forward to many more joining the Sign up to Safety campaign to help them make the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world.
While visiting BCH, I spoke to staff about the value of safe care – not just for patients, but for the NHS too. I talked about how unsafe care is costing the NHS between £1bn and £2.5bn each year – money that could be invested in more front line staff, better training, better equipment and more time for you to care.
New national plan for tackling physical inactivity
Public Health England have published Everybody Active, Every Day, a framework for addressing the national physical inactivity epidemic, responsible for one in six deaths and costing the country an estimated £7.4 billion a year.