KSS AHSN Newsletter – 10 April 2015

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Richard Barber

In this weeks’s edition…

A new right to be involved in end of life decisions?

The Government recently set out proposed changes to the NHS constitution which includes new rights giving patients increased powers to plan and make decisions about their ‘End of Life’ care.

As we provide more support to the End of Life Care CAG I am gaining knowledge that for too long many older people have felt like they are left out of discussions about their own deaths. National data tells us that 35 per cent of older people who want to die at home end up dying in hospital.

The proposals to change the constitution, which are open for consultation until the end of this month, look to strengthen the right of patients to be involved in more decisions about their care at the very end of their lives. If this taken forward then the NHS constitution would be explicit about the need to engage patients, stating: “You have the right to be involved in planning and making decisions about your health and care with your care provider, including your end of life care, and to be given information to enable you to do this. Where appropriate this right includes your family and carers. This includes being given the chance to manage your own care and treatment.”

These potential new rights for patients are reflected in the work being done in our own region to improve end of life care.

Everyone’s Business

The South East Coast Strategic Clinical Network’s End of Life Care CAG brought together a range of stakeholders to improve End of Life experience and care and improve adoption of Advance Care Planning, something being recommended by our Clinical Senate.

As part of this work the group recently hosted a joint event with Public Health England on 25 March with the title ‘Everyone’s Business: Normalising Good Practice in End of Life Care’. The event brought together health and social care professionals to discuss ways to improve end of life care in our region. The event helped share and spread good practice and recognised the contribution that good data collection and management can make to improving outcomes. It drew a very committed and diverse audience and was an impressive event.

Independence and vitality for longer: improving care and the experience of care for older people in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

KSS AHSN are keen to continue this conversation and ensure that improving End of Life Care is a central part of the older people’s programme.

We have a number of regional engagement events planned to help us validate with you: the case for change for our new programme, an agreed vision of future sustainable care arrangements, the proposed support programmes we believe will help implement sustainable care services faster.

30 April 2015

6 May 2015

21 May 2015

23 June 2015

Older People’s Programme, Kent
(Engagement Event)

Older People’s Programme, Surrey
(Engagement Event)

Older People’s Programme, Sussex
(Engagement Event)

KSS AHSN Partnership Day

Holiday Inn, Maidstone

Mandolay Hotel, Guildford

Holiday Inn, Gatwick

The Hilton, Gatwick

Please contact Sharon Drazek to book a place.

Kind regards,
Guy Boersma
Managing Director, KSS AHSN

KSS AHSN Job Vacancies:

Senior Programme Manager
Integrated Care Kent, Surrey and Sussex

Up to £45,000 for 3 days per week (part-time 2/3 days per week initially)

Fixed term appointment, initially for 18 months

This is an exciting and challenging joint opportunity between KSS AHSN and Age UK for someone with a substantial and successful track record of operational, project and programme management, ideally from within health and social care, together with experience of managing contracts within the independent sector, to drive forward a programme of work linked to the strategic goals of the AHSN and Age UK.

Ideally, we are seeking someone with excellent knowledge of the integrated care agenda and emerging best practice. You should also have a good understanding of the issues faced by older people in receipt of public services and some knowledge of the role of statutory, voluntary and private sectors in relation to service provision for older people.

For further information, job description and person specification, please click here. Secondments are particularly welcome.

If you would like to discuss the role further, please contact Angela Bowring or call 07917 240172.

Closing date 17th April 2015

Manager PMO

£45-55K

We are looking for someone with a proven track record in Programme Management and who has significant knowledge and experience of resource/workforce planning to establish, lead, manage and develop the functioning of an effective and rigorous Programme Management Office

You will need excellent communication skills, and be able to hold others to account for deliverables and targets.

For further information and who to contact to discuss this role, the job description and person specification, please click here. Secondments are particularly welcome.

To apply, please send your CV and a supporting statement of not more than two sides of A4 to Julie Hall.

Closing date: 27 April 2015

Hold the date!
Transforming older people’s services conference, 23 June 2015

[KSS AHSN]

Our next regional conference will focus on transforming older people’s services and is scheduled for 23 June 2015. Please click here for more information.

Book now: International Seminar Series

[KSS AHSN]

Logistics and Supply Chain

Andy Ellis, Former Supply Chain Director for Asda and Executive VP Logistics for Walmart, Canada

Wednesday, 22 April 2015 from 17:30 to 19.30 (GMT)

Sofitel Hotel, Gatwick Airport, RH6 0PH, UK

The acknowledged leaders in this field have been in the areas of retail and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods where it has become a distinct source of commercial advantage. Using industry connections we will bring the most advanced thinking in their field to the table, and explore how this can be transferred to the health sector

Register now

Value proposition reviews – free help to get your product or service right for the NHS

[KSS AHSN / SEHTA]

With the NHS funding capped and limited opportunities for interacting with NHS staff, selling to the NHS will inevitably become more challenging. With a better understanding of their priorities and how cash flows around the system you will be able to prepare a more compelling and comprehensive value proposition.

Rob Berry, Head of Innovation at the Kent Surrey and Sussex AHSN and Dr David Parry, CEO of SEHTA are offering one to one appointments to review value propositions for high value products or services which are on or close to market.

For further information, please click here.

Hold the date! Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) – Study Day, 9 June 2015

[KSS AHSN Respiratory Programme / The British Lung Foundation]

The British Lung Foundation and the KSS AHSN Respiratory Programme are jointly hosting the long-awaited full study day on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), covering pathophysiology and treatment, supportive therapies and end of life care, as well as the patient’s perspective. Full agenda to follow when all speakers are confirmed.

This is an all-day event, will be held in the Gatwick area, further details will be confirmed shortly.

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KSS AHSN Newsletter – 3rd April 2015

Posted on March 31, 2015 by Academic Blogger

In this week’s edition…

Wanted: innovators to boost healthcare delivery

Innovation is widely recognised as crucial to the future of health and social care, as well as to the wider economy. There’s also a widely held belief that innovation needs the right conditions to prosper. The NHS Five Year Forward View (5YFV) highlighted how innovative ideas or technologies with the potential to improve patient care have failed in the past.

The 5YFV highlighted how innovative ideas or technologies have failed in the past because they had been tried in isolation from other technologies, without changes to ways of working, or on
top – not instead – of existing programmes.

A new approach is needed. The 5YFV describes the need for ‘test bed’ areas with the willingness to adopt whole-system change, and the ability to measure benefit and pass on learning to other areas. Test beds will help realise the ambition of reforming the NHS so that it is fit to face the challenges of the 21st Century – particularly an ageing population and an increase in patients with long-term health conditions – while remaining financially sustainable.

Worldwide call

This week NHS England, the Department of Health and the Government Office for Science launched a worldwide call for innovators to partner with local health and care systems. Innovators from industry, the voluntary sector or the NHS itself are being asked to put forward new technologies to work in combination with innovations in how health and care services are delivered. Together they will combine to offer better outcomes for patients as well as better value for taxpayers.

NHS England and the Department of Health will work with the 15 Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs) to identify up to five ‘test beds’ and match them up with appropriate innovators. The partnerships will then receive national support to implement high potential innovations that respond to local clinical needs. Once successful the NHS will be one of the best places in the world to test out new ways of working in real-life settings.

Suitable test bed sites will have strong clinical leadership, with an appetite for testing innovations. They also need the infrastructure to support data sharing and a sufficiently large patient population to enable projects to be run at scale.

Suitable innovations must have the potential to improve health and healthcare outcomes at lower overall cost; in other words, high value innovations.  Importantly, the test bed programme is about deploying mature technologies in NHS settings; it’s not about inventing new ones.

Next steps

Innovators can find all the information about how to make an application on the NHS England Innovation website. Innovators need to fill out an expression of interest in response to a defined health care problem.

NHS organisations interested in being part of a test bed site can find further information here to help develop their thinking. We will support suitable proposals for subsequent submission to NHS England. For further insight into national policy, the test bed selection process or if interested in talking further, please contact Rob Berry, our Head of Innovation.

International seminar series

Our 2015 series of free seminars is designed to strengthen collaboration between industry, academia, health and social care. The next one focuses on Logistics and Supply Chain. It takes place on Wednesday 22 April 2015 from 17:30 to 19.30 in Gatwick.

The acknowledged leaders in this field have been in the areas of retail and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods where it has become a distinct source of commercial advantage. Using industry connections we will bring the most advanced thinking in their field to the table, and explore how this can be transferred to the health sector. It’s open to all but places are limited. Register now to secure your place.

Kind regards,

Guy Boersma
Managing Director, KSS AHSN

KSS AHSN Job Vacancies:

KSS Patient Safety Collaborative Clinical Leads Vacancies

[Kent Surrey Sussex Patient Safety Collaborative]

The Kent Surrey Sussex Patient Safety Collaborative (KSS PSC) is co-designing the package of support for health and care organisations. Fundamental to this will be clinical leadership and we are seeking expressions of interest in these roles. The leads are required for:

  • Sepsis
  • Safe transfer and discharge
  • Medication errors.

For further information, job description and person specification, please click here.

Alternatively please contact Co-Directors:

Tony Kelly,tony.kelly@bsuh.nhs.uk / 07767444526
or
Kay Mackay,kay.mackay1@nhs.net / 07747847782

Hold the date!

KSS AHSN regional conference, 23 June 2015
[KSS AHSN]

 Our next regional conference will focus on transforming older people’s services and is scheduled for 23 June 2015. Registration details will be confirmed shortly.

 Older people’s programme: engagement event

March to May 2015

[KSS AHSN]

Independence and vitality for longer: improving care and the experience of care for older people in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Through these meetings we will validate with you: the case for change, an agreed vision of future sustainable care arrangements and the support programme of KSS AHSN activity to help you implement sustainable care services faster.

 

  • Kent: 30 April 2015, Holiday Inn, Maidstone​
  • Surrey: 6 May 2015, Mandolay Hotel, ​Guildford
  • Sussex: 21 May 2015, Holiday Inn, Gatwick​

Please contact Sharon Drazekto book a place.

 Hold the date!

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) – Study day, 9 June 2015

[KSS AHSN Respiratory Programme / The British Lung Foundation]

The British Lung Foundation and the KSS AHSN Respiratory Programme are jointly hosting the long-awaited full study day on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), covering pathophysiology and treatment, supportive therapies and end of life care, as well as the patient’s perspective. Full agenda to follow when all speakers are confirmed.

This is an all-day event, will be held in the Gatwick area, further details will be confirmed shortly.

HEE / NIHR Funded Masters in Clinical Research

[Health Education England (HEE) / National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)]

The University of Brighton are now recruiting for NIHR fully funded (subject to funding by NIHR, to be confirmed Spring 2015) places for the MRes (Clinical Research) course, starting in September 2015. Funding includes salary costs and course fees for full time over one year or part time over two years. Please note there are no bench fees included.

For a list of eligible professions, please click here. Candidates will demonstrate a commitment to a clinical research career. Closing date for applications: Tuesday 5th May 2015 for the September 2015 entry.

For further information, please click here. Or contact Dr Nikki Petty, Programme Leader MRes (Clinical Research) Tel: 01273-641806 Email: n.j.petty@brighton.ac.uk

 New NIHR themed call: Multimorbidities in older people

[National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)]

The NIHR has issued a call for research into the evaluation of interventions or services delivered for older people with multimorbidity – defined as the co-occurrence of two or more chronic conditions in one person. NIHR themed research calls are issued to meet an identified health challenge or government priority.

The following programmes are open for applications:

  • Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME)
  • Health Services and Delivery Research (HS&DR)
  • Health Technology Assessment (HTA)
  • Public Health Research (PHR)

The following programmes will open in due course:

  • Invention for Innovation (i4i)
  • Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR)
  • Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB)

Closing date: 20 May 2015

Further information on the NIHR website.

 Improvement FUNdamentals 

Free Online course for quality improvement

[NHS Improving Quality]

Improvement FUNdamentals – a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) – will take its first full cohort of participants in April 2015. The course offers participants the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of quality improvement principles and practice.

Beneficial to beginners and more experienced improvers alike, this course is delivered over 8 weeks and will give you a good understanding of:

  • The fundamentals of quality improvement
  • Using the model for improvement
  • Measuring for Improvement
  • Sustaining and spreading improvements

For further details, please click here.

critical Voices 2015

[critical Voices]

Critical Voicesis part of a growing movement to understand medicine and health, not just as science, but as subjects which demand ethical judgements, empathy and wisdom. It is an annual, not for profit, event that brings together health professionals, academics, patients, researchers, artists, writers, performers and the wider public, for a day of challenging insights, conversation and debate on critical areas of our lives.

If you are interested in medicine and health, curious about diverse perspectives and ideas, or want to explore its goals and values join us at critical Voices 2015.

Venue:Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells

Time: Saturday 13th June 2015, 9.00am  – 5.00pm

For further event information, please click here.

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BIH @ Imprial College London: Bring the HUMAN BRAIN PROJETCS OF THE WORLD TO ONE PLACE

Posted on March 27, 2015 by ab693

For more information on this event, please see the Kent Health Seminar Calendar.

Co-Chaired by Prof Karl Friston & Prof Yike Guo @ Imperial College London (Aug 31 – Sep2, 2015), BIH’15 crosses the disciplines of neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, signal processing, and neuroimaging. It also draws special attention to informatics for brain science, human behaviour and health.

 

It involves leaders from three of the biggest brain initiatives in the world. BIH’15 accepts full paper submission or abstract only submission. Please allow me to send call for paper here:

Keynote Speakers

  • Allan Jones, CEO, Allen Institute for Brain Science, USA; 
  • Henry Markram, Director, Blue Brain Project; Coordinator, Human Brain Project, EPFL, Switzerland; 
  • David Van Essen, PI, Human Connectome Project, Washington University School of Medicine, USA; 

Feature Speakers

  • Giorgio Ascoli, (Founding Director, Center for Neural Informatics, George Mason University, USA); 
  • Henry Kennedy, (Director of Research, Stem-cell and Brain Research Institute, France); 
  • Barbara Sahakian, (University of Cambridge, UK); 
  • Nelson Spruston, (Scientific Program Director, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), USA); 
  • Paul Verschure, (Director, the Lab of SPECS at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Spain);

General Chairs:

  • Karl Friston, (Scientific Director, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, UK);
  • Yike Guo, (Director of Data Science Institute, Imperial College London, UK);

 

Program Chairs:

  • Aldo Faisal, Imperial College London & MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, UK, 
  • Sean Hill, EPFL, Switzerland, 
  • Hanchuan Peng, Allen Institute for Brain Science, USA;

 

Workshop/Special-Session Chairs:

  • Andreas Holzinger, Medical University Graz & Graz University of Technology, Austria;Zhisheng Huang, Vrije University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, David Powers, Flinders University of South Australia, Australia;

 

Publicity Chairs:

  • Jessica Turner, Georgia State University, USA; Juan D. Velasquez, University of Chile, Chile; Yi Zeng, Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China;

 

Local Organizing Chairs:

  • Thomas Henis, Imperial College London, UK;Kai Sun, Imperial College London, UK; Chao Wu, Imperial College London, UK;

 

Exhibition/Sponsorship Chair:

  • Caroline Li, University Kent, UK;

 

Steering Committee Co-Chairs:

  • Ning Zhong, Maebashi Institute of Technology, Japan; Jiming Liu, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong.

 

Conference Theme:

Brain informatics has emerged as a distinct field of research. It crosses the disciplines of neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science, signal processing, and neuroimaging technologies. The data driven nature of brain research made brain informatics an important field of data science. Following the success of past conferences in this series, BIH’15 will take place at Imperial College London, in UK. For the first time, BIH gathers the researchers from major international brain research projects to form a forum for reviewing the progress of brain informatics research and its applications to human health and building up international collaboration. The conference will also organise an exhibition from industrial and research community.

 

BIH’15 draws special attention to informatics for brain science, human behaviour and health. BIH’15 will address informatics approaches to both the brain and behaviour research with a strong emphasis on emerging trends of big data analysis and management technology for brain research, behaviour learning, and real-world applications of brain science in human health and wellbeing.

 

BIH’15 welcomes paper submissions (full paper), abstract only submissions. Both research and application papers are solicited. All submitted papers will be reviewed on the basis of technical quality, relevance, significance and clarity. Accepted full papers will be included in the proceedings by Springer LNCS/LNAI.

 

Tutorial, Satellite symposium (workshop) and Special-Session proposals and Industry/Demo-Track papers are also welcome.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Satellite symposium proposal submission: March 15, 2015/

Notification of satellite symposium acceptance: March 30, 2015/

Submission of full papers: April 19, 2015/

Submission of abstracts: May 20, 2015/

Submission of satellite symposium papers: May 20, 2015/

Notification of full paper acceptance: May 25, 2015/

Notification of abstract acceptance: June 10, 2015/

Notification of satellite symposium paper acceptance: June 10, 2015/

Tutorial proposal submission: May 15, 2015/

Satellite symposiums: August 30, 2015/

 

PAPER SUBMISSIONS & PUBLICATIONS:

 

TYPE-I (Full Paper Submissions; Submission Deadline: April 5, 2015):
We accept full paper submissions with a maximum paper length of up to 10 pages,  in Springer LNCS format:

http://www.springer.com/computer/lncs?SGWID=0-164-6-793341-0.

All full length papers accepted (and all special sessions’ full length papers) will be published by Springer as a volume of the series of LNCS/LNAI.

 

TYPE-II (Abstract Submissions; Submission Deadline: May 20, 2015):

 

Each abstract is limited to 500 words. Experimental research is particularly welcome. Accepted abstract submissions will be included in the conference program, and will be published as a single, collective proceedings volume.

 

Title: Include in the title of the abstract all words critical for a subject index. Write your title in sentence case (first letter is capitalized; remaining letters are lower case). Do not bold or italicize your full title.

 

Author: List all authors who contributed to the work discussed in the abstract. The presenting author must be listed in the first author slot of the list. Be prepared to submit contact information as well as conflict of interest information for each author listed.

 

Abstract: Enter the body of the abstract and attach any applicable graphic files or tables here. Do not re-enter the title, author, support, or other information that is collected in other steps of the submission form.

 

Presentation Preference: Authors may select from three presentation formats when submitting an abstract: “poster only,”, “talk preferred” or “no preference.” The “talk preferred” selection indicates that you would like to give a talk, but will accept a poster format if necessary. Marking “poster only” indicates that you would not like to be considered for an oral-presentation session. Selecting “no preference” indicates the author’s willingness to be placed in the best format for the program.

 

Each paper or abstract requires one sponsoring attendee (i.e. someone who registered and is attending the conference). A single attendee can not sponsor more than two abstracts or papers.

 

Oral presentations will be selected from both full length papers and abstracts.

 

Post-Conference Journal Publication

 

The BIH conferences have the formal ties with Brain Informatics journal (Springer, http://www.springer.com/40708). Accepted papers from the conference, including their Best Paper Award papers, will be expended and revised for possible inclusion in the Brain Informatics journal each year. It is fully sponsored and no any article-processing fee charged for BIH authors.

 

Selected submissions will be considered for publication in special issues of international journals after their papers are extended to a full-length paper and pass a review process. More information can be found at http://www.bih-amt.com/publications/

 

Topics and Areas

 

Please find the topics and areas of interest of the 2015 International Conference on Brain Informatics and Health (BIH’15) at http://www.bih-amt.com/call-for-papers/topics/

 

AMT’15 Session

The advance of wearable sensor technology makes the monitoring of human behavior and life style becomes feasible. This development gives the active media technology a new dimension which is more closely related to the healthcare and cognitive studies. Following the success of past conferences in this series, AMT’15 will be jointly held with

BIH’15 as a special session.

Contact Information

Chao Wu, Imperial College London, UK
Email: c.wu09@imperial.ac.uk

Aldo Faisal, Imperial College London, UK
Email: a.faisal@imperial.ac.uk

For sponsorship, please contact:

Caroline Li (Ph.D)|Tel: +44(0)1634 202987 | E-Mail : c.li@kent.ac.uk

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March 2015 Stakeholder Briefing

Posted on March 20, 2015 by Richard Barber

In this Issue…

Welcome

One of my highlights of the last month has been spending the day with learners at our ‘Sound of the Student and Trainee Voice’ event. It was inspiring to hear their energy and enthusiasm, and to look at the many ways they are working with their education providers across the region to shape a workforce with the right skills and values for the future.

We are also seeing strong progress with a variety of initiatives to deliver on our skills development strategy. This includes work on the innovative Time for Dementia programme, increasing the number of apprenticeships, supporting the implementation of care certificates and a ministerial launch for our older people’s oral health initiative. You can read more about all of these below.

Of course, the success of all these initiatives is founded on the shared commitment and strong collaborative working across Kent, Surrey and Sussex at all levels with health and care providers, education providers, commissioners and voluntary and independent partners.

Thank you for your support

Best wishes
Philippa Spicer
HEKSS LETB Director

Unique event captures student and trainee insights to improve care and education

Over 160 students and trainees and those involved in their education and training attended the HEKSS The Sound of The Student & Trainee Voice conference in February. The event aimed to capture the unique insights of students and trainees into patient care and how it can be improved through training and education. It was organised following the positive response to the first HEKSS student and trainee conference in November 2013.

In addition to a wide range of workshops, plenary sessions included an overview of the innovative Time for Dementia programme, an exploration of the role of physician associates and how they can enhance a multidisciplinary team, the wide-ranging benefits of advanced clinical decision making training for 111 and 999 call handlers and an entertaining and thought-provoking look at what films can tell us about the student-teacher relationship.

There was a marked buzz at the well-attended event and a wealth of comments and questions on the fast-moving #StudentVoiceKSS dedicated Twitter hashtag. A key theme repeated in many of the presentations and workshops and echoed on Twitter was the power of ‘Ask, Listen, Act’; an approach that underlined many of the successful developments described on the day.

Dr Ben Mearns from Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, who presented alongside his physician associate colleague Rachel Forbes-Pyman, summed up one of themes of the day in a Q&A session: “If we want a multi-professional NHS we don’t need to look elsewhere for the answer. We can all take the lead. If there is a need for change, make it happen.”

For more information on the event, presentations, photographs and a summary of the outcomes, please visit the event web pages.

Regional workforce plan for 2015/16 published

HEKSS has published the Kent, Surrey and Sussex workforce plan and proposed education and training commissions for 2015/16.

The plan covers medical and non-medical professions, providing a summary of numbers, profiles (such as age) where possible, and an overview of the supply and demand for the professions, highlighting and discussing any key issues. Alongside the improvement priorities identified through the HEKSS skills development strategy, the workforce plan sets out the rationale for the proposed education and training commissions for the coming year.

The plan describes a 9% increase in adult nursing commissions, including a 26% increase in learning disability nurses and a 13% increase in mental health nurses. There are also significant increases in radiography and sonography commissions.

Based on returns from provider trusts and electronic staff record data, the figures and detailed modelling have been triangulated with data from CCGs and education providers to ensure that they are as accurate as possible and reflect the true picture of supply and demand across the region.

Download the plan from the HEKSS website.

HEKSS is developing a refreshed five-year workforce strategy which builds upon these workforce plans, updates the regional skills development priorities and reflects the NHS England Five-Year Forward View.

Priorities from the forward view have been mapped against existing HEKSS work and while there is already good alignment, further work may be required to ensure progress against the NHS constitution standards of parity for mental health and transforming care for people with learning disabilities.

Earl Howe launches HEKSS oral health initiative for older people

Health minister Earl Howe launched the HEKSS Improving the Oral Health of Older People Initiative at an event in Parliament on 3 March.

The programme aims to deliver training, resources and online CPD for carers and care home staff to enable them to help residents and recipients of care to better manage their oral health. Poor oral health is a major problem for older people who need additional care. It is a key factor in quality of life and a contributing factor to many health conditions including heart disease, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and pneumonia.

The initiative has been developed in partnership with training and education provider Healthcare Learning: Smile-on, the British Dental Health Foundation, local authorities and public health teams, local dental networks and committees and the University of Kent who are evaluating the programme.

Launching the initiative, Earl Howe congratulated HEKSS on an important and timely initiative that he believed could be rolled out more widely.

Professor Stephen Lambert-Humble MBE, Dean of Postgraduate Dentistry for Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex, said: “We believe this is the first time so many different health and social care organisations have come together to improve oral health processes for older people. It is a fantastic opportunity to enable those who care for older people to improve their quality of life by managing and improving oral health.”

For more information contact Lizzie Graddage in the HEKSS dental team at lgraddage@kss.hee.nhs.uk.

HEKSS presents innovative dementia initiative at national stakeholder event

HEKSS presented its innovative Time for Dementia initiative at the national HEE Dementia Consensus event earlier this month in London.

Around 100 stakeholders including commissioners, providers, the voluntary sector, HEE and the Department of Health joined LETB dementia leads to explore the approaches to dementia education being taken across the country.

HEKSS, in partnership with Brighton and Sussex Medical School, the University of Surrey and the Alzheimer’s Society presented the Time for Dementia initiative. The programme will see medical, nursing and paramedic students visit a person with dementia and their family three or four times a year as part of their course to learn about what it is like to live with the condition.

HEKSS dementia programme lead Victoria Hare said: “One of the main themes emerging from the event was the need to better integrate dementia care across health and social care. One way we’re addressing this is through our project to develop leadership skills for healthcare professionals staff in nursing homes. But it is something we all need to work on across the system.”

Dementia is one of the priority programmes in the five-year HEKSS Skills Development Strategy. For more information visit the HEKSS dementia programme web page and download our dementia skills programme leaflet and Time for Dementia leaflet.

Joint health and social care approach to care certificates highlighted nationally

A joint health and social care approach to the introduction of care certificates that has been developed and piloted across the region was highlighted at a national learning event as the service prepares for the full implementation of the new standards.

Care certificates for healthcare assistants and other support staff will be a CQC requirement from April and all LETBs have been piloting their implementation. A national event in February brought together around 500 representatives from LETBs and pilot sites to share the learning from pilots.

HEKSS was joined at the event by healthcare assistants and managers from health and social care pilot sites at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, Frimley Health NHSFT, Surrey County Council, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and Sussex Partnership NHSFT.

In total, 12 sites took part in the HEKSS pilot covering acute, community, mental health and social care providers. A key element of the work in the region has been a joint health and social care approach. Key care certificate standards have been included in the month-long health and social care pre-employment programme for young people and apprentices are gaining the certificate as part of the rotational apprenticeships scheme.

Resources to support the implementation of the certificates are available from Health Education England. For more information about the learning from the pilots and the help available in the region, please contact Mike Bailey, Career Progression Programme Manager, mbailey2@kss.hee.nhs.uk.

Awards event celebrates apprenticeship achievements

Apprentices and the trusts developing apprenticeship schemes across the region came together to celebrate accomplishments and learn from each other at the Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex Apprenticeship Awards on 9 March 2015.

Apprenticeships are a vitally important way of ensuring a steady flow of high calibre new entrants to health and care roles with the right skills and values of compassion and care. The HEE target for apprenticeship starters in Kent, Surrey and Sussex in 2015/16 is 1373, up from 549 this year.

One of the aims of the awards and event was to bring to life the benefits of apprenticeships so these could be presented to organisations that have not yet developed their own schemes.

One apprentice said: “I’ve learned that an apprenticeship is another pathway into a possible life-long career and a viable alternative to university. The skills you learn not only serve you well in your professional life but also in your personal life.”

A healthcare trust manager commented: “We are able to have staff who are effective their first day on a permanent placement. Apprenticeships have enabled us to reduce our costs in terms of supporting new staff to reach competence and have had a positive impact on the service to our patients.”

For more information on the event and the apprenticeship programme visit the HEKSS website.

HEKSS embeds ‘human factors’ to enhance safety and quality

HEKSS is supporting national efforts to develop understanding and use of the ‘human factors’ approach to enhance the safety and quality of healthcare across the service.

Human factors in healthcare is about applying an understanding of the effects of teamwork, tasks, equipment and the working environment and culture on human behaviour to enhance clinical performance.

Already well established in many other industries, particularly where safety is paramount, human factors has come to the fore in the NHS since the signing of the human factors concordat in November 2013 by the members of the National Quality Board (NQB) including Health Education England, the General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council and NHS England.

HEKSS will be working with healthcare education providers across the region to ensure that human factors is embedded in the training and education programmes it commissions.

To find out more about human factors and the HEKSS work to embed them, visit our website.

Strategic framework for library and knowledge services published

Health Education England has published a new strategic development framework for NHS library and knowledge services in England.

“Knowledge for Healthcare” sets out HEE’s commitment to helping ensure that all staff and learners, patients and the public can access and use the best knowledge and evidence available for learning, research, innovation and clinical and organisational decision-making in healthcare, wherever and whenever they need it.

The framework explains the pivotal role of healthcare library and knowledge services (LKS) in delivering this ambitious vision, and highlights the high degree of collaborative working that already takes place between NHS-funded library services, within and across LETBs.

Links to the framework and a short briefing summary are available from the HEE website. For more information, to comment on the framework, make suggestions or discuss how you can contribute, please contact Louise Goswami, HEKSS’s Head of Library and Knowledge Services Development at louise.goswami@nhs.net.

Read the full newsletter

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KSS AHSN Newsletter – In the vanguard – 9 March 2015

Posted on March 9, 2015 by as2029

In this week’s edition:

In the vanguard

The latest phase of assessment and selection for ‘Forerunner’ sites took place last week. The process began when NHS England’s Five Year Forward View (5YFV) set out the need to speed up the development of sustainable new care models for improving population health and wellbeing, patient experience and value for money.

Through the New Models of Care Programme, individual organisations and partnerships, were invited to apply to be ‘vanguard’ or ‘forerunner’ sites. Selected organisations gain the opportunity to work with national partners to address national impediments and policy barriers to closer integration of physical and mental health, primary and secondary care, health and social care.

NHS England has successfully used the momentum from the 5YFV to stimulate interest in health and care system transformation. 269 applications were received nationally. This figure includes 21 from Kent, Surrey and Sussex, including some in which KSS AHSN feature given our ability to impartially support collective system leadership development and our measurement and analysis capabilities.

Forward move

Samantha Jones and Dr Sam Everington were recruited to take the process forward. They were charged of generating interest when the NHS was facing the daily challenge of winter and media spotlight on A&E performance. They took the view that they should not divert NHS E regional teams from their priority focus on in year operational delivery and instead have sought help from the Improvement Bodies (principally NHSIQ and the AHSNs) to capitalise on the bottom up energy for transformation.

Onward spread

The success of the sustainable new models of care will have a major impact on local health and social care systems’ ability to meet the needs of a growing and ageing population. Those who want our support can expect to receive it, whether they feature in this week’s announcement of national forerunner sites or not.

Seminar invitation: big data and the intelligent organisation

Our 2015 series of free seminars are designed to strengthen collaboration between industry, academia, health and social care. The next takes place on Wednesday, 25 March 2015 from 17:30 to 19.30 at the Sofitel hotel, Gatwick.

Building on our previous seminar about innovation, we’ll look at some key technological innovations from the emerging field of ‘Big Data’. While people everywhere can identify powerful possibilities in this area, most of these possibilities remain unrealised. We’ll explore what’s possible for Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and how to turn the possible into reality.

Everyone is welcome and the event is filling up quickly.

Please register here now to book a place.

Kind regards,
Guy Boersma
Managing Director, KSS AHSN

 

 

KSS AHSN Job Vacancies:

KSS Patient Safety Collaborative Clinical Leads Vacancies
[Kent Surrey Sussex Patient Safety Collaborative]

The Kent Surrey Sussex Patient Safety Collaborative (KSS PSC) is co-designing the package of support for health and care organisations. Fundamental to this will be clinical leadership and we are seeking expressions of interest in these roles. The leads are required for:

  • Sepsis
  • Safe transfer and discharge
  • Medication errors.

For further information, job description and person specification, please click here.

Alternatively please contact Co-Directors:
Tony Kelly,tony.kelly@bsuh.nhs.uk / 07767444526
or
Kay Mackay,kay.mackay1@nhs.net / 07747847782

Hold the date!
KSS AHSN regional conference, 23 June 2015

[KSS AHSN]
Our next regional conference will focus on transforming older people’s services and is scheduled for 23 June 2015. Registration details will be confirmed shortly.

 

Older people’s programme: engagement events – March to May 2015

[KSS AHSN]

Independence and vitality for longer: improving care and the experience of care for older people in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

Through these meetings we will validate with you: the case for change, an agreed vision of future sustainable care arrangements and the support programme of KSS AHSN activity to help you implement sustainable care services faster.

Join us to shape the older people’s programme for the region:

  • Older People’s Programme Engagement Event
    24 March 2015, Crowne Plaza, Gatwick​

Please contact Sharon Drazek to book a place.

This will be followed up with county level events:

  • Kent: 30 April 2015, Holiday Inn, Maidstone​
  • Surrey: 6 May 2015, Mandolay Hotel, ​Guildford
  • Sussex: 21 May 2015, Holiday Inn, Gatwick​

Value proposition reviews – free help to get your product or service right for the NHS

[KSS AHSN / SEHTA]

With the NHS funding capped and limited opportunities for interacting with NHS staff, selling to the NHS will inevitably become more challenging.  With a better understanding of their priorities and how cash flows around the system you will be able to prepare a more compelling and comprehensive value proposition.

Rob Berry, Head of Innovation at the Kent Surrey and Sussex AHSN and Dr David Parry, CEO of SEHTA are offering one to one appointments to review value propositions for high value products or services which are on or close to market.

For further information, please click here.

 

Hold the date! Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) – Study Day, 9 June 2015

[KSS AHSN Respiratory Programme / The British Lung Foundation]

The British Lung Foundation and the KSS AHSN Respiratory Programme are jointly hosting the long-awaited full study day on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), covering pathophysiology and treatment, supportive therapies and end of life care, as well as the patient’s perspective. Full agenda to follow when all speakers are confirmed.

This is an all-day event, will be held in the Gatwick area, further details will be confirmed shortly.

 

EU MALCOLM Project: Final reports now available

[SEHTA / EU MALCOLM]

With a major point of contention ahead of the General Election being yet another reform of the NHS, do you wish you had a better understanding of how the NHS and social services operate today?

  • Do you want to learn more about the opportunities arising from the Government’s agenda to integrate health and social care services?
  • What about the budgets for our health and social care services – do you wish you understood their hierarchy and to whom they are accountable?
  • Are you a healthcare provider or supplier of associated products and services wishing to understand who your target commissioners are and the different ways that your products and services could be procured?

If you have answered yes to any of these questions, then you should read the MALCOLM Assisted Living Capability Analysis Main Report (Part 2). It’s all there in Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9!

Maximising the Value of Technology Enabled Care Services Webinar – 16 March

[NHS England and NHS Improving Quality]

The Technology Enabled Care Services (TECS) programme has been developed to help maximise the value of technology enabled care services for patients, carers, commissioners and the whole health economy.

NHS England and NHS IQ are hosting a webinar on 16 March that will include:

  • how technology can support commissioning intentions, and the benefits to patients, families, professionals and the health and care system
  • information and practical tools to help select, procure, implement and measure technology enabled care services effectively
  • case studies from Airedale and Nottingham who are using the power of technology to deliver coordinated, cost-effective and improved services

To register your interest in this webinar, please send confirmation to Aishah Mail: aishahmalik@nhs.net

Postgraduate Open Event, CHSS,
University of Kent – 17 March

[University of Kent]

CHSS, University of Kent at Canterbury is holding a postgraduate open event aimed at health care professionals, researchers in health research and social scientists who are interested in the Centre’s new MSc in Applied Health Research. This two hour event will involve presentations from the academic staff providing a brief overview of the course, the chance to speak to the Centre’s Director Stephen Peckham, and a discussion on the potential career opportunities associated with the Masters programme.

For further information about the Centre, please click here.

To book a place at the event, please click here.

Everyone’s Business: Normalising Good Practice in End of Life Care

[South  East Coast Strategic Clinical Networks]

Wednesday 25th March 2015 at the Longley Suite, Arora Hotel,
Crawley Southgate Avenue, Crawley, RH10 6LW

On Wednesday 25th March 2015 health and social care professionals from the South will come together in Crawley to discuss ways to improve end of life care in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. The main aim of conference is to foster a culture in health and social care services in Kent Surrey and Sussex where safe, effective, personalised and compassionate end of life care is the norm not the exception.

For further information and registration, please click here.

 

Tackling HIV stereotypes: Targeting late diagnosis across demographics

[IMPRESS Health 2]

This closing conference of the IMPRESS Health 2 project will take place at:

Canterbury Cathedral Lodge
Wednesday March 25th
9.30 – 17.00

Places are limited, so to be sure of yours, register now by clicking here.

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KSS AHSN Newsletter – 27 February 2015

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Academic Blogger

In this week’s edition…

Is being confident to speak up enough?

This month we have seen two key messages come through regarding patient safety. The first was the publication of Sir Robert Francis’ Freedom to Speak Up. The second was a report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) which found significant variation in the quality of NHS investigations into complaints of avoidable death and avoidable harm. Both reports have generated significant coverage and debate.

It will also be 15 years this April since the publication of the report An organisation with a memory. This report made a number of key recommendations which underpin the findings in the two recent report highlighted above. It stated that “If the NHS is successfully to modernise its approach to learning from failure, there are four key areas that must be addressed. In summary, the NHS needs to develop:

  • unified mechanisms for reporting and analysis when things go wrong
  • a more open culture, in which errors or service failures can be reported and discussed
  • mechanisms for ensuring that, where lessons are identified, the necessary changes are put into practice
  • a much wider appreciation of the value of the system approach in preventing, analysing and learning from errors”

These messages and ambitions are still current and sadly still beyond the immediate scope of most NHS organisations.

‘Freedom to Speak Up’ highlighted how a significant proportion of health workers are afraid to speak out against unsafe practice, and that many of those who had blown the whistle had been bullied.  Government pledges of overhauls to medical and nursing training to make it “rigorous and enhanced” have followed.

Health Education England have recently established the commission on education and training for patient safety, which they intend to use to “make recommendations to ensure that all healthcare staff and in particular, those in training, are fully aware of all aspects of patient safety, including raising concerns and responding to those concerns”.

They have also published Raising concerns: speaking up about patient safety – the first of a number of instructional videos which they intend to build into a range of resources to assist all staff. This commission is a key component of the educational ambition required to realise the ambitions behind Sir Robert Francis’ recommendations.

Underpinning many of these factors is the thorny issue of organisational culture. One of the key workstreams for the Kent Surrey Sussex Patient Collaborative (KSS PSC) is leadership, culture and capability. The ability of an individual to speak up about concerns over patient safety is in part based on their own confidence of how they as an individual will be treated by their organisation. The reflections on this are well discussed in the ‘Freedom to Speak Up’. Another critical issue is how the information is used to help the organisation develop and learn. Part of the initial work planned by KSS PSC is to engage with a number of organisations and develop a model of assessing and improving workplace culture.

As highlighted above the PHSO report highlights variation in the quality of investigations. Additionally many organisations are under pressure to increase the volume of incident reporting that occurs. Finally the recent introduction of duty of candour will significantly increase the volume of investigations individual organisations will be expected to conduct. All of these processes are of course vital to ensure that intelligence is gathered. Yet to focus on these areas alone would avoid the key issue, namely embedding the learning that flows from these incidents and investigations.

The key ambition of the KSS PSC is to work collaboratively with all our partners, in all sectors. Through this process we hope to provide a conduit through which we can spread best practice and help all of us to provide the best possible safe care to all our patients. Hence using a “system approach in preventing, analysing and learning from errors” across a region and therefore developing a group of organisations with memories.

Kind regards,

Tony Kelly
Co-Director, KSS PSC

P.S.

Get LinkedIn with patient safety

The Kent Surrey Sussex Patient Safety Collaborative is now on LinkedIn. Follow the PSC and get the latest news and opinion on all things patient safety in Kent, Surrey and Sussex at:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/kent-surrey-sussex-patient-safety-collaborative

 

KSS AHSN Job Vacancies:

KSS Patient Safety Collaborative Clinical Leads Vacancies

[Kent Surrey Sussex Patient Safety Collaborative]

The Kent Surrey Sussex Patient Safety Collaborative (KSS PSC) is co-designing the package of support for health and care organisations. Fundamental to this will be clinical leadership and we are seeking expressions of interest in these roles. The leads are required for:

  • Sepsis
  • Safe transfer and discharge
  • Medication errors.

For further information, job description and person specification, please click here.

Alternatively please contact Co-Directors:

Tony Kelly, tony.kelly@bsuh.nhs.uk / 07767444526

or

Kay Mackay, kay.mackay1@nhs.net / 07747847782

 

KSS AHSN Clinical Lead: #Neck of Femur – Vacancy (One Day per Month)
[KSS AHSN Enhancing Quality Pathway]

 

The KSS AHSN Enhancing Quality Pathway is seeking an experienced Clinician (likely to be, for example, a Consultant Geriatrician, Consultant Orthogeriatrician or Anaesthetist) with extensive knowledge and a keen interest in #NOF to work with us for approximately one day per month to support the AHSN through proactive engagement with academia, industry and all sectors of the NHS.

Please click here, to view the full job description and for further details.

For an informal discussion please contact: Peter Carpenter, Director of Improvement on 01293 600300 ext. 3528 or

07500 608 386.

To apply, please send your CV and a supporting statement (not more than two A4 sides) to:

Julie Hall: julie@templetreeconsulting.co.uk. She can be contacted on 07702 049555. Closing date: Wednesday 25 February 2015

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Value proposition reviews – free help to get your product or service right for the NHS

[KSS AHSN / SEHTA]

With the NHS funding capped and limited opportunities for interacting with NHS staff, selling to the NHS will inevitably become more challenging.  With a better understanding of their priorities and how cash flows around the system you will be able to prepare a more compelling and comprehensive value proposition.

Rob Berry, Head of Innovation at the Kent Surrey and Sussex AHSN and Dr David Parry, CEO of SEHTA are offering one to one appointments to review value propositions for high value products or services which are on or close to market.

For further information, please click here.

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AAL Call Challenge Led- Living actively and independently at home

[Ambient Assisted Living© / KTN Health Community]

The 2015 Call Challenge of the AAL JP aims to support ICT based innovative, translational and multi-disciplinary collaborative projects with a clear market orientation that allow older adults of today to live both independently and actively.

For more information on the call and to download the call document, please click here.

KSS AHSN Call Support/Facilitation: KSS AHSN recognises that most successful bids are based on a combination of excellence, impact and the strength of the delivery consortium or partnership. KSS AHSN has unique strengths in identifying and facilitating integrated collaborative partnerships and can also offer support to bid writing and project implementation.

KSS AHSN is now actively supporting organisations and companies that are interested in pursuing innovative solutions with a specific theme of developing services and enhancing the care of older patients.

For further information as to how KSS AHSN could support your interest in this AAL call from the Knowledge Transfer Network please contact: Paul Hitchcock, Business Development Manager: paul.hitchcock@nhs.net

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International Seminar Series

[KSS AHSN and The Health and Europe Centre]

Our 2015 series of free seminars are designed to strengthen collaboration between industry, academia, health and social care.

By inviting speakers who are leaders in their field, we share lessons from overseas and other sectors, and offer networking opportunities for committed change agents working in Kent and Medway, Surrey and Sussex. To view flyer with full list of seminar dates, please click here.

Next event:

Big Data and the Intelligent Organisation

With a guest speaker from the Open Data Institute,

founded by Sir Tim Berners-Lee

Wednesday, 25 March 2015 from 17:30 to 19.30 (GMT)

Sofitel Hotel, Gatwick Airport

RH6 0PH

United Kingdom

Building on our previous seminar about innovation, we’ll look at some key technological innovations from the emerging field of ‘Big Data’. While people everywhere can identify powerful possibilities in this area, most of these possibilities remain unrealised.

We’ll explore what’s possible for Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and how to turn the possible into reality.

Register here now

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Introduction to Patient-Reported Outcomes Measures (PROMs) – 12th March 2015

[York Health Economics Consortium]

 

Patient-reported outcomes (PRO) are increasingly being used to capture patients’ experiences of their interactions with healthcare professionals, services and interventions. This one-day course will provide attendees with a background to PROs and the instruments used to collect PRO data, including the development and validation of these instruments.

Read more

 

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Public Engagement with Research Fund

Posted on February 20, 2015 by Richard Barber

I am pleased to announce that applications are now open for the Public Engagement with Research Fund. This fund (£10,000) is a first step towards University-wide funding for Public Engagement with Research and builds on the University of Kent’s commitment to embed public engagement with research across the institution. The fund is open to applications (maximum budget £2000) from Academics in all 3 Faculties with a deadline of 20 March 2015. Further details about eligible activities and an application form can be found here.

If you have any questions about the fund or wish to discuss a potential application please contact Lynne Bennett, Research Funding Officer (Humanities) on L.Bennett-282@kent.ac.uk.

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KSS AHSN Newsletter – 16 February 2015

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Richard Barber

In this weeks’s edition…

Life-saving project wins £500,000 investment

Emergency laparotomy is a difficult and high-risk surgical procedure. It involves making an incision to provide access to the abdominal cavity. It’s usually performed on patients with acute abdominal problems such as obstruction or perforation of the bowel or other abdominal organs. Around 80,000 such operations are carried out in the UK each year. The risk of the patient dying within 30 days of the operation is about 15%. For the elderly and patients with complex co-existing medical problems mortality rates can be even higher.

It’s great news then that a project, originating at the Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, to improve survival after emergency surgery (emergency laparotomy) has won funding worth £500,000 from the Health Foundation. We were delighted to back the bid to the Health Foundation given its focus on bringing investment into the sharing of best practice amongst local health economy members. The award will be used to accelerate the introduction of a potentially life-saving clinical pathway to reduce deaths in hospital. It will spread best clinical practice to more than 20 hospital trusts in the south of England.

Royal Surrey County Hospital (RSCH) at Guildford worked with three other hospitals in Bath, Torbay and Exeter to create the Emergency Laparotomy Pathway Quality Improvement Care Bundle.

The original project at RSCH has seen a positive impact on patient safety with a 25% reduction in the crude mortality rate. The Royal Surrey County Hospital statistics show this is good clinical practice worth spreading faster. The project will now attempt to deliver this level of improvement in all participating hospitals. It will support hospitals to review their own key data metrics and use quality improvement science to continue to both provide and improve their standard of care after project completion. It expects to save lives by standardising the care received by all patients undergoing emergency laparotomy.

Acceleration

I’m delighted that we have helped attract money into AHSN member organisations across Kent, Surrey and Sussex and the South of England. We are working with the AHSNs covering the West of England and Wessex to support the Royal Surrey County Hospital to accelerate roll out of this project across the south of England. This sort of collaboration enables innovative best practice to reach more patients more quickly. It also strengthens business cases and enhances our ability to bring investment into the region’s health economy.

Kind regards
Guy Boersma
Managing Director, KSS AHSN

KSS AHSN Job Vacancies:

 

KSS Patient Safety Collaborative Clinical Leads Vacancies

[Kent Surrey Sussex Patient Safety Collaborative]

The Kent Surrey Sussex Patient Safety Collaborative (KSS PSC) is co-designing the package of support for health and care organisations. Fundamental to this will be clinical leadership and we are seeking expressions of interest in these roles. The leads are required for:

  • Sepsis
  • Safe transfer and discharge
  • Medication errors.

For further information, job description and person specification, please click here.

Alternatively please contact Co-Directors:
Tony Kelly – tony.kelly@bsuh.nhs.uk / 07767444526
or
Kay Mackay – kay.mackay1@nhs.net / 07747847782

 

KSS AHSN Clinical Lead: #Neck of Femur – Vacancy (One Day per Month)

[KSS AHSN Enhancing Quality Pathway]

The KSS AHSN Enhancing Quality Pathway is seeking an experienced Clinician (likely to be, for example, a Consultant Geriatrician, Consultant Orthogeriatrician or Anaesthetist) with extensive knowledge and a keen interest in #NOF to work with us for approximately one day per month to support the AHSN through proactive engagement with academia, industry and all sectors of the NHS.

Please click here, to view the full job description and for further details.

For an informal discussion please contact: Peter Carpenter, Director of Improvement on 01293 600300 ext. 3528 or
07500 608 386.

To apply, please send your CV and a supporting statement (not more than two A4 sides) to:
Julie Hall: julie@templetreeconsulting.co.uk. She can be contacted on 07702 049555. Closing date: Wednesday 25 February 2015

 

Hold the date! Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) – Study Day, 9 June 2015

[KSS AHSN Respiratory Programme / The British Lung Foundation]

The British Lung Foundation and the KSS AHSN Respiratory Programme are jointly hosting the long-awaited full study day on Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF), covering pathophysiology and treatment, supportive therapies and end of life care, as well as the patient’s perspective. Full agenda to follow when all speakers are confirmed.

This is an all-day event, will be held in the Gatwick area, further details will be confirmed shortly.

 

RHUL workshop on “Effective leadership in ICT innovation for healthcare” – Egham Campus

[Royal Holloway University of London]

The workshop will be hosted by Technology and Information Management Group and with the support of the Technology and Governance Network (TGN), School of Management Royal Holloway University.

Date: Wednesday 18th of March 2015
Time: 13:00 – 17:30 (followed by drinks reception)
Venue: Room McCrea219, Royal Holloway University, Egham Hill, Egham, TW20 0EX

To register please email Roberta Bernardi: roberta.bernardi@royalholloway.ac.uk for further workshop information, please click here.

 

PHE and NHS England guide highlights importance of communities to health and wellbeing

[Public Health England / NHS England]

A new guide from Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England says local government and the NHS can play a part in building confident communities to improve health and reduce inequalities.

Read more

 

Polypharmacy and medication review – seven steps

[Public Health England / NHS England]

A new guide from Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England says local government and the NHS can play a part in building confident communities to improve health and reduce inequalities.

To view the guide, please click here.

Posted in ahsn | Comments Off on KSS AHSN Newsletter – 16 February 2015

KSS AHSN Newsletter – 9 February 2015

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Amir Abdolrazaghi

Facing the unfixable

The third of the Reith lectures by surgeon Dr Atul Gawande addresses the two “unfixable problems in life and healthcare – ageing and death”. Despite the inevitability of both ageing and dying, health and social care systems continue to struggle to support individuals facing them. Dr Gawande calls for a new approach, focusing on quality rather than length of life.

It’s an unhappy fact that the most common week for surgery is the last week of a person’s life. There are two implications to draw from this. One that the surgery may be of questionable value to the patient, the second that it increases the likelihood of them spending their last days in hospital.

Dr Gawande believes that the current system and expectations of a society focused on the “fixable”, can end up increasing the suffering of patients nearing the end of their life. He believes healthcare professionals and patients should be more easily able to discuss what treatment options are appropriate and if treatment is actually appropriate at all.

The wellbeing imperative

This is not about withdrawing care. It’s about shifting focus to where we can add quality to life. That means doing all we can to support the independence and vitality of people as they get older and accepting that while the problem may be unfixable, the way they experience it is not. The challenges are less about “what” and more about “how”.

We are currently planning for our next regional Partnership Day event which will take place in the summer. It will focus on improving care for, and wellbeing of, older people. Kent, Surrey and Sussex has the oldest population in the country. A sustainable healthcare system for the region must address their needs as a priority.

Across the region there is broad consensus about the needs to:

  • Maximise proactive care
  • Minimise the crises in care (and associated upward trend in emergency admissions), and
  • Enable the 35% of older people who want to die at home to do so and not die in hospital.

We’ll announce details in the coming weeks about how to register for our summer event and help shape the region’s response to our most significant priority.

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AHRC award for evaluating evidence in medicine

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Amir Abdolrazaghi

Professor Jon Williamson has won an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) award for new research on evaluating evidence in medicine.

Professor Williamson, from the Department of Philosophy, is Principal Investigator of the research project which aims to improve the way that evidence is evaluated in medical research and health policy by developing work in philosophy.

The project, led by the Centre for Reasoning at Kent, also involves researchers at University College London (UCL), the University of Amsterdam, the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

The AHRC project seeks to improve our understanding of the way in which evidence of mechanisms can aid causal discovery in medicine, with a view to improving guidelines provided by evidence-based medicine. The project also aims to broaden the scope of the medical humanities to include medical methodology as a core topic, enabling productive interactions  between researchers in history and philosophy of medicine and those working in medicine and public health.

Further information is available on two blog sites on both the themes of the research project and people involved.

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