Music helps neuro-rehabilitation patients

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Richard Barber

University psychologist Dr David Wilkinson is working with hospital clinicians and ward staff on a project to find a new way of helping patients recover from brain damage by using live music performance.

The collaboration, between academics, clinicians and musicians, was recognised with the runner-up prize in the category for Outstanding Service Innovation at this year’s East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Award Night.

The innovative project took place on the Harvey Neuro-Rehabilitation Ward at the Kent & Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury. The patients, whose conditions include acquired brain injury, low awareness state, tumour and MS, attended twice-weekly interactive live music concerts over a six-week period, performed by professional musicians. The concerts were conducted in the ward’s day room and lasted one hour, including classical, jazz, world and folk music.

The project found that patient and staff wellbeing was markedly increased following the live performances, with additional gains evident in cognitive function. From a practical perspective, the project also confirmed the feasibility of conducting projects of this unconventional nature on busy in-patient wards – an important prerequisite for further study.

Dr Wilkinson, of the University’s School of Psychology, said the innovation award acknowledged the profound effects that music therapy has on patient and staff experience, and he has now set his sights on a larger-scale study to determine the optimal ‘recipe’ for live music therapy. His longer-term ambition is to extend the therapy to other patient groups resident on different hospital wards.

Dr Wilkinson is working on the project with Dr Mohamed Sakel, Director/Consultant Neuro-Rehabilitation at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust and Live Music Now – the UKs leading musicians’ development and outreach organisation.

For more information contact Dr David Wilkinson.

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KSS AHSN Newsletter – 23 October 2014

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Richard Barber

In this week’s edition

Kent Surrey Sussex AHSN Expo and Awards 2015

Award submissions 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 three weeks to go!

Note that submissions are due by 5pm, Friday 14th November 2014.

Awards will be presented at the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Service Improvement and Innovation EXPO and Awards event on Tuesday 13th January at the Lancaster London Hotel, London. Your organisation will have received an allocation of complimentary tickets for this event and shortlisted teams will be allocated additional tickets. If your organisation has not received an invitation or you would like further information then please contact: andrewhobson@nhs.net.

There are a range of award categories designed to recognise the clinical teams, provider organisations, businesses and local innovators who are leading the way in delivering sustained improvements in patient care.

Please visit our website to find out more about the different award categories available, and details of how to enter.

Please click here to enter. We look forward to receiving your submission!

Kind regards,
Guy Boersma
Managing Director, KSS AHSN

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 Potts if 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 and Gill Potts for further information.

NHS Kent, Surrey and Sussex Leadership Summit & Awards

[NHS Kent, Surrey and Sussex Leadership Collaborative]

The NHS Kent, Surrey and Sussex Leadership Collaborative invite you to their 2014 Leadership Summit & Awards on 27th November 2014 at The River Centre in Tonbridge, Kent.

This year the summit explores the topic of Patient Leadership and the Collaborative invite you to join in a conversation about the role of patients, carers, lay members and the public in the design and delivery of excellent services and quality care. There are a number of dynamic plenary and breakout sessions which will give you practical advice and share best practice, as well as the opportunity to network and shape our community of Patient Leaders in Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

As part of the day the Collaborative will recognise the best in NHS leadership at the 2014 Leadership Recognition Awards ceremony. The Collaborative hope you will be inspired by the excellent work that is having a positive impact on the delivery of care and the experience of patients who use their services.

You can find out who is speaking at the summit, who the awards finalists are and book your place, here. You can also get the latest information on twitter using #kssleadsummit

Tony Young to be the National Clinical Director for Innovation

[NHS England]

NHS England is pleased to announce the appointment of a new National Clinical Director for Innovation, Professor Tony Young PhD, FRCS (Urol).

As National Clinical Director (NCD), Professor Young’s role will provide clinical leadership and support in delivering improved health outcomes across the five domains of the NHS Outcomes Framework. In particular Tony will focus on generating economic growth through innovation and driving the uptake of proven innovations across the healthcare system.

Read more

Nine out of ten people would be willing to take part in clinical research

[National Institute for Health Research]

A new survey conducted on behalf of the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN) shows that 89% of people would be willing to take part in clinical research if they were diagnosed with a medical condition or disease – with an all-time-low figure of just 3% saying they would not consider it at all.

The survey also revealed that 95% of people said it was important to them that the NHS carries out clinical research. Last year over 600,000 people took part in research which aims to improve diagnosis, treatment and care of patients in the NHS. The growing importance of clinical research to the general public and their increased willingness to take part suggests that this number is set to rise.

Read more

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Ebola: a virologist’s expert view

Posted on October 22, 2014 by ts458

By Martin Herrema

University virologist Dr Jeremy Rossman says it is currently unlikely that any isolated Ebola virus outbreaks in the UK would spread. But he has warned that the situation could change if the ‘exponential’ spread of the disease in West Africa is not halted soon.

He commented: ‘The situation in West Africa continues to worsen as the largest Ebola virus outbreak continues to spread. Over 8000 people have been infected and there are now isolated cases in the USA and Europe. Current trends show an exponential increase in cases, with almost 35% of the new cases arising in the past 21 days. In Sierra Leone it is estimated that there are five new cases every hour. Despite the efforts of many countries, resources and experienced medical practitioners are in short supply. Without additional resources it will be extremely difficult to stem the spread of the disease.

‘Despite the dire situation, there is still only limited cause for concern within the UK. There is heightened security and screening intended to keep infected people from leaving the Ebola region and the NHS has prepared treatment and quarantine facilities in the event that a case does arise in the UK. Unfortunately, Ebola has a long incubation period which means that an infected person may pass all screening tests before becoming sick.

‘As a result, it is not possible to completely prevent Ebola-infected individuals from entering the county, as was recently seen in the USA. However, hospitals and clinicians have been trained to recognize Ebola and to initiate preventive quarantine and disease surveillance. Even if an isolated outbreak did occur in the UK, it is unlikely that the disease would spread, given the current health care system and our available resources. However, this situation could change if the exponential spread of Ebola virus in West Africa is not halted soon.’

View Dr Rossman’s YouTube video on this subject here.

Dr Rossman is a Lecturer in Virology within the School of Biosciences.

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Intercalated BSc Management in Primary Care

Posted on October 22, 2014 by ts458

This one-year intercalated BSc in Management in Primary Care, starting in September 2015, is designed for medical students who want to prepare themselves for working in primary care and community, public health or management.

The course modules are designed to help students develop critical appraisal skills and knowledge of research methods, as well as how to effectively manage a health care organisation. The ability to effectively manage organisations and make difficult decisions around budget allocations is more important than ever with the creation of the Clinical Commissioning Groups.

For more details see the Kent Undergrad courses 2015 [1] page.

A flyer [2] is available – pdf format.

Two Open Days to introduce the BSc will be held at the University of Kent on November 5 and 22. To register interest please go to our EventBrite [3] page.

A flyer [4] for the Open Day is also available – pdf format.

For informal enquiries please contact:
Dr Rowena Merritt
T: +44 (0) 1227 816086
E: r.k.merritt@kent.ac.uk

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KSS AHSN Newsletter – 15 October 2014

Posted on October 15, 2014 by as2029

Patient safety collaboratives launched

Yesterday I was at the launch of a new national programme to improve the safety of patients and ensure continual learning sits at the heart of healthcare in England. The event marked the creation of a network of 15 Patient Safety Collaboratives (PSC), each mobilised and co-ordinated by an Academic Health Science Network (AHSN). They will focus on improving safety and empowering patients, carers and staff to highlight, challenge and implement local improvements in patient care.

Each PSC brings together patients, healthcare staff and other health and care partners to decide on its patient safety priorities and to develop and implement solutions. Some of the issues that the PSCs are tackling on a ‘whole patient pathway’ basis include pressure ulcers, medication errors, acute kidney injury, sepsis, falls, and issues with patient transfers and discharges.

The established network of AHSNs will support the PSCs and create opportunities for them to learn from each other. This will ensure the most effective and successful solutions are rapidly spread and adopted across England. Many AHSNs already collaborate on specific themes where there are shared issues or interests; I hope their support for the PSCs may well be the first of further national joined up approaches.

Commitment

The programme is born out of Professor Don Berwick’s report last year into the safety of patients in England. It also builds on learning from the Francis and Winterbourne View recommendations. The Berwick report, A Promise to Learn – a commitment to act, made a series of recommendations to improve patient safety; and called for the NHS “to become, more than ever before, a system devoted to continual learning and improvement of patient care, top to bottom and end to end.’’ Dr Mike Durkin, Director of Patient Safety at NHS England, describes the programme as ‘the biggest patient safety initiative in the history of the NHS’. He believes it will accelerate safety improvements in every healthcare setting on both a local and national level.

Consultation

The KSS PSC is currently consulting with stakeholders about its proposals for its governance, structure and priorities. The consultation closes on 17 October, so there’s still a couple of days to take part – you can find more information here. Local events are also planned for early in the new year to engage stakeholders and co-design plans. The KSS PSC has already signalled its intention to work closely with the South of England mental health collaborative which was established in 2011, HEKSS and the Leadership Academy.

Complementary

The PSCs complement and extend existing safety initiatives including the NHS Improvements Fellows programme which is appointing 5,000 fellows within five years who will be champions, experts, leaders and motivators in patient safety and will help the collaboratives devise and implement solutions. The PSCs also support NHS England’s Sign up to Safety campaign, which aims to halve avoidable harm over the next three years and save up to 6,000 lives. For more information about the campaign and to show your support and commitment to safety by signing up, click here.

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:

  1. 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.

  1. 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).

  1. 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 fordemonstrations. Please contact Gill Potts if 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.netto register and Gill Potts for further information.

Nomination time!

Nominations are now open for the Kent, Surrey and Sussex service improvement and innovation awards 2015.

These exciting new awards have been introduced to celebrate the clinical teams and local innovators who are leading the way in raising the bar for sustained improvements in patient care and driving economic growth.

Awards will be presented at the Kent Surrey Sussex Expo and Awards event on Tuesday 13th January 2015 at the Lancaster London Hotel, London.

For more information please visit our website.

Canterbury Christ Church University vacancy: Head of Research and Innovation

Canterbury Christ Church University

Reporting to the Dean of Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, the Head of Research and Innovation will provide inspirational leadership to support future success. The Faculty has just implemented a new School structure, creating this Faculty wide post as a result.

Following an impressive period of growth, Canterbury Christ Church University is today, a broad based University offering some 20,000 students a wide range of programmes focussing on health, education, business, arts and humanities and applied and social sciences.

To make an application for this post, please apply online setting out how you consider you match the requirements of the post in a covering letter and enclosing a full curriculum vitae.

For an informal discussion, please contact Debra Teasdale, Dean of Health and Wellbeing at dean.health@canterbury.ac.uk or 01227 782822.

HEE Call for Clinical Academic Programme Internships

Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex

Health Education Kent, Surrey Sussex has an objective to ‘support clinical academic careers for health professionals and also seek to increase numbers of staff across all clinical and public health professions with a proper understanding of research and its role in improving health outcomes, including an ability to participate in and utilise the results of research’.

A revised group of eligible professions are able to apply for the internship programme. Please view the list of eligible professionsto learn more. The deadline for applications is Monday, 27 October 2014.

Interested candidates should download the ICAP internship application templateand submit the completed template, a current Curriculum Vitae and a declaration of support from their current employer to Mrs Jayne Ingles at J.Ingles@brighton.ac.uk.

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Newsletter – 13th October

Posted on October 14, 2014 by mg372
Seeing opportunities to improve care and being faced with obstacles getting there probably sounds familiar to us all. Our role is to help colleagues overcome those obstacles so that the very best care consistently reaches as many patients as possible. Doing it successfully requires insight into the challenges faced – and the different perspectives on them depending on your NHS, social care, research or industry viewpoint.
 
So this week I’d like to share with you a window on the world as it appears to a Surrey based SME. Adrian Flowerday, Chief Executive of Docobo met our team recently and told us what is and isn’t workingwhen it comes to collaborating on healthcare innovation.
 
Docobo is a UK Digital Health solutions company, approved to develop and market Medical Devices, involved in the management and prevention of long term conditions. Adrian established the company, with EU funding in 2001, from a consortium of clinicians and technologists. Since then they have developed their doc@HOME® Telehealth system for the management of patients in their own homes, and their ArtemusICS™ Commissioning and Care Delivery Support tool based on risk stratification.
 
Their work locally with Sussex Community NHS Trust has seen a significant reduction in emergency admissions from care homes but Docobo face major challenges in sharing that success with other areas whose care home residents might benefit from similar interventions. They are also supporting CCGs in Crawley and Horsham and Mid Sussex with their successful ProActive care project by providing risk stratification software and expertise.
 
Patient, need, technology
 
Adrian has coined the phrase “Need-Ability”, where both the patient’s need and their level of technical ability is taken into account when prescribing the right solution. The key to his operation is starting with patient need and then getting the right technology to the right patient with the right need.
 
He is clearly unimpressed with the large scale approaches to telehealth (AKA digital health) which meant simply buying some kit and handing it out to patients regardless of their ability to use it or its particular relevance to the management of their health. That approach doesn’t work for the patient (or the clinicians involved in his or her care) and has understandably attracted criticism. For Adrian, the apparent failure of the large deployments overshadows those parts of the country where telehealth is working well and where patients and their carers are experiencing real benefits.
 
Success comes from process, people and technology blended together. Digital solutions need to deployed wisely and in close co-ordination with the trained staff whose caseload it helps support.
 
A further sticking point can be the initial investment required to deliver medium term improvements, knowing that in-year savings can be paramount for NHS finances.
 
Help
 
One of the ways KSS AHSN can help to make the twin alignments of right supplier with right customer, and right product with right patient, is our Navigator Advisory Service (NAS).
 
The NAS is designed to make it easier for proven products and innovations, with potential for much wider uptake, to reach clinicians who might otherwise not be aware of them or have the time to seekthem out. It also enables us to horizon scan for busy clinicians and ensure we talk with them about proven innovations with highest potential for improved patient care. Bringing a more systematic approach helps to meet the needs of all parties.
 
You can find out more about the NAS on our new look website.
 
Patients
 
I’ll leave you with one Adrian’s own reflections. “Ultimately it’s about benefitting more patients; that’s what we’re all in it for.” I think that’s probably sounding pretty familiar to us all too.
 
Kind regards,
 
Guy Boersma
Managing Director, KSS AHSN
 
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 fordemonstrations. Please contact Gill Potts if 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 and Gill Potts for further information.
 Health and wealth economic summit
 
The West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN) invites you to attend one or both days of their forthcoming Health and Wealth Economic Summit for the West Midlands.
 
For further information and registration please click here.
HEE Call for Clinical Academic Programme Internships
[Health Education Kent, Surrey and Sussex]
 
Health Education Kent, Surrey Sussex has an objective to ‘support clinical academic careers for health professionals and also seek to increase numbers of staff across all clinical and public health professions with a proper understanding of research and its role in improving health outcomes, including an ability to participate in and utilise the results of research’.
 
A revised group of eligible professions are able to apply for the internship programme. Please view the list of eligible professionsto learn more. The deadline for applications is Monday, 27 October 2014.
 
Interested candidates should download the ICAP internship application template and submit the completed template, a current Curriculum Vitae and a declaration of support from their current employer to Mrs Jayne Ingles at J.Ingles@brighton.ac.uk.
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October 2014 Stakeholder Briefing

Posted on October 8, 2014 by rl328

Welcome

I hope you have had a good summer.

Despite the holidays, there have been many developments in health education over the last couple of months and I hope this briefing will ensure you are up to date on any things you might have missed.

Health Education England’s ‘Beyond Transition’ programme has continued, with decisions on the geographical footprint of the new structure and a number of senior appointments.

There is more information on Beyond Transition below, but I would like to take this opportunity to say how pleased I am to be appointed director for Kent, Surrey and Sussex. I will now be working with colleagues here at HEKSS to support them through the next phase of the programme.  I am also looking forward to continuing to work with our partners across the region, as we ensure that the important work of HEKSS is further developed, sustained and embedded, transforming our workforce to deliver the very best health and care.

At the same time, the HEKSS team have been busy making progress on a number of important work programmes, including supporting innovation across the region, improving education and training for emergency care and introducing a common educational pathway for all practice nurses in the region. See below for more details.

Finally, we have two new chief executive members on our Governing Body. Michael Wilson, CEO of Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has taken over from Andrew Liles and Susan Acott, CEO of Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust has taken over from Mark Devlin.

Thank you for your continued support.

Best wishes

Philippa Spicer
HEKSS LETB Director

HEKSS launches innovation challenge fund

The HEKSS Innovation Challenge Fund has been launched to support innovative approaches to workforce development. The fund aims to speed up the introduction of new approaches to training and education that will enable health and care professionals to deliver better, more efficient care for patients.

All NHS staff in Kent, Surrey and Sussex are invited to submit applications for funding for projects that will support the strategic priorities of HEKSS and Health Education England, stimulate the uptake of innovative products, technologies and interventions, and encourage collaborations across and outside the NHS.

For more information, and to download the application form and guidance documents, please visit the HEKSS Innovation Challenge Fund web page.

The deadline for applications is 17 October 2014.

 

New strategy to develop the urgent and emergency care workforce in Kent, Surrey and Sussex

HEKSS is launching a new strategy to ensure that health and care professionals across the region are able to deliver the very best urgent and emergency care.

The HEKSS emergency care programme aims to educate, train and support a workforce that ensures people with urgent or emergency care needs can access the most appropriate service at the right time in the right place. It is part of the HEKSS five-year skills development strategy.

The new approach and priorities for training and education for urgent and emergency care were developed by members of the Emergency Care Programme Board, comprising of senior clinicians and service leaders from across the region.

The strategy has been developed so that it is fully aligned with national developments and policy initiatives for urgent and emergency care. It has a particular focus on multi-disciplinary and collaborative working to support a whole-systems approach and builds on a number of important achievements for the HEKSS SDS emergency care programme during its first year.

For more information please visit the HEKSS website.

 

Introduction to practice nursing course launched

This unique, funded, one-year training course equips those new to practice nursing with the core knowledge and skills needed in today’s busy general practice environment.

The standardised curriculum is available at four universities across Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Work-based learning is central to the initiative, supported by mentors and primary care tutors. Theoretical learning includes core competencies complemented by personalised study days to meet the specific requirements of the learner’s role within their practice.

The course was commissioned by HEKSS to ensure the development of a well-trained practice nurse workforce with the skills and knowledge to meet the changing needs in primary care. It was developed by the four universities in consultation with subject experts in general practice, in education and clinical commissioning groups.

The course is for NMC registered nurses with less than six months experience in general practice. It is aimed at those just entering practice nursing as a first career or as a change in career direction. HEKSS and the four universities are currently developing structured continuing development specifically for experienced and advanced practice nurses.

For more information, please visit www.kss.hee.nhs.uk/pntraining.

 

‘Beyond Transition’ update

Following consultation, the HEE board has concluded several significant issues around the structure and geographical footprint of the LETBs and made appointments to a number of senior posts.

A significant outcome for Kent, Surrey and Sussex is the decision that the KSS LETB will sit alongside those in London rather than those across the rest of the south of England. Following consideration, and consultation with partners, the KSS Governing Body recommended that KSS sit alongside London because of the far greater student flows, established clinical relationships and the proximity KSS has to London compared in contrast to the wider southern area.

Alongside KSS, the London and South East region will include the South London; North Central and East London; and North West London LETBs. Julie Screaton has been appointed National Director for London and South East, with Philippa Spicer appointed Director for Kent, Surrey and Sussex.

KSS will retain its autonomy as a LETB in terms of budgetary control and current levels of delegated authority, and will now benefit from sharing more corporate functions. HEKSS retains its Chairman, Mark Devlin, and its Governing Body.

HEE is continuing to make senior level appointments and putting in place the necessary arrangements to deliver the new model.

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KSS AHSN Newsletter – 02 October 2014

Posted on October 3, 2014 by Richard Barber

In this week’s edition

The iPod moment for health and social care

The title of this week’s blog comes from a session Fiona Edwards, Marion Dinwoodie and I attended recently on technology and its health applications.

Realising the potential

Last week 25 of us from KSS met at the King’s Fund for a roundtable discussion on integrating care. It followed their conference on “Realising the potential of primary care”.

Key points were:

  • How ‘fully engaged’ patients with patient-held records maintain independence, improving safety and reducing healthcare costs
  • How social prescribing to voluntary organisations does the same
  • How email consultations and excellent web-content reduce demand for 1:1 face to face GP consultations
  • How tailored primary-care, integrated with access to specialists, improves quality and reduces overall costs of care for older people with multiple long term conditions.

Delivering in Brighton and Hove

For a local example of delivery, take a look at what is underway in Brighton and Hove. I’d like to thank Jonathan Serjeant, GP and Chair of Extended Primary integrated Care (EPiC) for joining the roundtable discussion, having shared the conference stage with Hazel Carpenter from South Kent Coast and Thanet CCGs.

Also on stage was a patient from Tameside and Glossop. Holding her own electronic health record, she coordinates care provided by seven hospital consultants, avoids delays caused by the late arrival of letters in the mail, sidesteps the inefficiency of chasing her GP practice for test results, maintains her independence and travels abroad confidently.

Significantly she also retains more of the expert advice conveyed in 1:1 face to face consultations. Her personal story aligns well with that memorable research finding from Tameside and Glossop, which found one third of patients made lifestyle changes after seeing their patient record. [Fitton, London Journal of Primary Care, Feb 2014: 29.)

Compelling

Some other compelling stats from the conference and roundtable discussion:

  • ChenMed’s care of older people with multiple long term conditions reduces the overall cost of care by 20% and hospital bed day occupancy by 38%.
  • The Hurley Group of primary care practices have a cheaper staffing mix than most GP practices: 18% of contacts are closed by the patient choosing to self-manage, 60% of patient contacts are closed via email or telephone consultations.
  • 90% of information conveyed in 1:1 face to face consultations is not remembered by patients.

The iPod has already been rendered obsolescent by the iPhone. But it marked a sea change in realising the potential of digital music. A similar unlocking of the power of digitisation in health is still to be fully achieved but may yet hold the key to primary care and NHS sustainability.

Kind regards,

Guy Boersma
Managing Director, KSS AHSN

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:

  1. 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
  2. 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)
  3. 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 Potts if you are currently active in modelling and are interested in presenting or demonstrating your work / product.

‘Outstanding’ award for Frimley Park Hospital

Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is the first in the country to be rated as ‘Outstanding’ overall by England’s Chief Inspector of Hospitals.

Research scan alert

This month’s alert from The Health Foundation features highlights of the latest studies about healthcare improvement from its research scan.

The focus is on studies in four areas: Person-centred care, Patient safety, Value for money and Approaches to improvement.

Find out more about research scan

WMAHSN Health and Wealth Economic Summit

The West Midlands Academic Health Science Network (WMAHSN) invites you to attend one or both days of their forthcoming Health and Wealth Economic Summit for the West Midlands.

Day one of the WMAHSN Health and Wealth Economic Summit, Innovation, Investment and Productivity, takes place at the NEC, Birmingham on Tuesday 21 October from 9.30am – 4pm. Opening with an address by George Freeman MP, Minister for Life Sciences, this day is aimed at representatives from industry, NHS and academia.

Day two of the Health and Wealth Economic Summit, EU Funding, Working with LEPs and Creating 21st Century Life Science and Healthcare Jobs in the Region, will be held on Wednesday 22 October at the Post Graduate Centre, University Hospitals Birmingham from 9.30am – 4.30pm. Aimed at representatives from the NHS, AHSNs, LETBs and LETCs, local authorities and the third sector, there will be various speakers and two panel sessions.

For further information and registration please click here.

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Drama helps kids with autism communicate better

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Richard Barber

New Scientist has highlighted research which Dr David Wilkinson has contributed to. The findings, from the research project entitled Imagining Autism, show that autistic children who participate in drama and performance-based activities may demonstrate improved levels of communication and interpersonal interaction. To read the article, go to:http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25419-drama-helps-kids-with-autism-co#.U05hV_ldXAk.

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Medway academic wins Sciences Faculty Teaching Prize

Posted on October 2, 2014 by Richard Barber

Dr Tarlochan Singh Gill, Clinical Lecturer at the Medway School of Pharmacy, has been awarded half-share of the 2014 Sciences Faculty Teaching Prize for his work in using Simman technology to teach Pharmacokinetics.

The principles of Clinical Pharmacokinetics are the basis for many therapeutic interventions and are an integral part of the Master of Pharmacy degree. However the concepts have their basis in mathematics and so can form a barrier to the learning of some students. In an effort to enhance his students’ experience, Dr Gill demonstrates clinical pharmacokinetic scenarios using a human patient simulator mannequin controlled by the Simman computer programme.

While simulation training has been used extensively in the military and aeronautical industries and to a limited extent in medical training, its use in schools of pharmacy is relatively new. The students at Medway School of Pharmacy therefore benefit from this innovation.

The prize panel commended the intervention in an area that some students find challenging and the robust evaluation of the effectiveness of the work. Dr Gill commented that “it is a privilege to have the opportunity to make a positive difference in the learning of our pharmacy students and very humbling to be recognised for it.”

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