NHS Staff Receive 1.5 Million Pounds To Help Innovation In Community Services

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 04 May 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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NHS staff have received awards totalling £1.5m to pursue projects that will work toward developing services in the community such as bi-lingual stroke rehabilitation programmes and diet and nutrition training, announced the Department of Health.

The awards follow on from the commitment made in High Quality Care for All and are a direct response to feedback from patients calling for more services to be developed closer to patient's homes and in the communities where they live.

The winners, who include nurses and allied health professionals have been encouraged to take a lead in this programme of transformation to asses local service needs, decide priorities, shape outcomes and develop community services for the future.

To support this innovation and leadership work, £1.5m funding for Innovation Awards was announced in January 2009 By Christine Beasley, Chief Nursing Officer, to enable NHS staff to develop ideas to transform community services.

Chief Nursing Officer, Christine Beasley said:

"It is really encouraging to see so many great examples of innovation, good practice and teamwork within community services.

"These award winners reflect the SHAs local priorities as set out in their Next Stage Review responses to transform services and improve the quality of care for patients in their own communities, giving people more say, more choice and more control over their own health care"

Karen Middleton, Chief Health Professions Officer said:

"I think the breadth of services that have won these awards demonstrates the essential contribution that clinicians working in the community make to improving health and well being.

"This is in no small part down to the dedication of the clinicians and support staff working in partnership with patients and clients and I am pleased we can celebrate their achievements in this way."

A further £220 million fund has also been announced this week building on the Government's firm commitment to create an innovative health service.

England's ten Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs) will each receive £2 million this year and £5 million in each of the following four years. This will support frontline NHS staff and help ensure that great ideas get recognised, that funding is available and that the time it takes for solutions to get from design bench to NHS bedside is speeded up.

Notes

1. The Transforming Community Services programme of work developed by the Department of Health is working to improve services, reform systems and develop people to transform and redesign the quality and provision of community services.

2. The prizes were given at the Transforming Community Services conference in London on 20th April. Details of all the award winners are as follows. More detailed information on specific awards is available on request:

NHS London

- Southwark PCT - Community Diabetes Project
- Redbridge PCT - Reconnect using Community Resources - Stroke rehabilitation using assistive technology through volunteers in Communities using a language other than English

NHS North East

- North of Tyne PCT - Innovation & leadership development focused on end of life care and transformational changes to the patient pathway

- South of Tyne and Wear PCT - Improving safety of care by supporting access into community services via a single point of contact and triage by appropriately skilled practitioners

- NHS County Durham - Improving Quality through Multi-Disciplinary Safeguarding - Development of the multi-professional safeguarding adult team, with a focus on reducing injury by promoting independence and safe moving and handling of care home clients

- Tees PCT - Development of the health visitor role as part of the broader health care team, based on Health Visiting - Face the Future and the local Tees review

NHS South West

- NHS Bath and North East Somerset - New Service delivery model
- Devon PCT - Development of health hubs
- NHS North Somerset - Development of generic assistant practitioner
- Torbay Care Trust - End of Life Care in Care Homes
- Torbay Care Trust - End of Life Care Lay Carers Education
- NHS Wiltshire - High Quality Care for Children and Families

NHS East of England

- South West Essex Community Services - Growing an NHS Workforce in partnership with Job Centre Plus
- South West Essex Community Services - Web Innovation for Paediatric Diabetes
- South East Essex PCT - Out of Hospital Integrated Children & Young People's Asthma Service's

NHS Yorkshire & Humber

- Calderdale PCT - The Innovation Council
- Kirklees CHS - Productive Teams and Empowering Change with Service Users - NHS Wakefield - Integration in Action
- North Yorkshire and York PCT - A patient-Centred Approach to Workforce Planning in Community Services

NHS South Central

- Hampshire PCT - Develop & deliver a programme of training on 'nutrition' in a community setting - enable nutrition screening to identify at risk patients
- Portsmouth City PCT - To develop and support 'Expert Carers' along the lines of the Expert Patient Programme. Specifically many young carers who do not access local services
- Winchester & Eastleigh Healthcare Trust - Employ social worker to release Community Children's Nurse time to improve quality of care to children with complex healthcare needs and deliver more effective care at home, thereby keeping children out of hospital
- Winchester & Eastleigh Healthcare Trust - Installing a telemedicine link between Andover Community Hospital & Winchester District General Hospital to reduce potentially avoidable ambulance journeys and hospital admissions

NHS South East Coast

- West Sussex PCT - Podiatric Surgery in a Primary Care setting
- West Kent Community Health Services - Self-referral for supported discharge
- Surrey PCT - Towards Independence

NHS West Midlands

- Telford & Wrekin PCT - Transforming patient care utilising the Year of Care approach
- Stoke Community Health Services - Simple point of access for patients with integrated planning and delivery of care

NHS East Midlands

- Leicester County & Rutland Community Health Service - Provide a model of integrated streamlined care for patients with Long Term Conditions
- Derbyshire County PCT - Create a service aimed at supporting people in care homes to maintain their independence and quality of life and to support the staff involved

NHS North West

- NHS Bolton - Improving patient care and service delivery in Musculoskeletal CATS and Rheumatology and Bone Health Service; plus improving clinical communication between Bolton NHS Trust and Bolton General Practitioners
- Central Lancashire PCT - Packs & Pounds - Social marketing campaign for promoting healthy choices
- NHS Sefton - Developing a Healthy Workforce
- NHS Warrington - Public health nursing support to vulnerable families

Source
Department of Health, UK

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