CQC publishes State of Care report
The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has published its State of Care report – an annual assessment of health and social care in England.
The report looks at the trends, shares examples of good and outstanding care and highlights where care needs to improve.
Some of the key points highlighted in this year's report include:
- The pandemic has further exposed and exacerbated inequalities in accessing and receiving high-quality care.
- Remote models of care for GPs were welcomed by many but do not work for everyone.
- Improvements in maternity care are 'far too slow'.
Study: Stressing personal benefits of COVID-19 vaccine could reduce hesitancy
New research has explored whether different versions of written information could change people's views on the COVID-19 vaccine.
It found that, among those who were hesitant, stressing the personal benefits of the vaccine was more effective than stressing benefits to the community.
This approach did not discourage other groups from accepting the vaccine.
Coalition for Personalised Care annual report
The Coalition for Personalised Care has published its annual report outlining activity since its relaunch. Its vision is that personalised care is:
- The lived reality for all who use health and care services
- 'Business as usual' for the NHS and other healthcare providers
- Delivered consistently as an holistic approach
- Set within a wider framework of wellbeing and greater community resilience
The report includes the coalition's aims for 2021/22 and headlines from its task groups on health inequalities, the treatment backlog and patient experience.
Study: Use of electronic personal health records among younger and older adults
A new study aims to examine the relationship between human-technology interaction factors and electronic personal health records (ePHRs) use among adults.
Authors then compared the different effects on ePHR use between younger adults (18-54 years old) and older adults (55 years of age and over).
They found the average level of ePHR use was low and there was no significant difference in average use between the two age groups.
Including clinical notes was positively related to use in both groups.
Accessing ePHRs using a smartphone app was only associated with use among younger adults.
Ease of understanding health information in ePHRs was positively linked to use only among older adults.
Coproduction: Paying people who receive benefits
The Social Care Institute for Excellence has released an updated briefing on paying people who receive benefits for involvement and coproduction.
It says organisations paying people for their time as part of co-production, involvement and participation activities have a responsibility to ensure they are supported with independent welfare rights advice.
Survey: COVID-19 shielding impact and experience
Public Health Scotland has launched a follow up survey on the experiences of people who were asked to shield during COVID-19.
Its first survey ran in June 2020 at the request of the Scottish Government.
Public Health Scotland is now running a follow-up survey to understand the longer term impacts of shielding and people's experience of changes in the shielding programme over time.
The survey takes 15 minutes to complete and will be open until Sunday, 7 November.
Study: Barriers to healthcare access for people living in homeless hostels
A new study aims to identify the barriers and facilitators to accessing health and social care services for people living in homeless hostels.
Authors say, despite people experiencing homelessness often having considerable health problems and a range of complex needs, the experiences of hostel staff and residents in relation to accessing health and social care support have seldom been explored.
One of the key themes identified was internal and external barriers to service access caused by stigma, a lack of communication and information sharing.
Putting people at the centre of an independent inquiry into COVID-19
The ALLIANCE has published a briefing outlining key recommendations on the content and format of an independent inquiry into COVID-19.
The briefing is based on people’s first-hand experiences of health and social care in Scotland during the pandemic.
It outlines key issues raised by members, including digital exclusion, long-term conditions and the value of the third sector.
The briefing also outlines how to put people at the centre of the inquiry including meaningful engagement and prioritising lived experience.
The impact of COVID-19 across the UK countries
In this Nuffield Trust report, Sarah Scobie takes a closer look at the pandemic across the four countries of the UK so far.
She describes some of the differences that have occurred between each country as well as the shared challenges each health service will face as winter approaches.
Podcast: Producing rapid COVID-19 guidelines and the infodemic
This month's NICE Talks podcast features Fiona Glen, NICE programme director, centre for guidelines, and David Chandler, chief executive of PIF member the Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Alliance.
They discuss how NICE worked with stakeholders at the start of the pandemic to produce evidence-based rapid guidelines for COVID-19.
Focus on customer experience is key to NHS digital transformation
In this blog, Emma McLachlan, director of digital Experience at NHSX, discusses the vision for an NHS driven by ‘customer experience’.
She says digital services must be easy for people to find and use and sets out a series of goals to be achieved.
They include: "Digital services which create an opportunity to unlock the benefits of digital transformation for all users, addressing long-standing issues with inequalities in health and care."