Tag: nhs

Latest news from the ICS Hub

A list of the latest news, guidance, and resources on Integrated Care Systems that have been added to the ICS Hub.

Check out the latest updates to our ICS Hub, a space for local Age UKs to get the latest news, guidance, and resources on Integrated Care Systems. Read on to view the latest updates, including a new inquiry into ICSs, a briefing paper from Tenders UK, and a framework from the King’s Fund on successful partnership working.

MPs to investigate if ICSs will deliver better care

Forty-two ICSs have now officially been established in law as of July 1st. A new inquiry was also launched this week by the Health and Social Care Parliamentary Committee to consider how these Integrated Care Systems will deliver joined up health and care services to meet the needs of local populations. They are inviting evidence to be submitted for consideration by Friday 5th August. More details can be found here.

Age UK will be submitting a national response – if you would like to contribute your local experiences of ICSs, please contact healthinfluencing@ageuk.org.uk.

You can view this update along with some other recent articles you may find useful on the ICS Hub here.

Anticipatory care – developing a service offer for ICSs

The NHS England 2022/23 business plan includes a requirement for all ICSs to provide a plan by Q3 of this year on how they will deliver Anticipatory Care in 2023.

The key focus of Anticipatory Care is helping people most at risk of deteriorating health to maintain their health and wellbeing, slowing the need for statutory health and wellbeing services. This is something that all Age UKs have considerable experience in doing, which means there could be an opportunity for local Age UKs to work with their local ICS to help to deliver Anticipatory Care in 2023.

To help with this process, we have commissioned Tenders-UK to produce a briefing paper you can download and adapt to help your organisation to begin negotiations with your local ICS.

The paper gives an overview of Anticipatory Care, including some of the strengths the Age UK Network brings to the table. Section Three focuses on the local context and contains guidance on adapting the text in this section to fit the situation in your local area – Tenders-UK can help in completing this section if required, but there is no obligation to ask them to do so. If you would like to know more, including costs, please contact sophy.roberts@tenders-uk.com.

You can view this update along with some other ICS resources from Age UK on the ICS Hub here.

Kings Fund publish framework for successful partnership working

Key to the success of ICSs in reducing health inequalities is constructive partnership working between NHS, local authority, and VCSE organisations. Through insight they have gained via their Healthy Communities Together programme, The Kings Fund have produced a short report which includes learning from organisations already engaged in working in these types of partnerships. There are also some handy links to additional resources which you may find useful here.

You can view this update along with lots of other ICS resources from external sources like the NHS on the ICS Hub here.

Get in touch

All this information and more is available on our ICS Hub but if you can’t find what you’re looking for, please contact healthinfluencing@ageuk.org.uk.

Upcoming Live Longer Better Event – 8th June 2022

All Age UKs are invited to attend the next Live Longer Better Thought Leadership National Event on Wednesday 8th June from 10:00-11:30.

All Age UKs are invited to join the next Live Longer Better Thought Leadership Event which will focus on the Health and Care Bill. The webinar takes place on Wednesday 8th June from 10:00 – 11:30. Read on to find out more, or click here to book your place.

The NHS was set up as a single organisation in 1948 – numerous bureaucracies, but one organisation, one family. From 1990, collaboration was stopped and competition began.

We now have an Act of Parliament, the Health and Care Bill which has received Royal Assent, enacting the most significant health legislation in a decade into law. Integrated systems were deemed essential, with their four purposes outlined:

  1. Improving population health and healthcare;
  2. Tackling unequal outcomes and access;
  3. Enhancing productivity and value for money; and
  4. Helping the NHS to support broader social and economic development.

This marks a milestone in the recovery and reform of how health and care services work together. The Live Longer Better programme was designed on these principles, recognising that activity: physical, cognitive and emotional, is an essential part of population health management and MUST be integral to improving community health and longevity.

This Live Longer Better National Event takes a consultative approach with National Clinical Directors.

Register for this event to find out their barriers and hurdles, understand how physical activity can help them quantify the benefits of overcoming these problems and support delivery on their key objectives.

Click here to book your place

Our LLB National Events have proved extremely popular – over 2,000 delegates have attended our last 7 events with cross sector representation. Delegates confirmed that the events “fully met their expectations”.

This Live Longer Better collaboration between Sir Muir Gray, Optimal Ageing Associates and Active Partnerships provides a unique combination of skills and resources, bringing together the cultures of coaching and health. We look forward to sharing some excellent presentations and speakers around the Live Longer Better work.

DHSC 10-Year Cancer Plan: Call for Evidence

The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking the views of individuals, professionals and organisations to understand how they can improve how cancer is diagnosed and treated.

The NHS Long Term Plan, published in 2019, set an ambition to save thousands more lives each year by dramatically improving how cancer is diagnosed and treated. The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking the views of individuals, professionals and organisations to understand whether and how they can do more to make progress against this ambition, and to build on lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. If you would like to contribute to their consultation, the online survey is open until 23:45 on Friday 8th April.

New guidance document: “Universal Principles for Advance Care Planning”

Age UK are pleased to be one of the 28 named organisations who have supported the development of, and contributed towards, a new guidance document “Universal Principles for Advance Care Planning”.

A new guidance document ‘The Universal Principles for Advance Care Planning’ has been jointly published by a coalition of 28 partner organisations, in response to the Care Quality Commission report ‘Protect, Connect, Respect – decisions about living and dying well’. Age UK are pleased to be one of the 28 named organisations who have supported the development of, and contributed towards, this publication.

This document is for the person, those important to them, practitioners and organisations involved in supporting advance care planning conversations and honouring their outcomes. It sets out six high-level principles for advance care planning in England.

For further information please click here.

Upcoming Live Longer Better Thought Leadership Event – 23rd March 2022

All Age UKs are invited to attend the next Live Longer Better Thought Leadership National Event on Wednesday 23rd March from 10:00-11:30.

All Age UKs are invited to join the next Live Longer Better Thought Leadership Event which is titled “The Longevity Revolution”. The webinar takes place on Wednesday 23rd March from 10:00 – 11:30. Read on to find out more, or click here to book your place.

The number of older people is increasing, both in absolute terms and relative to the numbers of young people. This is often portrayed as a major problem but our understanding of the science of what is happening to us as we live longer is getting clearer, and the evidence about what can be done to prevent, delay, slow or even reverse conditions such as frailty, dementia and dependence is getting stronger.

Live Longer Better aim to:

  • Refocus the lens on population ageing to healthy longevity
  • Focus on reconditioning rather than deconditioning
  • Prescribe activity with, and sometimes instead of, drug prescriptions
  • Recognise that physical activity professionals are agents of change as catalysts for action within complex systems.

Expert Speakers confirmed to date include:

  • Sir Muir Gray                               
  • Jamie Blackshaw (Office for Health Improvement and Disparities)
  • Anant Jani (University of Oxford)
  • Dr Jenni Jones (National University of Ireland)
  • Dr Marlize de Vivo (Active Medicine)
  • Lisa Wood (Active Partnership – Wesport)

We look forward to sharing some excellent presentations from speakers around the Live Longer Better work, inspired by Sir Muir Gray in collaboration with Active Partnerships.

The LLB National Events have proved extremely popular – over 1,800 delegates have attended our last five events with cross sector representation including local authorities, Age UK, NHS, Care Homes, Leisure Trusts and various voluntary and community sector partners.  Feedback given by delegates confirmed that the events fully met their expectations. Register for this event now to secure your place!

Further programme details will be circulated nearer the event.

Click here to book your place

This Live Longer Better collaboration between Sir Muir Gray, Optimal Ageing Associates and Active Partnerships provides a unique combination of skills and resources, bringing together the cultures of coaching and health. We look forward to sharing some excellent presentations and speakers around the Live Longer Better work.

Upcoming Live Longer Better Thought Leadership National Event

All Age UKs are invited to attend the next Live Longer Better Thought Leadership National Event on Wednesday 26th January from 10:00-11:30.

All Age UKs are invited to join the next Live Longer Better Thought Leadership National Event. The webinar takes place on Wednesday 26th January from 10.00 – 11.30. Speakers include Dr Lis Boulton, Health and Care Policy Manager at Age UK. Read on to find out more, or click here to book your place.

We now understand better the on-going detrimental impact of the Covid pandemic and the preventable deterioration on the health of many of our older population, notably the evidence that people can take action to prevent and reduce many of the problems that have hitherto been regarded as immutable effects of the biological process of ageing. This will significantly reduce pressure on our health and care systems.

The Government’s recent Adult Social Care Reform White Paper (December 2021) sets out an ambitious 10-year plan to transform support and care in England, putting People at the Heart of Care, by giving them choice, control, and support to live independent lives. Live Longer Better promotes early intervention which will help to reduce the pressures and associated costs on our Health and Care systems, by supporting people’s independence and allowing real choice.  

Join us at the next national event to understand how Live Longer Better’s 2022 New Year’s Revolution aims to reduce the need for Health and Social Care for our older population, by preventing, delaying, slowing and reversing frailty and dementia, by increasing activity – physical, cognitive and emotional.  

Live Longer Better aims to do this through the 3 Rs:

  • Recovery from the deconditioning effects of lockdown and Covid
  • Rejuvenation, regaining the fitness and ability lost in your last ten years
  • Reimagining your future and thinking positive, for example about increasing Brain Health as well as reducing the risk of dementia

The LLB National Events have proved extremely popular – nearly 1,500 delegates have attended our last five events with cross sector representation including local authorities, Age UK, NHS, Care Homes, Leisure Trusts and various voluntary and community sector partners.  Feedback given by delegates confirmed that the events fully met their expectations.  Register for this event now to secure your place!

Further programme details will be circulated nearer the event.

Click here to book your place

This Live Longer Better collaboration between Sir Muir Gray, Optimal Ageing Associates and Active Partnerships provides a unique combination of skills and resources, bringing together the cultures of coaching and health. We look forward to sharing some excellent presentations and speakers around the Live Longer Better work.

Covid-19 Update: Latest Briefing | Vaccine FAQs | Priority Vaccination Letter for Carers | Antiviral Treatment Trial

There’s lots of information in this latest Covid-19 update, including the latest briefing and vaccine FAQs. There’s also a priority booster vaccine letter for carers, and information on a new antiviral treatment trial.

This Covid-19 update covers the release of the latest Covid-19 Briefing from the Health Influencing Team, which can be downloaded below along with the latest FAQs about the Covid-19 vaccine. There’s also information on priority vaccinations for carers, including a letter from DHSC which can be given to unpaid carers or care staff without other ID to use as proof of status. Lastly, there’s some information about a study that the NHS is rolling out to trial new antiviral treatments for coronavirus. Full details on all of these topics can be found below.

Latest Covid-19 Briefing & Vaccine FAQs

The latest Covid-19 Internal Briefing is available for you to download below along with the latest FAQs on the Covid-19 Vaccine. The Briefing contains information on the Omicron variant along with some upcoming key dates. The vaccine FAQ covers questions recently asked by Brand Partners on the topic of vaccination and their obligations as employers.

Both documents are for internal use only.

Covid-19 Internal Briefing 17.12.211Download
Covid-19 Vaccination FAQsDownload

Priority booster vaccinations for paid and unpaid carers

Care staff and unpaid carers should be given priority at vaccination sites in order to get their booster jab. Please find below a letter from DHSC which can be given to unpaid carers or care staff without other ID as proof of status. We encourage you to download and share this letter with any relevant contacts across your networks to ensure that all frontline health care workers, social care staff, and unpaid carers can access a booster jab with as much ease as possible. Thank you.

Booster priority at vaccination centres letterDownload

New NHS Study into Antiviral Treatments for Coronavirus

Age UK’s Health Influencing Team have also been asked to raise awareness about a study that the NHS is rolling out to trial new antiviral treatments for coronavirus. Antivirals are a treatment usually taken in the early phase of an illness as soon as symptoms are detected, they aim to contain the virus and prevent it from progressing into a more serious illness.

Eligible patients will be contacted by the study team or a local healthcare professional to consider enrolling in the study, so we wanted to let you know about the study in case you receive any questions from those you work with.

This is not a medical trial, these treatments have already been approved by the MHRA as the medical regulator as safe and effective. The aim is to see whether prescribing the drugs as standard to some groups of patients when they test positive for coronavirus can help significantly reduce the number of people who need hospital care.

There are two possible treatments available:

  • The PANORAMIC national study is trialling oral antiviral drugs that can be taken at home. Anyone over the age of 50, who has been diagnosed with coronavirus within the last 5 days and has active symptoms, can volunteer to get involved. Antiviral drugs will be sent directly to people’s homes and individuals will be supported by a remote medical team. Care home residents are also eligible to participate and some care homes are working directly with the study organisers.
  • In addition, the most high risk patients are proactively being offered direct access to intravenous antivirals. These drugs are administered in hospital via a drip and are only available to those groups. Eligible potential patients will receive a letter or email explaining the trial and providing more information on how they will be contacted to participate if they test positive. Individuals who meet the criteria but have not been contacted can ask to be included via their GP or consultant.

The briefing below provides more information on the study, the treatments and eligible patients:

Covid-19 New Antiviral TreatmentsDownload

Upcoming Live Longer Better Webinar: “Reducing the need for Health and Social Care”

All Age UKs are invited to attend the next Live Longer Better webinar on Wednesday 6th October at 10am.

All Age UKs are invited to join the next Live Longer Better national webinar titled: “Reducing the need for Health and Social Care – How Live Longer Better can do it!“. The webinar takes place on Wednesday 6th October from 10.00 – 11.30. Read on to find out more, or click here to book your place.

The effects of the Covid pandemic and lockdown have had substantial impact on the health of our older population and there are more people less active than ever before.  The result will be an imminent spike in the need for health and social care which will significantly increase the pressures on our primary, acute healthcare services and social services. For every additional year of healthy life expectancy, estimates show that the need for Health and Social Care can be reduced by £45 million a year.

The Live Longer Better revolution aims to reduce disability, dementia and frailty by enabling older people to become more active, physically and mentally. It is now accelerating its drive to take radical action to reframe, re-enable and re-invigorate a whole systems approach to support our ageing society become more physically active, more independent and fundamentally improve their quality of life.  

The LLB National Events have proved extremely popular – nearly 1,000 delegates attending the last 4 events with cross sector representation including local authorities, Age UK, NHS, Care Homes, Leisure Trusts and various voluntary and community sector partners.  Feedback given by delegates confirmed that the events fully met their expectations.

The Programme will include Public Health England, Centre for Ageing Better and of course Sir Muir Gray.  Further programme details will be circulated nearer the event. 

Click here to book your place

This Live Longer Better collaboration between Sir Muir Gray, Optimal Ageing Associates and Active Partnerships provides a unique combination of skills and resources, bringing together the cultures of coaching and health.  We look forward to sharing some excellent presentations and speakers around the Live Longer Better work.

Painful Journeys Campaign Victory!

The NHS has committed to improving transport services for older people to and from hospital, and our campaigning had a big part to play in this win!

The NHS has committed to improving transport services for older people to and from hospital, and our campaigning had a big part to play in this win! In 2018 and 2019, we campaigned to put an end to the painful journeys that so many older people have to make to hospital. In exciting news, the NHS have now completed their review of patient transport services, and they’re taking many of our recommendations on board. Read on for full details.

In 2018 and 2019, we campaigned to put an end to the painful journeys that so many older people have to make to hospital. The Government and NHS didn’t see this as a priority until we started raising the concerns of older people and made sure they listened to the awful experiences people were having. Our hard work pushed the NHS to finally review the transport services made available to patients who need to get to appointments and can’t get there any other way.

In exciting news, the NHS have now completed their review, and they’re taking many of our recommendations on board. The NHS is going to improve the eligibility criteria for patient transport, and make sure people don’t have to wait for hours to get to and from their appointments. They’ve also promised to simplify the travel costs scheme as well, so it will be much easier for patients if they need to claim back the cost of their travel to hospital.

This is an important campaign win that will make a major difference for many older people trying to access NHS services and we are pleased to have played a significant role in securing this win for older people!

Exciting opportunity for England-based brand partners for NHSEI seasonal support contract

An exciting opportunity for England based brand partners as NHSEI announce intention to contract long-term seasonal support valued at £7m per year.

NHS England & NHS Improvement (NHSEI) has issued a contract notice stating its intention to commission long-term seasonal pressures support across its seven NHS Regions in England for surge capacity to support Hospital Discharge. This contract presents an exciting opportunity for England-based brand partners if Age UK is successful in being awarded the contract. Find out full details about the contract in the document below, including the anticipated timeline, preparations needed to bid, and actions you can take to express your interest in becoming a future delivery partner (subject to a successful bid and contract award).

NHSEI Seasonal Support Tender InformationDownload