The Government and the NHS must improve how they communicate NHS
reforms to the public, say MPs. That is the conclusion of a report
from the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee
today (Monday 11 June) on integrated care. NHS and social care
services are looking after a population which is living longer
and with increasingly complex health and care needs,
including multiple long-term conditions, the Committee says.
Services need to change to reflect that and...Request free trial
The Government and the NHS must improve how they communicate NHS
reforms to the public, say MPs. That is the conclusion of a
report
from the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee
today (Monday 11 June) on integrated care.
NHS and social care services are looking after a population which
is living longer and with increasingly complex health and care
needs, including multiple long-term conditions, the Committee
says.
Services need to change to reflect that and to be better organised
around patients. Rising demand and costs for health and care
are taking place alongside an unprecedented and prolonged
squeeze on resources.
There are many examples of NHS and care services coming together
to deliver better care and this kind of integration has been
happening at local level for some time. However, further
integration of services, and
the organisations planning and delivering them, is too often
hampered by current legislation.
The Government and national bodies have yet to explain the case
for change clearly and persuasively. There has also been a
failure to consistently engage with local leaders in the
design of service changes.
Overuse of jargon and poor communication confuses both
health professionals and the public alike. Changing acronyms,
titles and terminology have allowed misunderstanding to fester
and suspicion of the underlying purpose of reform.
Debate on NHS reform is often polarising. This has been true in the
case of sustainability and transformation partnerships, STPs,
and, more recently, accountable care organisations, ACOs, –
forms of healthcare services that share their name with but
are essentially different to models from the US.
Rather than threatening the integrity of the NHS, reforms to better
joinup the organisation of services, including health and
social care, present an opportunity to row back the
NHS-internal market. However, the litmus test must be whether
these changes (ACOs, STPs and integrated care systems) improve
the care, outcomes, and experience of patients.
The Committee recognises the potential benefits of further
integration and calls on the Government to bring forward
legislation to remove legal barriers imposed by the Health and
Social Care Act 2012. Many of the necessary changes require
primary legislation. To rebuild the trust that previous and
repeated top-down reorganisations have eroded, the Committee
recommends representatives from the health and care community
– the NHS, local government, professional bodies,
patient groups and the voluntary sector – lead on the
development of new legislative proposals for the Government to
lay before the House in draft and present to the Health and
Social Care Committee for pre-legislative scrutiny.
If a decision is taken, following a careful evaluation of pilots,
to extend the use of ACOs in the English NHS then the
Committee recommends that these should be introduced in
primary legislation as NHS bodies. The Committee does not
believe that the introduction of ACOs in England threatens the
founding principles of the NHS or that they are likely
in practice to be private sector led, but recommend
establishing these as public bodies would reassure on that
point.
The Government’s announcement of a long-term funding settlement
is welcome. This will be essential not only to alleviate
immediate pressures on health and social care services, but to
facilitate the transition to more integrated care. In
particular, the Government must recognise the importance of
adequate transformation and capital funding to
effective service change.
MP, Chair of the Health and
Social Care Committee, said:
It is the triumph of our age that more people are living longer,
but as MPs we too often see our constituents, their families
and their carers grapple with local services that may be
poorly organised around their needs and struggling to cope
with the rising demand for care.
As the NHS approaches its 70th birthday national leaders, and
politicians from across the political spectrum at national and
local level, must help to make the case for change to the
public. Any effort to transform care will
flounder and lose support unless it can demonstrate that patients
and their families will benefit.
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