Building bridges to improve patient care

October 28, 2014 Comments Off on Building bridges to improve patient care

Susan Smith from Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust talks about how her service had a direct impact on improving patient care by putting people in touch with each other.

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Image: ‘Cafe con leche – Milchkaffee (CC)’ http://www.flickr.com/photos/45409431@N00/2939337382 Found on flickrcc.net

The library offers volunteers full membership of its services and the library is currently working with the group to develop a storytelling service on the wards. One day the volunteer manager, brought down one of the volunteers to join the library. She told me a tale of a patient with dementia she was assigned to and how communicating some of the most basic needs could be challenging. Later that day we had a visit from one of our regular Speech and Language Therapists (SLT) about the issue and she offered to provide picture boards to volunteers and family so patients could communicate if they wanted tea or coffee etc. This information was communicated to the volunteer’s manager who is now aware of the service and can direct volunteers if they have similar needs in the future.

White Paper: the new era of thinking and practice in change and transformation

October 27, 2014 Comments Off on White Paper: the new era of thinking and practice in change and transformation

Title of driver: White Paper: the new era of thinking and practice in change and transformation: a call to action for leaders of health and care

Source: NHS Improving Quality

Link to main document

Publication format: Available as PDF and e-publication

Date of publication: July 2014

Summary of driver:

This paper examines trends in change and transformation from multiple industries, and argues that change needs to happen at a faster rate and become more disruptive.

The paper tries to identify the implications and opportunities for leaders of health and care, including embracing disruption and ‘disruptors’ to create an environment where innovation is encouraged. It provide leaders of change with 15 actions to support change, and makes available ideas, opinions, research and resources about the future direction of change.

Key features of driver: 

The paper asks several questions about organisational and system change, including:

  • Who does it (many change agents, not just a few)
  • Where it happens (increasingly ‘at the edge’ of organisations and systems)
  • The skills and mindsets that change agents need

The paper also includes four case studies:

  • Living Well in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly – Striving for a collective humility in finding a way to work together for the person’s benefit
  • A grass-roots movement sparked by students coming together to prevent avoidable pressure ulcers
  • The NHS Change Day ‘hubbies’: a voluntary self-organising network of local leaders
  • The School for Health and Care Radicals – teaching change agents to rock the boat and stay in it

Primary audience: Leaders in health and care

Impact on library policy/practice:

One of the five enablers of the ‘emerging direction’ in change outlined in the paper is ‘Curate rather than create knowledge’. It suggests that improvement leaders will need to become curators of knowledge (collecting, filtering, evaluating, contextualising and sharing knowledge from multiple sources) and this will include more tacit knowledge or ‘know-how’ in future.

This might mean library staff supporting the knowledge management agenda in their organisations, or supporting leaders to use the necessary tools to curate knowledge (which could include applications such as Twitter, Storify and LinkedIn).

In one sense curation of knowledge is something we already do in literature searches, and we already teach users how to collect and filter knowledge using traditional tools such as bibliographic databases. It may be that we simply need to rebrand some of what we do, or extend it to cover new tools.

Digital skills will become increasingly important for leaders, and again this may involve library staff in providing training and support for non-traditional information resources and applications.

Date last updated: October 2014

Due for review: October 2015

Group member responsible: JC

A Framework for Personalised Care and Population Health for Nurses, Midwives, Health Visitors and Allied Health Professionals

October 15, 2014 Comments Off on A Framework for Personalised Care and Population Health for Nurses, Midwives, Health Visitors and Allied Health Professionals

Source: Public Health England and Department of Health

Link to main document

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: 4th July 2014

Summary of driver: The framework forms parts of the public health contribution of nurses and midwives: guidance. It has been developed with practitioners and leaders as a resource to support nurses, midwives, health visitors and allied health professionals’ in the delivery of their public health role. The framework will facilitate their access to the best evidence and is a tool to support practice on a number of levels. It can also assist clinical leaders, managers and commissioners to develop services which use the knowledge and skills of healthcare practitioners to deliver the best health outcomes for the populations they serve. This document recognises that at this point in time, health promoting practice is essential to meet the health challenges in society and is related the Public Health Outcomes Framework and the Compassion in Practice.

Key features of driver:

  • Six key areas of population health activity are listed; Improving the wider determinants of health, health improvement- making every contact help, health protection, healthcare public health, supporting health wellbeing and independence and Lifecourse.
  • Each section has an ‘aim’ which is linked to the relevant indicators in the Public Health Outcomes Framework (http://www.phoutcomes.info/) which can be used to measure impact/outcomes in that particular activity area.
  • Framework will support practice on a number of levels and provide staff with a tool that will help support them in the delivery of the population elements of their role. All staff will gain something from this framework ranging from using the framework to develop services for the local healthcare population to using it to develop local commissioning.
  • Framework supports and shapes health promoting practice and embeds personalised care across all ages and communities
  • Public Health Intervention Wheel (adapted from the Minnesota Department of Health in 2001) demonstrates the use of public health practice at three levels- individual, community and population. It defines the scope of public health nursing practice by the type of intervention.

Primary audience: Nurses, midwives, health visitors and allied health professionals, professional managers (local and regional)/commissioners/researchers and those in other education based roles.

Impact on library policy/practice:

  • Opportunity to ensure that healthcare staff have the relevant up to date evidence via methods such as current awareness bulletins and targeted information delivery (Kings Fund/WHO).
  • Opportunity to develop new outreach links and services to staff in the community.
  • Ensuring that access to the documents/links mentioned is available and signposting access. The framework is an interactive document so users should be able to access the information at the point of need. LKS staff can ensure that access to the links and documents is available.

Date last updated: July 2014
Due for review: July 2015
Group member responsible: LK

Sharing knowledge to increase engagement

September 23, 2014 Comments Off on Sharing knowledge to increase engagement

Susan Smith from Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust highlights how sharing her experiences from a conference with non-library colleagues helped her to make connections and raise the library profile.

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Image: ‘Rainy Day / http://www.flickr.com/photos/84988327@N00/200615055 Found on flickrcc.net

 

In February 2013, I attended the CILIP Umbrella Conference in Manchester.  Normally when I attend a conference I write up little articles on each talk and share around the library staff.  This time I spread the word to targeted colleagues within the Trust e.g. social media to the communications team, talk from the Information Commission to Integrated Governance and e-learning to Post Graduate, Practice Education Facilitators and Learning & Development.

In response to the shared learning, I received the usual thank you and some follow up questioning.  Integrated Governance however took it a stage further and asked me to present and discuss my views on the presentation with their Information Governance team.  At that point we weren’t embedded in the organisation and it helped provide an introduction to key people in the team and improve relations with them.  The actual project planned from the initial discussion fell through, but it still has improved library standing within the organisation.

New Evidence on Management & Leadership

September 22, 2014 Comments Off on New Evidence on Management & Leadership

Source: Health Services and Delivery Research Programme

Link to main document

Publication format: pdf (online)

Date of publication: December 2013

Summary of driver: Publication provides key findings from 14 new studies on management and leadership practice within the healthcare

Key features of driver:

  • Gaps identified in current evidence on management and leadership of healthcare called for the commissioning of research into these areas.
  • Studies published in 2013 addresses key questions on the subject
  • Subjects ranged from research into managerial capacity, engaging clinical staff as managers, understanding the work of frontline and middle managers, exploring the nature of leadership and the way in which managers use evidence
  • The research summaries findings from the studies and why they are important. They should help organisations and individuals to understand better the ways in which effective managers improve services for patients

Primary audience: All healthcare staff with managerial or leadership responsiibilities

Impact on library policy/practice:

The library service has a key role to play in the creation and development of specialist resources to help support staff develop effective management and leadership skills

Opportunity to promote resources and services on in-house management and leadership courses and events aimed at such staff groups

Evidence-based training on specialist management healthcare databases

Opportunity to engage with staff groups and set up current awareness services for particular management topic areas

Enables library staff to foster links with learning and development staff to promote courses and seek possible funding for specialist collections

Date last updated: August 2014

Due for review: August 2015

Group member responsible: JW

Tackling health inequalities: the case for investment in the wider public health workforce

September 15, 2014 Comments Off on Tackling health inequalities: the case for investment in the wider public health workforce

Title of driver: Tackling health inequalities: the case for investment in the wider public health workforce

Source: Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH)

Link to main document

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: June 2014

Summary of driver: A proposal to engage professionals working outside the public health sector, to harness their skills and motivation in order to positively impact public health in their communities. The report argues that through the promotion of healthy behaviour and encouragement of healthier lifestyles, health inequalities within local communities can be addressed which could in turn help to reduce the national incidence of lifestyle-related disease and safeguard resources in the NHS.

Key features of driver:

  • The report highlights the pressures that are placed on the welfare system, the economy and social justice, with a cost to the NHS alone of around £5.5 billion (Frontier Economics. Estimating the Costs of Health Inequalities: A Report Prepared for the Marmot Review. London: Frontier Economics Ltd, 2010);
  • The ‘wider public health workforce’ is discussed and defined as: any organisation or individual, who is not a professionally qualified public health specialist, but has the ability or opportunity to positively impact public health;
  • 5 health initiatives are discussed and their effectiveness assessed in the context of: health outcomes, social benefits  and financial costs, benefits and sustainability) in tackling health inequality and encouraging healthier lifestyles: (1) health trainer service (funded community-based), (2) health champions initiative (community volunteers), (3) Making Every Contact Count’ (health promotion within organisations), the role of non-health professionals and (4) the creation of ‘healthy settings’ (schools and universities);
  • The report comments that each stakeholder group (trainers, champions and clients) report a wide range of benefits that extend beyond simple improvements to physical health – improved mental well being, increased social interaction, higher levels of community cohesion and improved career prospects;
  • Barriers to achieving change are described with 2 areas of particular concern being: the ability of the workforce to integrate with ‘hard-to-reach’ groups and the need for greater research  particularly into the extent to which behaviour change is sustained and the cost-effectiveness of programmes.

Primary audience: Local Government Authorities

Impact on library policy/practice:

  • Opportunity to work collaboratively with colleagues in Public Health England to raise awareness of the wider public health workforce initiatives and communicate this to healthcare staff in primary and secondary care, for them to promote to patients and families;
  • Opportunity to liaise with colleagues in public libraries to offer an evidence-base (literature, displays, talks) for their library users; showing how positive health outcomes and improved quality of life can be achieved by small changes in lifestyle e.g. better diet, regular exercise, engaging in community recreation and health education schemes;
  • Commitment by library and knowledge service managers and resource librarians to incorporate a selection of health promotion and ‘healthier living’ resources into library stock and promote widely within our NHS organisations;
  • Support Health Education England events in our regions e.g. Health Education Week to raise awareness of healthier lifestyle choices which can have a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of our local communities; families, friends and neighbours.

Date last updated: September 2014

Due for review: September 2015

Group member responsible: ME

Protected: Meeting 15th September 2014

August 29, 2014 Comments Off on Protected: Meeting 15th September 2014

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Framework 15: Health Education England Strategic Framework 2014 – 2029

August 13, 2014 Comments Off on Framework 15: Health Education England Strategic Framework 2014 – 2029

Title of driver: Framework 15: Health Education England Strategic Framework 2014 – 2029

Source: Health Education England

Link to main document 

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: June 2014

Summary of driver: 

Framework 15 is Health Education England’s (HEE) strategy for the healthcare workforce over the next 15 years, and the first part of the Framework sets the scene for the next 15 years, focusing on:

  • Global drivers of change (demographic, technology and innovation, current and future service models, expections (of patients and staff), social, political, economic and environmental)
  • People and patients of the future (individuals at different starting points, multiple and complex conditions, informed, engaged and active, members of communities of health)
  • Future workforce (informal and formal care, co-production and traditional care, whole person care, care wherever and whenever, knowledge, skill and compassion)

Each year, HEE invests around £5 billion in education and training, and the Framework looks at the future needs for trained healthcare staff to inform investment decisions now.

Section 4 of the Framework is HEE’s strategic framework for the next 15 years, and gives five characteristics of the future workforce:

  • The ‘workforce’ will include the informal support that helps people prevent ill health and manage their own care when appropriate.
  • Will have the skills, values and behaviours required to provide co-productive and traditional models of care as appropriate.
  • Will have adaptable skills responsive to evidence and innovation to enable ‘whole person’ care, with specialisation driven by patient rather than professional needs.
  • Will have the skills, values, behaviours and support to provide safe, high-quality care wherever and whenever the patient is, at all times and in all settings.
  • Delivering the NHS Constitution: ‘Will be able to bring the highest levels of knowledge and skill at times of basic human need when care and compassion are what matters most.’

Key features of driver: 

The Framework has a number of Interesting examples of how technology could drive healthcare e.g. smartphone apps.

The Framework has a number of ‘pen portraits’ of health consumers and staff, looking at how changes to technology and the workforce could impact on them.

According to the Framework, HEE includes in the term ‘workforce’ the informal care that prevents ill health and helps people manage their own care.

HEE hopes to move from simply commissioning the future workforce, to developing the existing workforce and improving retention of training staff. However, it will also be looking at new roles to support future health needs.

Primary audience: Workforce directors of healthcare organisations, higher education, LETCs and LETBs.

Impact on library policy/practice: 

Is there a role for health libraries, in conjunction with public libraries, to support self-care and the ‘informal’ workforce (considered by HEE to be part of the healthcare workforce in the Framework)? We may be expected in future to support the use of technology such as smartphone apps for self-monitoring of health, as well as provide healthcare information suitable for non-professionals.

Changes to educational programmes, and the introduction of new roles or ways of working, could have potentially negative effects on funding of health libraries, if for example funding moves from undergraduate courses to ongoing training and development of the existing workforce.

The Framework indicates that technology will play an increasing role in the work of healthcare staff (for example, telemedicine), and in their education and training (for example, e-learning, apps and simulators). Libraries could be in a good position to support some of these developments.

Date last updated: August 2014

Due for review: August 2015

Group member responsible: JC

Presentation at HLG 2014… MAPping our progress so far

July 30, 2014 Comments Off on Presentation at HLG 2014… MAPping our progress so far

Jane Roberts (steering group) and Leanne Kendrick (content editor) presented on the successes and challenges of collaborating on the MAP toolkit at the 2014 Health Libraries Group (HLG) conference in Oxford. Their presentation discussed:

  • Updates to the MAP project over the past year
  • Using technology to get things done-is it as good as face-to-face?
  • The benefits and challenges of collaborating across regional and national boundaries.
  • The impact of being involved in a national project from a personal development perspective

If you didn’t get a chance to see their presentation check out the slides below:    

MAPping professional collaboration Jane Roberts and Leanne Kendrick

Research and Development Strategy (Draft) 2013 – 2018

July 14, 2014 Comments Off on Research and Development Strategy (Draft) 2013 – 2018

Title: Research and Development Strategy (Draft) 2013 – 2018

Source: NHS England

Link to main document

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: Dec 2013

Summary of driver: The NHS England research strategy supports the goals set out in the NHS England business plan (NHS England 2013); supporting and developing the commissioning system to improve quality and outcomes. It seeks to develop a culture in the NHS that values and promotes research and engages staff and patients in research activities for improved healthcare outcomes.

Key features of driver:

Key Objectives:

• Working closely with Department of Health (DH) and National Institute for Health and Research (NIHR) to coordinate research into commissioning health services;

• Develop an evidence base to support effective decision making by commissioning groups;

• Enable NHS England and commissioning staff to undertake and implement research in order to help improve the quality of care and treatment in the NHS;

• Encourage patients to take part in research and to be considered when setting priorities for research;

• Better inform the public on current research and outcomes from completed research;

• Maximise outcomes from research to stimulate innovation, improve income generation, develop knowledge and achieve impact.

Key Priorities:

• Promote non-commercial and commercial research in the NHS that have the greatest impact on outcomes;

• Engage with clinical leaders across all professions, with academia, industry, and with non clinical researchers in health and social care;

• Support the NHS Outcomes Framework 2014-15 and innovative practice as outlined in Innovation, Health and Wealth, Accelerating Adoption and Diffusion in the NHS (2011)

• Develop a patient engagement and involvement in research strategy

Primary audience: NIHR, Health Research Authority, Clinical Commissioning leads, NHS Trusts.

Impact on library policy/practice:

• Opportunity to engage with clinical commissioning groups and encourage evidence-based decision making – for example, outsourcing library services to CCGs/CSUs where appropriate;

• Responsibility to support the dissemination of clinical research outcomes to wider stakeholders, including patient groups;

• Responsibility to disseminate NICE guidelines and other high quality research to clinical teams and managers to help foster research awareness, translation of research evidence into practice and the rapid adoption of innovation within local NHS Trusts.

• Good practice to identify clinical and non-clinical priorities within the Trust and provide evidence update services to assist teams / managers with health service planning (e.g. pathway re-design), clinical improvement, commissioning plans and health systems design;

• Good practice to support effective knowledge transfer pathways /systems within local Trusts by ensuring that the library service has clear relationships with key departments and effective reporting channels e.g. Chief Knowledge Officer, Team Knowledge Officers and library representative attends relevant department meetings e.g. Education, Learning and Development, Research and Development, Clinical Governance, Informatics.

Date last updated: 14/07/2014

Due for review: July 2015

Group member responsible: ME

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