Social prescribing in Wales is not new but has evolved significantly over the years as limitations of traditional healthcare approaches have been acknowledged.
Following multiple pilots and projects proving the outcomes for social prescribing in Wales, this person-centred approach has continuously been encouraged by being embedded in general policies of health and wellbeing in Wales.
But what is it? How does it work? And what examples of good practices are there to help facilitate and develop your service to grow successfully and be sustainable in the future?
At Access Elemental Social Prescribing, we know the challenges that can happen when trying to co-produce social prescribing services and we want you to gain the best knowledge and advice to overcome these challenges.
By the end of this article, you will know all there is to know about how the National Framework for Social Prescribing in Wales was developed and how it has helped individuals in Wales have better access to support to improve their mental health and wellbeing in Wales.
By explaining the benefits of digital social prescribing, this article will also summarise how Welsh social prescribing can be more sustainable to best secure future funding.
Last week we had the pleasure of attending the Digital Healthcare Show at the Excel, London. We met hundreds of individuals as passionate about the healthcare sector as we are, and we also had the chance to attend some fascinating, insightful talks from industry pioneers who have spent their fair share of time on the frontlines.
The topic of NHS staff retention is a tricky one. It’s not that the NHS isn’t a popular public healthcare organisation in the UK, and certainly it’s one of the largest employers nationally. The challenges of staff retention come because of how vital it is to the population, and the demands that come with it.
NHS staff burnout is becoming a widely discussed subject matter. Clinicians in particular are walking away from public healthcare because of the strain NHS health and care work is having on their lives and their wellbeing – whether physical or mental. A 2023 article from The Guardian newspaper stated that a record 170,000 NHS staff quit from NHS England, whilst NHS staff burnout statistics published in the New Statesman report that more than three-quarters of NHS staff have considered quitting due to burnout.
Beyond quitting, there are plenty of NHS staff off sick with stress. Issues with proper management and discipline have seen spikes in cases of NHS staff bullying, but even then, some of that comes from stressed management scrambling to meet standards whilst being short staffed or on a tight budget.
NHS bank staff are people who can work flexibly for a trust or health board within the UK, and this accommodation of their personal lives is certainly one way to support NHS staff retention, but it’s not enough on its own. In this article we discuss the NHS staff retention report, the challenge of staff vacancies, how the NHS can improve staff retention – and any associated strategies – before delivering our take on what the next step should be.
Collaboration is not a new concept, but NHS England mandated as of July 2022 that all NHS trusts providing either acute care or mental health services must join a provider collaborative.
This was done in the same move that introduced integrated care boards and integrated care systems, and it’s within these systems that provider collaboratives sit; another aspect of joined-up operations designed to reduce waste and improve efficiency within an ever-busier NHS.
Due to devolution, many NHS changes start out in NHS England (NHSE) first, so NHS trusts were chosen to be the starting point and to work with community trusts, ambulance trusts, and the VCSE sector (where appropriate) in order to enhance care provision and service availability via better leverage of finances.
In this article we will look at what provider collaboration looks like; how collaboration is organised, who manages it, who has the authority, and the benefits involved. We’ll also offer guidance on how these groups could improve their cooperation and open more channels of communication, but first, lets explain what provider collaboratives are.
Fuel banks, sometimes called warmbanks, are simple but innovative solutions to protect people from fuel poverty. No one should be forced to choose whether to put food on the table or heat their homes.
It is estimated that currently, between 4.1 million and 7.3 million households are living in fuel poverty, with half of these households expected to be family homes with young children.
Living in cold homes can be detrimental to both an individual’s physical and mental health regardless of their age and it is estimated that fuel poverty is costing the NHS an estimated £1.4 billion a year.
Fuel banks therefore offer a solution to enable individuals to live in happier, healthier, and warmer homes by addressing how someone’s health starts at home and offering solutions to overcome the current housing issues facing the UK to prevent further deterioration of health.
But what are fuel banks? How do they work? And how can they reduce the increasing public health pressures on the NHS?
By the end of this article, you should know everything about fuel banks including how they work, who funds them, and most importantly who can use them and where to find them. In this article, we will also explain how social prescribing in housing can also help fuel banks develop further so more people in need can be helped to prevent further dependency on primary and emergency care.
Fuel poverty can be defined in multiple ways across the UK. The fuel poverty strategy across England specifically focuses on prioritising low-income households for energy efficiency support aimed at reducing income poverty.
It is estimated that 6 million UK households are currently in fuel poverty, unable to afford to heat their homes to a temperature needed to keep warm and healthy, a 2 million household increase since 2021.
But what is fuel poverty? What causes fuel poverty, what are the impacts, and how can fuel poverty awareness be raised to help increase funding and tackle fuel poverty so everyone can live in warmer, healthier, and safer homes?
At Access Elemental Social Prescribing, we know how the wider social determinants of health impact physical and mental wellbeing, with housing being a main example.
This article will explain how fuel poverty is defined and measured, what causes it, the outcomes, and methods to tackle fuel poverty to improve quality of life.
By explaining the benefits of social prescribing in housing, this article will explain how providing the right support helps to tackle fuel poverty by not just supporting households now but in the future too.
Integrated Care Systems (ICS) were introduced to connect the newly formed Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and local authorities, enabling a more seamless healthcare service which could then give better visibility of the needs of patients and allow NHS organisations to more effectively meet these needs and provide the right high-quality care - with the ultimate goal of helping more people and to a greater degree of success.
In the words of NHS England: “Integrated care is about giving people the support they need, joined up across local councils, the NHS, and other partners. It removes traditional divisions between hospitals and family doctors, between physical and mental health, and between NHS and council services.”
ICSs began in July 2023 but were first proposed in February 2022, when the UK Government published its ‘Joining up care for people, places and populations’ whitepaper, which laid out new plans for the integration of health and social care in England and how ICSs can bring this together in line with the NHS Long Term Plan.
Local authorities and NHS England are working closely together but there is still a long way to go due to further government reform, funding changes and internal goals and targets. This is affecting the speed and timing for when these changes can be implemented and we are still feeling the disruption post-pandemic.
In this article we will explore the annual priorities of an Integrated Care System and how these goals are set and ranked. We will also discuss the hangover effect of Covid-19 and the strain on the NHS, the challenges of ongoing digital transformation, and the role providers such as The Access Group can have in aiding an ICB in delivering quality care to their local area.
Digital Health Rewired 2024 took place mid-March, and once again we were treated to an exciting exploration of cutting-edge innovations and the transformative potential of healthcare.
The venue packed out over 3,000 attendees across the two days, with more than 300 speakers and over 50 exhibitor stands - one of which being Access HSC (Health Support and Care). Our team had the pleasure of talking to hundreds of people over the course of the event, showcasing how Access is helping to transform the way people work in healthcare.
We also had the opportunity to listen in on several talks and discussions, gaining valuable insights into both the current state of the health and social care sector and its future trajectory.
Healthcare data analytics is the study of data relating to patients or services provided by a healthcare organisation. Healthcare data is extremely important to providing the very best care, but the insights available through data interpretation require expertise to extract them.
This expertise in healthcare data and analytics could be from a clinician, or it could be from a software solution, but either way there is an element of investment needed; whether that’s time, money, or belief. Without this, there will be no growth of healthcare data, but with it we can explore patterns, trends, patient habits, and make discoveries about major or minor tweaks to care processes that could save money, time, or better still save lives.
Data-driven healthcare is quickly becoming the guiding force behind modern health and care services, so in this article we will explore the importance of data in healthcare, as well provide an introduction to healthcare data analytics and explore what the analysis of healthcare data can achieve. Our goal is to make this a healthcare data guide that you can refer back to as a primer for exploring data analytics or even establishing your own analytics solutions.
The patient experience is a big part of modern healthcare; accounting for the thoughts and feelings of individuals receiving care in a way that hasn’t been done in previous generations.
Before we can explore this subject though, we must first define patient experience.
What is patient experience?
Patient experience is what a person encounters during their care journey; from first interaction with a doctor or nurse, to diagnosis, through to treatment, and then on to aftercare; either within a hospital setting or discharged for observation back in a home or community setting.
Virtual wards are the newest addition to this patient journey, offering a form of hospital at home to allow a more hands-off experience in the familiarity of a home environment whilst still being monitored by top of the range equipment communicating patient vitals in real-time, and having routine check-ins with doctors and nurses.
Many organisations will be wondering how can the patient experience be improved. In this article we will walk through why patient experiences matter and how to enhance the patient experience. We will touch on the two main areas – healthcare software and staff – as well as the ways organisations like the NHS can implement support structures or frameworks to make sure the patient experience is being actively considered with all planning and actions.
