Green social prescribing is an example of a pillar of social prescribing that concentrates on helping individuals improve their health and wellbeing through harnessing nature-based activities.
The introduction of green social prescribing escalated because of the Covid-19 pandemic. But since then, its growth has stagnated, predominantly due to limited awareness of its impacts.
It is estimated that with continued growth, it can save over £635 million for the NHS through reducing health inequalities and providing alternative mental health support for children and youth people, as well as adults.
But how does it work? Who funds it? And most importantly how can individuals take part?
This article we explain how green social prescribing works and how it has developed, why it is important, examples and outcomes of different green prescribing pilots, as well as the challenges and barriers to be aware to ensure you can implement the best green prescribing project possible.
All in One vs Best of Breed is an argument about software and establishing a system of solutions. In this instance it is about how health and care providers should go about purchasing and implementing software to help with patient care and other services, and how best to build up that integrated system of solutions so the care workflow is as smooth and efficient as possible.
The two sides to the debate are as follows:
All in One: A single provider with multiple solutions is the best option, because it makes integration and implementation easier as you deal with one organisation.
Best of Breed: Multiple providers means you can choose highly specialised solutions, giving you the best tool for each requirement and a less complex deployment. It's important to maintain a balanced relationship with providers, and multiple solutions helps prevent any single group from exerting undue influence or control over you.
The important thing is quality, above all else. There are lots of healthcare organisations across the UK providing a wide range of services. They need good software solutions that can handle the variety of hospital or community care services provided on a daily basis. Customisation, scalability, real-time access, interoperability… all of these things are what will enable world-class care and allow the most efficient care processes.
In this article we will tackle terminology, like convergence and interoperability, so that you can properly understand the ambitions of the stakeholders involved. We will then explore both sides of the argument, covering the advantages and disadvantages of each, to determine which approach is the most beneficial to healthcare organisations.
Reducing hospital admissions and the dependency on primary, secondary, and emergency care is a huge priority for health and social care professionals. Many organisations, hospitals, and NHS Trusts are looking to find new ways to reduce admissions as well as reduce re-admission after discharge.
With over 500,000 patients experiencing emergency admissions last year and over 42,000 of them waiting over 12 hours to be admitted, more action is needed to find better methods to prevent hospital admissions and re-admissions, including unnecessary admissions.
Shifting from reactive care models to preventative ones is one method that is being used more frequently. Many different preventative and early intervention methods can be used, but which are the most effective?
At The Access Group, we want to help local authorities, primary care, secondary care, and NHS Trusts to reduce the increasing demand by using effective population health management to reduce health inequalities and deliver more targeted support for at-risk patients of continuous re-admission.
This article will review why admissions are on the rise and the impact this has on the individual as well as the wider health and social care market. Ways to prevent hospital admissions will also be discussed to help you deliver better coordinated, person-centred, and preventative care that always concentrates on the individual.
Knowing how to implement EHR is the penultimate step in the onboarding process of adding electronic health records to your organisation’s operations.
By this point you should know what an electronic health record is, but if not you can read our article on EHR systems for a quick explanation. We’ve also covered the advantages and disadvantages of electronic medical records, and provided a primer on EHR integration and its importance. This research is important, because you can’t successfully implement electronic health records if you don’t know what purpose they serve and how they will support your organisation.
In this article we will cover the next step; providing a quick recap of patient records and the benefits of digitising them, before moving on to crux of the matter: EHR implementation and the best practices for successfully implementing EHR systems. We’ll also showcase the ways to measure success, so you can be sure your EHR implementation has gone well.
The cost of electronic health records can be the deciding factor whether or not to buy a solution; regardless of the benefits such software will have on patients or clients.
These solutions aren’t cheap, it’s true, but it’s a classic case of you get what you pay for: buying an electronic health record (EHR) is an investment that will have longer term benefits, and it’s on an organisation to perform analysis to determine whether there are cost benefits as well as care benefits for them to onboard an EHR software.
For new healthcare organisations, it may be a step too soon, but for established organisations like NHS trusts it is commonplace to have electronic patient records already – and NHS Digital are pushing for all trusts in England to have these solutions as a matter of course. This push is encouraging private healthcare providers to follow suit, to better collaborate with the Integrated Care Systems (ICS) in the UK and be a part of the growing health and care ecosystem aiming to provide joined-up care.
In this article we will explore these costs by looking at the initial outlay, subscription fees, how an EHR can reduce costs and the return on investment, as well as the market out there and the competition, and how pricing structures might differ.
Collaborative working in the NHS puts partnerships between clinicians and organisations at its foundation. We see this in action through patient engagement and the patient experience, both of which are priorities under the NHS Long Term Plan and the NHS’ Integrated Care protocols.
These partnerships are being pursued by the NHS – primarily through NHS England, due to devolution – with the goal of taking that difficult first step of making contact with other health and care organisations. Establishing regular communication channels and building connections takes time, something healthcare professionals don’t have a lot of, so they need incentive – or a nudge in the right direction in this case.
There are benefits to be gained though through greater communication though; better knowledge of treatment methods, of population trends, of patient needs… the list goes on. In this article we’ll guide you through what collaborative working entails. We’ll touch upon NHS Trusts in England (NHS health boards in Wales), though that topic is for a companion blog to this piece given how much there is to talk about on collaboration between trusts. Instead, this is a guide to explore what collaboration needs to succeed, and what you as a healthcare provider can do – whether inside the NHS or outside – to be engaging and cooperative.
Patient data is personal medical information held by a healthcare provider. It is information about demographics (name, address, contact details), admin (appointments, waiting lists) and key medical details about any conditions, symptoms or treatments.
Data protection in healthcare is a hot topic as the demand for access to healthcare data grows. To achieve this, healthcare providers are typically using patient portals so that people can access their own information, but data sharing in healthcare carries inherent risk regarding access to this highly personal information.
Securing patient records is a little easier thanks to the healthcare data standards enshrined in law, but there’s still an onus on health and care organisations to provide further safeguards against attack, theft, or privacy breaches.
In this article we will explore why data security is so important in healthcare, the specific issues facing security and how to address them, as well as the costs of data security issues in healthcare and our recommendations for electronic patient records.
Getting organisations and services within the NHS to collaborate has been a goal for many years, but with the NHS Long Term Plan well underway, collaboration is now firmly in focus.
You may have already read our previous article about Collaborative Working in the NHS, which is the crux of the subject matter, but NHS Trusts in England are a big part of the execution of this collaboration.
In this article we’ll explore how NHS England is enacting this collaboration and what it entails, as well as looking at the FutureNHS collaboration platform and the role it is playing in encouraging communication and partnerships across the country. NHS Trusts will already be aware of the NHS collaboration goals, but we want you the reader to see this and to see our top tips for Trusts about how to foster these relationships and establish the correct communication channels. We want our readers to come away from this article thinking that they have a much better understanding of – and an appetite for – collaborative working, and that starts here.
Digital solutions are becoming the backbone for businesses across the world and healthcare is no different. Technological innovation has digitally transformed healthcare commissioning, providing a range of cost-effective solutions accessible using cloud technology.
Not only has cloud-based commissioning disrupted the market, but also enabled NHS procurement teams to streamline processes, connect providers and patients, react quickly, and support the provision of consistent, high-quality care.
Discover why healthcare is turning to cloud services and what the full advantages of using cloud commissioning technology, like the Access adam healthcare solution, can do to transform procurement services.
