LVSC Health update May 2016

Dear colleague,

I am pleased to publish our updated London Social Prescribing map. Most of you should have received this last week. However, more prescribers have come to light since then, notably in Camden and Islington and I hope to get them listed on the map soon! I have also just met with the Healthy London Partnership's Complex Change Manager who is working on a social prescribing implementation plan. I will keep you up to date on its development as we are meeting again in the third week of June.

Our New Models of Care event report will be published soon - we are still waiting for a few items to be included in the report.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you would like to discuss social prescribing or would like an item, article or event published in a future bulletin. However, please note that as from next week my working days will be Tuesdays and alternate Tuesdays and Wednesdays only.

Warm regards

Sandra

Sandra van der Feen

Policy Officer, LVSC

LVSC /Regional Voices update

Mapping social prescribing in London

Our map has been updated!

Link to the current London Social Prescribing map

As part of our Regional Voices' strategic partnership work, LVSC is mapping social prescribing activities in London. We will continue to update the map every quarter over the coming year.

The map includes links to social prescribing activities in London. Each link takes you to a uniquely created page with information about and contact details of each social prescriber.

We are also working with Healthy London Partnership (HLP) to take this work forward across London. We will look at best practice and different models of social prescribing activities in London.

If you are a social prescriber, you are cordially invited to complete our survey which will inform your unique page on the map. It will also provide useful information for our work with HLP.
Link to the survey

If you know of other and emerging social prescribing initiatives not listed on the map, please email me: . If you want to find out more about this work, please feel free to contact me as well (From May the 23rd, I will be working Tuesdays and alternate Tuesdays and Wednesdays only).

Please forward the map to relevant contacts and other interested parties.

Return to top

London news

Mayor of London announces bold plans to clean up London's toxic air

The new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced that he will launch a formal policy consultation in a matter of weeks on a major package of measures to tackle air pollution in London.

Sadiq Khan made the announcement during a visit to Sir John Cass's Foundation Primary School, in Aldgate, which has delivered a number of green initiatives including a green roof garden, as the school is close to busy roads and in an area known for high pollution levels.

Almost 10,000 Londoners die every year because of polluted air according to the latest medical research. London does not currently meet the legal requirements for pollutants such as Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and new research published by the World Health Organisation just yesterday (12 May 2016) showed that London has breached safe levels of pollutant particles known as PM10.

Return to top

Innovative End-of-Life Care project helps to improve care in London hospitals

According to the UCLPartners End-of-Life Care (EOLC) the education project has been shown to have a positive impact on confidence levels of non-specialist staff when dealing with patients, and those important to them, at the end-of-life.

UCLPartners established the end-of-life education project to support implementation of the new approach to end-of-life care following the independent review and publication of the failings in the implementation of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP), and the creation of One chance to get it right by the Leadership Alliance for the Care of Dying People (LACDP).

A key aim of this work is to establish contact with specialists and build a network of like-minded clinicians who strive to improve all areas of end-of-life care, and make it everyone's business. The UCLPartners team host Community of Practice meetings, bringing those involved in acute hospitals together every six weeks. By promoting these relationships pan-London UCLPartners hope to encourage continuous improvement, consistency and sustainability.

The UCLPartners EOLC team is currently working on further implementation throughout London hospitals and evaluating the efficacy of the materials. They are also working to establish shared metrics through the Community of Practice meetings.

Return to top

National news

NHS England New Business Plan

NHS England's Business Plan for 2016/17 sets out their 10 priorities for the coming year, reflecting the main themes of the government mandate, which in turn embody the agenda of the Five Year Forward View.

These are organised under the following themes:

• Improving health - closing the health and wellbeing gap
• Transforming care - closing the care and quality gap
• Controlling costs and enabling change - closing the finance and efficiency gap

Return to top

All Together Now: whole systems commissioning for Councils & VCS

Whole-systems commissioning, whereby different services work together in an integrated way to fulfil the needs of beneficiaries at the heart of the system, could improve cooperation between small and medium-sized charities and local authorities, according to a new report.

The report, produced by the think tank the New Local Government Network and called All Together Now, is based on interviews with council and voluntary & community sector (VCS) representatives, a survey for local authorities, two workshops in London and Liverpool to test how whole-systems commissioning would work in practice and two regional round tables in Manchester and London.

The report says that introducing a whole-systems approach, and its focus on social value and longer term views on value for money and quality of service, as well as emphasis on greater collaboration between organisations, will help small and medium-sized charities and increase engagement between councils and the voluntary sector.

Return to top

Gardens and health: implications for policy and practice

The National Gardens Scheme commissioned The King's Fund to write an independent report on the benefits of gardens and gardening on health.

The report has three aims:

• to collate and summarise the evidence on the impact of gardens on wellbeing across the life-course, from childhood through family life and into older age
• to demonstrate the important place gardening interventions have in the wider health and care system with a focus on four specific areas: social prescribing; community gardens; dementia care; end-of-life care
• to make the case for the further integration of gardens and health into mainstream health policy and practice.

The report includes a 'menu' of recommendations that aims to encourage the NHS, government departments, national bodies, local government, health and wellbeing boards and clinical commissioning groups to make more of the diverse health benefits of gardening in support of their priorities.

For those interested in social prescribing, section 5 will be of particular interest.

Return to top

NHS Standard Contract for 2016-17 Published

A reminder that the Contract has been updated from the 2015/16 to the 2016/17 version. A summary of the changes made to the Contract can be found in section 3 of the NHS Standard Contract 2016/17 Technical Guidance below. As previously noted in this bulletin, NHS England has published a shorter-form version of the Contract, for use in defined circumstances. This will complement the full-length version of the Contract, which will continue to be used (and indeed will remain mandatory) in many situations.

Guidance on when each form of Contract should be used is set out in section 9 of the NHS Standard Contract 2016/17 Technical Guidance below.

A User Guide to the shorter-form Contract user guide is now available on the NHS England website

Return to top

Community engagement: improving health and wellbeing and reducing health inequalities

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published guidelines on community engagement. These can be used by voluntary & community sector (VCS) groups to help shape their offer when talking to local health partners about supporting community engagement.

This guideline covers recommendations on:

• overarching principles of good practice - what makes engagement more effective?
• developing collaborations and partnerships approaches to encourage and support alliances between community members and statutory, community and voluntary organisations to meet local needs and priorities
• involving people in peer and lay roles - how to identify and recruit people to represent local needs and priorities
• local approach to having community engagement an integral part of health and wellbeing initiatives
• making it as easy as possible for people to get involved

There are no single models of engagement mentioned in the report but 1.2.1 does recommend the use of strategic leads to use local networks. This could be helpful for voluntary & community sector (VCS) organisations that have and / or are members of health related networks and forums.

The report acknowledges that small VCS groups face challenges with regards to obtaining funding from local authorities and that they will need other help in order to become involved.

Return to top

Involving the Public in Primary Care Commissioning

New guidance has been published for commissioners on how to involve patients and the public in the development of primary care services. NHS England have also produced information for patients and the public on how to get involved in primary care commissioning.

Return to top

PHE Strategic Plan - Better outcomes by 2020

Public Health England has published its strategic plan - Better Outcomes by 2020, for the next four years: PHE's Strategic plan sets out how the organisation intends to protect and improve the public's health and reduce inequalities over the next four years. It also outlines actions PHE will take over the next year to achieve these aims and deliver its core functions.

It builds on the Department of Health's Shared Delivery Plan, the NHS Five Year Forward View and From Evidence into Action.  It confirms the role that PHE will continue to play in the health and care system, building on evidence, prioritising prevention and supporting local government and the NHS.

Return to top

Launch of the EDS2: Guide to Engagement with the Local Voluntary Sector

NHS England has launched the new Equality Delivery System (EDS2) for the NHS: a guide to engagement with the local voluntary sector.

The guide looks at how the local voluntary and community sector (VCS) can help NHS organisations to engage communities through EDS2. The VCS is well-placed to help NHS organisations due to its links with specific communities, which health services may find hard to engage with.

NHS England commissioned the work with the Race Equality Foundation, in partnership with the LGBT Foundation, Disability Rights UK, and Men's Health Forum. The guide was developed with service users, voluntary and community organisations, and key stakeholders from foundation trusts, Healthwatch England, NHS Employers, CCG and CQC.

Return to top

Strengthening Patient and Public Participation in the work of NHS England

NHS England states their ambition is for patients and the public to be at the heart of everything they do, in line with the values of the NHS Constitution. This work is underpinned by their Patient and Public Participation Policy and Statement of Arrangements and Guidance on Patient and Public Participation in Commissioning.

The documents set out their commitment to participation and outline how they will work with patients and the public to enable them to influence the health services they use. NHS England would like to know more about how the documents are being used in practice and give you the opportunity to share your experiences of how well they are working.

Return to top

Largest charity survey finds Five Year Forward View has way to go

NAVCA has published the Strategic Partners Survey 2015 of the Health and Care Voluntary Sector Survey, the largest charity survey of 2015. The NHS Five Year Forward View (FYFV) stresses the role voluntary & community sector (VCS) organisations play in transforming services and says that "the NHS will become a better partner with voluntary organisations and local communities." This survey helps understand how far that vision is becoming reality.

Return to top

The Art of Commissioning

The Cultural Commissioning Programme has just published, The Art of Commissioning.  This will be of value to all leaders and commissioners of services for health, wellbeing and communities who are looking to strengthen their relationships with arts and cultural organisations to deliver better outcomes.  It may also help those running or interested in setting up social prescribing programmes

It makes a number of recommendations for improving commissioning and procurement practices to enable stronger relationships and partnerships between commissioners and the arts and cultural sector.

More information can be found on the New Economics Foundation website

Download the full report
Download the summary

Return to top

Events & training

Improving Mental Health Support for LGBT+ Londoners

HEAR Human Rights and Equalities Network
London for All

You are invited to this new free event: Improving Mental Health Support for LGBT+ Londoners
Date: Thursday 9th June 2016
Time: 10am-4pm (arrivals from 9.30am)
Venue: Human Rights Action Centre, Amnesty International, 17 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA 
(Close Old Street and Shoreditch High Street stations).

• Are you a provider of mental health support and want to know more about issues facing LGBT+ people?
• Do you support LGBT+ people and want to understand more about issues related to mental health and well being?

Explore how issues related to LGBT+ mental health affect the support you provide.

This workshop will help you to get a deeper and more complex understanding of sexual and gender diversity,  looking beyond the traditional lens of how to work with LGBT+ people.

Learn in a safe and supportive space, where you will be able to think about unconscious bias and assumptions and practical steps you can take to improve the support you provide.

Facilitated by Jess MacIntyre (Reach Out) and Lee Gale (TM Training)

To book your free place at this event please email , stating your name, organisation name, organisation postcode and whether or not you have any dietary or access needs.

Return to top