'The terrible maze': Dementia carers' experiences of health and social care

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Social care super-blogger Ermintrude considers a study about dementia carers’ experience of the health and social care system and reflects on what it means for current dementia policy.

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It may not be possible to generate clear-cut evidence on integrated care, reports a new evidence summary

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This recent report, commissioned by the European Commission and compiled by RAND Europe, aims to summarise economic evaluation evidence on the impact of integrated care.  The authors restricted their evidence search to systematic reviews and meta analyses, which is understandable as this is described as a rapid review but the authors acknowledge this has limitations, [read the full story…]

For Connor: Day 62 out of #107days

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Here at the National Elf Service, we are committed to highlighting and discussing evidence based practice. Our usual approach is to focus posts around a piece of recently published research, but this post is different, responding as it is to the tragic events of last year that led to Connor Sparrowhawk’s death. Just over a [read the full story…]

“House of care” model can improve outcomes for long term conditions says new report

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A new report from the Kings Fund, Delivering better services for people with long-term conditions:  building the house of care, shares learning from the “house of care” model which was developed through the Year of Care programme and discussed in a recent workshop and series of interviews.  The “house of care” metaphor is used to [read the full story…]

Audit Commission reports on improving value for money across health and social care

For all the focus on joint working across the NHS and social care in recent years progress has been patchy. The Audit Commission has identified that PCTs could improve outcomes and achieve £132 million in efficiency savings per year.  This readable briefing for health and social care commissioners focuses on services for older people with [read the full story…]

‘Integrating care for patients and populations’ is a ‘must do’ say the King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust

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‘We need to move beyond arguing for integration to making it happen’ asserted the NHS Future Forum back in 2011. The King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust have come together to promote the argument that ‘Integrated care is essential and can be delivered without further legislative change or structural upheaval.’ The report argues that improving [read the full story…]