Care England Policy Insight - June 2023

 

Record recruitment and reform to boost patient care under the first NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan

Coming ahead of the health service’s 75th anniversary, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out how the NHS will address existing vacancies and meet the challenges of a growing and ageing population by recruiting and retaining hundreds of thousands more staff over 15 years and working in new ways.

The plan is ambitious regarding the number of people it plans to bring into the sector with a focus on increasing training places, but the plan does not address the lack of internal capacity to train new recruits, and the possibility that will take away staff from the frontline

The plan further notes that more student nurses will be able to take up jobs as soon as they graduate in May, rather than waiting until September, with more reaching the frontline and treating patients more quickly. However there is a concerning lack of mention of the adult social care sector, which is also currently facing a nursing shortage.

Read the full plan on the NHS website.

NIHR announces Research Support Service to establish new pre- and post-application support for researchers

The NIHR has announced a newly established Research Support Service from 1 October 2023. The scheme replaces the NIHR Research Design Service (RDS) and NIHR Clinical Trial Units (CTU) Support Funding, which both end on 30 September 2023.

The NIHR Research Support Service (RSS) will provide researchers, especially those applying for and in receipt of NIHR funding with free access to support, advice and expertise. It will help them develop and deliver clinical and applied health and care research.

To read the full article, click here

‘Decade-old strategy needs updating’: LGA responds to Lords Digital Exclusion report

Responding to a House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee report, which found the Government has “no credible strategy” on tackling digital exclusion, Cllr Mark Hawthorne, digital connectivity spokesman for the Local Government Association, said:

“This report reinforces our own findings about digital exclusion, which found there is little strategic guidance to councils from government on closing the digital divide.

To read the full article, click here

Placing happiness at the heart of PossAbilities

For PossAbilities ‘be happy’ is one of their core values, and they place fun at the top of their agenda to develop a positive workplace culture for their team.

The organisation arranges regular social activities to bring their communities together. This has included a Happiness Event for teams and families, having a bring your dog to work day, and arranging a Queen's Jubilee garden party. They’ve also taken part in Manchester Pride, the Stockport Carnival and The Big Night In, as well as having regular team building activities. At Christmas they took Christmas jumper day one step further with a reindeer day and a Santa's grotto for colleagues’ families and local schools to attend. This year they’re planning a PossAbilities Carnival.

To read the full article, please click here.

Regulations of AI and digital technology in health and social care

A new website has been launched to support the development and use of AI and data-driven technologies in health and social care. The site is a collaboration between CQC, HAR, MHRA and NICE.

The content has been designed to support both developers and adopters: to understand what regulations you need to meet and when, and to help you feel confident about using digital technologies in your health or care service.

To read the full article, click here

NHS England’s Community Health Services webinar - fortnightly on a Friday at 4pm

Leaders and partners from community health services including social care providers are invited to join NHS England’s fortnightly webinar chaired by Matthew Winn, adviser to NHS England’s Community Services Team and CEO of Cambridgeshire Community NHS Trust.

Hear the latest updates from NHS England’s national team as well as good practice from around the country.

I f you or your team have worked collaboratively across social care and health teams to improve the lives of our residents and would like to share your best practice and learnings at a future webinar please email community.services1@nhs.net and put 'CHS webinar' in the subject header.

Every Story Matters

Every Story Matters is the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Team’s listening exercise and is an opportunity for anyone in the UK to share their experience of the pandemic. This will feed into the evidence that will ultimately influence the Inquiry's recommendations.

The exercise is now live on our website, where you can find further info and a link to the 'Share Your Experience' online form. There is also a communications toolkit on the Covid inquiry website. It's full of downloadable assets (in English and Welsh) to support partner organisations in promoting #EveryStoryMatters via their channels.

Follow the Inquiry on Twitter @CovidInquiryUK

Tenders and contract opportunities for adult social care

The link below lists recent tender and contract opportunities for adult social care providers to consider.  Click here to see tender and contract opportunities.
 

29/06/2023

28/06/2023

Hertfordshire – HCC – Jun 23 – Provision of Extra Care Services
https://www.publicsector.co.uk/contractalert/478695

Care England re-issues gas and electricity tender for care providers

Care providers with energy contracts expiring before 2026, who wish to secure the lowest  possible energy price available at their renewal date and to benefit from support and solutions not available to individual organisations on their own, should register their interest here and complete the expression of interest link. 

 
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