Tag Archives: health
A chance to make a real difference for patients and carers!
Putting patients first
A major change to the way GPs in England commission local health services will take place in April – and it offers board members of clinical groups the chance to make a real difference for their communities
While debate was raging at Westminster about the government’s NHS reforms, groups of GPs across England were quietly going about the job of setting up the boards tasked with steering through major changes to the service. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), which take over from primary care trusts in April, are designed to put GPs in the driving seat when it comes to commissioning services in their area.
The new boards have a big job ahead. Not only are there significant pressures on budgets, but the fallout from the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust inquiry means, more than ever, the spotlight is on standards of care.
Dr Charles Alessi, chair of NHS Clinical Commissioners, the body set up to represent the new boards, says there are real opportunities for board members to make a difference. “It is a very difficult time for the NHS and perhaps the balance between a robust management style and the clinical dimension needs to be rebalanced,” he says, “with the duty of care to the population taking on a far more important role than it seemed to in the past. For all of us, it’s a new world – it’s very difficult, but very exciting.”
‘Meal Mates’ feeding scheme helps patients get their meals
KING’S LYNN: Getting matey at mealtimes
Meal Mates feeding scheme at Tilney Ward in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Helen Wise the meal time co-ordinator with patient Jean Hill.
Volunteers at Lynn’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital have been swapping their desks for dinner trays to help create a mealtime community on the wards and encourage patients to enjoy their food.
The Meal Mates scheme was introduced in August 2011, prompted by staff concerns at the national reports suggesting that patients in some UK hospitals were going without food and drink because nursing staff were too busy to look after them.
Although no allegations had been made against ward staff at the QEH, staff were concerned that on some wards, those with older patients including some with dementia, that nurses were unable to give patients the time and support needed during mealtimes.
