This guidance is for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and NHS England. It supports staff to involve patients and the public in their work in a meaningful way to improve services, including giving clear advice on the legal duty to involve.

The guidance links to an extensive range of resources, good practice and advice that will support staff to involve patients and the public. It highlights key participation principles, alongside themes such as working in partnership with others, including with ‘seldom heard’ groups to maximise the benefits and impact of involvement.

This guidance sets out 10 key actions for CCGs and NHS England on how to embed involvement in their work.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ppp-guidance.pdf

A new report outlines how health and social care providers must collaborate with users of services when designing apps, websites and other digital technologies.

The publication, from VODG in partnership with the National Care Forum, Co-producing technology: harnessing digital solutions for social care, recommends how providers can maximise the benefits of such new approaches.

Digital solutions are at the heart of the NHS Five Year Forward View and the Local Government Association’s vision for technology underlines how information and technology will transform the delivery of health and social care services. Yet there has been little focus on how people supported by social care are actively included in designing such digital developments.

The publication sets out key recommendations to redress this imbalance, including:

• user engagement must be at the heart of designing successful solutions – it supports ownership and take up of the final product
• technology is not an add-on, but integral to how providers improve the support and inclusion of people they work with
• organisations do not need to be technologically advanced to create digital solutions
• if organisations jointly design and deliver shared approaches, there are potential savings to be realised through collective purchasing power.

The report also includes detailed descriptions of best practice.

More, and download the report: www.vodg.org.uk/news/care-providers-must-involve-people-they-support-in-designing-new-digital-solutions/

The LeDeR programme has been awarded funding from the University of Bristol to support a series of workshops in June and July 2017 focusing on monitoring the impact of mortality reviews of people with learning disabilities.

Save the date:
Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th July: Workshops in the South
“We will post more information on the website in due course.”

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sps/leder/news/workshops-on-the-impact-of-mortality-reviews.html

Care and Treatment Reviews (CTRs) are part of NHS England’s commitment to transforming services for people with learning disabilities, autism or both. CTRs are for people whose behaviour is seen as challenging and/or for people with a mental health condition. They are used by commissioners for people living in the community and in learning disability and mental health hospitals.

Since 2015, thousands of CTRs have been carried out. They are helping to reduce the number of people going into these hospitals. For example, of the 552 community CTRs recorded between April 2016 and January 2017, the outcome was a decision not to admit in almost three out of four (403) reviews.

Updates to the CTR policy

The policy for Care and Treatment Reviews changed in March 2017. These are the key changes:

• Greater focus on the quality of CTRs and the values which underpin them
  New measurable national standards by which CTRs are to be carried out
  Clearer emphasis that CTRs are for people with autism, as well as for people with learning disabilities
• A separate Policy Annex on  Care and Treatment Reviews for children and young people and a change of name to Care, Education and Treatment Reviews, (CETRs) to ensure the young person’s learning needs are also considered, working with key people from education
• Changes in the frequency of CTRs to:
  • Every six months for people in non-secure hospitals
  • Every twelve months for people in secure hospitals
  • Every three months for children and young people in hospital
• Post-admission CTRs take place within four weeks of admission other than for children where this is within two weeks of admission
• CTR panel to follow new key lines of enquiry template
• Greater emphasis on evidencing recommendations
• Clearer responsibilities and checklist for providers to gather the evidence required in advance and actively to support the process before, during and after a CTR
• Recommendations in CTR reports to name people responsible for carrying out each action by a given date, with a responsibility for commissioners to oversee a process of checking, resolving difficulties and ensuring that the person and their family is aware of progress
• Two new resources for the person having a review: one providing all the information needed in one booklet; the other booklet providing new tools such as a CTR consent form, CTR planning document, CTR feedback form and a template to support the person to record key actions to be carried out in the way they find most helpful
• New resource for experts by experience

More at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/learning-disabilities/ctr/

A Film made by the young people of The Reporter’s Academy:

Some people with a learning disability, autism or both do not know what NHS 111 is. This is a short film for people with learning disabilities, autism or both which shows:

• what NHS 111 is for
• what to expect during a 111 call
• tips on how to have a good 111 call

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMePMsS9KT8