NICE – the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence – is consulting on potential new indicators for the NICE indicator menu. Indicators encourage health professionals to assess patients on a range of key health issues where diagnosis and treatment is supported by evidence-based guidelines. The aim is to tackle widespread public health challenges one patient at a time. Areas where indicators are being suggested include diabetes and stroke.
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'Self-management support is when health professionals, teams and services (both within and beyond the NHS) work in ways that ensure that people with long-term conditions have the knowledge, skills, confidence and support they need to manage their condition(s) effectively in the context of their everyday life. A system of effective self-management support requires changes at every level from how and what services are commissioned, to how health professionals and people with long term conditions work together in a consultation, to how people are supported in between appointments.'
This paper explores how the House of Care, a coordinated approach to personalised care and support planning, can transform the health and care of people with long-term conditions (LTCs).
It contains case studies of evolving practice in Leeds and Somerset and seeks to understand how two whole health economies – individuals, communities, health and social care services and others – are working to manage the rise in the number of people with multiple LTCs and enhance their care experiences.
Objectives This study aimed to understand the influences and decisions of households with children with asthma regarding keeping warm and well at home in winter.
Conclusions The findings illustrate how and why a child with asthma may be at risk of a cold home. A ‘trade-off model’ has been developed as an output of the research to explain the competing demands on families. Messages emerge about the importance of tailored advice and information to families vulnerable to cold-related harm. Open Access Article
Conclusions The relative effect of DPP-4 inhibitors on the risk of heart failure in patients with type 2 diabetes is uncertain, given the relatively short follow-up and low quality of evidence. Both randomised controlled trials and observational studies, however, suggest that these drugs may increase the risk of hospital admission for heart failure in those patients with existing cardiovascular diseases or multiple risk factors for vascular diseases, compared with no use.
More than a quarter of patients have no drug treatment prescribed for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the first year of diagnosis despite having symptoms and poor lung function, an analysis of UK general practice data has shown. To read in full, use your NHS ATHENS login
As the New Care Models Programme marks its first anniversary, the Commissioning Redesign Manager for Long Term Conditions at the NHS Solihull CCG, outlines the vital work its vanguard is doing:
The Solihull Together for Better Lives vanguard is committed to supporting people to stay independent and out of hospital.
As part of this commitment, local health and social care partners have implemented the integrated care and support in Solihull (ICASS) programme to improve care for frail, older people.
Guidelines on caring for patients with multiple long-term conditions, issued by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, are open for consultation until May 12. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
"A breakthrough drug can slash levels of bad cholesterol by half without the side effects of statins," the Daily Mail reports.
Statins are a class of drug used to reduce high cholesterol levels, they are often given to people thought to be at risk of heart disease or stroke.
A complaint from some people who take statins is that they seem to trigger muscle pains and spasms. In some cases, these side effects are so troublesome that a person stops taking the drug all together.
As chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the major causes of worldwide mortality, it is important to prevent, diagnose and manage it. COPD creates a huge burden on the NHS and has a significant impact on patients. This is a problem with the increase in morbidity and mortality rates. In primary care there is a lack of knowledge, under-use of quality-assured spirometry and under-diagnosis in about half of all cases. To be able to effectively diagnose, assess and manage COPD, health professionals must understand the physiology and aetiology of the disease. COPD is similar to asthma in its presentation and physiology but management of the condition can differ. The authors therefore looked at the similarities between the two conditions and what tests one can use to make a diagnosis of COPD. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
By working together, partners in Leicester have been able to more than halve acute delays and reduce all delays significantly over the last year. The key elements of our plan were underpinned by proactive identification and case management in primary care, supported by a new Clinical Response Service, backed up by practical support to manage people through a crisis in their own homes and back into planned, integrated care.
COPD is one of the most common long term conditions seen in primary care -- but are we really addressing our patients' needs with our current models of care? Evolving understanding of COPD phenotypes provides a glimpse into the future models of care being developed to improve quality of life for our patients. To read the full article, log in using your NHS OpenAthens details
Asthma is a common chronic inflammatory disorder affecting about 300 million people worldwide. As a holistic therapy, yoga has the potential to relieve both the physical and psychological suffering of people with asthma, and its popularity has expanded globally. A number of clinical trials have been carried out to evaluate the effects of yoga practice, with inconsistent results.
Our 2015 Safely Home report amplified more than 3,200 voices – gathered with and through the local Healthwatch network – to show what happens when hospital discharge goes wrong for people and where creative common sense is helping to get it right.
Safely Home showed that people want to be treated with dignity, compassion and respect; to be involved in decisions about their discharge; to move smoothly from hospital to onward support in the community; and to know where they could go for help after discharge.
Importantly, people also told us that they want the full range of their needs and circumstances to be considered as a whole, not just the condition for which they’ve been treated.
A pioneering project to improve the wellbeing of people with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is to be expanded across seven sites in the East and West Midlands.
The project, called ‘Making Waves’, aims to get people living with COPD more active and involved in the community.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is often comorbid with other chronic mental and physical health conditions. Although the literature widely acknowledges the association of many chronic conditions with the risk of MDD, the relative importance of these conditions on MDD risk in the presence of other conditions is not well investigated. In this study, we aimed to quantify the relative contribution of selected chronic conditions to identify the conditions most influential to MDD risk in adults and identify differences by age.