Streamlining the assessment and delivery process for Continuing Healthcare, and the package of ongoing care that it may be deemed an individual is entitled to, is of growing importance with an increasing demand from an ageing population.
In a report published in January 2018 by the NHS Clinical Commissioners titled NHS continuing healthcare: Effective commissioning approaches, three key reasons are put forward as to why Continuing Healthcare (CHC) is a priority area for CCGs and the NHS.
These reasons include:
- The increasing cost and expected savings – CHC accounts for almost 5% of the total NHS budget and since 2013 there has been a marked increase on this spend in the area of assessment and screening and legal support concerning the appeals process. NHS England wants to see £855m of savings by 2020/21.
- Variation and opportunity – Across CCGS there is a significant variation of those referred to and assessed as eligible for CHC which cannot be explained by local demographics alone.
- Meeting the needs of the local population – in order to meet the needs of local populations served by CCGs, an ageing population with an increasing number of people living with multiple co-morbidities, CHC is an obvious priority.
With an obvious need to create financial savings, improve efficiencies and guarantee a consistent level of support for patients within CHC on a national scale, it is imperative that innovations and learnings are shared and spread where appropriate. To tackle all of these challenges, saving time in terms of speed of assessment and resulting delivery of CHC packages is imperative and digital intervention has the potential to provide sustainable and demonstrable improvements.
There are a number of proven digital solutions already in place at local levels which aid in the administration of the Continuing Healthcare Checklist and Decision Support Toolkit.
As CHC is a common challenge, our next Innovation Exchange will focus on this area. The event will take place on Thursday 28 February 2019 and will bring together innovators with relevant proven digital solutions and colleagues from the five Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships in the East Midlands.
Delegates will have the opportunity to hear from and talk to digital innovators as well as discuss CHC challenges and opportunities with each other and the NHS England team.
To find out more and to register, visit the continuing healthcare Innovation Exchange event page.