The Care Bill will help drive up quality of care following the findings of the Francis Inquiry into events at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. It will also include improvements to the care system following an extensive consultation with people and organisations right across the health and care system – from users of services to providers of care. The Bill will create a single modern law that replaces more than a dozen pieces of legislation dating back to the post-war period.

Through the Care Bill, the Government is introducing laws that will:

• Help people get compassionate care in hospital, in a care home or in the community, by introducing Ofsted-style ratings for hospitals and care homes, making quality as important as finance and strengthening training for staff.
• Join up care by enshrining in law that everyone should have a personal care plan, access to a personal budget and that carers, for the first time, will have a right to get support themselves if they are found to have eligible needs. There will also be a national minimum eligibility threshold across the country.
• Reform the funding of care so no one will have to sell their home in their lifetime, or lose everything they’ve worked for, to pay for the costs of living in a care home. And a cap on care costs and financial support for more people will protect people from catastrophic costs and provide important peace of mind.
• Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said:
• We have swiftly brought in measures to address the findings of Robert Francis’ report that will improve care and mean that patients will be treated with more compassion and respect. I strongly believe that Ofsted-style ratings, improved training for staff and making quality as important as finance will improve NHS care.

These changes go hand in hand with our epic changes to care legislation that will mean, for the first time, people will not have to fear losing their homes in their lifetime to pay care home fees and everyone with a care plan will be able to have a personal budget to choose how they are cared for.

Importantly, if someone receives care in the south but wants to move to the north to be closer to their family, they will be able to do so without fear of losing their care.

Care Services Minister Norman Lamb said:

For the first time in a generation we are addressing the pressing need to support people when they reach crisis point and need help most. People will finally be able to plan for their later years and not have to fear being saddled with catastrophic costs to pay for care.

This, coupled with the new national eligibility criteria, security that our care is not lost if we move to a different part of the country and giving everyone who is eligible access to a personal budget, will greatly improve the outlook for later life.

Elements of the Bill that respond to the Government’s Caring for our future White Paper last year include:

• A new legal right for everyone with a care and support plan (or support plan) to have a personal budget, which they can receive as a direct payment if they wish to. This gives people more control and the ability to tailor the services they receive to their requirements and preferences.
• No-one’s care and support is interrupted if they move to a different local authority area, for example, if they want to live closer to family or change jobs.
• For the first time, carers will have a right to receive support themselves if they are found to have eligible needs.
• The person will be involved in the assessment process that determines what care and support needs they have, and this process will focus on the needs of the individual and on the outcomes they wish to achieve.
• National eligibility criteria will mean a fairer and clearer system, and help people understand whether they might be eligible for access to ongoing care and support.
• A new focus on people’s wellbeing will see more done to keep people well. This will include a more all-encompassing assessment process that considers a person’s capabilities and what they can achieve themselves, as well as considering what other support might be available from family, friends or in the community. This will help to delay or prevent people from developing serious care and support needs, rather than the current system which often only intervenes in a crisis, and will mean than people’s specific needs at different times in their life will be better supported.
• No-one will have to sell their home in their lifetime, or lose everything they’ve worked for, to pay for the costs of living in a care home later in life. A cap on reasonable care costs and financial support for more people with their costs will protect people from catastrophic costs and provide important peace of mind. As our population ages this is more important.

Elements of the Bill that respond to Robert Francis QC’s report include measures that:

• Underpin the new ratings regime for hospitals. Francis highlighted the need for a single, shared version of the truth about quality. This Bill will give CQC the legal powers it needs to set up, design and get on with the new ratings system, without any political interference.
• Ensure quality is as important as finances. The Bill will give Monitor clear authority to intervene where the Chief Inspector exposes problems with the quality of care. The Care Quality Commission will also be given a power to require Monitor to put a Foundation Trust into administration if it becomes clinically unsustainable (currently Monitor can only do this on financial grounds).
• Give the CQC stronger powers to expose poor care. At the moment, the CQC can only take action where a hospital is failing to comply with one of its set standards. This can be bureaucratic. The Bill will give the Care Quality Commission broader powers to act if it spots poor care that requires significant improvement.
• Introduce a new criminal offence on providers who supply false or misleading information. The Bill will make it a criminal offence for care providers to give false or misleading information. We will limit the offence to providers of NHS secondary care (NHS Trusts, FTs and independent providers of NHS secondary care) and to certain types of information such as mortality rates.

The Bill will also:

• Strengthen training and education. The Bill will set up Health Education England legally as the first ever non-departmental public body responsible for training and education for NHS staff, giving the NHS workforce unprecedented focus and support.
• Strengthen research regulation. The Bill will set up the Health Research Authority legally as a non-departmental public body, so it can act independently to regulate the research sector and protect people who take part in research or are thinking about taking part. This will help build a vibrant research sector that is safe and ethical.

The bill can be found here :http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2013-14/care.html

From April, changes to the GP contract, which have been announced today, will see millions of pounds redirected into better care for patients.

Money that was once given to doctors for performing routine office functions like record keeping will now be used to reward steps which directly support and benefit patients. This includes better control of blood pressure and cholesterol, to prevent heart attacks and stroke, and assessing patients at risk from dementia.

In total, £164 million will be pulled away from bureaucratic box ticking exercises and into better care.

Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health said:

“Improving care for patients has always been my priority. The GP contract needs to change to make sure the excellent care enjoyed by some patients is more consistent across the country.

Providing better treatment for people with long term conditions helps save lives and I know GPs will rise to the challenge to make sure standards of care in this country are world class and continue to improve.

We have listened to GPs and stakeholders and made some changes to our proposals to reflect these views and now feel we are in the right place to go forward.

I am committed to ensuring that we improve quality of life for people with long term conditions – and I want GPs to lead this change from within their own practices.”

Under the changes, GP practices will need to match the high quality care seen in the best performing practices by ensuring that more patients are offered the best standards of care in 20 key areas. These are areas that are known to have an impact on reducing avoidable deaths, for instance for people who have heart disease. This approach will be extended to other areas of care in 2014 so that even more patients benefit.

These changes could mean around 1.5 million more patients will get better care in 2013-14. This could reach as high as 3.5 million by 2014-15 and could help doctors go further in spotting early warning signs of illness. It should mean more patients get the right tests, treatments and medicines if they have diabetes, hypertension, lung disease, heart failure or arthritis. This care can not only improve the health of patients, it potentially save more lives.

GP practices will be rewarded for taking more proactive steps to identify people who may have dementia so that they and their families can receive earlier support. Rewards are also available for identifying and improving care for those people most at risk of avoidable emergency admissions to hospital.

Embracing technology as a way of championing better care will also be rewarded as GP practices will be paid for enabling patients to book appointments and order repeat prescriptions online.

The contract also incorporates the latest expert advice on the areas which will have the greatest impact on patient health. This includes improved support for cancer patients and those with depression, arthritis and diabetes.

All practices will receive a 1.32 per cent increase in current funding, allowing for a 1 per cent pay increase for GPs and practice staff, in line with public sector pay policy, and additional resources to cover non-staff expenses. There will also be a new £10 million investment in two new immunisation programmes.

Main changes

• The Minimum Practice Income Guarantee will be phased out over seven years from April 2014 and the resulting savings will be used to increase capitation (‘global sum’) payments for GP practices. This will stop some GP practices receiving thousands of pounds more than others that care for a similar number of patients with similar patient needs – and distribute resources more equitably between practices.

• Most of the recommendations by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) for improvements to the Quality and Outcomes Framework will be implemented in full. Implementation of two of NICE’s recommendations will be deferred until April 2014 to allow more time for GPs to work with clinical commissioning groups to ensure the necessary referral services are in place.

• QOF reward thresholds will be increased so that more patients benefit from the best evidence-based care that can help to save lives.

• Organisational QOF payments will be discontinued, releasing £164m which will be used to help fund improvements in patient care through implementing the improvements recommended by NICE and paying for extra services from GP practices.

The extra services to be commissioned from GP practices will cover:

• a more proactive approach to identifying people who may have dementia so that they and their families can get earlier support,

• improving care management for seriously ill patients or patients at risk of unplanned hospital admission such as frail older people,

• ensuring that patients can book appointments and order repeat prescriptions online.

• establishing new arrangements to help monitor the health of people with long term conditions, for example using technology to help patients manage stable conditions without having to go to their GP surgery as often.

• This means GP practices will need to provide better services for patients in these four areas to maintain the practice income that they have up until now received for demonstrating organisational best practice (e.g. good record-keeping). The NHS Commissioning Board will shortly be publishing more detailed specifications for these new schemes.

They are investing up to £10 million annually (depending on take up) to GP practices for two new vaccination programmes for rotavirus and shingles.

As a result of the decision that GP locums should be responsible for their own employer superannuation costs, the funding that PCTs have historically used to pay for these costs is being transferred to practices.

Five stakeholder organisations responded to the consultation and some changes have been made to the original proposals to reflect some of the issues raised.

The Government is making £11 million available over the next two years to ensure veterans are able to access a high level of prosthetic and rehabilitation care – similar to that which the Armed Forces provides for men and women currently serving in the army, navy and air force.

Nine NHS facilities across the country will receive a share of up to £6.7 million of the funding. They will be able to use this specifically to access the latest technology and provide the highest quality of prosthetic care for veteran amputees.

Other services will benefit too – with a £1million fund to ensure that all prosthetics services across England improve. The remainder will go towards providing prosthetics.

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter said:

“Ex-servicemen and women who have been injured in the line of duty deserve the very best possible care from the NHS. This is why we are making more funding available to improve veterans’ prosthetic limb services – and £22 million in total between 2010 and 2015 to support veterans’ physical and mental health.

“We want to ensure that our Armed Forces veterans have access to the very best healthcare services at specialist prosthetic and rehabilitation centres across the country. In time, these NHS centres will achieve the same high standards of care for veterans that are offered by Armed Forces rehabilitation centres, such as Headley Court.”

Today’s announcement is in response to recommendations made by Dr Andrew Murrison MP in a report – commissioned by the Prime Minister – about the provision of prosthetics for military amputees.

Dr Murrison recommended that a small number of multi-disciplinary centres should provide specialist prosthetic and rehabilitation services in England to ensure veterans have access to a similar, high quality of care to that which the Armed Forces provides.

Dr Jeff Lindsay, a Consultant in Amputee Rehabilitation at the West Midlands Rehabilitation Centre, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Trust, said:

“Our aim is for ex-service men and women to maintain their level of independence, function and capabilities as they move from the military into civilian life.

“The additional funding will enable us to offer the highest possible standards of prosthetic provision and care for these brave men and women, as they leave the armed forces and their care is transferred to the NHS.

“Furthermore, the additional funding will help to enhance both the knowledge and skills of our expert staff and improve available facilities for the benefit all patients, both ex-servicemen and women and civilians alike.”

The additional funding and improvements that this will bring will mean that civilian amputees will also be able to benefit from advanced care in centres across the NHS in England.

The NHS Commissioning Board will work with military charities and the NHS to finalise the amount each service will receive.

As part of the Mid-Term Review, the Government is introducing major, long-term reform that will mean no one who has worked hard throughout their life will be forced to spend all of their savings or sell their home in their lifetime to pay for care.

One of the Coalition’s first acts was to commission Andrew Dilnot to look at how best to protect people from high and unpredictable social care costs. These reforms set out how, for the first time ever, people will be protected from limitless care bills.

The radical package includes:

• A cap on costs at £75,000. Currently, no cap exists leaving many facing vast bills, with almost 1 in 5 older people facing care costs over £75,000. From 2017, the Government will pay for care costs incurred by individuals over this level, equivalent to around £61,000 when compared to the 2010/11 prices used by Mr Dilnot.

• A new means test threshold of £123,000. The Government will step in earlier to pay a proportion of residential care costs, with the threshold more than quadrupled. In future, people will no longer need to be down to their last £23,000 before they get help – the help starts at £123,000, as recommended in the Dilnot report.

Taken together the measures are expected to directly benefit an extra 100,000 people who would not currently receive support under the existing system.

The Government will also take forward other crucial reforms proposed by Andrew Dilnot including:

• Free care given to those who turn 18 with eligible care needs;
• A lower cap for people of working age who develop care needs before retirement age; and
• From April 2015, no one will have to sell their home in their lifetime to pay for residential care, with those unable to afford the fees given the right to defer paying during their lifetime.

These reforms will cost the Exchequer £1 billion a year by the end of the next Parliament. The cost will be met in part by extending the freeze on the Inheritance Tax threshold at £325,000, or up to £650,000 for couples, by three years from 2015-16. The remainder will be funded from extra headroom created by private and public sector employer National Insurance Contributions associated with the end of contracting out as part of the introduction of the Single Tier Pension.

Given the other pressures on the public finances the Government considers £75,000 to be the right level at which to set the cap.

The cap is expected to benefit women in particular who are more likely than men to both need care and be a carer. Women make up 68 per cent of service users aged over 65.

With increased certainty over the cost of care, Ministers want to see the financial services industry bring forward products that will allow people to plan and insure for future care costs.

Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said:

“This is a watershed moment for our country. For too long, the issue of social care has been ducked by successive governments, leading to an unfair system that has seen people selling their homes and losing nearly everything they’ve worked for to pay for their care. With us, that unfairness is ending.

“These historic reforms will give everyone the protection they want in their old age and save the family home. And they prove once again that despite these tough economic times, this government is determined to get behind everyone who has worked hard and done the right thing and aspires to a better life for themselves and their children.”

Under the reforms, people will have an assessment carried out by their local authority. If they are assessed as having eligible care needs, the local authority will tell them how much it would cost for the local authority to meet those needs with local services. These costs will count towards the cap.

Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb said:

“Scrapping the existing system which leaves people facing the fear of unlimited bills in their later years is the right thing to do.

“These reforms will end an inequality that sees those with the least wealth spending the greatest proportion of their life savings and will bring protection and reassurance to everyone.

“With an ageing population at a time of financial difficulties, we’ve taken tough decisions to bring about real reforms that will give everyone a more certain future.”

The deadline is 31st March 2013. If you or a relative received care that was paid for between 1 April 2011 and 31st March 2012, were not assessed for NHS Continuing Healthcare and think you should be, you have until 31st March 2013 to contact your PCT about that.

The Department of Health has set a deadline of 31 March 2013, which applies to claims for previously unassessed periods of care that happened during 1 April 2011 – 31 March 2012.

NHS Continuing Healthcare is for individuals who have been assessed as needing health care which  can be provided in a range of settings, including residential care homes, (with or without nursing), or their own homes.  When eligibility is agreed, NHS funding provides all of the individual’s assessed needs – including accommodation in some cases.

Once individuals have contacted their PCT, they will be told about the process and sent the relevant forms to complete.  If appropriate, their case will be considered against the framework applicable for the time period under review.

Health Minister, Norman Lamb said:

“The deadline to register for an assessment is approaching and we want everyone that should have been entitled to be assessed for a past period of care to be considered as soon as possible.

“In March 2012 we asked the NHS to communicate this deadline as quickly and effectively as possible to local people through whatever means necessary.

“If you believe that you or a loved one should have been assessed for eligibility for a period of care during the time 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012, then all you need to do is contact your local Primary Care Trust by Sunday 31 March. You can find their contact details online at NHS Choices, or in the phone book.”

our products have been leading the way for decades. Following rigorous design, development and testing, this family of lifts are among the safest, most intuitive to use in the market place today.

With a number of key design updates and particular attention given to ergonomics, the new Classic mobile lift range reaffirms Oxford’s position as a market leader in the design and manufacture of patient handling equipment. Oxford’s Managing Director, Nathan McWattie comments: “An incredible amount of time, energy and dedication has gone into the design and launch of this new range of mobile lifts. Initial feedback has been truly positive and with such unrivalled functionality across the range, we’ve no doubt they will prove to be a huge hit”.

The new Mini, Midi, Major and Maxi incorporate Oxford’s new and exclusive Smart™ Monitor – a state-of-the-art, on-board diagnostic control system providing invaluable operational data via an integrated LCD display. It enables a user or service engineer to know exactly how each lift has been used during its operational life. The system also allows the user to schedule key maintenance routines, and understand if the lift has been overloaded during use. These key data points help ensure the lift remains in optimum condition for longer.

With a focus not only patient welfare and safety, but also that of the carer, ergonomic principles have been a key consideration throughout the design and development phase. An ergonomically designed ‘latch and lock’ foot pedal mechanism for opening and closing the legs helps to avoid in-advertent opening or closure during a transfer. The contoured foot-pad ensures the carer’s foot remains flat throughout the adjustment process.

An over-sized push-handle, drawing inspiration from Oxford’s Professional series lifts is positioned at the same height across the range. This, coupled with four high-grade, Tente® castors ensures ease of handling and manoeuvrability on the vast majority of floor surfaces.

For added safety, each lift is fitted with a spring-loaded emergency lower mechanism (Midi, Major and Maxi) enabling a patient to be manually lowered in the event of an emergency. Simply twisting the red boss located at the top of the actuator will initiate a slow and controlled descent.

With all this functionality as standard, Oxford is your perfect partner for a demanding care environment. For further product information, please contact Care Necessities customer services on 0330 100 1900, send an email to info@carenecessities.co.uk or alternatively, view or download the launch brochure.

Speaking at the Food and Drink Federation’s ’Delivering Healthy Growth’ stakeholder event, the minister unveiled the latest brands to sign up to the Responsibility Deal’s calorie reduction pledge. Ribena ready to drink and Lucozade Energy will reduce the amount of sugar and calories by up to 10 per cent; AG Barr, who produce IrnBru, will reduce the calorific content across their portfolio of drinks by five per cent; and J2O will launch two flavours in a new slim-line can which will represent a 10 per cent calorie reduction compared with their standard 275mL bottle.

The Public Health Responsibility Deal aims to tap into the potential for businesses and other influential organisations to make a significant contribution to improving public health by helping us to create this environment.

England has some of the highest obesity rates in the developed world with 60  per cent of adults and one third of 10 and 11 year olds being overweight or obese. The Government’s Obesity Call to Action outlined that consuming too many calories is at the heart of the problem and through initiatives like the Responsibility Deal Calorie Reduction pledge concerted action is needed.

Other pledges announced include:

Co-operative Food will look at controlling calories through a variety of measures, including establishing calorie guidelines and target levels in popular product lines; and

Burtons Biscuits Company will offer more portion control packs and will be reviewing its recipes to reduce calories where possible within its portfolio.

Public Health Minister Anna Soubry said:

“Being overweight and not eating well is bad for our health. To reverse the rising tide of obesity we have challenged the nation to reduce our calorie intake by five billion calories a day. On average that’s just 100 calories less a day per person.

“Today’s announcement will cut the calories and sugar by up to 10 per cent in leading brands like Lucozade and Ribena. Through the Responsibility Deal we are already achieving real progress in helping people reduce the calories and salt in their diet. Overall, more than 480 companies including many leading high street brands have signed up to the Responsibility Deal.

“All of the major supermarkets have now committed to removing artificial trans fats, and over 70 per cent of fast food and takeaway meals sold on the high street have calories clearly labelled, but more needs to be done.

“We are encouraged by the extra businesses which have signed up today but I want to see even more progress.  All in the food industry have a part to play and I now expect companies which are not yet taking action to come forward and make pledges.”

Chair of the Responsibility Deal Food Network Dr Susan Jebb said:

“I’m pleased to see the soft drinks manufacturers, like GSK, AG Barr and Britvic join Coca-Cola and PepsiCo to make some very real commitments to help consumers  cut down on their calories as they take control of their weight.”

“I hope we will now see others, including the out of home sector, taking a careful look at how they can build on this and come to the table with new commitments to encourage their customers choose smaller portions and swap to lower calorie options.”

Director General of the Food and Drink Federation Melanie Leech said:

“We commend these businesses for joining existing pledge signatories in a shared commitment to support the calorie reduction challenge issued to the nation by ministers last year. Of the 31 pledge signatories, 15 are manufacturers, demonstrating our sector’s willingness to engage and deliver improved public health outcomes under the Deal.

“On calorie reduction, and the other pledges already issued by the Food Network, we urge the Department of Health to continue its efforts to broaden engagement and bring in new companies to work with those of our members, and others, who have already made substantial commitments through the Responsibility Deal.”

The eight new drink and food manufacturers, supermarket and catering companies which have signed up today include GlaxoSmithKline, Co-Operative Food, Burtons Biscuits, AG Barr, Britvic, Dairy Crest Lexington Catering and CH&Co. They join the 23 companies including Mars and Tesco which have already pledged.

Jon Rouse is currently Chief Executive of the London Borough of Croydon.  He has held a number of civil service roles and was previously Chief Executive at both the Housing Corporation and the Commission for Architecture and the Build Environment. He has held a wide range of non-executive positions with organisations including English Partnerships and Homelessness International, and was a non-executive director on the Department of Health’s Board until 2010.

His responsibilities in his new post will include policies on care and support for adults, the Department’s relationship with local government across all of health and care, mental health, disability, health equalities, and health services for children.

Permanent Secretary, Una O’Brien, said:

“I am delighted to welcome Jon Rouse to the Department of Health as Director General for Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships.

“He will bring a wealth of experience from national and local government and the world of housing to the role.

“I look forward to working closely with him to drive forward the Government’s important improvement agenda in social care, working closely with partners in local government.”

Jon Rouse said

“We are entering a period of exciting change and challenge in social care and local government – I am delighted to be given the opportunity to lead on these areas within the Department of Health. I look forward to working with the many partners responsible for delivering these important services.”