News Release from National Voices

30 Charities call on David Nicholson to endorse the  New Principles for Integrated Care.

To read the report

  Summary

MORE than 30 national charities have written to Sir David Nicholson, Chief Executive of the NHS in England, asking him to endorse National Voices’ Principles for Integrated Care, which are launched on Tuesday 25 October.

The Health and Social Care Bill 2011 will give duties to secure or promote integrated services to both commissioners and regulators.

The 12 Principles have been developed by patient organisations, all members of National Voices, the health and social care charity coalition. Based on the experiences of service users and on research evidence, they offer a way forward for professionals and government and a means of keeping patients’ interests at heart.

Jeremy Taylor, chief executive of National Voices, says:

“A lack of joined up care is one of the biggest frustrations for patients, service users and carers. Getting it right will make a huge difference to quality, safety and people’s experience of care. The debate on integration is often about structures, organisations and funding mechanisms. Our principles are about bringing it back to the individual.”

“We will be also calling on government ministers, commissioners, regulators and relevant professional organisations to give explicit support to these principles.”

 The Principles for Integrated Care – The headlines

To work in the interests of patients, carers, service users and their families, integrated care must:

• Be organised around the needs of individuals (person-centred
• Include community and voluntary sector contributions
• Focus always on the goal of benefiting service users
• Be evaluated by its outcomes, especially those which service users themselves report
• Be fully inclusive of all communities in the locality 
• Be designed together with the users of services and their carers
• Deliver a new deal for people with long term conditions
• Respond to carers as well as the people they are caring for
• Be driven forwards by the commissioners
• Be encouraged through incentives
• Aim to achieve public and social value, not just to save money 
• Last over time and be allowed to experiment

The Principles are explained in detail here where we also describe what integrated care might look like from the point of view of patients, carers and other service users.

National Voices is the national coalition of health and social care charities working to strengthen the voice of patients, service users, carers and their representatives. Our membership represents millions of people, and covers a diverse range of health conditions and communities. www.nationalvoices.org.uk

For more information please contact Jules Acton or Sarah Scadding on 020 3176 0737 / 0378 jules.acton@nationalvoices.org.uk