Opioids are a highly effective class of analgesics and , when used judiciously , are of great benefit to many people living with pain . However , in the case of ‘ chronic non-cancer pain ’, when the source of long-term pain does not have a cause that can be treated , opioids can do more harm than good , particularly when used at higher doses .
The national MedSIP team developed a whole-system approach to reducing harm from opioids to support local approaches to helping people live well with chronic noncancer pain across seven phases . Substantial progress has been made to implement the approach within Yorkshire and the Humber , with all three Integrated Care Boards ( ICB ) engaged across the seven phases .
In the early stages of the programme , we conducted a thorough analysis to better understand the work initiated in this area . Our investigation revealed a lack of joined up working between Primary Care Networks ( PCNs ), trusts , places and ICBs .
We recognised that we had an opportunity to bring together all these stakeholders to share learning and best practice with the aim of preventing the need for our system colleagues to ‘ reinvent the wheel ’. An example of this is a webinar that saw over 100 health and care professionals attending across our region and beyond including colleagues from primary care , secondary care , ICSs , all 15 local health innovation networks and the voluntary , community and social enterprise sector to share successes , challenges and provide learning opportunities .
In addition , we have built an extensive but easy-to-use resource library . We recognised during the initial phases of our programme that there were a lot of publicly available resources on the subject of chronic pain management and opioids , including public information campaigns , patient information materials , patient stories , healthcare professional information and learning materials and social prescribing resources . However , these were not available in one easy-to-access place .
We will continue to build our learning community , expand and share the resource library and work together with our systems to support and spread quality improvement work .
Managing deterioration in care homes
This programme aims to reduce deterioration associated harm by improving the prevention , identification , escalation and response to physical deterioration in care homes . The aim is for at least 85 % of care homes to adopt a deterioration management tool .
There are multiple stakeholders involved in the management of deterioration across health and social care . We have supported many colleagues as part of the Managing Deterioration Safety Improvement Plan . Support has been provided at various system-levels and has included networking opportunities , sharing of tools and resources and delivery of training .
Resources to support care homes have been further refined down to four modules . Evaluation of the training has been very positive with colleagues working in care homes in North East Lincolnshire , Rotherham and Kirklees reporting more confidence in recognising and responding to the signs of deterioration , benefitting patients and improving outcomes .
We have also built strong professional communities across Yorkshire and the Humber including 214 colleagues who are members of our Care Home Patient
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