Community health two-hour crisis response standard guidance published
By 31 March 2022 , all Integrated Care Systems ( ICSs ) in England must ensure their entire population over the age of 18 has access to crisis response care in their homes or usual place of residence within two hours .
The approach was first introduced in the NHS Long Term Plan and builds on National Institute of Health and Care Excellence ( NICE ) guidelines for intermediate care .
The guidance , published on 16 July by NHS England and NHS Improvement , and developed with the support of RCOT , sets out essential operational and clinical requirements for NHS-funded crisis response services .
This builds on existing good practice and sets out minimum expectations for all systems in England . The delivery of the national community two-hour crisis response standard also builds on existing technical data guidance ( www . england . nhs . uk / coronavirus / publication / urgent-community-response-twohour-and-two-day-response-standards-2020-21-technical-dataguidance /).
The two-hour crisis response standard aims to improve patient outcomes by meeting their urgent care needs at home or usual place of residence in a timely way .
The ambition is to provide crisis care within the community to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and accelerate the treatment of people ’ s urgent care needs . In order to achieve this , all ICS planners , commissioners and providers must meet the following four minimum
22 :
• provide services at scale – ensuring full geographic coverage of two-hour crisis response care across every ICS ;
• provide services from 8am to 8pm , seven days a week , at a minimum ;
• accept referrals into crisis response services from all appropriate sources ; and
• submit complete data returns to the Community Services Data Set ( CSDS ) to demonstrate the achievement of the two-hour standard . Download Community health services two-hour crisis response standard guidance from : www . england . nhs . uk / publication /
requirements in 2021-
community-health-services-two-hour-crisis-response-standardguidance /.
First steps towards a National Care Service in Scotland
Scotland ’ s Health Secretary Humza Yousaf and Minister for Social Care Kevin Stewart have welcomed the first meeting of a Social Covenant Steering Group , set up to help guide the development of a National Care Service .
Establishing the group , made up of people with day-to-day experience of social care , was a key recommendation of Derek Feeley ’ s Independent Review of Adult Social Care and marks the fulfilment of one of the commitments for the first 100 days of this government .
Initial membership of the group , which met for the first time on 20 July , includes unpaid carers , disability rights activists , a care home resident , a campaigner for the needs of relatives of those in care homes , a social care worker and others with significant experience of the way services are currently delivered .
The diverse group includes people from across Scotland with a spread of ages , and social , cultural and ethnic backgrounds .
The group is expected to help establish a common set of values and beliefs – a social covenant – which will underpin the National Care Service , including treating people with dignity , prioritising the common good and ensuring there is strong oversight of the new service .
It will establish underlying and unifying principles to help guide decision-making .
Mr Stewart , who will chair the group ’ s meetings , said : ‘ We know there were problems in the social care system before COVID arrived and we had already started to think about ways of reforming it , but the pandemic has shone a spotlight on the system and really highlighted the importance of making changes .
‘ Many members of this group have already heavily influenced the recommendations in Derek Feeley ’ s report and I am keen to ensure that we continue to listen to their expert views and act on what they tell us .
‘ A social covenant will enable us to develop a common set of values around social care ; and see those systems as not merely a safety net , but a springboard to allow people to flourish .
‘ It is extremely important that we listen to people with lived experience – the real experts – to hear about the highs and lows of social care services . It is by doing this that we will really find out what ’ s good about the services people receive , more importantly , what needs to improve for those who use and deliver social care .
‘ Only by listening to people with real-life experiences and acting on what we hear , can we create a system that ensures that everyone in Scotland has the opportunity to live fulfilling and rewarding lives .’
Find out more at : www . gov . scot / news / first-steps-towards-anational-care-service /.
6 OTnews August 2021