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A
New Ambition for Old Age: next steps in implementing the National
Service Framework for Older People
A
report from Professor Ian Philp, National Director for Older People
A
New Ambition for Old Age, published on 20 April 2006 by the
Department of Health, sets out the priorities for the second phase
of the government’s ten-year National Service Framework (NSF) for
Older People under three themes: dignity in care, joined-up care
and healthy ageing.
The report acknowledges there are still deep-rooted negative attitudes
and behaviours towards older people which impact on their experience
of and quality of care.
There
are to be ten programmes of activity to achieve changes in services,
described briefly below:
-
Dignity in care - a renewed commitment to ensuring respect
for the dignity and human rights of older people. Activities
will be strengthened in: nutrition and physical environment;
skills, competence and leadership in the workforce; assuring
quality; ensuring dignity for those with mental health problems;
ensuring dignity at the end of life; equalities and human rights;
and championing change.
-
Dignity
at the end of life - to spread best practice for end of
life care of older people living at home and in care homes.
-
Stroke
services - work has begun on an 18 month programme to develop
a new national strategy for stroke.
-
Falls
and bone health
- outlines five components of an integrated falls service including
improving emergency response to falls and reducing falls risk.
-
Mental
health in old age - to ensure age equality in the development
of mental health care for adults of all ages, with access to
services on the basis of need, not age.
-
Complex
needs - aims to achieve better coordination of care for
people with complex needs; strengthen commissioning arrangements
by the NHS and Councils for people with complex needs; develop
managed networks for older people with complex needs; and to
build on successful developments in intermediate care services.
-
Urgent
care - plans to redesign urgent care response to falls;
to people with acute confusion and mental health care needs;
and for stroke and transient ischaemic attack.
-
Care
records - the Single Assessment Process (SAP) underpins
much of the reforms towards delivering personalised care, joined-up
services, timely response to identified needs and the promotion
of health and active life. To ensure potential benefits of SAP
are maximised information technology to support efficient and
secure sharing of information across health and social care
needs to be developed further. Aims are to simplify and extend
the SAP approach to all adults with long term conditions; fit
SAP implementation into wider work across local and national
government in developing personalised and integrated record
systems; ensure that comprehensive assessment is undertaken
prior to long-term or residential nursing home care.
-
Healthy
ageing - to improve physical fitness; overcome barriers
to active life by giving more attention to equipment, foot care,
oral health, low vision and hearing services; improve access
to health care and health promotion services for 'excluded'
groups; extend healthy life expectancy through disease prevention.
-
Independence,
well-being and choice
- aims to increase the use of assistive technology; strengthen
leadership and partnership between Councils, the local NHS and
the voluntary sector; increase the use of direct payments and
individual budgets; and to increase the uptake of assessment
and response to carers' needs.
There
are five key implementation levers to ensure progress:
- Leadership
- Regulation
and Inspection
- Public
Service Agreement (PSA) Targets
- Commissoning
- Care
Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) and other service improvement
agencies
More
detailed information about the ten programmes can be found in an
accompanying resource
document and via the Department of Health website.
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