This report warns that the continued invisibility of the adult social care sector as a whole is increasingly damaging to both those who draw on care and who provide unpaid care at a time of increasing need, rising costs and a shrinking workforce. These messages will be familiar to those who have been following NESCHA for many years. The Editor witnessed the sight of an ambulance with lights flashing heading to A&E which he had passed earlier with around 12 ambulances and Police van all backed up there already! Beds being blocked almost certainly by patients who couldn’t get the support needed to go home safely ( and minimise the chance of a ‘bounce back’ to hospital by deteriorating without support)
Interviewed by Matt Bailey at 7.10am on 29th July about NESCHA views on imminent Andy Burnham announcement later that morning. I was greatly encouraged by his feedback ( he said it was interesting and ran over time!) and wrote the paper attached.
I never dreamt that one day I would be living the system!.
Sadly Robert my co-author , died when I was in hospital some years ago but my wife visited daily and then she lived with a diagnosois mixed dementia for over four years, was admitted to hospital last October and, following a rapid discharge to a care home, died peacefully in December .
Despite a professional background in social work and years spent working on improving health and care systems, nothing fully prepares you for living that experience. It brought into sharp focus both the compassion of frontline staff and the frustrations families can face when services are not as joined-up or consistent as they should be.
NHS de-frazzle new book and brilliant review