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Transforming Care Partnerships are to be set up across England, to oversee the implementation
of the recently published ‘Building the Right Support Plan’, part of the wider government
Transforming Care Programme.
The
plan was developed by NHS England, the Local Government Association and the
Association of Directors of Adult Social Services. It seeks to transform community services for
those suffering from learning disabilities and/or autism, who are too often, and
for too long, being treated in in-patient hospital settings.
In
England, around 24,000 people who have a learning disability and/or autism are
classed as being at risk of hospital admission and three quarters of those admitted
stay in in-patient facilities for more than a year.
Under
the plan sufferers will be supported to lead more independent lives, with new
high quality community services reducing the need for in-patient care. The plan predicts a reduction in inpatient beds
of between 30 and 50 per cent. Improving
the quality of life for thousands of patients and freeing up hundreds of
millions of pounds for investment in community-based support.
Transforming
Care Partnerships will have until April 2016 to produce local action plans, and
are expected to oversee a smooth transition to new service arrangements within
3 years. £15m will be made available for
capital expenditure over this period, with £30m available on a match-funding
basis for local commissioners to ‘double-run’ services.
Bed closures will be staggered, only taking place
when suitable alternatives are available. Providers such as hospital trusts
will be supported by NHS England and others to adapt to the new model, shifting
their own services to the community where possible.
Jane Cummings, Chief
Nursing Officer for England and Chair of the Transforming Care Delivery Board,
said: “Society has failed this group of people for
decades. Now is the time to put things right, and with this far-reaching plan I
am confident that we can finally make quick, significant and lasting
improvements to their lives.”
Dr Paul Lelliott, CQC Deputy Chief Inspector of
Hospitals (lead for mental health), said “As one of partner organisations of
the transforming care programme board, we support the vision to create more
appropriate models of care so that people with learning disabilities can live
more independently and whenever in their best interests, receive the care and
support they need outside of hospitals'
“Our inspections are structured around what matters
to people who use services and how well they are served – this includes
assessing the experiences people with learning disabilities and when they are
being cared for as inpatients, what providers are doing to support their
discharge. As well as this, we are continuing to look at how we register
potential new ‘assessment and treatment’ providers so that inappropriate models
of care do not continue. We will publish an update on our plans later this
year.”
Budgets
will be shared between the NHS and local
councils to ensure the right care is provided in the right place and
a set of national guidelines will be published, setting out the support service
users and their families can expect, assisting commissioning bodies in planning
appropriate services for their area.
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