Primary Care Home October 2017

The Primary Care Home programme has gathered huge momentum since its inception in autumn 2015. From 15 original rapid test sites– they now have more than 190 sites across England, covering eight million patients– 14 per cent of the population.

Applications continue to come in – all are very welcome to join what has all the hallmarks of a social movement across integrated care. Its success, they believe, is because it is bringing about the change that clinicians know is right for their patients – something they've always wanted to do. Staff now feel empowered and excited, with the freedom to innovate and drive improvements. It is also about the human scale of the change where people feel they belong, own local challenges and can make a real difference working alongside their patients. Many have started with small changes that have led to early benefits and created a compelling case for ...

Communication Heal? Examining the Role of Patient Satisfaction and Communication Experience in China

China is facing the problem of having health care that is difficult to access. Online patient–provider communication (OPPC) may bring a new option to deliver health services. However, online communication with doctors is still novel to many people in China. Little research has been conducted to examine how OPPC could improve health outcomes. With an integrated model that incorporates social cognitive theory into the three-stage model of health promotion using interactive media, this study tested the social mechanism underlying the impact of OPPC

How to transfer good practices in integrated care internationally: From self-assessment to knowledge transfer and improvement in care

The challenge of an ageing population is faced by many regions and countries in Europe, and integrated care is a recognised solution to it. Increasing the readiness and capacity of regions to be able to implement integrated care is crucial. In Scotland and in the Puglia region of Italy, a knowledge transfer exercise has been undertaken using the Scirocco model to do just that. 

A Realist Evaluation of Local Networks Designed to Achieve More Integrated Care

Not surprisingly given their multi-component nature, initiatives to improve integrated care often evolve to find the best way to bring about change. This paper provides an example of how an evaluation evolved alongside such an initiative designed to better integrate care across primary, community and hospital services in South Auckland, New Zealand.

The future of integrated care in England. Health leaders’ views on how to make system working a success

For decades, the legislative framework governing health and care in England has centred around the principle of competition between organisations to improve the quality of services. Yet there is now wide recognition that we need to look to collaboration and integration to improve population health, deliver better quality care, and make more efficient use of resources. 

The NHS Confederation welcomes this move, the importance of which is further reinforced by experiences of coping with a pandemic. While COVID-19 has proven to be the greatest challenge that NHS and local government services have faced in their history, it has also demonstrated what can be achieved when we move away from individual organisations working in silos and towards true collaborative working within systems. 

Over the coming 12 months, the government is expected to table new primary NHS legislation that will set out a legal framework through which NHS organisations will continue to ...

Amref International University 1st Primary Healthcare Congress

It has been 45 years since the landmark 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration, which defined Primary Health Care (PHC) as “essential healthcare based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology made universally accessible to individuals and families in the community through their full participation and at a cost that the community and country can afford.”

The goal of PHC is to provide better health services for all, making it an integral part of a country’s health system and the central function for the community’s overall social and economic development. The aim is to achieve the highest possible level of health and well-being, ensuring equitable distribution and a sustainable healthy life without financial burden on patients.

Despite the promulgation of the PHC agenda after the Alma-Ata Declaration, its actualization has remained elusive.  The declaration outlined eight key elements and four pillars necessary to support the actualization of the ...