Primary care experts Thornfields have put together brand new course bundles, specifically built around the premise of neighbourhood health, to support you and your organisation as you align yourself with these new priorities. Read on to discover more!

What is the Idea of Neighbourhood Health?

The basic aim behind this crucial new direction for the NHS is to put the person – and their local services – at the centre of the how the NHS delivers their health care. All services – from those on the high street to those commissioned by local government – must work together to keep people healthy for longer, and keep them out of hospital.

It is also why primary care experts Thornfields have put together brand new course bundles, specifically built around the premise of neighbourhood health, to support you and your organisation as you align yourself with these new priorities. Read on to discover more!

What are the Aims Behind Neighbourhood Health?

1. Improve people’s health and care outcomes, reduce health inequalities and help them stay well at home
2. Organise services around the person with more convenient, personalised and joined-up care
3. Reduce pressure on more acute services - including hospitals and care homes
4. Cut waste and duplication

What are the Drivers That Will Deliver These Aims?

• Improve people’s health and care outcomes, reduce health inequalities and help them stay well at home:
  • Focus on prevention and proactive care, using data to manage risk and stop escalation
  • Strengthen primary and community services
  • Improve how specialists work together across hospitals, adult/children social care, and others

• Organise services around the person with more convenient, personalised and joined-up care

  • Improve care access (in-person/phone/online)
  • Bring more outpatient care into neighbourhoods from hospitals
  • Improve continuity of care especially for those with long-term needs
  • Better co-ordinate services for complex needs e.g. palliative care

• Reduce pressure on more acute services - including hospitals and care homes

  • Reduce avoidable hospital admissions by using neighbourhood working more effectively, and improve timely discharge
  • This will reduce the harmful loss of fitness that happens to patients in hospital long-term
  • Reduce avoidable care home admissions
  • Ensure acute services focus on those with the greatest needs

• Cut waste and duplication

  • Integrate services across health, local government ad wider partners
  • Make better use of digital and tech opportunities
  • Make the NHS more sustainable

The Compassionate, Digital & Safe Practice: How Thornfields Can Help YOU With These Aims

Many of the above aims and drivers overlap with other recent NHS strategy documents and plans. We have built our new course bundles around these pillars, and especially around the “left shifts” from the recent 10-Year Health Plan. 

The 10-Year Health Plan aims to deliver the ‘left shifts’ to bring care closer to home through three key shifts: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.

We have also drawn on the NHS People Plan: Compassionate and Inclusive Leaders, as well as the CQC’s assessment criteria, and the NHS Patient Safety strategy: Digital as a safety enabler.      

The Compassionate, Digital & Safe Practice:

Bundle 1: Patient Communication, Conflict Management & Inclusive Practice

• De-Escalation Techniques & Managing Difficult Conversations
• Safe Telephone Triage & Boundary Setting for Non-Clinical Staff
• Compassionate, Inclusive & Trauma-Informed Communication
• Care Navigation & Effective Signposting

Bundle 2: Clinical Admin & Governance Competency

• Clinical Coding: Best Practice for General Practice Admin Staff
• Sepsis 6 Awareness for Non-Clinical Staff
• CQC Readiness & Understanding the Assessment Framework
• Safe Documentation & AI Risk Management in Primary Care

Bundle 3: Health Inequalities, Cultural Competence & Social Awareness

• Cultural Competency & Working with Diverse Communities
• Understanding Social Determinants of Health
• Health Inequalities & Inclusive Access

Bundle 4: Leadership & Management

• Leadership Styles & Change Management for Non-Clinical Leaders
• Delegation, Supervision & Effective 1:1 Performance Reviews
• Finance Management & Operational Oversight for GP Managers

The learning outcomes are numerous and all aligned with the above policies and aims. They include:

• Identifying early signs of escalation
• Using consistent, safe signposting language
• Reducing access delays and avoidable risk
• Coding safely
• Escalating concerns without delay
• Adapting access for diverse needs
• Spotting access barriers
• Supporting prevention

Read more about this course on the Thornfields website by following this link.