Care Minister urges closer health and care collaboration

Minister for Care Caroline Dinenage has urged health and care organisations to work more closely together to improve care quality and support.

The Minister’s comments followed a meeting with health and social care organisations which provided an update on Quality Matters, an initiative aimed at improving adult social care co-led by partners from across the sector.

Caroline Dinenage, Minister for Care, said: “Quality Matters is a vital commitment to improve adult social care for people who need support, their families, carers and the dedicated care workforce. Every part of the system has a role to play and this new platform provides valuable advice and support to achieve closer collaboration between health and care in local areas.

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“It’s up to all of us to work together better –  I encourage local leaders across the health and care system to use this resource to help drive up the quality of care in their area.”

During the session the Minister heard examples of how Quality Matters is supporting improvement across the system, including the new digital resource ‘Unlocking capacity: smarter together’ which is inspiring local organisations and system leaders to work collaboratively to deliver seamless, person-centred care.

Quality Matters provides advice and information to help local health and social care leaders support new ways of working and ensure services are working together at every stage of planning and provision.

The free online resource features successful examples of collaborative working, for example in Dudley they have worked to establish a new model of care with a focus on prevention. As part of this, the council and local NHS worked with care home providers to invest winter pressures funding into flu vaccinations for care home staff to help relieve pressure on the NHS. The result was 80% fewer flu outbreaks in local care homes last winter, compared with the year before.

Sharon Allen, Chief Executive of Skills for Care said: “As this great new resource shows, leaders at all levels are already proving that person-centred thinking brings profound benefits to citizens. I commend the seven case studies shown here, each demonstrating the value of collaborative working between health, social care and beyond. I hope local areas are inspired to take the next step – no matter how small or big.”