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ITEM EX11
- ANNEX 1
EXECUTIVE
– 1 OCTOBER 2002
INTEGRATING
COMMUNITY EQUIPMENT SERVICES
INTEGRATING
COMMUNITY EQUIPMENT SERVICES
Audit Commission
Reports: ‘Fully Equipped’
2000 Report:
This
national report was informed by a Steering Group involving service commissioners,
providers and specialists, representatives of user groups, the NHS Supplies
Authority, the British Healthcare Trades Association and Department of
Health officials. Nationally the Commission found that:
- there are unacceptably
low standards of service in some parts of the country;
- users often have
to wait for long periods of time for their equipment;
- equipment is not
always either of reasonable quality or suitable for the user;
- the services support
a culture of dependence rather than autonomy; and
- many equipment
services are small and fragmented and characterised by a lack of clinical
leadership and senior management involvement.
2002 Report:
This
national report has updated the 2000 report. It reported that nationally:
-
- Service users
did not always get equipment of a reasonable quality
- Poor clinical
outcomes combined with a waste of money when services did not meet users’
needs the first time
- Many equipment
services were small and fragmented
- Equipment services
were characterised by a lack of clinical leadership and senior management
involvement
- Users continue
to report long delays for equipment of dubious quality.
- Many who could
benefit from equipment services are excluded by stringent eligibility
criteria.
- Waiting times
for some equipment could be up to six years – a period of time that
would be unacceptable for other National Health services.
- Very little of
the £220 million ‘new’ money provided for equipment services has been
spent in accordance with ‘Ministers’ stated wishes.
- A mood of despondency
is common among managers running equipment services.
- No progress has
been made in integrating mobility services, leaving the wheelchair and
orthotics services marginalised.
- Service commissioning
is not integrated with wider health and social care objectives.
- Services are often
measured in terms of pieces of equipment, not people.
- Equipment services
are commissioned to match a limited budget, rather than to meet need.
- Equipment is a
vital ingredient to policies that aim to promote social inclusion and
independence.
- Better equipment
services would reduce admission to, facilitate prompt and appropriate
discharge from, acute hospital services which would in turn have a major
impact on bed capacity.
- Equipment services
reduce morbidity at costs that are very low when compared to other forms
of healthcare.
- If the targets
in the National Service Framework for Older People are to be achieved,
improvement in equipment services is vital, especially to help to reduce
the number of falls in the home.
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