Vision to Action: Richmond Group’s call to health and social care

In 2011 the ten leading health charities, including the Stroke Association, came together as the Richmond Group and, through the Kings Fund, produced a consensus report that identified five key themes that the health and social care system must embrace to be sustainable and to ensure quality.

Now, in a new report entitled Vision to Action, the Richmond Group, again through the Kings Fund, takes a practical look at how to deliver these themes. Delivering on these is vital and arguably has become even more so in recent months. The cost of long-term chronic illness will become unmanageable if we do not redesign how we deliver health and social care.

The new report identifies the desired outcomes for patients under each theme and recommends the practical service improvements required to achieve these outcomes. In addition, to support these service improvements, five overarching priorities for action are recommended for the government, the new NHS Commissioning Board, clinical commissioning groups, health and wellbeing boards, and other care providers.

As an example, the outcome required under “Supported self-management” is that people with long-term conditions can manage their condition appropriately because they have the right opportunities, resources and support. To achieve this, services must be improved so that people are offered and have access to a range of flexible, responsive self-management support including tailored information and advice and structured programmes to help them manage their condition successfully.

This is already an area with which we are familiar through our own Life After Stroke Services that provide the kind of specialist tailored information and advice that is called for under self-management.

Read the full report here.