Our Palliative and End of Life Care network has led on a new project to find out how the most person-centred support can be given to someone nearing the end of their lives.

The innovation project focused on three areas - Bolton, Stockport and Trafford - which have been building on existing practice and challenging themselves with new ways of doing things.

The ideas and early learning from the project have been shared on video and in a report. It is hoped the findings will help teams across Greater Manchester who are involved with this type of care. 

Elaine Parkin, the Palliative and End of Life Care network's Quality Improvement Manager, said: "Greater Manchester is committed to improving the experience of people who are nearing the end of their lives.

"We believe that for people to have the best quality of life and the most peaceful death we need the courage and skill to have a good conversation with people about what is most important to them, and then to deliver on this."

This work was led by the SCNs and the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership's Person and Community Centred Approaches team. It was funded by NHS England’s Personalised Care group.

For further information please do not hesitate to contact the Palliative and End of Life team's Quality Improvement Manager Elaine Parkin.

The new Dementia United (DU) website is live.

Alongside information about DU's areas of work you will find resources and a map showing what dementia services are available in all GM localities and who to contact for more information.

The SCNs' dementia team works in partnership with DU to help make GM the best place to live if you have dementia, or are caring for someone who does. 

You can find out more about our work, check out our resources, hear from people with lived experience who are working with us and see how you can get involved. 
 

GPs are being asked to help the launch of our new online platform which supports people to manage their diabetes.

The initiative can help patients to improve their health through better self-management and can also benefit the practice.

For GP practices, it will enhance holistic diabetes care and effective consultation by providing extra support through the use of technology.

Called Diabetes My Way, the platform provides registered users living with type 2 diabetes (T2D) access to their own GP data, including a personalised diabetes dashboard, as well as general information and details about local support services.

For people to get access to their personal data through Diabetes My Way, they need to register with their GP practice for patient online services and ask their GP to enable their permissions for detailed coded record, ticking for 'Allergies, Medication, Laboratory test results, Immunisations and Problems'.

A guide on how to enable records accessfor GP practices is available online.

Once registered for online services, patients can use their online codes from the surgery to self-register.

The platform will only link to Vision and EMIS clinical systems at the moment.

The online platform - Diabetes My Way - is live and is being promoted to people in Greater Manchester across traditional and social media.

Dr Naresh Kanumilli, Diabetes Clinical Lead at the Strategic Clinical Networks, said: “Diabetes My Way is great news for people with diabetes and all health care professionals.

“It helps people with type 2 diabetes learn more about their condition and significantly it can empower them to better self-manage their diabetes and improve outcomes for themselves through engagement with education, lifestyle and behavioural change interventions.

"This will provide more opportunities for shared decision making between persons living with diabetes and their healthcare professionals. This platform gives the healthcare professional confidence that the person with diabetes is able to access high quality and effective diabetes education and engagement with dietetic support and advice."

There are an estimated 160,000 people living with diabetes in Greater Manchester

Practices can get QOF points for referring to the QIZMET-accredited structured education available on Diabetes My Way. 

Some practices have been holding special sessions for diabetes patients to help them sign-up for online access to their records.

Please contact Hannah Bishop, Project Manager, GMEC SCNs, if you would like further information or a promotional pack, including text messages and invitations to use at your practice.  

Latest figures show great progress continues to be made in Greater Manchester and Eastern Cheshire (GMEC) to prevent babies developing cerebral palsy. 
 
Approximately 18 cases of cerebral palsy have been prevented in babies which were eligible across GMEC from 2015 to 2019, with seven of these cases in 2019, thanks to the roll out of the national PReCePT programme and recruitment of clinical champions.
 
These children have been prevented from developing the condition, leading to a lifetime of disability for families, as well as a reduction in expensive and extensive healthcare provision. It is estimated it has supported savings of £90 million in ongoing health costs (estimated £5 million cost of care for each case).
 
The success of the PReCePT programme, which has been run by a partnership between the SCNs and Health Innovation Manchester, has been achieved by the dedication of the PReCePT champions, clinicians and families ​involved.

Another success story has been around the aim to concentrate the delivery of babies to be born at less than 27 weeks’ gestation in neonatal intensive care units configured to deliver and optimise their care. The SCNs' maternity network has been working with the North West Neonatal Operational Network on this initiative. 
 
Evidence suggests that outcomes are improved by providing the care of the most vulnerable babies in units with a higher turnover, expertise in very premature babies and with minimal postnatal transfers. 

In GM, 91% of babies born before 27 weeks’ gestation were born in the correct place in GM, enhancing their care and improving the chances of survival, with each case where this did not happen reviewed afterwards and lessons shared where necessary.

The GM Children's Health and Wellbeing Stakeholder Forum held a full day event to discuss preventing avoidable admissions and children and young people’s engagement.
 
The morning session at the Imperial War Museum North focused on admissions, with presentations from districts in GM which highlighted innovation and good practice. There is a lot of great work taking place and new approaches will help to drive the GM Children's Health and Wellbeing Framework’s Objective 6, ‘to reduce unnecessary hospital attendances for children and young people, particularly those who have long term conditions such as asthma, diabetes and epilepsy’.
 
The afternoon session looked at the GM Youth Agreement (previously called the Charter) which supports another objective in the framework ‘to develop all relevant plans, policies and programmes with children and young people and their families, reflecting the realities of their experiences and based on a children’s charter’.
 
The workshop, run by Youth Focus North West, generated ideas on how it could be tested within organisations providing health care and how engagement with young people could be improved in the region.  
 
Dr Carol Ewing, Chair of the Greater Manchester Child Health and Wellbeing Stakeholder Board and the SCNs’ clinical adviser for the Children and Young People Network, said: “I was really pleased to see and hear so much interaction among attendees at the Preventing Avoidable Admissions workshop. The outputs from the day will help to benefit and shape our plans and programmes.”
 
Dr Ewing has been appointed the Greater Manchester Ambassador for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).
 
The RCPCH is in the process of establishing a network of volunteer member ambassadors across England and has asked Carol to take up the role for GM.
 
She said: “I will continue to advocate locally for children, young people and the children's health workforce that serves them across our GM integrated care system and through engagement with the Local Workforce Advisory Board.”

Our Children and Young People clinical adviser, Julie Flaherty, has been named as one of the top 100 inspirational women in healthcare leadership.

Julie features in the national list, which has been compiled by the Healthcare Leadership Academy's Women in Healthcare Leadership group (WHIL). 

Called 'The WHIL 100 Word Project', it aims to highlight gender and opportunity equality, arguing "balanced clinical leadership is required to ensure the NHS can continue to deliver patient centered care and support its employees".

Julie said: "How proud and amazingly inspired I feel to have been nominated as one of the 100 Women’s Top Health Leaders!     

"I think it is awesome and I feel exceptionally privileged for the recognition and appreciation. Let’s not forget that leadership is about getting things done, not a second to waste in doing, we don’t have to wait for opportunity, we make opportunities to make a difference!"

Julie started her career in 1973 at the Children’s Hospitals in Manchester. She gained a consultant post in 2000 and is currently the clinical lead for children’s unscheduled care at Salford Royal Foundation Trust. More recently, she has worked for both the Strategic Clinical Networks and as the ‘Nursing Champion’ for GM. Julie was awarded the MBE for her services to paediatrics within Greater Manchester by Her Majesty the Queen in the New Year’s Honours list in 2016.

Read Julie's WHIL article

This month, we take a closer look at our cardiovascular disease network...

What have been the main achievements of the network?

One of our achievements has been the initiation of the Rapid Access into Angiography e-referral system which in the next month will have been launched and offered to all localities in Greater Manchester.

We have built strong relationships with cardiac contacts and this has enabled us to collectively produce a range of works including but not limited to the Stable Angina Pathway, the e-referral for the RAACS pathway and a patient care plan for heart failure patients.

Other individual projects which have been completed include ‘Improving outcomes for out of hospital cardiac arrest’, ‘Improving the diagnosis, treatment and management of hypertension’ and stakeholder events, such as the ‘Supporting heart failure patients’ event, held in February this year.

When was the cardiac network formed and what is its aim?

The network in its current form was launched in June 2018 with a stakeholder event, although the team’s original work dates back to 2012.

The network’s aim is to reduce variation in care across Greater Manchester by identifying how professionals involved with cardiovascular disease can work together to develop a fit for purpose, person-centred, full pathway CVD framework, aligned to ‘Taking Charge’  and the NHS’s Long Term Plan.

Who is involved with the network?

We have a range of stakeholders involved with our projects, which include, but are not limited to, patients, carers, clinicians, academics, charities and third sector organisations (photo below shows a cardiac network provider meeting). We work with people from a range of backgrounds, including GMHSC Partnership, Healthwatch, Community Pharmacy, NICE, commissioning leads and GPs. Our clinical lead, Dr Farzin Fath-Ordoubadi, plays an important role providing the network’s clinical leadership.

Does the public/patients play a role in the network?

We have successfully launched our very own patient and carer group which sits under the GM Cardiac Forum. We had our first meeting in January and have had excellent engagement with its members! Over the coming months we aspire to work more closely with patients and members of the public alike.

What have been the toughest challenges?

Initially, it was hard to gain the attention of some stakeholders, as not everyone has optimism when works have stopped and started over time. You have to believe in the change in order to make things happen. It can be a challenge but hard work and persistence is key to win hearts and to maintain connections. 

Sometimes tasks can take longer to complete when many people are involved, but stay focussed and remember the patient is the reason why you are doing what you are doing.

How does your work support the aims of the NHS Long Term Plan?

Our themes are consistent with the requirements of the LTP: prevention; early detection and quality diagnosis; community-based support; planned care; unplanned care and end of life care.

We are working to provide patients and carers with self-help tools and education which will help reduce hospital admissions. This will enable clinicians to prioritise those patients who need immediate care, in turn this will help reduce mortality in GM for patients suffering from cardiovascular disease.

What are your network's next steps?

We want to implement the NHS Long Term Plan and continue with the good work that is being made in the cardiac field to improve services and care for patients.