Recommendation 19

HM Government Acknowledged

4.15 The pandemic brought about rapid and profound changes in ways of working across the health and social care sectors. As noted by the committee, whilst recognising the challenges the pandemic has posed, there has also been some great examples of teamwork, innovation and excellence in practice and leadership. Where new approaches have worked well, they should not be rolled back, but adopted systematically. To successfully innovate, we need to capture the changes that have occurred and measure the impact to see what works, ensuring that the NHS and social care sector rebuilds in a way that is even better than before. That is why the government has brought forward the White Paper, “People at the Heart of Care: Adult Social Care Reform”, published 1st December 2021. This includes a £300 million new investment in housing which will put better housing at the heart of the adult social care system. It will support local areas to provide more supported and specialised housing, enabling more people to live independently for longer. 4.16 Promoting integrated care is a priority for this Government. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the benefits of collaboration between health and social care partners. 4.17 We are already aware of many social care organisations playing a vital role in disseminating and capturing innovations in the sector. Government will continue to consider how we can encourage innovation, learning from the experiences of local and national social care partners. 4.18 We will work to ensure people have greater choice and control over where and how they live, receiving care and support in their own home to meet their individual needs. 4.19 New models of care and innovation in models of care, including housing- with-care, have a vital role in delivering more personalised care, promoting prevention, enabling people to live independently and supporting improvements for the social care workforce. We will also continue to consider how the application of technology can empower service users, reduce carer workload, support local authorities with commissioning and help providers run their businesses, transforming the way we organize and deliver care to improve outcomes and quality. 4.20 In the NHS, in April 2020 the NHSEI National Incident Response Board commissioned NHSEI’s Improvement Directorate to collate and understand the frontline changes that were happening at pace in response to the pandemic. The Beneficial Change Network, a collaborative group of health and social care stakeholders was formed to capture the benefits of changes that have taken place through Covid-19, share knowledge, evaluate changes and embed learning locally. They reached out to staff, patients and carers in addition to other external health organizations, such as the NHS Confederation, NHS Providers, the Kings Fund, Academic Health Science Networks and local authorities. The Beneficial Changes Network has produced a variety of case studies and other resources which have been disseminated to the wider system. 4.21 The NHS operational planning guidance for 2021/22 sets out a priority for systems and employers to take time to embed the workforce transformations adopted during the pandemic to support recovery and longer-term changes. These transformations include maximizing the benefits of e-rostering and e-job-planning to give staff more control and visibility of working patterns so that they can manage their different responsibilities and broader interests, supporting service improvements and ensuring the most effective deployment of staff. Local systems were also encouraged to make use of interventions to facilitate flexibility and staff movement across systems, which were an important part of the response to the pandemic. These interventions include remote working plans, technology-enhanced learning and the option of staff digital passports. 4.22 The pandemic has also highlighted the need for flexibility in how people can work. NHSEI is continuing to support flexible working and working carers through the development of practical tools making explicit the value to staff and services, developing guidance and sharing best practice to encourage innovation and increase confidence and take up of different flexible working practices. The NHS People Plan promotes flexible working to support the NHS to become a modern and model employer. The option of flexible working patterns will now be a requirement for all posts across the NHS and a new working carers passport will support timely and compassionate conversations with line managers. 4.23 At a national level, support will be provided for systems to embed innovative approaches and support frontline staff in developing their own local solutions towards releasing capacity in outpatients, diagnostics, patient pathways and general practice. Developing new ways of working which make best possible use of people’s skills and time also supports health and wellbeing by ensuring that work is di