Gewardz Health’s Post

Is it time we start insisting on demonstrable outcomes against government grants? In the last 10 years we have seen enormous amounts of taxpayer funds distributed to the Aged Care sector in the way of commonwealth and state grants yet little improvement or positive outcomes have materialised. There is also a significant conflict of interest in a number of the transactions. $15 million provided to a culturally specific aged care provider in Sydney to build a nursing home that has never been built. $5 million given to a private company to sell their pain assessment device. $5 million to a celebrity cook. Millions provided to one company who then pays their sister company to run conferences (so effectively paying itself). Millions provided to build more aged care facilities yet we are told building applications have plummeted. #agedcare #agedcareaustralia

A story in yesterday's Health Service Journal has revealed that local ICBs (the NHS bodies responsible for planning and funding care in England) have been told by NHS England that they can spend some ring-fenced budgets meant for specific services, including children's palliative care, on other areas. One of the affected budgets is the children’s palliative care match funding scheme, money which has been instrumental in developing lifeline support for seriously ill children. The report suggests some of that money could be spent on other health services. It’s not immediately clear how this might affect services, but the move does send a worrying message to ICBs at a time when local NHS funding for children’s palliative care varies wildly between different areas. NHS England must clarify publicly what this means for vital palliative care services for seriously ill children and young people and their families. Read our blog to find out more about Integrated Care Boards, the match funding scheme, and why this clarity at such a complex time is so important > > https://lnkd.in/d5dCZ_tq

🗣️Our Chair, Alison Twycross shares how healthcare workers living with #longcovid have not received the #support they need or deserve. Lawyers from several firms are collaborating on the Covid healthcare worker claims case and report they have hundreds of claimants in England and Wales. Separate legal actions are being prepared in Scotland and Northern Ireland. #Healthcare staff, were not provided with appropriate #PPE protection and many are not able to work, some have been left severely disabled and struggling to pay bills. In March 2022, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus recommended that the #Government establish a #compensation scheme for frontline workers with long Covid. At the present time long Covid is not recognised as an occupational disease and whilst more than 50 countries including France and Germany already have compensations and support schemes, there is little sign that this is happening in the #UK. If you would like to check out and support the work we are doing along with other charities, working in this area, we would be very grateful🙏🏽. #injustice #unfair #unsupported #Covid #healthcareworkers #longcovid Long Covid Support Long Covid Kids https://lnkd.in/dTtAr-bB

Requiring users who can afford it to pay more for their aged care is not just necessary, it is also fair and ethical. As the aged care taskforce and the federal government have rightly made clear, the funds cannot responsibly be raised through new taxes. With the majority of nursing homes are now operating at a loss, the only viable source of funding to shore up a quality aged care system must come from Australians who can afford it, with a strong safety net for those who cannot. Australia has a fine tradition of bipartisan support for necessary reform. I sincerely hope the better angels of our political natures prevail. This is the position of Catholic Health Australia on the current funding debate for aged care. cc: Adrian Kerr, Laura Haylen, Alex L., Brigid Meney. #agedcare #agedcareaustralia

On route to the Houses of Parliament for the APPG for Children Who Need Palliative Care reception... Having been in this sector for nearly 20 years, with over 10 of them working across adult and children's hospices, I continue to be amazed at the precarious position such crucial services are left in, with many never knowing if they will have enough funding to deliver their services in the years ahead. It is entirely obvious that it is the generosity of the public that enables incredible organisations like East Anglia's Children's Hospices (EACH) to provide outstanding services (as rated by the CQC), and also prevent further stress and chaos within the wider health / NHS system. To make this a sustainable model for the future (nationally), we need the following actions to be taken seriously by the UK Government / NHSE, as a minimum starting point: 1. Develop a national plan to ensure the right funding flows to hospices. 2. Ensure that hospices are on multi-year contracts, and ensure contracts are in line with uplifts received by the wider healthcare system. 3. Understand the costs of providing different models of palliative care, with the aim of developing reference costs that can be used by commissioners. #hospice #care #funding

Ahead of the upcoming UK general election, we call upon all political parties and candidates to commit to five specific policies to make sure children and young people with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions and their families can make the most of every moment that they have left together. 1. Review the way in which children’s palliative care is funded and fill the £295 million annual gap in NHS spending on children’s palliative care in 2024/25. 2. Fill the £2.4 million annual funding gap in training in palliative care for paediatric consultants – in addition to other funding gaps in educating and training other professionals, including community children’s nurses. 3. Commit to action across the UK to use the existing children’s palliative care workforce more effectively – and to increase the number of professionals who have the skills and experience to provide palliative care to children with life-limiting conditions across a range of different roles. 4. Fund lifeline voluntary sector providers in England – including children’s hospices – equitably and sustainably for the long-term as their costs increase. In England, this should include a commitment to maintaining ringfenced, centrally distributed NHS funding for children’s hospices beyond 2024/25 which increases by at least the rate of inflation. 5. Hold local NHS bodies and councils to greater account for implementing the existing policy frameworks relating to children’s palliative care. Time is short for seriously ill children and their families. It is therefore vital that the next UK Government commits to this action to ensure they can make the most of every moment that they have left together because short lives can’t wait. If you want to provide your support you can sign our open letter to the next UK Prime Minister here https://lnkd.in/eVA65zce and you can also ask your local candidates to prioritise children’s palliative care in their campaigns.

🧵 Short Lives Can’t Wait ⏰ – a new report from our friends at Together for Short Lives has uncovered significant issues across children’s palliative care. Families with seriously ill children aren’t getting the children’s palliative and end-of-life care they need because of where they live. Care that is clearly set out in standards, guidance & law. Care that every single seriously ill child should have access to. In England the UK Government should fund work to expand the children’s palliative care workforce and ensure more children’s nurses are trained and educated so that they have the skills and experience to provide palliative care to children. The UK Government should also make sure that the NHS invests an additional £295 million in children’s palliative care in England every year to meet the funding gap for services. Together for Short Lives are calling on the UK’s governments, the NHS and others to act now, because time is short for seriously ill children and their families. They cannot wait any longer. You can lend them your voice here https://lnkd.in/eVA65zce

🧵 Short Lives Can’t Wait ⏰ – a new report from our friends at Together for Short Lives has uncovered significant issues across children’s palliative care. Families with seriously ill children aren’t getting the children’s palliative and end-of-life care they need because of where they live. Care that is clearly set out in standards, guidance & law. Care that every single seriously ill child should have access to. In England the UK Government should fund work to expand the children’s palliative care workforce and ensure more children’s nurses are trained and educated so that they have the skills and experience to provide palliative care to children. The UK Government should also make sure that the NHS invests an additional £295 million in children’s palliative care in England every year to meet the funding gap for services. Together for Short Lives are calling on the UK’s governments, the NHS and others to act now, because time is short for seriously ill children and their families. They cannot wait any longer. You can lend them your voice here ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eVA65zce

🧵 Short Lives Can’t Wait ⏰ – a new report from Together for Short Lives has uncovered significant issues across children’s palliative care. Families with seriously ill children aren’t getting the children’s palliative and end-of-life care they need because of where they live. Care that is clearly set out in standards, guidance & law. Care that every single seriously ill child should have access to. In England the UK Government should fund work to expand the children’s palliative care workforce and ensure more children’s nurses are trained and educated so that they have the skills and experience to provide palliative care to children. The UK Government should also make sure that the NHS invests an additional £295 million in children’s palliative care in England every year to meet the funding gap for services. Together for Short Lives are calling on the UK’s governments, the NHS and others to act now, because time is short for seriously ill children and their families. They cannot wait any longer. You can lend them your voice here https://lnkd.in/eVA65zce

A new report from our friends at Together for Short Lives have uncovered significant issues across children’s palliative care. Families with seriously ill children aren’t getting the children’s palliative and end-of-life care they need because of where they live. Care that is clearly set out in standards, guidance & law. Care that every single seriously ill child should have access to. In England the UK Government should fund work to expand the children’s palliative care workforce and ensure more children’s nurses are trained and educated so that they have the skills and experience to provide palliative care to children. The UK Government should also make sure that the NHS invests an additional £295 million in children’s palliative care in England every year to meet the funding gap for services. Together for Short Lives are calling on the UK’s governments, the NHS and others to act now, because time is short for seriously ill children and their families. They cannot wait any longer. You can lend them your voice here: https://brnw.ch/21wImoN 🌈