CCG Innovation Fund wins patient experience award

news | Words Sarah Gillinson | 22 Mar 2017

PRESS RELEASE

City and Hackney CCG Innovation Fund wins major patient experience award Innovative commissioning programme celebrated for working directly with local communities to transform health and wellbeing outcomes.

City and Hackney CCG’s Innovation Fund has won a 2017 National Patient Experience Award – Commissioning for Patient Experience – for providing an exemplar of commissioning that can transform the patient experience.

The Innovation Fund, which was designed and supported by Innovation Unit, was set up to identify innovative, non-medical, community-based solutions which could increase people’s social skills and improve their confidence and wellbeing. It was an entirely new way for the CCG to work.

Working closely with the local community to identify and prioritise outcomes, the fund is focused on finding solutions that will strengthen the resilience of people and communities, create opportunities for people to better look after themselves and each other, and make transitions in and out of health and care services smoother.

Since 2014, the Innovation Fund has supported 27 projects with £800,000 of funding. Projects are tested on a small scale and supported to develop a robust evidence base.

A third round of the fund, launched in November 2016, focuses on taking the successful projects to scale in partnership with mainstream health and care providers.

Catherine Macadam, the Patient and Public Involvement Chair at City and Hackney CCG said: “We are delighted to have won the Commissioning for Patient Experience award, which is a testament to all of the great work that has been delivered by the projects and their partners. Helping people look after themselves and find their way to the right service is a national challenge. As the Innovation Fund shows, many of the solutions lie within the community rather than within mainstream health and social care organisations.

She added: “Residents and patients from within Hackney have played an important role in the success of the fund. They have articulated local needs, suggested different ways of doing things, and helped shape the fund’s application process. We would like to thank them for all of their invaluable contributions.”

Sarah Gillinson from Innovation Unit said: “We are thrilled that the Innovation Fund has been recognised for the great results it has achieved. Not only does it have the potential to transform outcomes for people living in City and Hackney, but it has demonstrated how a new model of healthcare commissioning can operate. By acknowledging the impact that social factors have on people’s health and wellbeing and by working directly with the local community, it has created a space and resource for the charity sector to deliver innovative solutions that will make a real difference to people’s lives.”

Editor’s notes:

• Interviews and case studies can be arranged. Please contact: Becky Slack at Slack Communications, becky@slackcommunications.co.uk or 07854 221 568.
• NHS City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is responsible for understanding the health needs of the population, facilitating the design and redesign of services, buying services, and measuring the impact of services and how well they are provided. The CCG is overseen by NHS England, which ensures we have the capacity and capability to commission services successfully and to meet our financial responsibilities.
• Innovation Unit is a not-for-profit social enterprise. We create new solutions that enable more people to belong and contribute to thriving societies. We partner with places, organisations and systems, in the UK and globally, to ensure innovation has lasting impact, at scale.
• The PEN National Awards are the first patient experience awards in the UK, celebrating the delivery of outstanding patient experience by those involved in the health and social care industry. A full list of the winners can be found here: http://patientexperiencenetwork.org/
• The City & Hackney Innovation Fund is a £400,000 fund that was set up by the City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to identify community-based innovative ideas that have the potential to deliver significant improvements in the health and wellbeing of City and Hackney residents. To date, 27 projects have received funding to test new and different ways to improve the health and wellbeing of local residents. A third round of the fund, which focuses on mainstreaming and scaling successful ideas, launched in November 2016.

Projects that have received funding are:

1. Bikur Cholim: Peer support groups within the Orthodox Jewish Community focusing on Crohns, Colitis and other gastric conditions
2. Core Arts: A sports and physical health project for adults with severe mental health problems
3. Drs of the world: Supporting migrant and refugee communities to access mainstream services
4. Epilepsy Society: Setting up and delivering self-management groups for people with epilepsy
5. Family Action: Social Prescribing Programme for children aged 5-11 promoting good health and independence
6. Hackney People First: Training for mental health professionals about dual diagnosis (mental health and learning disabilities)
7. Hackney Playbus: Helping vulnerable mothers and carers of babies access maternity services, children’s centres and other health services
8. Mind: A recovery campus aimed at empowering clients to self-manage and access information and peer support
9. Off Centre: Peer support programme for young people with mental health problems
10. RLSB: Engaging with young visually impaired people through regular sports sessions
11. Sickle Cell Society: Supporting sickle cell patient groups, patients transitioning to adult services and those seeking alternative therapies
12. St Joseph’s Hospice: Compassionate Neighbours project offering social and practical support for people living at home with a long-term or terminal condition
13. Sunbeams: Peer support for vulnerable girls within the Orthodox Jewish Community
14. Volunteer Centre Hackney: Time banking skills share project aimed at building the confidence and social networks of vulnerable people
15. Bags of Taste Limited: Dietary behaviour change courses using affordable ingredients
16. Bikur Cholim: Peer-to-peer support for older people with long-term care needs within the Orthodox Jewish community
17. Centre for Better Health: Group counselling activities including mindfulness, drama therapy and art therapy
18. Hackney Council for Voluntary Service: Supporting vulnerable mothers to engage with mainstream maternity services
19. Hackney Playbus: Training for mental health professionals about dual diagnosis (mental health and learning disabilities)
20. Hands Inc: Promoting menopause wellbeing and improving health outcomes of menopausal women
21. The Huddleston Centre: Pet/animal therapy for young people with disabilities aimed at reducing loneliness, depression, anger and improving confidence and wellbeing
22. Koach Parenting: Parenting support for families within Orthodox Jewish community aimed at improving parent-child relationships
23. Read Together: Therapeutic reading group for people with mental health issues
24. Renaisi: Bilingual Parent Support Adviser service engaging minority language families in schools to support resilience, attendance/attainment and family wellbeing
25. Spice Innovations: A time credit project delivered together with residents at St Mungo’s homeless hostel to improve health outcomes of homeless people
26. St Joseph’s Hospice: Working with black, Asian, ethnic and refugee communities to strengthen understanding of what patient centred end-of-life care services look like
27. Tavistock Centre for Couple Relationships: Supporting people with dementia by building on the couple relationship

More information can be found here.