1. Health and Social Services in the Department of Health
CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
Health and social services funded by the Department of Health:
Primary Care Trusts
Acute NHS Trusts
Mental Health Trusts
Social Care Trusts
Specialist services
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
The Department of Health funds a wide range of professional health and social services to support the public in looking after their health and social wellbeing.
Present above points, then say: They are usually referred to as the National Health Service or NHS and organised into groups or trusts. All of these groups need to work together to provide the best services they can, so they all need to be doing user involvement work. You will hear specific details from your Link Person on the group that you are involved in.
Note to Trainer: These ideas are based on the work of Kress (2003) – listed in the ‘References’ for the Background Information section 1A

2. Primary Care Trusts or PCTs
CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
Primary Care Trusts or PCTs
The role of PCTs is to:
find out about health and social care needs in the local area
plan services to meet the needs
use their budget from the Department of Health to commission the services from providers in the local area
monitor how well services are being provided
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
Present above points, then say: The PCT is where people usually have first contact with the NHS through a general practitioner or GP. The GP helps people to access any other services they need, including going to hospital. 1B

3. Primary Care Trusts or PCTs
CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
Primary Care Trusts or PCTs
Examples of services provided by PCTs include:
GP clinics
Pharmacy services
Dental services
Optical service
Home visiting programs
Allied health professional services
Public health - prevention and health promotion programs, e.g. stop smoking programs
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
Present above points. 1C

4. CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
NHS Trusts
The local or general hospital is the base for each NHS Trust – although some NHS Trusts have more than one hospital in it
They are the secondary or tertiary levels of care in the health and social service system
Secondary means the next step after seeing a GP, dentist, midwife or health visitor because the person needs a different sort of care
Tertiary means a very specialised focus and level of care for specific health problems, like cancer
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
Present above points, then say: After using hospital services people are usually referred back to PCTs for ongoing support, although some people need to also be monitored by hospital services. 1D

5. NHS Trusts Examples of services provided by NHS Trusts include:
CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
NHS Trusts
Examples of services provided by NHS Trusts include:
accident and emergency care
hospital out-patient clinics
hospital admissions for a broad range of health issues, e.g. serious infections and operations for accidents or health problems: heart disease, cancer, strokes
specialist units or clinics, e.g. long-term medical problems (diabetes, multiple sclerosis), cancer care units
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
Present above points. 1E

6. CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
Mental Health Trusts
Mental Health Trusts have a specialist focus on responding to people experiencing mental health problems and mental illness
They have services that are focused on adults and their carers, and others on children and adolescents and their families
Their services are offered in the community as well as through hospitals
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
Present above points. 1F

7. CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
Mental Health Trusts
Examples of services provided by Mental Health Trusts include:
mental health focused hospitals
mental health wards in a general hospital
crisis intervention services
home-visiting and support services
counselling services
day centres for people with ongoing mental illness
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
Present above points. 1G

8. CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
Social Care Trusts
Social Care Trusts provide services for people who need additional social support, sometimes after they have been in hospital
Examples of services provided through Social Care Trusts include:
District nurses who do home-visiting
Long stay care for the elderly
School nurses
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
Social Care Trusts were established in Local Authorities, NHS Trusts and Primary Care Trusts are meant to work in partnership to provide support services.
Present the first point, then say: In some areas this partnership is made very formal through creating a Social Care Trust that coordinates the social services in a local area.
Present the second point, then say: Many trusts also have research and development units that organise all the research and development activity within that trust. The Department of Health also sets up specialist research and development groups and their work supports the whole of the UK. You will hear more about this in Theme 2.
Of course, the voluntary and independent sectors also provide health and social services, but we are concentrating on the Department of Health in this training. 1H

9. User involvement support in services
CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
User involvement support in services
Four main structures for user involvement in the NHS:
Patient Advice and Liaison Services – PALS
Patient and Public Involvement Forums – PPIFs
Independent Complaints Advocacy Services – ICAS
Overview and Scrutiny Committees – OCSs
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
The NHS has become very interested in user involvement over the last few years. In 2000 they said: “Patients are the most important people in the health service. It doesn’t always appear that way. Too many patients feel talked at, rather than listened to. This has to change.” Since 2001 there have been several changes to help create structures to support user involvement in the NHS. The Commission for Patient and Public Involvement is an independent body that will oversee all of these user involvement groups at a national and local level. Here are four of structures that are most important for you to know about.
Present above points then say: Your Link Person will tell you about other structures or activities that are important to your organisation.
Note to Trainer: Where possible, provide local examples of these structures for the participants. 2A

10. Patient Advice and Liaison Services – PALS
CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
PALS are available at a local level such as the main reception area of hospitals and primary care services.
They are run by health or social service staff and:
Provide advice and support in every Trust
Provide information and on the spot help for patients, their families and carers
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
Present above points. 2B

11. Patient and Public Involvement Forums - PPIFs
CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
Monitor and review services from a user and carer perspective
Seek the views of users and carers on the services they receive
Make reports and recommendations to the management of Trusts
Are represented on Trust Boards
When needed, suggest that other health or social service groups, or sections of the Department of Health investigate or take action on any concerns
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
NHS Trust, Primary Care Trust Mental Health Trust and Social Care Trust will have a Patient and Public Involvement Forum. It is made up of members of the public as well as users and carers.
Present above points, then say: Sometimes they may refer matters to the Overview and Scrutiny Committees to deal with – we will talk about them in a minute. 2C

12. Independent Complaints Advocacy Services – ICAS
CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
These will be available in each region to:
provide direct support to people who want to or need to complain about a service issue or their personal treatment
extend but not replace existing advocacy services
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
Present above points. 2D

13. Overview and Scrutiny Committees – OCSs
CORE 1: Unit 1 - Part D
Overview and Scrutiny Committees – OCSs
Monitor the work of health and social services
If there are public concerns about disputed service changes, then refer them to the Secretary of State
Make routine reports and recommendations to local NHS managers
Provide information on services and decisions to NHS managers
Are consulted by NHS managers if there are major changes to health and social services
Trainer Notes
PRESENTATION:
Overview and Scrutiny Committees have been set up within local authorities and have specific duties to:
Present above points, then say: It is the job of the local Commission for Patient and Public Involvement to help these four structures to work well together. They all need to talk to each other so that patient and public involvement at all levels is effective. Together they want to help the NHS create high quality health and social services that meet the needs of the local population. 2E