March Highlights from the Public Engagement Network

Care Quality Commission (CQC)’s are at the early stages of working on strengthening how they identify, assess, and effectively regulate virtual wards.

Earlier this month, PEN members were invited to take part in a workshop run by the CQC’s Policy and Engagement team.

Many thanks to those who attended for sharing your valuable insights with CQC.

What is a virtual ward?

A virtual ward is defined as receiving hospital-level care in a home environment.

There are a range of other terms that have been used to describe a virtual ward including ‘hospital at home.’ It is different from other Community Health Services because more intensive clinical care and support is provided.

This link on the NHSE website provides detailed information what a virtual ward is and an example of how care is delivered in a virtual ward.

What was discussed?

CQC gained insight from PEN members and local Healthwatch representatives into how people may receive hospital-level care in their homes.

Most of the session was focused on getting your views and feedback.

We analysed the level of awareness and understanding of virtual wards among the people and communities PEN organisations and local Healthwatch groups engage with. We highlighted health inequalities in relation to virtual wards, and gave our views on what information and support should be made available to people, families and carers to improve their experience on a virtual ward.

We will of course keep you updated with any developments on this topic.

New PEN member, The Adhar Project, is a user-led charity dedicated to ensuring the betterment of people's mental health. Based in Leicester, the charity supports mainly Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups, although not exclusively.

Diane Lewis, our Community Engagement Officer for the Midlands, met with the Adhar team to discuss their work and the charity’s aim to work with all the people they support on a one-to-one basis as well as within a group setting.

Diane was then invited to participate in group activities, including exercising to music and meditation.

She then spoke with smaller groups about their experiences of using health and social care services in their local area.

Thank you to everyone at The Adhar Project who kindly took the time to meet with us and for opening up about your experiences of health and social care. We look forward to seeing you again soon.

Marta Styk, our Community Engagement Officer for London and the East of England, attended an in-person event on behalf of the Public Engagement Network held at King’s College London.

The event, entitled ‘Opening up: challenging and rethinking dialogues in health and social care’, enabled attendees to exchange knowledge about access to health and care. It was hosted by NIHR Applied Research Collaboration South London (ARC).

An expert panel examined the facilitators and barriers to accessing health and social care, with spotlights on sickle cell anaemia and chronic pain.

Other event attendees included an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Lead from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College Hospital, patient representatives, Experts by Experience and healthcare professionals including GPs and clinical psychologists.

Marta was able to network with key stakeholders and attended an online follow-up event, ‘Reflections on implementing the Patient and Carer Race Equality Framework’.