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An initiative to support old and vulnerable patients during and after hospital discharge is also reducing readmission rates In most cases patients look forward to being discharged from hospital, but for some old and vulnerable people, who lack the support network provided by close family and friends, it can be a daunting prospect. Normally they have to wait until the local authority makes arrangements for suitable community-based care. This often delays discharge even though patients are medically fit to leave hospital, and puts further strain on NHS bed availability, as well as adult social services...

The DocCom system is similar to Facebook and allows clinicians to find colleagues, connect, collaborate and share information The DocCom idea was born when we were two young trainee surgeons frustrated by the ineffective communications that restricted our ability to make a difference. We saw that communication processes were broken in the NHS. We felt that a clinical social network with Facebook-like capabilities could be the solution that truly transformed patient care within UK hospitals. You have to have worked in healthcare to understand how archaic the systems are. Technology that is commonplace...

Mobile wireless technology gives staff the opportunity to access information whenever and wherever they need it Innovations such as robotic surgery and advancements in imaging mean treatment that what once seemed like science fiction is routine in modern healthcare. Mobile wireless technology is also revolutionising the way information is used, giving staff the opportunity to access it whenever and wherever they need it. At King's College Hospital , the demand for quicker access to patient information came from clinicians. The IT department was, of course, enthusiastic about this change but...

Integration within the NHS has historically been structural – but from the patient's perspective it has lacked co-ordination Many people have placed great faith in the idea that integrated care can solve some of the most pernicious health issues of our time. With an ageing population and a dramatic increase in long-term conditions, it's easy to see why co-ordinated care for patients could provide better health, care and value. However, it's easy to confuse structural integration with what patients really want – personalised, high-quality, seamless care focused on their needs. Of course...

Cost-effective, person-centred, co-ordinated care requires support for local health systems so they can deliver the right care in the right settings, and develop new ways of working In recent years, the health and social care sectors have both faced a series of unprecedented challenges. These have included the upheaval caused by recent NHS reforms, a tough financial climate, and resulting pressure on services because of an increasing gap between needs and resources. So, what's the solution? For many service users, policymakers and service providers the answer is to call for more integrated...

The Care Quality Commission's annual inpatient survey suggests that the negative press is by no means all justified Judging by recent media coverage, you might be forgiven for thinking that the NHS has become a patient's nightmare, with doctors and nurses routinely mistreating or ignoring those in their care, leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths in hospitals across the country. What does the evidence say? The Care Quality Commission's annual inpatient survey – looking at the experiences of more than 64,500 people admitted to NHS hospitals in England in 2012 – got precious little...

Designing, developing and commissioning leadership development is a difficult job to explain at the dinner table I design, develop and commission leadership development for leaders across the NHS. Have I lost you yet? I have one of those jobs that are difficult to explain to anyone not in the same little world. Explaining what I do at the hairdressers or over dinner with new friends always take much longer than any passing interest the person enquiring had. I could say I was a manager in the NHS — that's where I started and is the root of my enthusiasm for my job — but that often leads to a...

Jackie Bailey, paralysed from the waist down after breaking her back aged 17, and her team of peer support officers work with healthcare staff to improve care for people with spinal cord injury I'm up at 6am, and the first thing I do is make a cup of tea, which I take to the bathroom. As a wheelchair user, and with my kind of spinal cord injury, it takes two hours to get washed and dressed. Breakfast is a bowl of muesli or porridge to give me energy for the day. I drive to work in a van with a lift to transfer myself and my wheelchair in and out. When I was younger I used to lift the chair...