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NHS Institute's development for commissioners programme provides support for CCGs and uncovers some common concerns The latest sessions from the NHS Institute's development for commissioners programme featured delegate text voting, which went down a storm. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we've all become hot-wired to having permanent connectivity, and letting our mobile's go even until coffee is an uncomfortable experience. The programme's current focus is supporting CCGs in preparation for their authorisation bid. Our offer has been developed by primary care...

There is no mention of social care practice in the plan, and it fails to see our real integration through personalisation The government's new mental health strategy implementation framework is all about translating vision into reality. It is a cross-sector action plan for achieving the government's six objectives: • More people will have good mental health • More people with mental health problems will recover • More people with mental health problems will have good physical health • More people will have a positive experience of care and support • Fewer people will suffer avoidable harm...

Ahead of the international Aids 2012 conference, a film made by young people with parents affected by HIV and Aids gives their moving accounts I'd thought it was going to be a typical teen movie: soccer, school, a bit of romance. But when the footage came, we watched it with tears running down our faces. These children wanted the world to know what it was like to live with a parent with HIV/Aids, and the 14-minute film they have made shows their reality . Four years before, we were starting a major Oxford University research study of children living in Aids-affected families, interviewing 6...

A lack of integration and splintered funding streams threaten care savings but social impact bonds offer councils hope Positive conversations about the opportunities presented by the public health reforms have quickly turned to discussions of funding shortfalls and the dangers of under-investment. If the graph of doom – a chart presenting the bleak funding picture for local authorities without any radical changes to the social care system – is to be avoided, local authorities need to find new ways of working with commissioners to make upfront investments in lifestyle change. Our Healthy Places...

Jackie Daniel, the chief executive of a mental health and social care trust, compares two different kinds of leadership One of my early experiences as a leader was during my time as a ward sister on a busy 30-bed surgical ward. I remember feeling the weight of responsibility this role carried. It included responsibility for my 30 patients — many of whom had undergone major surgery — their family and friends, and the team of dedicated staff who supported me on a day-to-day basis. It was here that I began to understand the added value of effective leadership and also to develop an awareness of the...

Adults with autism should be supported to find and hold down a job, which would have innumerable benefits for their care The NHS needs to recognise the symptoms of autism in adults better, say new guidelines from Nice, the government's NHS watchdog. Because autism can affect people past childhood and there are variations in assessment criteria, it is a condition that can often be overlooked by care professionals – with severe consequences for those left undiagnosed. The new guidelines seek to improve this, identifying the most common, recognisable characteristics of autism and, in turn, emphasising...

As the Commons health committee launches its inquiry into funding social care, proposals for means testing could put an end to the principles of the welfare state Everybody, it seems, is an expert when it comes to social policy and social care. We are seeing this now with the discussions Nick Clegg has sparked about removing benefits such as winter fuel payments and free travel passes from better-off older people. Commentators' confused responses have highlighted the sense they see this making, the need to concentrate resources on the most disadvantaged and the wastefulness of universal schemes...