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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...

At a time of increasing need and decreasing revenues, a co-operative model could provide a solution Serving tea and cake might not seem particularly pioneering but the seven staff with learning difficulties who work at the Cafe in the Park in Herrington Country Park near Sunderland are all genuine pioneers. The staff work for Sunderland Home Care Associates (SHCA) , the ground-breaking employee owned social care business whose executive director and founder Margaret Elliot explains what makes these cafe workers so revolutionary: "Even though the staff only work one day a week so they don't...

News, comment, blogposts and tweets across the sector Clare Horton Claire Burke Sarah Johnson

News, comment, blogposts and tweets across the sector Clare Horton Claire Burke Sarah Johnson

Public health settlement is more generous than expected but basing allocations on historic spend will leave some councils out of pocket There has been both excitement and anxiety around the transfer of public health to local government this month. Unfortunately the excitement has mainly been in local government and most of the anxiety in the public health world. People working in sexual health have probably expressed more anxiety than most and they have raised two main concerns. While there are all real risks, there is also a great opportunity to build upon the successes of recent years and take...

Our roundup of the best healthcare news, comment and analysis from around the web Welcome to the weekly roundup from the Guardian Healthcare Professionals Network. Our daily blog is on hold over the Easter break, so here's a summary of what's been happening across the sector this week. This was the week that the government's NHS reforms came into force. More than 200 new organisations were launched, while 160 others were disbanded. Some labelled the restructuring as the biggest overhaul in the near 65-year history of the NHS, and Sir David Nicholson, the health service chief executive...

Changes to public health will increase the professional profile of public health and bring new career paths England's directors of public health now have a new employer: responsibility for the administration of public has been transferred from the NHS to local councils. The move, which was part of the government's health reforms, has not only brought a new paymaster, it is also creating career opportunities. Responsibility for social services has already been written into the job descriptions of some local authority public health directors, and it is predicted that other services like environmental...