The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has issued a report examining the measures required should England’s health and care system move towards the provision of ‘whole person care.’ With the benefit of making the connections between physical health, mental health and social care needs, and supporting people to remain in their own homes as long as they wish, whole person care provides joined up responses to individual needs.
Success is dependent on a number of factors including a long-term investment mindset, aligned incentives, effective use of technology and a flexible workforce. The report concludes that there is clear potential to deliver better outcomes if care services are more coordinated.
Commenting on the report Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) professional adviser, Eve Jenner, said that “physiotherapists were well placed to support whole person care” adding:
“They can act as single point of contact, care coordinators or as part of a team of health and social care professionals providing holistic assessment and treatment to people with long-term conditions.Key success points for whole person care include peer support, tapping into the expertise of others with the same condition, and personalised care plans. For professionals, the ability to share online access to personal health and care records is also vital. This last point echoes moves already being made within the health profession to share records. Not only does this lead to streamlined care, it also saves time and costs and helps to speed up effective treatments.
Simple measures such as electronic storage of patient records are a key step towards this goal. But not only does electronic storage facilitate the sharing of records, it also streamlines processes. When patient records are available at the touch of a button there is no wasted time in searching for mis-filed records, no wondering if the record shown is the latest one and no time spent on gathering evidence in preparation for each client appointment.
For health professionals such as physiotherapists and osteopaths, the electronic storing of patient records helps to save administration time which can better be spent on patient treatments. For health and care professionals as a whole, the move towards whole person care will help them to cost effectively provide the best treatment pathway available for the individual. The IPPR has identified many issues which are critical for the success of whole person care and they will be looking at these in more depth over the next 12 months. We’ll keep an eye out for these follow-ups and report as appropriate.