Why is QISMET's purpose of increasing importance now?
Improving the quality of the organisation and delivery of self management and self care programmes is as relevant as improving the quality of the organisation and delivery of all other types of health service.
Why?…
- Because the triumvirate of an aging population, increased life expectancy and, ironically, advances in healthcare mean that the number of people living with a long term condition will continue to rise significantly into the future, with the concomitant spiralling costs of healthcare which will be impossible to meet. Consequently, the availability of good self management programmes that effectively empower people to self manage and self care are becoming increasingly important in the ‘tool kit’ of healthcare interventions available to commissioners, clinicians and patients alike.
- The changing landscape in health service structure and service provision means that there is a proliferation of new types of self management and self care support services emerging, and likewise new provider organisations entering the arena.
- A step change in the emphasis on quality in all areas of health and social care was laid down in the the NHS White Paper (published June 2010) leading to the advent of 'any qualified provider.'
QISMET has a central role to play in assisting both commissioners and providers in defining who really is a 'quality provider' of today's self management support services.
