Designation of services for adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD)
The process to improve future NHS services for adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) in England is underway. The process of review is managed by NHS England. We are working closely with ACHD patients, clinical staff and other relevant stakeholders as we review the services currently provided and develop standards for the future. This process will eventually lead to some hospitals in England being designated to provide ACHD care.
Developing national designation standards for ACHD services
The ACHD Advisory Group includes clinicians, professional associations and representatives from patient groups. This Group has developed a proposed network model of delivering specialist care and draft national designation standards that all hospitals wishing to provide ACHD services will have to meet in the future.
Michael Cumper, Chairman of the Somerville Foundation and member of the ACHD Advisory Group:
“The Somerville Foundation supports the NHS review into ACHD services. We are working closely with clinical experts on the Advisory Group to develop standards of care that will improve the lives of patients with ACHD – now and in the future. The Advisory Group has taken considerable time to amend the draft standards to reflect the views submitted during last year’s period of engagement. No decisions have yet been made. A full public consultation will take place on any proposed changes and we encourage everyone to take part in the debate. Your views are important.”
We want your views by 10 May 2013
A period of engagement is currently underway. Due to the extensive feedback received during the engagement period held in summer 2012, the Advisory Group has made a number of changes to the proposed model of care and draft designation standards. We want to know what you think about the revised model of care and standards.
The revised model of care and standards can be found here.
Comments should be submitted by 10 May 2013 to Hannah Weaver:
Email: Hannah.Weaver@nhs.net
Letter: Hannah Weaver
NHS England
Southside
105 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 6QT
If you have any questions on the process please contact Hannah on 020 7932 9128.
Reports on engagement
You can read the reports of previous engagement exercises here:
- A focus group was held in November 2011 with a small number of people from the Down’s Heart Group, a national patient group which provides support to those with Down’s syndrome and congenital heart defects, to gain more in-depth insight into patient experiences of NHS services for learning disabled adults with congenital heart defects. A report from the focus group is available here
- Feedback from the Summer 2012 engagement period has been captured in two separate reports; a report detailing feedback from the engagement workshops and a report outlining the written responses received. These are available to view here. Members of the ACHD Advisory Group have received these reports and are considering the feedback as they continue to revise the draft national designation standards
- The ACHD review team also attended the last two annual conferences for the Somerville Foundation:
- The first opportunity to gain feedback from patient was at the annual conference which took place in Cardiff over the 22nd and 23rd October 2011. Two sessions were allocated to the NHS for discussing the review – a full report from the event can be found here.
- More recently the NHS attended the annual conference in Glasgow to get feedback from patients about how they would like to be consulted with during the next stage of the review. A full report with more detailed feedback from the event can be found here.
Read about the proposed improvements and the rationale behind the review in Adults living with congenital heart disease. An easy read version is also available here.
The previous version of the proposed model of care and draft standards is available here. Further information on the development of the draft national standards and proposed model of care is available in our newsletters here.
