The Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) has updated its personalised care planning standard for adults in the community living with severe mental health conditions.
Produced to support community mental health care, the standard provides a model for person-centred care, supporting planning and the information that should form part of the care record. It aims to ensure the right information is recorded to share digitally and then made available to a wide range of healthcare professionals across settings.
Commissioned by NHS England, PRSB began the project last year by evaluating what information was needed in a community mental health care plan to improve care from an individual’s and professionals’ perspectives. PRSB started by analysing the care and support plan standard produced in 2018, and their research identified some additional information may be required.
An updated version of the standard has now been published to include recommendations such as for the care plan to have an ‘about me section’, to offer space for a person to share what’s most important to them and what they need professionals to know.
Recommendations include understanding the meaning and origin of someone’s mental health problems, with the description to distinguish from diagnosis. The updates also recommend to include procedures and therapies, which include the full range of provider interventions including evidence-based personalised therapies, and contingency plans should include information on coping strategies and tools, relapse indicators and early warning signs to ensure service users do not become overwhelmed and distressed.
Sarah Markham, one of the patient leads on the project, said: “As a patient I know from experience that there is nothing worse than having your clinical information stored in multiple data systems which are not always connected, and it can result in less-than-optimal treatment and outcomes.
“A standard for care plans will help to prevent this from happening and will support the digital sharing of care plans for people. It’s crucial to ensuring good quality healthcare, as well as positive patient experiences and outcomes.”
Dr Nilesh Bharakhada, Executive Clinical Director of Health & Care for the PRSB, added: “The care plan standard will help to support better partnerships between health and care teams and the people who use services by enabling individuals to feel more actively involved in their own care and support plan.
“By keeping people healthier in the community, we can improve their overall experiences, as well as reducing the number of emergency situations and the need for frequent hospitalisations.”
Last week HTN reported that PRSB has also updated and expanded its community pharmacy information standard, to reflect a growing range of services offered by community pharmacies.
