14 June 2023
Our CEO Sarah Campbell today gave evidence to the House of Lords Public Services Committee after it decided to launch a rapid inquiry into ongoing safety and reliability concerns with Homecare Medicines Services. A Parliamentary inquiry has been a key demand of our organisation, which has been campaigning for a review of services for the last 10 months. This inquiry represents the first time the sector, now worth £2bn annually, has been evaluated by policymakers in over a decade.
Talking about the session Sarah Campbell said,
“We are the leading voice for rheumatology professionals in the UK and it was a real privilege to be able to take that voice into the House of Lords today. Across the country, rheumatologists have been telling us about the impact on patients and NHS services of faltering and unreliable Homecare Medicines Services. I’m glad that with the launch of this inquiry, they’re finally starting to be listened to.”
We were joined in today’s opening evidence session by the British Society for Gastroenterology, represented by Dr Christian Selinger, and Crohn’s and Colitis UK, represented by Ruth Wakeman, to give the view of both patients and clinicians.
Further sessions are due to take place with the committee hearing evidence on 21 June from the National Clinical Homecare Association (NCHA), the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI), and the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
On 28 June, a session will take place where evidence will be provided by Joe Bassett, the Chair of the National Homecare Medicines Committee (NHMC), the NHS body responsible for evaluating the performance of Homecare Services in England.
Speaking about the evidence session, Ruth Wakeman, Director of Services, Advocacy, and Evidence at Crohn’s and Colitis UK said,
“At Crohn’s & Colitis UK, we pride ourselves on being the leading expert voice for people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Many in our community rely on Homecare Medicines Services for the delivery of vital supplies so that they can go about their everyday lives. Nobody should have their mental or physical health compromised because of a substandard service. If people with Crohn’s or Colitis do not receive their medicines on time, they can experience serious complications which may require emergency medical treatment or even surgery. Lifelong health conditions are stressful enough, without having to worry about missed deliveries and chasing customer services. People deserve better and we hope this inquiry can bring about real change.”
In addition to submitting today’s oral evidence, we submitted written evidence with sixteen recommendations for the committee to consider at the end of the inquiry, with the key demand being a holistic review to be carried out by the NHS. These recommendations range across eight broad areas where we believe reforms need to take place to put Homecare Services on a sustainable footing, these include;
- Standards and codes of practice
- Accountability and enforcement
- Communication and Customer Service Culture
- Complaints systems
- IT Operability and E-Prescribing
- Workforce
- Sustainability and Resilience
- Data transparency
At the end of the inquiry, the Public Services Committee will write to the Minister for Health laying out their findings and putting forward recommendations for improvement.
The commissioning of this inquiry is just the latest in a set of actions to develop because of our energetic campaign on Homecare Services, with NHS Scotland recently committing to review the current system.
Discussing wider developments with the campaign Sarah Campbell added:
“This Parliamentary Inquiry is an important step to delivering better Homecare services for patients and clinicians. But to get holistic and meaningful reform we need the NHS across the UK to match the ambition shown in Scotland to review these services. We’re hopeful that the Lord’s on the committee will set the tone around the scale of reform that is necessary and it’s clear from today’s session that the NHS and government need to start taking action.”