Self-assessment
Self-assessment is likely to be an early stage of implementing the NSF. It is a vital tool in measuring how far your organisation has to go and which areas will need most attention. This section contains a link to a self-assessment tool and offers advice on tailoring the tool to your local context.
The self-assessment tool
The NHS Modernisation Agency has developed the Managing Long Term Conditions Self-Assessment Tool for use by health and social care organisations and communities. The tool will help you to assess how prepared you are to implement the NSF, and to identify priorities for implementation. It will provide a baseline against which to assess progress towards implementation, and could be used as part of the annual review process.
The tool has been developed for the wider long-term conditions model, and is designed to assess progress in implementing new approaches to the management of long-term conditions, including neurological conditions as covered by this NSF. It is organised into nine different sections:
- vision and leadership
- stakeholder involvement
- evidence into practice
- information, communication and technology
- use of data
- workforce
- delivery
- self-management and monitoring
- commissioning.
How to tailor the self-assessment tool to your needs
Each numbered section contains a number of statements and suggested evidence to help self-assessment. Because it is a generic tool, you may want to select the statements that are more relevant to long-term neurological conditions, and consider whether alternative/additional sources of evidence would be more relevant for services to this population.
The NSF Implementation Group identified 10 key questions related to the different sections of the tool that they felt were important to answer. These may help you decide which statements to focus on when you complete the tool.
How you use the tool will depend on the local context. It is important that the process involves all key stakeholders for long-term neurological conditions.
