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Bundles of fun all round!

Bundles of fun all round!

Oh, the timing could not have been better. The editor has been complaining that I’ve been unnecessarily grumpy lately when there is, in fact, so much to be cheery about, even if it’s hard to spot as you sift through stories about increasingly burnt out GPs, dysfunctional governments and patients abusing staff to the point of walk-out.

So yeah, pick all the fun out of that. Except, wait! There is joy around!! And joy comes in little bundles, right? Which is exactly what we’ve got!!! Specifically, ‘National bundles of care’ for children and young people with asthma!!!!

These ‘National bundles’ are a completely New Thing, and they have literally made me wee- wee myself with excitement.

For a start, as the National Bundle Project appears to be a totally unheralded and novel type of guidance generator, we can presumably look forward to more where the asthma one came from, covering lots of other fascinating areas (like diabetes, lipids, COPD etc – and you know we just can’t get enough of that). Plus the authors have got the message that we’ve been overwhelmed with guidance since the pandemic, so they’ve stripped this right down to just the 45 pages in the core document, then a mere 16 pages of ‘Integrated care system deliverables’ (I know, don’t they sound GREAT?!), topped off with a 39 page resource pack.

These are bundled up nicely to make sure none of the new abbreviations (‘CYP’*), snappy headings (‘enablers’**) and meaningful neo-phrases (‘disseminated funding’***) don’t fall out. And don’t worry, they haven’t. Nor has the requirement to do a home visit for asthmatics with frequent attendance or exacerbation, which is a thoughtful touch because these people are breathless, remember.

Plus, this guidance fills a huge gap in asthma care. After all, currently we only have national bodies and initiatives like BTS, NICE, QOF and the PCN IIF schemes to guide and incentivise us. Oh, and that residual sense of professional competence, motivation and responsibility. Other than that, it’s a void.

Best of all, I, myself am asthmatic. And I can honestly tell you I felt better just from reading all this stuff. When are you visiting, exactly? I need to be sure I’m in.

*Children and young people

**Things that make things happen

***Absolutely no idea


          

READERS' COMMENTS [4]

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Decorum Est 13 October, 2021 1:36 pm

‘they have literally made me wee- wee myself with excitement’
Are you sure it’s not your prostate kicking-up?

Patrufini Duffy 13 October, 2021 1:52 pm

Bundles of care…sound like heaps of garbage in the hands of grey, inert, policy makers.

Douglas Callow 13 October, 2021 2:36 pm

Tragically this woeful administration that remains clueless and lurches from crisis to catastrophe is getting more powerful and more boastful in-spite of its obvious failings!
As the Great British public deem there is no alternative things may get worse
Unless as a cohesive profession with patient support we row this back.
( Then I woke up )

Sam Tapsell 13 October, 2021 9:11 pm

I hate to break ranks, but if you skip bundle 1 and 2, the third document “resource pack” is really very good.
Maybe decision aids designed to be shared with children are my current level of function, but they’re excellent!