Tuesday 1 November 2011

The month: issue 48, October 2011

The month: issue 48, October 2011:
The October 2011 edition of ‘the month’ contains the latest on the NHS Commissioning Board Authority, along with articles on maximising the potential of health and wellbeing boards, support for foundation trust governors and the latest from the NHS Future Forum.

(Please note the attached document has not been tagged for accessibility. If you require an accessible version please email mb-web-feedback.dh.gsi.gov.uk)

Download ‘the month’: issue 48, October 2011 (PDF, 177K)

    Danetre Hospital open day - Saturday 12 November

    Danetre Hospital open day - Saturday 12 November: Danetre Hospital open day 12th November 2011

    The growing complexity of NHS commissioning: A recipe for confusion and conflict?

    The growing complexity of NHS commissioning: A recipe for confusion and conflict?: As the NHS Commissioning Board commences a period of shadow running, Nick Goodwin asks whether changes to clinical commissioning are simply reinventing the wheel.

    NHS Commissioning Board Authority goes live

    NHS Commissioning Board Authority goes live:
    The NHS Commissioning Board Authority, a special health authority and the shadow form of the NHS Commissioning Board (the Board), is now in operation.

    Subject to the successful passage of the Health and Social Care Bill 2011 through Parliament, over the next 12 months the Board Authority will focus on designing an innovative business model for the Board, which puts patients and clinical leadership at its heart.

    It will also work in partnership with clinical commissioning group leaders, GPs and the Department of Health to agree the method for establishing, authorising and running clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

    In addition, the Board Authority will create the infrastructure and organise the resources to allow the NHS Commissioning Board to operate successfully as an independent body from October 2012 (subject to the successful passage of the Health and Social Care Bill 2011 through Parliament).

    Sir David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive said: ‘Building this new system over the next two years, while delivering for our patients, increasing productivity and improving the quality of care, is a major challenge. But I firmly believe that what we are trying to achieve – a stronger, more innovative and more coherent commissioning system – will be critical to sustaining the NHS in years to come.’

    The central role of the new Board will be to improve patient outcomes, by supporting, developing and performance managing an effective system of clinical commissioning groups. The Board will also take responsibility for commissioning services that can only be provided efficiently and effectively at a national or a regional level. Sir David Nicholson summarised this purpose as: ‘Using the £80 billion commissioning budget to secure the best possible outcomes for NHS patients.’

    He continued: ‘Putting patients at the heart of all we do means we must be obsessed with improving quality outcomes, obsessed with involving patients at every stage of organisation and service development and obsessed with the availability of clear and accessible information. Only then can we create a system that offers real choice and control to patients.’

    Subject to successful passage of the Health and Social Care Bill 2011 through Parliament, it is anticipated the NHS Commissioning Board will become fully operational on 1 April 2013, when it takes on its complete legal responsibilities for managing the NHS Commissioning system.

    Find out more and watch Sir David Nicholson speaking about the NHS Commissioning Board on the NHS Commissioning Board Authority website.

    Cold weather plan 'to save lives'

    Cold weather plan 'to save lives': Winter weather alerts from the Met Office aimed at helping vulnerable people during cold snaps are to be introduced in England.

    Confidentiality breaches on Facebook

    Confidentiality breaches on Facebook

    Nurse dismissed after posting picture on Facebook

    Nurse dismissed after posting picture on Facebook: A Nottingham nurse has been sacked after posting a picture of a patient on the social networking site.

    NHS staff set to strike over pension changes

    NHS staff set to strike over pension changes: NHS Employers has sent the government detailed advice on how to exempt staff from paying more to their pensions.

    NHS Commissioning Board Authority now operating

    NHS Commissioning Board Authority now operating: The Board Authority is to focus on designing an innovative business model for the Board, which puts patients and clinical leadership at its heart.

    Advice from NICE aims to improve commissioning of services for people with common mental health disorders

    Advice from NICE aims to improve commissioning of services for people with common mental health disorders: NICE has published a guide for commissioners on services for people with common mental health disorders. The guide is the latest in its series of good practice guides to support commissioners in designing high quality, evidence-based services to improve outcomes for patients and to help the NHS make better use of its resources.

    NHS 'must focus on core priorities' - The Press Association

    NHS 'must focus on core priorities' - The Press Association:


    NHS 'must focus on core priorities'
    The Press Association
    The BMA went on to argue that policy initiatives which take money away from clinical services, such as health board elections, should be "urgently reviewed". And it warned ministers they "should not and cannot plan on addressing the inadequacy of its ...

    and more »

    Eyes on Evidence October

    Eyes on Evidence October:

    Eyes on Evidence, the monthly e-bulletin produced by NICE, is now available to read with details of new evidence highlighting the need for earlier recognition of type 1 diabetes in children.


    Latest research on the long term risks for childhood cancer survivors and the increased prevalence of dementia in African Caribbean people is also highlighted.


    It is easy to subscribe and receive the newsletter on a monthly basis in your own mailbox. It is also possible to view back issues



    Tagged: Evidence Based Health Care, NHS Evidence

    The difference between a PCT and a Clinical Commissioning Group – a GP Chair Perspective

    The difference between a PCT and a Clinical Commissioning Group – a GP Chair Perspective:
    Guest Blog by Darin Seiger

    Darin Seiger is Clinical Chair and Accountable Officer of Nene Commissioning. He has been GP Chair of Nene Commissioning since it was established in 2007.

    The difference between a PCT and a Clinical Commissioning Group – a GP Chair Perspective

    I still remember the shock and disappointment I felt during the lecture in my 2nd year of medical school when we had the session on “How the health service is actually run” – how the hell had the model evolved where managers make all of the important decisions and including whether to even involve clinicians at the coal face? Madness!

    Well here we are as clinicians, after years of saying we want more power and influence, ready to seize this opportunity and take these responsibilities on. But individual clinical leaders who have grasped this vision need the support of all their local clinicians. We have to rise to this challenge and win the hearts and minds of our generalist and specialist colleagues to work with us as a team. To do this we have to show that we mean business and that we will make a difference and not end up repeating the previous cycle of promising change and delivering the best part of bugger all.

    Two years ago I called up the Medical Directors of our main provider units (two Acute, one Mental Health, one Community provider and the LMC Chair - as the provider arm of primary care) and suggested the six of us, with our combined 128 years of working in Northamptonshire, needed to start working together to provide the leadership to drive collaboration across our organisations. We have built the crucial relationships between us, and now, through our Northamptonshire Integrated Care Partnership (NICP), we are working together to drive clinically led change though our health and social care system.

    As clinicians we can now stop asking for permission to make changes to improve the care for our patients and just get on and do it. Implementation of our clinical ideas (‘product’) is king, and without our managerial colleagues to turn our vision into reality, we would not have the capabilities to deliver ‘product’. We are very lucky in Nene – we have a dedicated management team that passionately believes that clinicians should make the important decisions and effectively we are committed equal partners in our determination to make change happen.

    The exciting part is that as clinicians, we can break through barriers that no managerially-led system could ever do, in terms of shaping and delivering better clinical care. We don’t need the nth degree of evidence and bureaucracy to make a decision to commission a new pathway or service because as clinicians we know they changes will deliver higher quality of care and return on our investment. Where historically it has taken months for business cases for new services to be agreed, as clinicians we will not tolerate these delays in the system. Ultimately we know that delays in services starting are delays suffered by our patients.

    Put simply the differences between a PCT and CCG are:
    · Collaborative bottom up approaches to solving issues and designing better care for our patients whose pain and frustration we feel when things do not go right
    · Understanding that clinicians need to understand and be consulted on what the issues and potential solutions could be – it simply raises clinicians’ antibodies to be told “this is the problem and this is the solution”
    · Local leaders, with long and deeply embedded roots in our practices and communities, see ultimate success as what is achieved locally, and do not view these leadership positions as transitional until the next opportunity comes along

    Taking stock of schizophrenia

    Taking stock of schizophrenia: Why schizophrenia is still an elusive disease.