Single Operating Model for Commissioning Primary Care

Single Operating Model for Commissioning Primary Care:
The NHS Commissioning Board Authority has published the single operating model for the commissioning of primary care services within the NHS.
The new system will come into effect from 1 April 2013. At this date, the NHS Commissioning Board will take on many of the current functions of PCTs with regard to the commissioning of primary care health services, as well as some nationally-based functions currently undertaken by the Department of Health.
Securing excellence in commissioning primary care describes the system by which the NHS Commissioning Board will use the £12.6bn the NHS spends on commissioning primary care to secure the best possible outcomes for patients.  In time, through this new system, the NHSCB will also develop the future strategy for primary care.
The benefits the Board Authority hopes to achieve from this change are:

• Greater consistency and fairness in access and provision for patients, with an end to unjustifiable variations in services and a reduction in health inequalities
• Better health outcomes for patients as primary care clinicians are empowered to focus on delivering high quality, clinically-effective, evidence-based services
• Greater efficiencies in the delivery of primary care health services through the introduction of standardised frameworks and operating procedures.

It is a system change which will have an impact on patients, providers and their teams, and commissioners, and the Board Authority has systematically taken 18 months to research, develop and consult upon the proposals to ensure they are practical and workable. It has worked closely with current commissioners, patient representatives, PCT medical directors, dental, pharmaceutical and optometric advisors, and key national, regional and local stakeholder and professional bodies to seek to understand and preserve the best of the current system, learn from good practice, and ensure that the system changes will be managed effectively.
The document is based on three guiding principles:

• People should have access to continuously improving, high quality primary care provision regardless of where they live

• The commissioning system should be clinically led and professionally managed to balance the needs of local communities within a single operating system

• There should be consistency in the contractual relationship between providers and the NHS Commissioning Board as the commissioner.

Over the next few months, local area teams, which will be responsible for the delivery of the new system, will be appointed as will central and regional primary care commissioning teams.  CCGs, commissioning support services and local authorities will start to assume their future roles and responsibilities. This document will provide a guide these teams and bodies as they establish and/or further develop their organisations.

• Securing excellence in commissioning primary care
• Securing excellence in commissioning primary care: Annex 2 Tasks and functions
• Securing Excellence in Commissioning Primary Care: Key Facts
• Securing Excellence in Commissioning Primary Care – frequently asked questions

NHS Commissioning

Single operating model for commissioning in primary care

Single operating model for commissioning in primary care: Source: NHS Commissioning Board

The NHS Commissioning Board Authority has published the single operating model for the commissioning of primary care services within the NHS, which will come into effect from 1 April 2013.  Please see the link below for details. NeLM - News

NICE to meet with venture capitalists?

NICE to meet with venture capitalists?: Source: Kantar Media Intelligence Health News

According to an article in the Financial Times, NICE is to begin talks with venture capitalists to discuss which experimental treatments would be most likely to be purchased by the NHS.  It states that this approach could strengthen the UK's life sciences sector by helping funders direct money into those experimental treatments that are more likely to be determined as cost effective.
 
Professor Carole Longson, director of NICE's health technology evaluation centre, told the Financial Times: "We are exploring the possibility of providing advice to the investment community. Our focus lies in providing clarity about the data that [need] to be generated in order to demonstrate the value of products to the healthcare system."  NeLM - News

World class education and training, for world class healthcare: introducing Health Education England (HEE)

World class education and training, for world class healthcare: introducing Health Education England (HEE):
This document aims to raise awareness of the role of HEE and Local Education and Training Boards. It sets out the role of the new organisation for NHS chief executives, directors of HR, all staff in HEE sender organisations and trade unions. It outlines the vision and purpose, values and culture and the proposed advisory structure.

• Guidance
• Department of Health - news

 NHS Evidence - Health Management

Voice algorithms to spot Parkinson's

Voice algorithms to spot Parkinson's:

Mathematician Max Little has created a program which uses algorithms to detect Parkinson's disease from voice recordings.Mr Little, who is a TED Fellow, is due to present his findings at the TEDGlobal Conference in Edinburgh and is asking for people to volunteer in order to create a database of recordings. At present, detecting Parkinson's disease can take a long time as it cannot be identified using ... Healthcare Today

Vow to improve care home standards

Vow to improve care home standards:
The Government pledged today to drive up standards in care homes for people with learning disabilities after a watchdog's report claimed nearly half were substandard. Independent

Administrator to cut services after takeover of ailing NHS trust

Administrator to cut services after takeover of ailing NHS trust:
An NHS hospital trust which is losing more than £1m a week is set to be taken over by a Government appointed administrator with the power to sack staff and cut services as part of a radical restructuring programme. Independent