Health Service Journal
1 March 2012
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18 week issues at Lincs partnership
PERFORMANCE: Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust is only seeing 27.1 per cent of psychology patients within 18 weeks against a target of 95 per cent. -
Agency costs hit west Suffolk surplus plan
FINANCE: Overspending on agency staff has led to West Suffolk Foundation Trust halving its predicted surplus for the year. -
Alan Milburn: preparing for the perfect storm
Far from saving it, the challenges facing the NHS right now threaten to overwhelm the service, warns Alan Milburn. -
Anti-bullying helpline introduced for staff at Northants FT
WORKFORCE: Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust has set up a pilot confidential support line for staff. -
AQP risks and benefits assessed by Notts Healthcare
COMMERCIAL: The opening up of podiatry and psychological therapies to any qualified provider presents threats and opportunities, Nottinghamshire Healthcare’s board heard. -
AWP reaches agreement in council tendering row
COMMERCIAL: Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Trust has agreed to settle a legal action bought against North Somerset District Council over a recent tender exercise. -
Bed capacity falls by 50 at Frimley Park
STRUCTURE: Frimley Park NHS Foundation Trust shed around 50 beds from its capacity over nine months last year. -
Breakeven on cards for Brighton and Sussex
FINANCE: Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust is reporting a marginal surplus of £0.1m for the 10 months ending January 2012. -
Brighton puts checks in place to guard quality and safety
PERFORMANCE: Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has agreed a scrutiny process for its efficiency programme in order to try and prevent drops in patient safety or quality. -
Bristol and Somerset to work together on commissioning support
STRUCTURE: The NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire primary care trust cluster is working with NHS Somerset on developing a commissioning support service. -
CCG calls for Health Bill to be scrapped
Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioning Group has written to the prime minister calling on him to withdraw the Health Bill. -
CCG performance framework missing key quality indicators
Priority areas for care quality improvement are underrepresented – and sometimes completely left out – of the proposed accountability regime for clinical commissioners. -
Charities pursue involvement for CCG commissioning support
National charities are expecting to become major suppliers of commissioning support in the restructured NHS, HSJ has learnt. -
Charles Alessi: human, dodo or cockroach?
The NHS needs space to grow, not boundaries within which it must stay, says Charles Alessi. -
'Command and control' management style leads to poor care
Poor care will ensue if managers impose a “command and control” culture that robs staff of authority to make decisions, a major report into the care of older people has found. -
Commissioning board could take ownership of LIFT assets
The NHS Commissioning Board is expected to take ownership of the public stakes in many buildings built under a public-private partnership scheme, HSJ has learnt. -
Common cancers get faster referrals, study shows
Female, young, or older ethnic minority cancer patients have the highest number of GP consultations before they are referred to a specialist, it has been reported. -
Conflicts of interest Health Bill amendments agreed
Cross-party pressure in the House of Lords on strengthening clinical commissioning group governance will be reflected in further amendments to the Health Bill. -
CQC board faces further shake-up
The Care Quality Commission board faces a shake-up following the resignation of its chief executive and the publication of a Department of Health review. -
CQC finds moderate concerns Notts mental health trust
PERFORMANCE: The Care Quality Commission found areas of moderate concern during unannounced visits to Nottinghamshire Healthcare premises. -
Demand managment 'adrift' in Portsmouth
FINANCE: Demand management schemes in Portsmouth are £3.4m “adrift” of plan, partly due to extra work undertaken to cut waiting lists. -
Developing integrated care for an ageing population
Flooding in 2009 taught services in Cumbria valuable lessons about integrated care for an ageing population, explain Helen Ramsbottom and Mary Bradley. -
DH appoints three new director generals
Three new director generals have been appointed by the Department of Health, covering public health, external relations and group operations and assurance. -
DH sets out FT pipeline escalation framework
The Department of Health has re-iterated that if trusts miss their targets for applying for foundation trust status they face an “escalation process”. -
End of year CIP plan challenge for Royal Wolverhampton
FINANCE: Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals Trust has £3.8m of its £14.1m cost improvement plan for the year to deliver with just two months remaining. -
Ernst and Young brought in to support CSS
The Department of Health has drafted in consultancy Ernst and Young to develop a support programme for commissioning support leaders. -
Exclusive: community trusts dispute asset transfers with PCTs and DH
Plans to transfer NHS properties to community service providers have stalled amid an ongoing dispute between trusts and the Department of Health, and claims of irrational behaviour by commissioners. -
Exclusive: DH reaches £300m deal with firm over delay-hit IT programme
One of the two remaining contractors in the delay-hit National Programme for IT has agreed to reduce the value of its contract with the Department of Health by around £300m. -
Exclusive: East Midlands hires big commercial name to develop commissioning
The former chief executive of the UK arm of health insurance company Aetna has been appointed to help develop a regional commissioning support service covering a 5.4 million population. -
Exclusive: FT pipeline delays threaten boards with the sack
Board members are being replaced and organisational autonomy is at risk at trusts lagging behind in the drive to reach foundation trust status. -
Exclusive: London bosses 'extremely concerned' over A&E
The head of NHS London has written to all the capital’s primary care trust cluster chiefs after becoming “extremely concerned” over accident and emergency performance, HSJ has learned. -
Exclusive: Monitor to publish 'black lists' of unviable hospitals
Monitor will publish a “black list” of hospital services which must be reconfigured under an eleventh hour change to the Health Bill. -
Exclusive: national commissioning leads CCG to merge
STRUCTURE: GPs in the Wirral have agreed to merge their three proposed commissioning groups into one, after the strategic health authority said they were too small and would not be authorised. -
Exclusive: two in three hospital trust savings plans in trouble
More than two thirds of NHS hospital trusts fell behind on their savings plans in the first half of 2011-12 as the sector slipped deeper into the red, HSJ can reveal. -
Failure to limit expectations is blighting NHS regulation
Is running the NHS care regulator an impossible job? Answering that question depends on success in one key area. It is not competence or commitment, although those are a given. But even the cleverest, most dedicated leader will fail if they do not control expectations. -
Finance director appointed to commissioning board
A strategic health authority’s finance director has been given the top finance post at the NHS Commissioning Board. -
Frank Field: how changing life chances will change the distribution of income
Frank Field on where Reform needs to focus its marked influence next. -
'Frequent flyers' identified at Royal Wolves
PERFORMANCE: One patient attended A&E at the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals Trust 90 times between April and December last year - or roughly once every three days. -
Frimley Park expects new A&E to be ready in May
STRUCTURE: Frimley Park NHS Foundation Trust claims it is “on track” for the spring completion of its new emergency department. -
FT consultation starts in Leicestershire
STRUCTURE: Leicestershire Partnership Trust has embarked on a 12 week consultation about gaining foundation trust status. -
Further operational guidance for public health teams
Public health specialists in local authorities should spend roughly 40 per cent of their resources advising new healthcare commissioners, according to draft guidance launched this week. -
Government told NHS needs competition
The government must push for greater competition in providing services, a thinktank has demanded. -
GWAS performance falls
PERFORMANCE: There were no areas of “good or improved performance” to note at Great Western Ambulance Service during December, a report to the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Board said. -
Heatherwood plans maternity unit closure after CCG abandons service
STRUCTURE: Directors of Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals Foundation Trust have earmarked the trust’s Ascot Birth Centre for permanent closure – in part due to GP commissioners moving their patients to another unit. -
Hill returns from Bermuda to rejoin James Paget
WORKFORCE: The former chief executive of James Paget University Hospitals is being brought back to run the troubled trust. -
Hospitals meet 18 week waiting time target
A target on hospital waiting times in Scotland has been met, with more than 90 per cent of patients treated within 18 weeks or less. -
How international health links help improve family planning services
Establishing partnerships with healthcare groups around the world can benefit both the organisations in developing countries and the health service staff placed there, as Chris Smith and Rebecca Hill explain. -
How to get better value for money from psychiatric care units
High cost, low volume and long admissions: Julian Walker and colleagues explore the challenge of evaluating treatment costs for patients in medium secure psychiatric units. -
How to identify and treat patients in appropriate care settings
A hospital trust’s program of analysis, training and delivery to improve care settings for emergency admissions could provide insight into the structure of services across an entire health economy. Lucy Reynolds, Duncan Harper and Peter Wilson report. -
HV shortage leads to 'red' risk rating for Derbyshire FT
PERFORMANCE: Shortages of key staff constitute a “red-rated” operational risk, the board of Derbyshire Healthcare Foundation Trust has heard. -
Improved loss forecast at women's hospital
FINANCE: Birmingham Women’s Foundation Trust is expecting to make a £200,000 loss this year - but this is an improvement on its original forecast. -
In this together: why clinically led commissioning will rely on collaboration
James Sorrowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds presents a compelling theory of how “collective wisdom shapes businesses, economies, societies and nations”. It is a philosophy that appears tailor-made for an evolving NHS. -
Julie Moore: a lot more for a lot less
Embracing innovation and setting long term ambitions have stood University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust in good stead to face the next 10 years, as chief executive Julie Moore explains. -
Key insights into making health and wellbeing boards work
A local government simulation exercise provided a valuable insight into how health and wellbeing boards could - and need - to work in the near future. Hywel Lloyd and Helen Brown discuss the lessons learned. -
Labour bemoans 'cosmetic' Lib Dem bill changes
Proposed Liberal Democrat amendments to the government’s troubled health reforms have been dismiseed by Labour as “cosmetic” changes designed to help Nick Clegg face down unrest within his party. -
Lib Dems seek further Health Bill amendments
Ministers will attempt to fight off further controversy over the government’s troubled NHS reforms as the Health and Social Care Bill resumes its passage through the House of Lords today. -
Lincs partnership predicts strong finish to financial year
FINANCE: Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust is predicting it will be £4.2m ahead of plan by the end of the financial year, based on performance at the end of month 10. -
London GPs off the pace on exercise programmes
WORKFORCE: GPs in the capital are cynical about a major campaign to encourage physical activity in patients with long terms conditions, reflecting a wider lack of enthusiasm about exercise programmes, a study suggests. -
Lords win tweaks to Health Bill on competition
The government looks set to accept a series of further changes to its Health Bill in the face of persisting political and professional concern. -
Mark Britnell: open for business
There is still time for the NHS to regain its status as the best health system in the world, argues Mark Britnell. -
Matthew Taylor: mind the gap
We need to close the social aspiration gap, says Matthew Taylor. -
Media Watch: the chips are down after Crisp attack
Health economics rarely gets much of an airing in the media, but Saturday morning on Radio 4 was an exception. Alan Maynard valiantly defended the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s use of cost benefit analysis for new treatments. -
Michael White: these are dispiriting and dark days in NHS politics
Ministers must have breathed a small sigh of relief during one of the worst weeks for NHS politics among the many worst weeks the service routinely endures. -
Mike Farrar: the politics of decentralisation
It takes courage to do more than talk a good game about decentralised health services. Will we look back on this time in 10 years and reflect on words or actions, asks NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar. -
Mobile device mooted by Dudley and Walsall
PERFORMANCE: Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership Trust is going to review five different types of mobile device, together with NHS Dudley IT, to support a move towards mobile working. -
New Kent hospital runs into trouble with CQC
PERFORMANCE: Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust said it had made immediate changes to improve patient care at its new hospital at Pembury after a routine inspection by the Care Quality Commission. -
NHS to extend HIV care to overseas visitors
Overseas visitors to Britain are to be offered free HIV treatment on the NHS for the first time. -
Nick Seddon: healthcare reform's new dawn
Radical thinking from radical people is the only way forward if the health service is to thrive, says Nick Seddon. -
Noel Plumridge: forget hospitals, competition will thrive in non-acute services
Trust being in short supply lately, GPs greeted last week’s apparent relaxation of the any qualified provider regime with scepticism. -
Norman Warner: will a new Beveridge emerge?
What are the “giant” challenges facing Britain today, and will a new Beveridge emerge to tackle them, asks Norman Warner. -
Norovirus knock on effect at West Suffolk
PERFORMANCE: Norovirus has affected a number of wards at West Suffolk Foundation Trust in January and February, creating a knock on effect on A&E waiting times. -
Northants FT ahead on budget plan
FINANCE: Northamptonshire Healthcare Foundation Trust looks set to end the year well ahead of its surplus target. -
Nottinghamshire Healthcare ups surplus forecast
FINANCE: Nottinghamshire Healthcare has revised its year-end surplus upwards to £6.3m from £4.0m after the first 10 months returned a surplus of £5.3m against a planned £3.6m. -
Orthopaedics trust agrees end of year position
FINANCE: The Robert Hunt and Agnes Jones Orthopaedic and District Hospital Foundation Trust has reached agreement with its three main commissioners on the end of year position, which will require it to do additional work over the next few months. -
Pathology shake up across East Anglia acutes
STRUCTURE: Five hospitals in the East of England could lose a large part of their pathology services under a proposal being considered by the SHA. -
'Patient choice should not force commissioners away from competition'
A healthcare market where competition is heavily regulated threatens to restrict commissioners in their goal to secure quality, value for money services, says King’s Fund director of policy Anna Dixon. -
PCT staff to be designated 'affected by change'
A primary care trust cluster is to write to all 800 members of staff to inform them they are “affected by change”, HSJ has learned. -
Performance improving at Avon and Wiltshire
FINANCE: The amount being paid by Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Trust in contract penalties has continued to fall at the start of this year. -
Peter Carter: tomorrow's NHS
The future of the NHS - patient care, sustainable services, preventing illness - depends not on competition, but collaboration and cooperation, argues Peter Carter. -
PFI staff strike in Swindon
WORKFORCE: Hospital housekeeping staff employed by a private finance initiative partner have staged a series of walkouts over alleged management bullying. -
Physicians poll supports calls for bill to be dropped
Nine in 10 Royal College of Physicians doctors want the NHS shake-up to be scrapped, it has been reported. -
Portsmouth trust prepares to miss savings target
FINANCE: Portsmouth Hospitals Trust has set aside £2m in case it fails to hit its savings target for 2011-12, but has admitted that this might not cover the shortfall. -
Pressure ulcers hike at Notts Healthcare
PERFORMANCE: The community services division of Nottingham Healthcare saw a sharp rise in the number of grade three or four pressure ulcers in January - up from three in December to 11. -
'Pressures' regularly shut Birmingham maternity unit
PERFORMANCE: The maternity unit at Birmingham Women’s Foundation Trust had to close five times at night in two months because of pressure, the trust board was told. -
Private heart clinic refers FT to competition panel
COMMERCIAL: A foundation trust has been referred to the Cooperation and Competition Panel by a private heart clinic. -
RCN stalls on pensions decision after low vote turnout
The Royal College of Nursing’s council has held back from rejecting the government’s latest pensions offer after a poor ballot turnout among members. -
Restraint urged after BMA decides to ballot for industrial action
NHS Employers has called for employees to be in full possession of the facts on pension reforms before deciding to take industrial action. -
Rise in patient stays at Leicestershire partnership
PERFORMANCE: Average length of stay for mental health patients treated by Leicestershire Partnership Trust have crept up to 63.6 days against a target of 53.9 days, the board was told. -
Royal Wolverhampton set for dramatic C difficile target miss
PERFORMANCE: Royal Wolverhampton HospitalsTrust is expecting to have 146 cases of C difficile this financial year - more than double its target of 65. -
RUH 'unlikely' to close savings gap this year
FINANCE: Royal United Hospital Bath Trust is £4.8m behind on its cost improvement plan year to date. -
Salisbury building new neo-natal intensive care unit
STRUCTURE: Work has started on a new £800,000 neonatal intensive care unite and accommodation for parents at Salisbury Foundation Trust. -
Second CCG condemns health bill and 'bureaucratic' authorisation process
City and Hackney clinical commissioning group has become the second to urge the prime minister to drop the Health Bill. -
Simon Stevens: living to be 500, death by asteroid, and the inevitability of NHS reform
Health reformers should paint an inspiring vision of what progress could mean for patients and for health professionals rather than focus on the negatives that have necessitated it, says Simon Stevens. -
Somerset acutes sign pathology deal
COMMERCIAL: Taunton and Somerset Foundation Trust and Yeovil District Hospital Foundation Trust have signed a contract with Integrated Pathology Partnerships to form a new pathology services joint venture. -
South Staffs PCT wants to see 24 hour A&E at Stafford Hospital
STRUCTURE: The Staffordshire primary care trust has announced it is to launch a public consultation on the future of Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust in May. -
South Warwickshire braces for 'significant' income cut
FINANCE: South Warwickshire Foundation Trust is in negotiations with local clinical commissioning groups for a “significant reduction” in income. -
South Warwickshire set 'challenging' £10m QIPP target
FINANCE: South Warwickshire Foundation Trust has been set a “challenging” efficiency target of £10m for 2012-13. -
Staffing issues warn of 'catastrophic' potential for South Central trust
University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust is reporting rising tensions over staffing levels, in spite of attempts to manage demand. -
Staffing shortage being tackled in Leicestershire
WORKFORCE: Leicestershire Partnership Trust is tackling staffing issues highlighted in a critical coroner’s report into the suicide of a patient who absconded. -
Stephen Dorrell: re-engineering the care model
The health service has changed but, in comparison to other services and sectors, not enough. There is plenty of room for improvement, says Stephen Dorrell. -
Stroke performance improves at Taunton and Somerset
PERFORMANCE: During December 84 per cent of stroke patients at Taunton and Somerset Foundation Trust spent 90 per cent of their time on a stroke unit against a required standard of 80 per cent. -
Suitors begin circling for George Eliot deal
What next for George Eliot Hospital Trust? -
Surplus at risk in Dudley and Walsall
FINANCE: Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership Trust is very slightly behind plan as it aims to make a £850,000 surplus for the financial year. -
Sussex Community hunts for new finance director
WORKFORCE: Sussex Community NHS Trust is currently seeking to appoint a director of finances and estates. -
Tameside hospital advised new death rate measure demands ‘new approach’
PERFORMANCE: The advent of a new hospital death rate indicator which includes all patients who die within 30 days of admission means the foundation must ensure people “at risk of dying” are not admitted “inappropriately”, its board has been advised. -
The need for greed in public health spending budgets
Although outcomes can be difficult to measure, trends over the last 50 years suggest the £5.2bn budget for public health in 2013-14 could leave the health service with thinning options -
Trust mergers don't guarantee more for less
Mergering healthcare organisations should be viewed with caution, unless there are clear and demonstrable benefits to patient services, says Nuffield Trust chief economist Anita Charlesworth. -
Two serious incident reports at Robert Hunt and Agnes Jones
PERFORMANCE: The Robert Hunt and Agnes Jones Orthopaedic and District Hospital Foundation Trust reported two serious incidents in December - one involved a fracture when a patient fell and the second a case of physical and verbally abusive behaviour. -
UK medicine prices 'cheapest in Europe'
The price of drugs is falling more steeply in the UK than the rest of Europe, it has been claimed. -
Unique hybrid finance model planned for trust's PFI
A foundation trust is in talks about combining a “bullet payment” from the Department of Health with its own surplus and charity funds to make a private finance initiative rebuild more affordable. -
Unwelcome 18 week anniversary for Frimley Park
PERFORMANCE: Frimley Park NHS Foundation Trust has not met its 18 week referral to treatment monthly target for a year. -
Virgin rebrand for care provider Assura Medical
Community and primary care provider Assura Medical is to rebrand as Virgin Care, two years after Virgin bought a controlling stake in the company. -
Ward safety checklist roll out at Brighton and Sussex
WORKFORCE: Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust is in the middle of rolling out a ward safety checklist to improve patient monitoring and safety. -
'We care' what patients think, says Western Sussex Hospitals
PERFORMANCE: Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust is investing in a technology to help patients provide feedback on its services, it has announced. -
'We must look at today's challenges in terms of the NHS legacy'
The question ‘What do you want to be remembered for?’ can help focus managers on long term outcomes rather than short term challenges during the upheaval of reform, says Peter Homa. -
West Suffolk slightly off course for falls CQUIN target
PERFORMANCE: West Suffolk Foundation Trust had 44 fall in January - just above the trajectory it needs to achieve to get a £41,250 CQUIN payment for the fourth quarter. -
Wirral FT analyses steep decline in waiting list performance
PERFORMANCE: A new report by the trust lists confusion caused by a new patient administration system and commissioner refusal to pay for additional activity among the causes of its steep decline in waiting list performance.
