Health Service Journal
19 January 2012

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Northern Devon appoints permanent CEO

WORKFORCE: Jac Kelly has been appointed substantive chief executive at Northern Devon Healthcare Trust after more than two years as an interim.
£200m boost for NHS compensation fund

Nearly £200 million has been pumped into a pot for NHS compensation payouts, the Department of Health said.
A perfect opportunity to reform the education and training system

Last week’s publication of the further policy statement on the future NHS education and training system provides a great opportunity for providers to ensure they have the workforce they need to deliver the world class health services the public wants, says Martin Barkley.
All parts of NHS will be affected by strike - Unite

Every part of the NHS will be affected by strike action on 10 May, the union Unite has claimed.
Amazon-style site launched in response to NHS's purchasing woes

A new Amazon.com-style price comparison website for NHS supplies will be launched today in a bid to capitalise on the service’s need to drive down its spending on procurement.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals loses nearly 10 per cent of charitable funds on stock market

FINANCE: The east London acute trust lost £300k of its £3.4m charitable fund in quarter two, minutes to the meeting of the charitable fund committee reported.
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust revises down savings target

FINANCE: The north London mental health trust has revised down its CIP target for 2011-12 from £15.9m to £14.1m
Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Heath Trust name-change receives tentative backing

STRUCTURE: The north London mental health trust plans to change its name to North London Foundation Trust if it is authorised by Monitor.
Barnsley Hospital misses A&E wait target

PERFORMANCE: NHS North of England has highlighted that Barnsley Hospital Foundation Trust is not meeting the A&E waiting time target.
Bedford faces £2.2m deficit unless action taken

FINANCE: Bedford Hospital Trust could end the year with a £2.2m deficit if it does not cut back, the board heard.
Berkshire Healthcare saves £610,000 through vacancy freezes

WORKFORCE: Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust hit its cost improvement plan target in the year to September 2011, but had to save £610,000 through vacancy freezes.
Biggest health and social care provider given the 'green light'

Plans for the biggest joint provider of health and social care in England have been approved by NHS Midlands and East, HSJ has been told.
Burnham urges medical colleges to demand bill is dropped

Representatives from the main royal medical colleges have met shadow health secretary Andy Burnham to discuss the possibility of a issuing a joint call for the Health Bill to be dropped.
Burton FT considering local pay proposals

WORKFORCE: Staff could go “several years” without incremental pay rises and some would only receive “market rate” salaries where there was a “business need”, under a foundation trust’s proposals.
Calls for North Cumbria University Hospitals management to step down

PERFORMANCE: Nurses, unions and other medical staff have issued an unprecedented joint attack on management at the trust and are calling for senior officials to go.
Cambridgeshire wants to delay Monitor application

STRUCTURE: Cambridgeshire Community Services Trust wants to move back its groundbreaking application for foundation trust status - but is meeting opposition from the Department of Health.
'Can Public Health England improve the way we respond to pandemics?'

The Department of Health’s intention for Public Health England to strengthen the national response to public health crises alongside local bodies may not work in practice unless experiences of previous pandemics are learned from, write Drs Jacky Chambers and Andrew Rouse.
Chief executive of mental health trust resigns

WORKFORCE: Peter Cubbon has announced he is stepping down from the chief executive role at West London Mental Health Trust.
Cluster highlights Leeds Hospitals 18 weeks performance

PERFORMANCE: Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has been identified by its strategic health authority cluster as not meeting the 18 weeks referral to treatment target.
Competitive tendering will be ‘as important’ as any qualified provider

Competitive tendering will be as significant as the use of any qualified provider in the reformed NHS, an influential commission is expected to conclude at the end of the month.
Consultancy appointed to SW London's merger bids competition panel application

STRUCTURE: Deloitte has been appointed to work on Epsom and St Helier Hospitals Trust’s bid to de-merge its hospitals and re-merge with neighbours.
Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership on course to become FT in October

STRUCTURE: Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust expects to become authorised as a foundation trust in October this year.
Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership surplus hits £1.6m

FINANCE: Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership reported a surplus of £1.6m for the financial year to October 2011.
CWP met with Monitor over governance red rating

PERFORMANCE: The foundation trust was asked to meet with Monitor on 13 December to “consider whether the trust is in significant breach of its terms of authorisation”, according to newly published board minutes.
Departed chair at troubled London trust had raised concerns about diverting pregnant women

PERFORMANCE: Chair of Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Edwin Doyle resigned within a week of raising concerns about the Care Quality Commission’s imposition of a cap on the number of births at the trust.
Developing a health and local government service integration model

Could one trust’s health and local government service integration be a model for the rest of the country to follow? Dr Chris Clayton reports on the successful pilot at Blackburn with Darwen PCT.
DH plans to allow councils to take on public health functions early

The Department of Health is considering “arrangements” that will allow councils to take over the management of public health functions before the legal transition of responsibility in 2013.
DH urges councils to support commissioning

Councils have been encouraged by the Department of Health to push to be the organisations that support GPs and clinicians to commission health services in a reformed NHS.
Doctors reject pensions deal

Doctors have overwhelmingly voted to reject the government’s latest offer on pensions.
Dorset mental health services failed to protect mother from her son

PERFORMANCE: A mental health trust has been criticised for failing to consider the safety of a mother who was killed by her paranoid son.
East Cheshire Trust’s finances red-rated by SHA

FINANCE: The trust’s financial position at the end of November was given a ‘red’ risk rating, in its strategic health authority’s latest finance report.
Emergency care pressure drives NHS Cumbria secondary care overspend

FINANCE: At the end of November the primary care trust’s budget for its two local hospitals was on course for an overspend of £4.9m this year, its latest finance report shows.
Enter now: Care Integration Awards launched by HSJ and Nursing Times

Health Services Journal and Nursing Times announce the launch of a brand new awards programme; the Care Integration Awards, recognising and rewarding excellence in collaborative clinical practice.
Epsom and St Helier at pressure ulcer threshold with third of year to go

PERFORMANCE: The south London/Surrey borders trust had a 2011-12 target of only 20 grade three pressure ulcers for the year, a target it risks missing as two incidents this month took the year-to-date total to 20.
Epsom and St Helier secures £5m bailout from cluster to end the year £14m in deficit

FINANCE: The London/Surrey borders trust’s latest finance report said it was planning to hit its revised £14.3 deficit target after “revenue support of £5m has been agreed with sector” and NHS London.
EU laws 'putting patients at risk'

NHS patients are “at risk” because of European laws, the heads of two royal colleges have said.
Exclusive: DH letters to staff admit 'no clarity' on jobs

The Department of Health has given NHS managers a choice of two letters to send staff this month on the future of their roles – one of which is to be used in cases where there is still “no clarity” on what will happen to their jobs.
Exclusive: Health Bill concessions on 'autonomy' and SoS accountability

The government is offering a series of Health Bill concessions in an attempt to diffuse the row over the health secretary’s responsibility for the NHS.
Exclusive: hundreds waited hours for ambulances after software failure

PERFORMANCE: Hundreds of patients waited hours for ambulances in London when call handlers were forced to rely on pen and paper for 15 hours during a software failure, a report seen by HSJ has revealed.
Exclusive: national company to take over PCT estate

A new national property company is to be set up by the government to manage the primary care trust estate, HSJ understands.
Five integral steps to support commissioning headache services

A framework to support commissioning headache services that champions intermittent care headache clinics led by a GP with a special interest in headache offers important benefits to both patients and commissioners, says Dr David Kernick.
Forty-one commissioning support services are proposed

The 50 primary care trust clusters could set up as many as 41 commissioning support services nationwide, an HSJ investigation has revealed.
Fourteen CCGs in North of England have structure problem

STRUCTURE: NHS North of England has highlighted problems with the structure of 14 prospective clinical commissioning groups in the patch, including one in Wirral of which prominent GP commissioner James Kingsland is a member.
FT date for South Central Ambulance slips till March

STRUCTURE: The expected date for authorising the South Central Ambulance trust as a foundation trust has slipped by a month to March 2012.
Gay friendly NHS organisations named

Seven NHS organisations have been named in a list of the top 100 lesbian, gay, and bisexual friendly employers in Britain.
George Eliot 'concern' at high mortality rate

PERFORMANCE: An external review into mortality rates has been launched at George Eliot Hopsital, which has identified its persistently high death rate as “a concern”.
George Eliot in deficit amid 'capacity pressures'

FINANCE: George Eliot Hospital Trust reported a deficit of £88,000 in October, bringing the year-to-date position to £146,000.
George Eliot sets up new forum to address pressures

STRUCTURE: A “Healthcare Operational Board” has been established at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust.
Getting ahead: how to select an executive coach

Choosing an executive coach can seem a daunting decision. Rob Watling offers some simple advice to help make the right choice.
Hospital handover delays rise in south central area

PERFORMANCE: The South Central Ambulance Trust has reported delays in handovers between ambulance and hospital services, with the delay times multiplying by a factor of five in some parts of its patch.
How a lean approach can improve care for the growing number of cancer patients

In times where advanced treatments and a population living longer are putting pressure on services, cancer care must transform itself to meet this demand while at the same time as providing efficient, high quality, coordinated and patient-centred service delivery.
How to achieve the cultural change required to drive NHS innovation

The NHS is crying out for innovate solutions to help meet the challenges facing the service. Despite the austere times, innovation can emerge driven by determination and enthusiasm, argues Dr Neil Bacon.
How to deliver a successful and sustainable hospital transformation

How do you deliver long term transformational change at your hospital when the immediate concern is short term cost improvement? McKinsey senior expert Neil Griffiths has some ideas.
How to establish IT processes to achieve clinical cost efficiencies

A London trust established a pathology IT board to monitor the trust’s investment in IT. Now, the trust is reaping the benefits of an approach that has helped deliver numerous process improvements and achieve significant cost savings.
ICO: Former Royal Liverpool employee unlawfully accessed medical records

WORKFORCE: A former health care assistant at the trust has pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining patient information, according to a statement from the Information Commissioner’s office.
'Inadequate monitoring' of patients tranquilised at South West London and St George's Mental Health Trust

PERFORMANCE: The trust’s risk register noted the potential for “patients coming to harm as a result of inadequate clinical monitoring after rapid tranquillisation”.
Inconsistent CQC inspections leave trusts facing action on 'minor issues'

Inconsistent judgements by Care Quality Commission inspectors worried about “covering their backs” are leaving trusts facing action over issues as minor as a broken microwave, HSJ has been told.
Independent assessment could reduce long-term sickness absence

Creating an independent assessment service to advise on employee absence is our chance to create a fair system, say Carol Black and David Frost.
Independent probe underway of Pennine Acute FT bid

PERFORMANCE: An independent review has been commissioned of the trust’s progress towards foundation status, the NHS North of England finance director reported.
Kent PCTs launch phone app in bid to cut teenage pregnancies

PERFORMANCE: A mobile phone app has been launched as part of efforts to improve sexual health and reduce unplanned teenage pregnancies in Kent.
Labour calls on Lib Dems peers to oppose bill

The coalition government is allowing NHS hospitals to devote half their beds, appointments and car park spaces to private patients, Labour has claimed.
Labour: NHS patients will face 'worse deal'

NHS patients will get a “much worse deal” if the government’s health service reforms see NHS hospitals free to earn up to half of their income from private work, Labour has warned.
Lincolnshire community services trust plans patient consultation over reforms

STRUCTURE: NHS chiefs in Lincolnshire have told patients that planned government reforms in the county will allow healthcare providers to be “more responsive” to their needs.
'Local healthcare cannot be delivered by giant commissioning bodies'

The key to healthcare delivery models lies within natural communities – not in bloated commissioning organisations, says Charles Alessi.
Managers to fly in to run straggling CCGs' budgets

The NHS Commissioning Board will not take on the budget responsibilities of clinical commissioning groups which fail to win full authorisation by April next year, HSJ has been told.
Many Leicestershire urgent care centre attendences would be better managed by GPs

PERFORMANCE: Nearly half of attendances at the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland urgent care centre would be better managed within GP practices, a clinical audit has shown.
MD of Somerset CCG steps down

WORKFORCE: The managing director of Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group has stood down from her role due to a conflict of interest.
Media Watch: regional pay deals return to the fore while PIP implant saga rumbles on

It was reported on Monday that the coalition faced a “growing rebellion” from Liberal Democrat MPs against moves by chancellor George Osborne towards setting regional pay.
Medway trialling Dr Foster hospital performance tool

PERFORMANCE: Medway Foundation Trust has been trialling a new online “quick-look” performance management tool launched by healthcare information provider Dr Foster Intelligence.
Mental health trusts merge

STRUCTURE: Two mental health trusts in East Anglia merged at the beginning of the month to form Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust.
Michael White: trusts need to be wary of the lure of lawsuits

Catching my eye before Christmas was the £4.5m employment tribunal award against Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust in the case ofconsultant Eva Michalak.
Mid Essex introduces restrictions on discretionary spending

FINANCE: NHS Mid Essex has introduced restrictions on discretionary spending as it struggles to deliver QIPP savings.
Mid Staffs inquiry impacting Commissioning Board risk model

The NHS Commissioning Board’s approach to managing risk is being heavily influenced by anticipated recommendations of the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust public inquiry, HSJ has been told.
Mid Yorks Hospitals' £20m forecast deficit tips Yorks & Humber trusts into red

FINANCE: Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust is forecasting a £20m deficit for 2011-12, despite receiving £14m additional support from commissioners.
Mid Yorks Hospitals 'to meet 18 weeks targets by April'

PERFORMANCE: Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust is missing the 18 week referral to treatement target, its strategic health authority cluster has highlighted.
Mid Yorks misses A&E wait target

PERFORMANCE: NHS North of England has highlighted that Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust is not meeting the A&E waiting time target.
New Medicine Service guidance released

New guidance has been published showing how the New Medicine Service and post discharge Medicines Use Reviews can be used to provide a seamless care pathway for patients who transfer from hospital to the community setting.
New strategy director for Imperial

WORKFORCE: Imperial have apppointed Brendan Farmer from Capgemini as director of strategy.
NHS bosses challenge £375,000 fine

FINANCE: NHS health chiefs are challenging a proposed £375,000 fine after computer hard drives containing confidential information about tens of thousands of patients and staff were stolen.
NHS Kingston surplus dependent on transition fund and contingency reserve

FINANCE: The south west London PCT NHS Kingston has reported it “is still able to deliver its target surplus of £3.9m, however, in order for this to be achieved both the transition fund and 0.5 per cent contingency reserve have been utilised in its entirety”.
NHS Manchester to overshoot savings target by £1.5m

FINANCE: The primary care trust is forecasting it will save around £1.5m more than its £24.7m savings target for 2011-12, according to the Greater Manchester PCT cluster’s latest finance report.
NHS Wandsworth's surplus at risk from acute overspend

FINANCE: A finance report to the south west London PCT cluster showed Wandsworth’s reserves had gone from £18m at the start of the year to £3m by the end of month eight.
No 'structural merger' of health and social care, MPs told

There will be no government drive to merge health and social care organisations across the country, health minister Paul Burstow has told MPs.
Noel Plumridge: bonus capital fund threatens to embarrass the system

The letter sent by the Department of Health in late December inviting bids for a £300m capital fund, favouring projects with greater spend in 2011-12, smacks of someone realising the potential for serious embarrassment.
North Cumbria savings plan forecast to fall £7m short

FINANCE: North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust had achieved just £3.7m of its planned £15.2m savings for 2011-12 by the end of November, its latest performance report shows.
North West trusts £9m behind on savings plans at end of November

FINANCE: NHS trusts in the strategic health authority’s region booked ‘”cost improvement programme” savings of £113.9m by the end of November, against a plan of £123.2m to that point in the year to date.
Northumbria Healthcare FT buys PAS

COMMERCIAL: Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has awarded a seven-year contract to Stalis Ltd to supply a new patient administration system.
One in five deaths now 'in own home'

More than a fifth of people now die in their own homes, while the overall trend for deaths at home is rising, research suggests.
'Outliers' mean Epsom and St Helier's private patient unit makes £409k loss

FINANCE: A finance report to the trust’s January board meeting said: “Private patient income continues its adverse trend due to outliers in the private patient unit.”
Ox-Bucks cluster 'concerned' over QIPP

FINANCE: Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire primary care trust cluster has expressed “concern” over its ability to meet its quality, improvement, productivity and prevention plan for 2011-12.
Patient Safety Awards 2012 now open for entry

Following the fourth successful Patient Safety Congress, Heath Service Journal and Nursing Times are delighted to present the Patient Safety Awards 2012.
Patients needing home oxygen services may have to take deliveries at night during Olympics

PERFORMANCE: A risk planning document for the south west London cluster of PCTs said deliveries of services like oxygen to patients homes could have to be made at night, to avoid disruption to the Olympics.
PCT non-exec to lead Worcestershire HealthWatch

WORKFORCE: A non-executive director of NHS Worcestershire has been appointed as chair of the emerging local HealthWatch organisation.
Peterborough and Stamford in significant breach for ‘foreseeable future’ – Monitor

FINANCE: A November meeting of Monitor’s compliance board concluded that the regulator expected Peterborough and Stamford FT to remain in significant breach of its terms of authorisation for “the foreseeable future”.
Question marks over Imperial chief executive advertisment

Imperial College London Trust’s advertisement for a new chief executive could mean one of two things.
Reaping joint benefits of streamlined hip and knee care pathways

One consortium’s approach to overhauling hip and knee care has brought efficiency and financial rewards while sparing patients from repeated trips to hospital. Debra de Silva and Sima Haririan explain.
Regulator to investigate emergency care at Morecambe Bay FT

PERFORMANCE: The Care Quality Commission has announced it is using its investigation powers to look into the delivery of emergency care services by the foundation. The investigation is underway.
Report finds too few health visitors in Croydon

WORKFORCE: Health visitors in the south London borough face caseloads of nearly double recommended levels.
Revealed: Bennett's plan to split Monitor board

Monitor is likely to face “numerous” allegations of improper conduct unless it can clearly separate its future healthcare regulatory role from its responsibility for foundation trusts, its chairman has warned.
Royal Liverpool submits planning application for BioInnovation centre

COMMERCIAL: The trust has submitted a planning application for a 70,000 sq ft Liverpool BioInnovation Centre, to provide commercial scale laboratory space to develop new treatments and medical technologies for the market.
Salaries of 10 NHS Commissioning Board directors total £1.7m

The salaries of NHS Commissioning Board’s senior executives have been released to HSJ.
SHAs asked to endorse £278m Alder Hey rebuild

FINANCE: Strategic health authorities will this week be asked to endorse the business case for a £278m rebuilding of the foundation’s hospital and grounds.
Skills for Health to work with Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals on skill mix

WORKFORCE: The sector skills council for health will be working with the east London trust on a “systematic skill mix review, one of the key actions from the CQC action plan”.
South Central Ambulance reports equipment failure SUIs

PERFORMANCE: The South Central Ambulance NHS Trust has reported a series of serious untoward incidents involving equipment failure, including ambulance doors not opening.
South East trusts fall short on information practises

The importance of providing accurate information has come home to roost at one acute trust in the South East.
South West London and St George's integrated to make site sell-off decision

STRUCTURE: The mental health trust published a draft business plan produced by KPMG which said a full business plan would be needed to decide whether the trust should cut down from five inpatient sites to two.
Southampton Universtiy professor appointed to FT as NED

STRUCTURE: Professor Iain Cameron has been appointed a non-executive director to University Hospital of Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
Staff urged to open up on feelings

A mental health provider is offering staff the chance to take part in meetings to openly discuss the social and emotional impact of caring for patients.
'Start planning the execution, instead of dreaming about the ambition'

In 2012, the Year of the Dragon, will commissioning plans be all smoke and no fire? Paul Zollinger-Read says it is vital that they aren’t.
Sussex Partnership is top trust in Stonewall equality index

WORKFORCE: Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has become the first ever NHS organisation to make it into the top 10 in the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index.
Taunton and Somerset FT awards building contract

COMMERCIAL: Taunton and Somerset Foundation Trust has awarded the contract for building its £34m single room development to construction firm BAM.
The complexity of competition rules creates confusion and risk

Those who worry about the commercialisation of services for NHS patients often point to problems created by privatised utilities or the unholy mess that is the West’s banking sector.
The three key principles behind clinical decisions on resuscitation

“Do not attempt cardio-pulmonary resuscitation” orders can be a contentious area for clinical teams. Duncan Astill and Nick Morton unpick the principles behind them.
Three directors quit Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

STRUCTURE: Three directors have resigned at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust, the December board of governors meeting heard.
Trusts facing 'difficult choice' over service provision

NHS trusts face “difficult choices about the services they provide” as they fight to sustain savings programmes of 5 per cent a year, according to a report by Monitor and the Audit Commission.
Trusts hoping to balance finances now predict huge deficits

Huge deficits have opened up at two trusts that were last month predicted to balance their books at the end of the financial year.
Trusts merge to form Oxford University Hospitals

STRUCTURE: Oxford Radcliffe NHS Trust has merged with Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre to form Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.
Two new Monitor non-executive directors appointed

The Department of Health this morning announced the appointment of Keith Palmer and Sigurd Reinton to the Monitor board.
Two royal colleges declare opposition to Health Bill

The Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives have declared all out opposition to the government’s Health and Social Care Bill.
West Yorks NHS looks at data centre rationalisation

COMMERCIAL: PCTs in West Yorkshire, with the strategic health authority, have engaged consultants to help look at rationalising their data centre services.
Western Sussex at centre of food spending row

FINANCE: Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust was last week forced to admit that an error has occurred somewhere in its data submission on hospital food to the NHS Information Centre.
Western Sussex Hospitals MRSA free for 12 months

PERFORMANCE: There were no cases of hospital-acquired MRSA at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust during 2011.
Wirral FT receiving ‘intensive support’ for waiting times problems

PERFORMANCE: The trust is working with the Department of Health’s intensive support team on a revised plan to tackle its waiting times problems, NHS North of England’s latest performance report states.
'Workplace champions' boost Suffolk's anti-smoking drive

SERVICES: Workplace champions are being recruited in firms in Suffolk to encourage their colleagues to give up smoking.

Alastair McLellan

Health Service Journal19 January 2012

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Health Service Journal
19 January 2012