Health Service Journal
2 February 2012

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AWP rejects clinicians bid to set up a social enterprise

STRUCTURE: The Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Trust board has rejected a request from a group of clinicans to break away and establish a social enterprise in Bristol which could potentially become a competitor when services are put out to tender.
'Be clear' bowel cancer campaign launched by government

A government campaign has been launched to raise awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer.
Bournemouth and Christchurch exceeds planned surplus

FINANCE: The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Foundation Trust had a year to date surplus of £5.3m against a plan of £2.2m at the end of November, board members heard.
Bristol just misses out on A&E standard in December

PERFORMANCE: University Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust was marginally below the 95 per cent standard for patients treated within four hours in A&E in December.
Bristol misses reperfusion target

PERFORMANCE: Only around three quarters of reperfusion cases had a ‘call to needle’ time of 150 minutes or less in November - below the 90 per cent standard - University Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust board were told.
Bristol revises up surplus prediction

FINANCE: University Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust has revised its likely year end surplus up by £1m to £7m.
Business case for Worcestershire's radiotherapy unit approved

STRUCTURE: Regional health chiefs have approved the Outline Business Case for Worcestershire’s first ever radiotherapy centre.
Cambridge and Peterborough receives CQC warning notice

PERFORMANCE: A mental health trust has been issued with formal warning notices by the Care Quality Commission after an inspection raised concerns about patient safety.
Campaign to increase doctors working in Wales launched

A campaign to encourage more doctors to work in Wales has been launched by Cardiff’s health minister Lesley Griffiths.
Can transparency be the most powerful driver of healthcare improvement?

Transparency about performance may be a key precondition for improving service delivery and productivity in healthcare, write Tim Kelsey, Nicolaus Henke and Helen Whately.
CCG finances shift in Herts

FINANCE: Changes to allocations and using reserves has improved the financial position of two clinical commissioning groups in Hertfordshire.
CCG performance could be measured against 120 indicators

Clinical commissioning groups could be judged against up to 120 performance measures, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has revealed today.
CCGs in Derbyshire 'confused' over finances and lacking 'coherent strategy'

PERFORMANCE: Derbyshire clinical commissioning groups variously lack a “coherent strategy”, show “confusion” over finances and have “low confidence” in hitting savings targets, according to the primary care trust cluster chairman.
Chief executive of hospital trust with huge deficit resigns

WORKFORCE: Julia Squire, the chief executive of Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, which is facing a £20m year-end deficit, has resigned.
Ciarán Devane interview: 'There is a role for top-down control'

As the chief executive of cancer charity MacMillan starts work at the NHS Commissioning Board, he tells HSJ’s news editor Nick Golding that his motivation is to champion the patient.
Competition panel highlights GP conflict concern

A primary care trust has been criticised by the Cooperation and Competition Panel for giving GPs leading roles in a decision to close a rival primary care centre.
Confed warns Monitor off credit ratings plan

Most NHS providers are “extremely unlikely” to be able to obtain a credit rating, and the proposal is likely to be unacceptably costly to the health service, the NHS Confederation has warned.
Consultant support sought for CCG authorisation process

The NHS Commissioning Board will need external support, likely to come from management consultancies, to help authorise clinical commissioning groups.
Consultation to decide location of Sandwell's hyper-acute stroke unit

STRUCTURE: A consultation has been launched on centralising strike services at one of Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust’s two hospital sites.
Could Hinchingbrooke set a benchmark for health organisation ownership?

Circle’s takeover of Hinchingbrooke hospital has opened a debate on hospital ownership and management, which could, Kevin Jacquiss says, inspire the government to look at new ideas to secure a sustainable future for health service organisations.
County council to handle health and social care complaints

STRUCTURE: Staffordshire County Council is planning to introduce a single complaints service for health and social care in the county.
CQC is 'fit for job', says permanent secretary

The Department of Health official tasked with reviewing the Care Quality Commission has said it is “fit for the job” but will take another two years to be fully effective.
Croydon out-of-hours care failures exposed

PERFORMANCE: Serious care and accountability failures in an out-of-hours GP service have been highlighted in a report from a London primary care trust.
Derby City draws up HR outsourcing spec

COMMERCIAL: A new specification for outsourced HR transactional support has been developed, to be procured from April 2012.
Derbyshire County predicts higher spending on Sherwood Forest services

FINANCE: NHS Derbyshire County’s forecasted out-turn for Sherwood Forest Hospitals has deteriorated and is now an overspend of £561,000.
DH warns over severe weather

The Department of Health has warned people to keep an eye on local weather reports as forecasters warn that scattered snow showers and freezing temperatures are on their way to the UK.
Dorset reaches £10m agreement with Lloyds TSB

FINANCE: Dorset County Hospital Foundation Trust has got agreement to draw down up to £10m of working capital from Lloyds TSB.
'Dramatic improvement' in A&E admission times at Leicester

PERFORMANCE: University Hospitals of Leicester Trust has seen a “dramatic improvement” in the time taken to admit emergency patients.
E&N Herts misses A&E waiting times target

PERFORMANCE: Less than nine out of 10 A&E patients were treated within the four hour standard at East and North Hertfordshire Trust in the first week of January.
E&N Herts reports £0.8m surplus

FINANCE: East and North Hertfordshire Trust is reporting a surplus of £0.8m after the first nine months of the financial year and is forecasting a surplus of £3.5m at year end.
'Engaging GPs is the new year's resolution for clinical commissioning'

Although many CCGs are now up and running, they face a number of challenges that show no sign of abating. Ben Gowland discusses a key priority for his commissioning group.
Exclusive: St George's drops out of St Helier merger bid

Mergers affecting £1bn of NHS services have been thrown into doubt after a key participant pulled out of the running to take over a neighbour.
Farrar: Commissioning board manager cuts 'pose a danger to patient care'

NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar has warned the health service’s capacity could be reduced to “dangerously low levels” by proposals to halve the number of managers in key areas of NHS commissioning and planning.
Fears over 'destabilising' C difficile fines to be investigated

The possibility that fines for C difficile infections will have a “destabilising” effect on some hospitals next year is to be investigated by the Healthcare Financial Management Association.
Fixed NHS prices could become 'increasingly problematic' commission warns

The use of fixed prices to prevent competition driving down care quality could become “increasingly problematic”, a “seminal report” warned this week.
Flory to lead NHS Trust Development Authority

NHS deputy chief executive David Flory is to become the first head of the body charged with creating an all-foundation-trust provider sector.
Gloucestershire fails to hit Clostridium difficile target

PERFORMANCE: The year end target for Clostridium difficile cases has already been exceeded by Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation Trust.
Gloucestershire misses 95pc target again

PERFORMANCE: Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation Trust only managed to treat just over 90 per cent of patients in A&E in December within four hours.
Gloucs reports £1m deficit

FINANCE: Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation Trust is reporting a £1m deficit at the end of month nine - against a planned £1.7m surplus.
Government urged to slow NHS 111 rollout

GPs and nurses are urging the government to slow the implementation of the new non-emergency NHS telephone number amid fears it could actually increase pressure on services.
Hague wants 'exhaustive discussion' on Yorkshire reconfiguration

STRUCTURE: Reconfiguration plans for Friarage Hospital, North Yorkshire, should be subject to “exhaustive discussion and examination”, foreign secretary William Hague has said.
Health board fined after patient contracts Legionnaires'

A health board has been fined after an “entirely avoidable” chain of events resulted in a hospital patient being diagnosed with Legionnaires’ disease, the Crown Office has said.
Health bodies caution against Cabinet Office open data push

A government consultation on more open use of data has found strong support for increased transparency in public services. But health organisations have urged caution due to the potential for leaks of sensitive information.
Healthcare trust facing deficit considers 'wholesale' outsourcing

The trust predicting the largest deficit in the country is considering a “wholesale approach to outsourcing corporate functions”, HSJ has discovered.
Heatherwood and Wexham Park rewrites CIP plan

Heatherwood and Wexham Park NHS Foundation Trust is rewriting its cost improvement plan after reforecasting its finances for 2011-12.
Hertfordshire Community Trust appoints David Law

WORKFORCE: A community trust in Hertfordshire has announced two key appointments. Hertfordshire Community Trust has appointed David Law as the chief executive and Dr Hemal Desai as medical director.
'Hinchingbrooke model' still an option for struggling trust

A financially challenged hospital is considering partnering with the private sector, despite government claims that no NHS trusts planned to follow the “Hinchingbrooke model”.
Hinchingbrooke plans set out by new owners

The private provider at the first NHS hospital to be taken over by a private sector firm have set out their vision to turn around its fortunes.
How a 'bottom-up' approach to innovation is making service improvements easier

Adopting a bottom-up approach to driving clinical improvements in a traditionally top-down health service is making a significant difference to the collaborative projects being run in north west London by the National Institute for Health Research, writes Ganesh Sathyamoorthy.
How to create an organisational strategy to develop clinical leaders

A programme to engage senior staff with clinical leadership through assessment and development is creating a core group of strong clinical leaders at Salford Royal. Stephen Perry and David Wood explain the programme.
How to make change management a driver of quality care

Delivering an improved level of quality in patient care through change management is certainly achievable, but the vision and the process must be visible and understood at all levels of your organisation, say Marie-Clare Mendham and Seraphim Patel.
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals closes birth centre

STRUCTURE: Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust has announced it will permanently close its Jubilee Birth Centre at Castle Hill Hospital, centralising all maternity services at its Hull Royal Infirmary site.
Imperial suspends reporting on waiting lists

One of England’s largest hospital trusts has taken the rare step of suspending its reporting of three key performance measures as it is “unable” to determine how many patients are waiting for treatment.
Ipswich expects to bid for FT status next year

FINANCE: Ipswich Hospital Trust does not expect to push forward with its bid for foundation trust status until the middle of the next financial year as it tries to get its finances back on track.
King's Lynn gets red rating over C difficile

PERFORMANCE: The Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn Foundation Trust has given itself a red rating for performance as it is above trajectory for c. diff cases for the third quarter running.
Leicester let off readmissions penalties worth £7.5m

FINANCE: Commissioners have reduced an £11m penalty for emergency readmissions at University Hospitals of Leicester Trust to just £3.5m.
Letters on PCT and SHA staff transfers sent today

Primary care trust and strategic health authority staff across England are today being sent letters explaining where their function is to be transferred to in the restructured NHS.
LIFT companies seek NHS Property Services links

Companies set up under a public-private partnership scheme are positioning themselves to become key partners to NHS Property Services, the firm formed to manage health service assets.
London ambulance service facing new investigation on performance

Difficult times for the London Ambulance Service as it faces a fresh investigation into its performance.
'Major concern' about medicine management at James Paget

James Paget University Hospitals Foundation Trust has been given a clean bill of health on some of the areas of concern raised by the Care Quality Commission.
Media Watch: it's beginning to look a lot like winter

Freezing temperatures kept most of the press preoccupied this week. By the time you read this, Britain will probably have entered a mini ice age with Siberian blasts immobilising the country - or at least the readers of the Express.
Medical royal colleges divide over Health Bill

There is a deepening split in the position taken by the medical royal colleges towards the Health Bill.
Mergers pay boost for NHS interim managers

Interim managers working in the NHS saw their daily rates grow by 6 per cent last year despite other parts of the public sector seeing falls of up to 13 per cent, a new survey suggests.
Michael White: humility is in short supply despite Lansley's 'climbdown'

It would be good to detect signs of humility and contrition in the healthcare community when the editors of three of the leading trade publications (including this one) launch a “never again” plea for more discussion and less prescriptive dogmatism next time there’s an NHS reorganisation.
More private clinics to treat implant patients for free

Two more private firms have agreed to remove PIP breast implants free of charge.
Nearly half of GPs dealing with 'burnout'

Close to 50 per cent of doctors suffer from emotional exhaustion related to burnout, according to researchers.
New Assura Medical practice in Calderdale

COMMERCIAL: A new GP practice, run by Assura Leeds LLP, has opened in Calderdale.
NHS managers 'too busy' to address staff health at work

NHS managers do not “buy in” to the health at work drive, the government’s national director for health and work has claimed.
NHS Oldham falls behind on ‘stretch’ savings target

FINANCE: The primary care trust booked quality, innovation, productivity and prevention (QIPP) savings of just £6.8m in the first eight months of 2011-12, against a plan to have saved £11.5m by that point.
No big shift in government Health Bill amendments

The government was this week expected to announce a series of changes to its Health Bill, with the intention of staving off opposition when the legislation returns to parliament next week.
Noel Plumridge: tariff reductions aren't the one-size-fits-all solution

Timely as they are, the Commons health committee’s warnings about the NHS’s approach to saving £20bn are nothing new.
Norfolk and Suffolk become diversity champion

WORKFORCE: Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust has joined equality charity Stonewall as a diversity champion.
Norfolk and Waveney predicts £2m surplus

FINANCE: The PCT cluster in Norfolk and Waveney is still predicting a £2m surplus for this year - but only by utilising all its contingency funds.
North Cumbria selects preferred takeover bid

STRUCTURE: North Cumbria University Hospitals has named Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust as its preferred bidder to take over the trust.
North West PTS contracts to be opened up

COMMERCIAL: Contracts for patient transport services in the North West are to be procured on a primary care trust cluster-basis after warnings the existing regional arrangement may break competition rules.
Opposition likely for Yorkshire reconfiguration plans

Major service change is not getting any easier in North Yorkshire: plans to close inpatient children’s services at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton are back on the agenda, a press release reveals.
Poor outcomes continue for heart failure, audit reveals

Heart failure outcomes remain poor with variations in quality of care across the country and a lack of access to specialist management, according to a major national review.
Predicted primary care overspend improves in Derbyshire

FINANCE: The current forecast year end position for primary care is a £1.3m overspend.
Private providers attack Monitor failure regime

Private mental health firms are lobbying for deep changes to Monitor’s proposed failure regime, claiming rules putting “patients ahead of creditors” will prevent them from borrowing.
Queen Elizabeth Hospital's stroke care scrutinised

PERFORMANCE: NHS Norfolk is raising a contract query with Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn Foundation Trust over its stroke care.
Redesigning hospital environments can help tackle infection

Controlling healthcare acquired infection requires intelligent hospital design and practices, write Nigel Klein and Vanya Gant.
Rheumatic diseases specialist forecasts deficit

FINANCE: Lower than expected income from PCTs has led to the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases Foundation Trust forecasting a deficit of £909,000 for the financial year, rather than the planned surplus of £124,000.
Royal colleges will 'continue dialogue' on reform

The government looks to have avoided a major rebellion from the influential royal colleges over its plans to overhaul the NHS.
Safety award for South Central Ambulance

PERFORMANCE: The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust has been voted Fleet Safety Champion of the Year for the public sector.
Salisbury and Wiltshire dispute cost of services

FINANCE: A £15m gap is opening up between what NHS Wiltshire wants to pay for services at Salisbury Foundation Trust in the next financial year and what the trust says they should cost.
Salisbury begins work on a neo-natal intensive care unit

SERVICES: Work has started on a new neo-natal intensive care unit at Salisbury District Hospital.
SHIP cluster agrees new GP service at community hospital

STRUCTURE: A GP service will be set up at Fareham Community Hospital in Hampshire as the “most suitable option” for providing primary care services in the area.
'Significant overspend' in unplanned care at Chesterfield Royal

FINANCE: There is a “significant overspend” in unplanned care at Chesterfield Royal Hospital Foundation Trust of £945,000.
Some maternity care shifted from Dudley to ease pressure

STRUCTURE: 140 women identified as low risk are being asked to transfer their care from Russell’s Hall Hospital, part of Dudley Group of Hospitals Foundation Trust, to ease pressure. The trust has had to close its maternity unit 14 times since March 2011.
South Devon £2m above surplus target

FINANCE: South Devon Healthcare Foundation Trust had a surplus at the end of November of £3.1m for the year to date, £2m more than planned.
South Devon risks missing C difficile target

PERFORMANCE: South Devon Healthcare Foundation Trust reported one case of C difficile in November, bringing the year to date total to 15.
South of England PCTs set to beat surplus target

FINANCE: Primary care trusts in the South of England region are expecting to beat their surplus targets by £5.5m, with a total combined surplus of £241m.
Southern NHS trusts undershoot financial plan

FINANCE: NHS trusts in the South of England are forecasting a combined surplus nearly 10 per cent lower than target.
The benefits of using virtual environment radiotherapy training

Utilising virtual environment radiotherapy training has helped one trust develop and improve learning and knowledge in different departments across the trust, as Dean Garnham and colleagues explain.
The NHS deserves a better, more open debate over health reform

The Health Bill enters the crucial report stage in the House of Lords next week amid huge controversy. To mark this, the BMJ, HSJ and Nursing Times have, for the first time, cooperated to publish the same editorial.
Three C difficile cases cost £55,000 under CQUIN system

PERFORMANCE: Three cases of C difficile have cost the Royal National Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases Foundation Trust £55,000 in CQUIN payments and could lead it to be red-rated for governance by Monitor.
Three hundred wait more than four hours at Queen Elizabeth

PERFORMANCE: More than 300 patients waited longer than four hours in A&E at King’s Lynn in December - bringing performance against the four hour standard down to 92.7 per cent for the month.
Union attacks Northumbria FT for mileage rate cut

WORKFORCE: The union Unite has said Northumbria Foundation Trust “could face a legal challenge” after nearly halving the mileage paid to some of its staff.
Warning as social care funding falls £0.5bn

Spending on older people’s social care in England has fallen by half a billion pounds, according to a new report.
West Herts under pressure after rise in emergency admissions

PERFORMANCE: An upward trend in emergency admissions is putting pressure on West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust.
What's in your in-tray?

2012 will be a massive year for the NHS, and workforce leaders will play a major role. As HSJ and Nursing Times launch the Healthcare 100 Masterclass, in association with NHS Employers, Daloni Carlisle takes an overview of the big-ticket items on the agenda of every HR manager.
Why engaging staff is a critical component of hospital transformation

Transforming hospital services is a grand idea, but a major service redesign will not work without a strategy for staff engagement, say Jane Warder and Ian Hall.
Why taking a national approach could kick-start technology adoption in the NHS

High costs, complex planning and ‘pilot-itis’ are all common hurdles to technology adoption. Sally Chisholm argues a coordinated national approach could help overcome them.
Worcestershire launches service review

STRUCTURE: The NHS in Worcestershire is embarking on a review of health services.

Alastair McLellan

Health Service Journal2 February 2012

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Health Service Journal
2 February 2012