Health Service Journal
5 January 2012

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£500m private sector community services takeover 'stalls'

COMMERCIAL: The transfer of a £500m contract for community services to the private sector has been delayed due to complications over primary care trust estate.
2012: what now for the NHS?

What has 2012 got in store for the NHS? Here are HSJ’s predictions for the year ahead.
250 Pennine Acute ‘backlog’ patients transferred to private sector

PERFORMANCE: 250 of the trust’s patients will be transferred to the private sector in an effort to improve waiting times at Pennine Acute, one of its commissioners has reported.
Amended private patient income cap 'will have little impact'

A government proposal to cap the amount of private income foundation trusts can earn at 49 per cent will have little practical impact on the health reforms, experts have claimed.
Barts plastic surgery nurse given MBE

WORKFORCE: Daren Edwards, clinical nurse specialist in plastic surgery at Barts and the London, has been awarded an MBE for services to nursing.
Birmingham chief executive made a dame in new year's honours

The chief executive of University Hospital Birmingham Foundation Trust has been made a dame in the new year’s honours list.
Book review: How to have Creative Ideas

NHS Trafford service reform lead Hannah Lowry reviews How to Have Creative Ideas by Edward de Bono, and asks whether it can help the NHS develop new solutions to old problems.
Budding ICO aiming for 'maximum integration'

STRUCTURE: The health economy in North Somerset is hoping to move away from payment by results to achieve “maximum integration”, HSJ has been told.
Cameron 'set to back minimum alcohol price'

David Cameron will overrule Cabinet colleagues to push through plans setting a minimum price for alcohol, it has been reported.
Chief nurse mentioned in honours list

WORKFORCE: Hilary Chapman, chief nurse and operating officer at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, has become a CBE
Civil service unions hold up pensions 'progress'

The government will today outline progress made on the public sector pensions dispute, which remains unresolved despite lengthy talks.
Clinical commissioning behind schedule and risking 'suspended animation'

Clinical commissioning is behind schedule in many areas with the transfer of staff from primary care trusts stalled and just over a year remaining before the NHS’s structural overhaul is supposed to be complete.
Clinical data regulation not robust, say experts

Leading doctors have called for an end to “incomplete data disclosure” and more robust regulation of information in clinical trials.
CQC lifts concerns over Heatherwood trust

PERFORMANCE: The Care Quality Commission is to remove compliance actions from Heatherwood and Wexham Park NHS Foundation Trust following an unannounced inspection.
Developing a new care pathway to enhance responses to alcohol cases

Alcohol-related emergency care demand needs to be understood and managed if the number of cases is to be reduced, say James Bell and colleagues.
Developing leadership by managing unconscious behaviour

Improving leadership within an organisation through identifying our subconscious behaviour can galvanise a workforce and deliver better performance, write Nicholas Bradbury and Barbara Moyes.
Dorset cluster running out of staff

WORKFORCE: The Bournemouth, Poole and Dorset primary care trust cluster has warned there may not be enough staff left working in the PCTs to meet the requirements for the clinical commissioning group.
East Lancs midwife gets OBE

WORKFORCE: Sheena Byrom, a consultant midwife at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, has been awarded an OBE for services to midwifery.
Education changes will lead to £3m training income loss at Nottingham

FINANCE: Proposed changes to education funding will lead to a future loss of education and training income of £7.7m over a three year period.
EU energy plan poses financial risk to NHS - Confed

Energy efficiency improvement plans proposed for EU countries could cost the health service millions of pounds a year, the NHS Confederation has warned.
Exclusive: contractual penalties to combat ‘hidden waits’ will not take effect until 2013-14

The government has said new contractual penalties to tackle “hidden” waits for elective procedures will not be introduced nationally for 15 months, HSJ can reveal.
'Failing' social care system putting older people at risk

England’s “failing” social care system is leaving 800,000 elderly people “lonely, isolated and at risk”, say experts who have today urged the government and the Labour party to begin social care reform.
Field's Future Forum report to call for GPs to move into 'bigger organisations'

NHS Future Forum chair Steve Field has called for GPs to work in “federations or in bigger organisations”, and to focus on integration of services, ahead of the publication of the review group’s advice to the government.
Former Kingston chair gets CBE

WORKFORCE: Former NHS Kingston chair Neslyn Watson-Druée has been awarded a CBE for services to healthcare.
Former Sheffield chief exec handed OBE

WORKFORCE: Chris Sharratt, the former chief executive of Sheffield Children’s Foundation Trust, has been awarded an OBE for services to child health.
Give doctors stronger assisted dying powers, report says

Doctors could be given powers allowing them to help terminally ill patients to die, a report said today.
Gong for CUH estates director

WORKFORCE: Richard Howe, former executive director of estates and facilities at Cambridge University Hospitals Foundation Trust, has been awarded an OBE for services to the NHS.
Government unveils extra £150m for home care

The government has announced an extra £150m for patients to receive care at home rather than in hospital.
Heatherwood FT runs at £1.3m deficit in November

FINANCE: Heatherwood and Wexham Park NHS Foundation Trust ran at a £1.3m deficit in November, latest figures show.
Heatherwood trust restructures executive committees

STRUCTURE: Heatherwood and Wexham Park Foundation Trust is to restructured its executive committees in an attempt to strengthen accountability for financial and service performance.
Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale seeks out uses for £1.7m underspend

FINANCE: At the end of October 2011 the primary care trust had under-spent its budget to the value of £1.7m, according to its latest finance report.
Hospital chief exec to take up new role with SHA

WORKFORCE: Heather Lawrence OBE is to leave Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Foundation Trust and start a new role with NHS London supporting non-foundation trusts in getting authorised by Monitor.
Hospital closure plan rejected by health secretary

Scotland’s health secretary Nicola Sturgeon has rejected an NHS board’s recommendation to close a hospital.
Hospital launches time saving midwifery DVD Summary

WORKFORCE: University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust has launched a DVD for expectant mothers.Press release
Hospital staff asked to look out for ‘gel thief’

WORKFORCE: Nurses and other staff at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have been told to be on their guard for thefts of antibacterial alcohol gel.
Hospitals spending less than £3 on patient meals

NHS hospitals are spending as little as £2.57 to feed and water patients each day - or 86 pence a meal, new figures reveal today.
How service line management can inspire improved behaviours throughout NHS organisations

Service line management can empower frontline clinicians to make the changes the NHS needs for future viability. The big challenge is changing the way NHS organisations are managed, says Chris Calkin.
HSJ Awards - rewarding organisations throughout the health service

Browse the different Health Service Journal awards and get your organisation recognised by winning one of the health industry’s leading and most coveted prizes.
Integrated care needs 'ambitious' target to succeed, DH told

Ministers will be in a “difficult position” if they ignore advice to set a national target to drive integrated care, the chief executive of the King’s Fund has warned.
'Integrated care should be this decade's number one priority'

Achieving proper integrated care must be taken as seriously in the next 10 years as waiting times have been in the last 10, say King’s Fund chief executive Chris Ham and Nuffield Trust director Jennifer Dixon.
Lansley vows to enforce drugs access rules

Legislation meant to end the variable access to drugs in NHS hospitals will be enforced, the health secretary has told the Commons.
Lansley vows to reduce readmissions

Emergency readmissions among NHS patients soared under the last Labour government, according to official figures.
Legal lessons: securing judicial review of service reconfiguration

The Royal Brompton and Harefield Foundation Trust has successfully claimed Judicial Review of the Safe and Sustainable consultation about Paediatric Congenital Cardiac Services. Hempsons colleagues Bertie Leigh and Christian Dingwall explain how.
Liverpool PCT chair gets OBE

WORKFORCE: NHS Liverpool chair Gideon Ben-Tovim has been awarded an OBE for services to health.
LOS down at Torbay Care Trust

PERFORMANCE: The number of patients remaining in community hospitals run by Torbay Care Trust for more than 30 days is at its lowest level for two months, Decmber’s report to the board revealed.
Maternity consultation nears end in east Kent

STRUCTURE: A “last call” for the public to have their say on the future of maternity services has been issued by the NHS Kent and Medway PCT cluster.
Michael White: the mess in the cosmetic Wild West

Public authorities like the NHS often take a beating from energetic health journalists during the annual Christmas news doldrums. Why? Large, complex organisations always have problems, but are less likely to fire off menacing lawyers’ letters than dodgy banks.
New chair appointed as Hull and East Yorkshire seeks FT status

WORKFORCE: Robert Deri, an accountant, has been appointed chair of Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust.
New chair for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals

WORKFORCE: The NHS Appointments Commission has appointed Robert Deri as chair of Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
New chief exec appointed by KMPT

WORKFORCE: Angela McNab has been appointed as the new chief executive of Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust.
New chief operating officer for Guy's and St Thomas'

WORKFORCE: Amanda Pritchard, currently deputy chief executive at Chelsea and Westminster Foundation Trust, is leaving in the spring to join the south London giant.
NHS Bury forecasts breakeven after £3m additional allocation

FINANCE: The primary care trust was forecasting it would break even for 2011-12 at the end of October after receiving an additional £3m in-year allocation, its latest finance report shows.
NHS Confederation calls for end to hospital-or-bust NHS

At least one in four NHS patients would be better off being treated at home under new community-based services, the head of the NHS Confederation has said.
NHS Confederation home care call backed

The NHS Confederation’s call to prioritise treating people in their home rather than hospital has been backed by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
NHS managers asked to resign - Labour

Senior NHS figures have been sent letters asking for their resignation as part of the move towards controversial health reforms, Labour has revealed.
NHS market could fragment further, warns Supply Chain CEO

The “fragmented” way the NHS is developing could make it harder for it to make savings on procurement, the chief executive of NHS Supply Chain has warned.
NHS pensions deal to be offered to private sector

The government has offered to extend the NHS pensions scheme to staff transferred out of the service to make it easier for private firms to bid for NHS contracts.
NHS private income cap 'to be lifted'

Health service reforms will pave the way for NHS hospitals to earn up to half of their income from private work, it has been reported.
Noel Plumridge: is local pay a fair deal everywhere?

George Osborne’s stated purpose in opening up the issue of local pay rates is to ensure “public sector pay does not distort local labour markets”.
Norovirus 'within expected levels'

The number of NHS beds closed due to norovirus-type symptoms has doubled within a week but is still within expected levels, the government has said.
Nottingham exceeds A&E assessment time target by 100 per cent

PERFORMANCE: The trust is taking twice as long to assess patients admitted to accident and emergency as it should be.
Nuffield Health makes pledge on implant surgery costs

Nuffield Health will cover the clinical investigation and surgery costs of all its patients who have had PIP implants, the organisation has announced.
Outpatient appointments increase by 4.5pc

The number of outpatient appointments increased by 4.5 per cent last year, according to NHS Information Centre figures.
'Patients and organisations still need an information revolution'

Reorganisations might be familiar at Richmond House, but revolutions are rarer. With the information strategy officially paused, has the promised NHS spring turned to winter, asks Asthma UK chief executive Neil Churchill.
PCT and SHA staff set to learn job decisions

The fate of tens of thousands of NHS staff may become clearer during the next few weeks, with large redundancy bills still a risk for some organisations, HSJ has been told.
Permanent chief exec appointed at Royal Cornwall

WORKFORCE: Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust interim chief executive Lezli Boswell has been appointed to lead the trust on a permanent basis.
Plymouth Hospitals needs to improve governance

STRUCTURE: Improving governance and leadership will be key to Plymouth Hospitals Trust acheiving foundation trust status, according to the trust’s tripartite formal agreement.
QIPP progress revealed after DH publishes cash savings

The NHS saved around £2.5bn in the first half of this financial year, or 42 per cent of its target for the year, the Department of Health reported today.
Review finds Herefordshire mental health services understaffed

WORKFORCE: A review of mental health services in Herefordshire has found many services were suffering from long term understaffing.
Rise in number of hospital infections

More people than ever picked up infections while spending time in hospitals last year, it has been reported.
Royal Bournemouth over performance 'biggest single risk' to PCT finances

FINANCE: Over performance at Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospital Foundation Trust is the biggest risk to finances of its primary care trust cluster.
Salford Royal manager recognised in New Year honours

WORKFORCE: A human resources services manager at the foundation has received an MBE in the new year honours list.
Sexual health services should offer alcohol advice

GP commissioners and councils should in future ensure sexual health services include interventions targeted at cutting alcohol consumption among young people, according to a report published today.
Sheffield Children's diabetes study nears end

PERFORMANCE: A four-year £1m study, led by Sheffield Children’s Foundation Trust, to assess whether education improves the long term health of children with diabetes is nearing an end.
Signs of change emerging in the North East

Commissioners and future commissioners in the North East, like everywhere else, have much to do in the next 16 months, but there are signs of change.
Social care 'not fit for purpose'

The social care system has been branded “not fit for purpose” after figures revealed elderly people are paying up to £7,000 a year for home care services.
South East trusts face contrasting outlooks for 2012

Western Sussex Hospitals Trust will probably be happy to see the back of 2011.
South Gloucestershire prepares to tender community services

COMMERCIAL: NHS South Gloucestershire has given notice of plans to put £80m of community services out to tender. Commentators predict other primary care trusts will soon follow suit.
Southampton FT urges visitors to stay away amid sickness outbreak

PERFORMANCE: An outbreak of winter vomiting bugs has prompted Southampton hospital managers to close wards and urge visitors to stay away.
Southampton overperforms on all referral targets

PERFORMANCE: Southampton primary care trust is overperforming against plan on all its activity indicators, cluster board papers reveal.
Sutton and Merton to have one CCG per borough

STRUCTURE: Sutton and Merton GPs have decided to move to two emerging clinical commissioning groups, each matching one of the London boroughs, with “close working in the future where the two CCGs’ agendas overlap”.
Two Croydon GP groups merge

STRUCTURE: The two emerging clinical commissioning groups under Croydon PCT have decided to merge.
Understanding non-compliance to improve patient behaviours

There are many myths about compliance in patient behaviour, writes Jane Shirely, so getting to the truth of the matter is important if rates of non-compliance and their costly consequences are to be reduced.
Unions reach pension agreement with ministers

Unions representing NHS employees have agreed to suspend plans for further industrial action pending consideration of the government’s “final” offer on pensions.
Unite rejects pensions deal

A union representing more than 100,000 NHS workers has rejected the government’s offer on pensions, opening up the possibility for more industrial action.
Wales' top doctor announces retirement

Wales’ top doctor Tony Jewell said he will step down as Wales’ chief medical officer (CMO) next summer after six years in the post.
Warning for trusts planning to water down pay and conditions

Trusts should be “wary” of withholding pay increments from staff with poor attendance records, one of the country’s most senior industrial relations figures has told HSJ.
Why AQP can drive real benefits in primary and secondary care

Any Qualified Provider has proved to be a controversial policy with those working in the health service, but, argue Dr Walter Serino, Professor Sam Lingam and Richard Banyard, AQP has potential to be far more friend than foe.
Why early discharge in stroke care can be vital for recovery

Home rehabilitation is a vital component of improving stroke care. Mirek Skrypak and colleagues explain how they have put it into practice in north London.
Wirral among worst in country for referral to treatment times – DH report

PERFORMANCE: The trust was among the 10 worst in the country on referral-to-treatment waiting times in September, according to the Department of Health’s latest quarterly report.
Your Humble Servant: the rallying cry for 2012

2012 is the year of the contract. Go back to your offices and prepare for contracting.

Alastair McLellan

Health Service Journal5 January 2012

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Health Service Journal
5 January 2012