Health Service Journal
6 October 2011

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£11.9m savings still short of target for South West Essex

FINANCE: South West Essex primary care trust made £11.9m of savings in the first four months of the financial year, or 92 per cent of their planned savings for the year to date, according to board papers.
Ambulance services strive to avoid A&E

Two of England’s ambulance services have reduced the proportion of patients they convey to accident and emergency departments by more than 7 per cent since April, new figures from the Department of Health show.
Ban commissioners from setting minimum waiting times - CCP

The Cooperation and Competition Panel has told health secretary Andrew Lansley that commissioners should be banned from setting minimum waiting times for procedures.
Birmingham health worker charged with fraud

WORKFORCE: A Birmingham-based health worker has been granted conditional bail after appearing in court charged with four counts of fraud by false representation.
BNSSG cluster QIPP plan underperforming

FINANCE: The cluster has launched a review of all quality, innovation, productivity and prevention (QIPP) schemes after identifying “significant” challenges to its ability to meet its financial duties during 2011-12.
BSMHFT appoints director of psychological services

WORKFORCE: Amanda Gatherer has this month joined Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust as its new director of psychological services and head of psychology.
CCP puts patient benefit over patient choice in acute merger

The Co-operation and Competition Panel has advised, for the first time, that a merger between two rival providers can go ahead, because the potential benefits outweighed the reduction in patient choice.
Change plans grind to a halt in the North West

Change takes forever in the NHS. So long, sometimes, that by the time your plan is finally agreed it is out of date, or there are different people in charge and they want to develop a new plan.
Cigarette vending machines ban to improve health in children

A ban on vending machines selling tobacco that comes into force in England today will reduce the access children have to cigarettes and cut down the number of young smokers, it is hoped.
Circle pulls out of bid to run hospital

Private healthcare firm Circle has pulled out of a bid to run a hospital in Surrey.
Commissioners to investigate pressure ulcer rates at Barnet and Chase Farm

PERFORMANCE: The north central London primary care trust cluster is to raise the high number of pressure ulcers reported at Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals at its next clinical quality review meeting.
'Complexities' hold up Warwickshire QIPP plan

FINANCE: Warwickshire PCT is lowering expectations around its efficiency saving programme, following delays in agreeing savings with providers.
Cost of treating brain disorders doubles

Treating brain disorders such as depression and dementia in the UK is costing £116bn annually, a total which has risen more than 50 per cent in just six years.
Council chiefs rebel over public health funding sign-off

Council chief executives are understood to have staged a backlash over the Department of Health’s bid to get them to “sign off” local public-health spending figures.
CQC to investigate 'atypical' rise in never events

PERFORMANCE: The Care Quality Commission is investigating Nottingham University Hospitals Trust after eight “never events” were recorded in six months.
Croydon Health Services planning work around discharge delays

PERFORMANCE: The outer London integrated care organisation is planning a “significant piece of business process reengineering” to reduce delays in getting medication for patients to take home.
DH analysing big 18 weeks backlog at Shrewsbury and Telford

PERFORMANCE: Only 68 per cent of patients are being treated within 18 weeks of referral to the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, against a target of 90 per cent.
DH chases up service changes with an undisguised urgency

The Department of Health’s report on the NHS’s record in the months April to June presents an impressive list of achievements and the NHS staff responsible for them should rightly feel proud. But look closer and a less reassuring picture emerges.
Disparity over version of events surrounding patient deaths at Wexham Park

PERFORMANCE: Commissioners and providers in Berkshire are reporting different details of events surrounding the same patient mortality incidents, it has emerged.
Doncaster and Bassetlaw FT to outsource laundry

COMMERCIAL: The board of Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has decided to outsource its laundry and linen service to a preferred provider in order to avoid a £2.2m investment.
Doubt over Mid Yorks Hospitals FT readiness

STRUCTURE: “System recovery plans are being developed” to address Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust’s finance problems, to try to prepare it for foundation status, according to the NHS Yorkshire and the Humber integrated plan 2011-2015, published last week.
Duty of Candour to be enforced through contracts

All organisations providing services to the NHS will be contractually obliged to inform patients and relatives if a mistake has been made under proposals set out by the government.
East Cheshire Trust £4.1m behind on savings plans

FINANCE: At the end of August the trust was £4.1m behind on its £14.6m cost improvement programme savings plan for 2011-12, its latest finance report shows.
Exclusive: cluster-sized commissioning group being considered

STRUCTURE: GPs in Cambridgeshire could form a single clinical commissioning group for the entire county, covering two primary care trust areas.
Exploring the benefits of coaching for clinicians and patients

With clinicians stepping up their leadership skills and patients having increased opportunity to exercise choice in their healthcare, Dr Penny Newman and Dr Andrew McDowell weigh up the benefits of coaching in enabling both groups to make the most of the changes.
Farrar clashes with Lansley over 'over-managed' claim

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has been forced to defend himself against charges that patients will suffer due as a result of management cuts.
Former Mid Staffs chief admits to considering suicide

The former chief executive of Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust has revealed he considered taking his own life in the wake of the fallout from the Healthcare Commission’s investigation into the trust.
Government sets out limits of Health Bill compromise

The government is prepared to compromise over how the Health Bill sets out the health secretary’s duties to ensure the NHS provides services, HSJ has been told.
Government to oppose Lords move for extra Health Bill scrutiny

The government will strongly resist calls for large parts of its Health Bill to be referred to a select committee in the Lords – a move which would further frustrate its progress through Parliament – HSJ understands.
Green light for £2m investment at Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership

STRUCTURE: Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust will benefit from a £2m investment for improving facilities over the next two years, it has announced.
Growing financial pressure on most-challenged acutes

The financial position of the most challenged acute providers is falling further behind that of their peers, the first NHS-wide financial reports for 2011-12 reveal.
Guy's and St Thomas' expecting to exceed activity plans by £5.8m

FINANCE: The south London foundation trust’s finance report said the £987m-turnover organisation’s predicted over-performance had grown by £900,000 since the previous month.
Guy's breaching private patient cap after twins procedure

FINANCE: The south London foundation trust reported that it had breached its private patient cap of 3.04 per cent this year.
Health Bill risks 'weakening ministerial accountability' - Lords committee

The Lords committee which reviews the constitutional implications of new legislation has said the Health Bill poses a risk that “individual ministerial responsibility to parliament will be diluted or that legal accountability to the courts will be fragmented”.
HealthWatch faces further delays

The establishment of HealthWatch England may be further delayed due to the parliamentary timetable.
Heatherwood FT closes birthing centre

STRUCTURE: Heatherwood and Wexham Park NHS Foundation Trust has closed its Ascot Birth Centre due to “unprecedented” staff sickness and maternity leave rates.
Heatherwood FT warned over C-section rate

PERFORMANCE: Commissioners have told Heatherwood and Wexham Park NHS Foundation Trust to reduce its rate of babies born by Caesarean section.
Heatherwood FT worst in South Central on VTE

PERFORMANCE: Heatherwood and Wexham Park NHS Foundation Trust is the worst performer in the South Central region for venous thromboembolism, with performance declining in the first quarter of 2011-12.
High 'productivity gap' for Mid Yorkshire Hospitals

FINANCE: Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust faces a larger than average challenge in providing care with fewer staff between now and 2015.
Hospital pharmacy shop opens at East Cheshire

COMMERCIAL: An over-the-counter pharmacy shop has been opened this month at Macclesfield District General Hospital.
How care bundling drives down mortality rates in pneumonia care

The North West London Hospitals Trust, implementing a care bundle approach, has reduced mortality rates for patients with pneumonia. Trish Winn and Sunder Chita explain how.
How coaching can be an antidote to organisational 'groupthink'

Coaching means different things to different people, but a significant element is the ability to listen, and to provide a space that has the potential to challenge the illusion and rhetoric which dominates organisations, and so disempower group “norms”, says Dr Angélique du Toit.
Hull and East Yorkshire aims for January 2012 FT application

STRUCTURE: Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust plans to apply for foundation trust status in January.
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals face large QIPP 'productivity gap'

FINANCE: Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust faces a larger than average challenge in providing care with fewer staff between now and 2015.
Humber and East Yorks cluster announces CCG delegation

FINANCE: From October 2011, four new clinical commissioning group (CCG) committees, led by local GPs, will take the leading role in planning and delivering £1.1bn health care services for Hull, the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire.
Improving mental health screening for individuals in police custody

Mark Rapley and Dr Simon Sandberg find out how mental health assessments are changing in Lambeth custody suites - and the benefits that could be adopted as a result.
Interim medical director at Taunton and Somerset

WORKFORCE: An interim medical director has been appointed at Taunton and Somerset Foundation Trust.
IT decisions 'down to trusts' despite contracts

The NHS IT scheme’s remaining contracts will not stop the government from devolving decisions locally, the Department of Health’s new informatics chief has claimed.
Kingston says most year-plus elective waits have already been treated

PERFORMANCE: The south west London hospital trust recorded the worst elective admission rates for people waiting more than a year in June.
Lansley: I have fought 'misinformation and misrepresentation' over reforms

The government has battled “misinterpretation, misinformation and misrepresentation” in its efforts to reform the NHS, health secretary Andrew Lansley told the Conservative party conference today.
Lansley's 'shining example' forced to deny rationing claims

A social enterprise held up as a “shining example” by Andrew Lansley has been accused of “rationing” physiotherapy services through its use of the flagship any qualified provider policy.
Legionella 'issues' at Basildon and Thurrock

PERFORMANCE: There are “ongoing issues” with legionella at Basildon and Thurrock UHFT, according to a document from the local strategic health authority.
London commissioning cluster predicts deficit for 2011-12

FINANCE: The north central London cluster is predicting a deficit of £14.8m this financial year, new documents reveal.
Media Watch: all of NHS life appears in the papers

Most types of health professional featured in the media this week, though some more positively than others.
'Medical tourism' warning over government cuts

The number of patients travelling abroad for medical treatment could rise significantly due to government cuts, a new report has suggested.
Medway and Dartford push for merger

STRUCTURE: The boards of Medway Foundation Trust and Dartford and Gravesham Trust have decided to “proceed to the next stage” of planning to merge their organisations.
Michael White: the search for Tory health debate beyond the fringe

Before the Tory faithful arrived in Manchester for their 2011 conference, a veteran party figure predicted the NHS would not feature much, despite the turbulence behind the Health Bill and the frantic applause lines which Ed Miliband effortlessly generated in the service’s defence a week earlier in Liverpool.
Mid Staffs to close 165 beds on road to recovery

Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust is to close nearly 40 per cent of its beds as part of a recovery plan designed to tackle its growing deficit.
Mid Staffs warned on A&E staffing levels

The Care Quality Commission has issued Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust with a formal warning to improve staffing levels in accident and emergency or risk service closures.
Mid Yorkshire Hospitals 'underperforming' says DH

PERFORMANCE: Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has been listed as “underperforming” by the Department of Health for “overall quality of services” in the first quarter 2011-12.
Monitor threatens collective punishment for Greater Manchester over cancer

Monitor has threatened to downgrade the governance ratings of nine foundation trusts in Greater Manchester if waiting times at the Christie Foundation Trust do not improve in the next six months.
New facility to open at Suffolk Mental Health Partnership

STRUCTURE: A new mental health facility will open at Suffolk Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust on 20 October.
New hospital opens as old one closes in West Kent

STRUCTURE: The new Tunbridge Wells Hospital was fully opened to patients on 21 September.
NHS 111 to go nationwide

The non-emergency telephone number aiming to provide around-the-clock access to NHS services is to get a national roll out.
NHS costs cut by smoking schemes, study shows

A new report which found that tobacco control programmes can cut health care costs has been hailed by anti-smoking campaigners Ash Scotland.
NHS Coventry prepares for summary care record upload

PERFORMANCE: NHS Coventry is preparing for the upload this month of patient information from local GP practices to create its new summary care record system.
NHS managers to be balloted for industrial action, HSJ learns

Members of Managers in Partnership will be asked whether they want to join action being planned by unions including Unison, to which MiP is aligned, against changes to public sector pensions.
NHS Oldham forecasts £5.3m savings shortfall

FINANCE: The primary care trust was forecasting at the end of July that it would miss its 2011-12 QIPP (quality, innovation, productivity and prevention) savings plans by £5.3m.
'No evidence' that collaborative procurement lowers prices, FT Network says

The Foundation Trust Network has published a study which it says found “no evidence” that collaborative purchasing leads to lower prices for medical supplies.
North Bristol exceeds C difficile and MSSA targets

PERFORMANCE: North Bristol Trust has exceeded its target for cases of C difficile and reached its annual limit for MRSA cases.
North Cumbria finances remain ‘very fragile’ with £7m shortfall in savings plan

FINANCE: After the first five months of 2011-12 the trust had achieved cost improvement programme savings of just £3m, against a target of £15.2m for the year.
Number of trusts predicting 2011-12 deficit trebles compared with last year - DH report

The number of NHS trusts predicting a full year deficit at the end of the first quarter of 2011-12 trebled compared with the same period last year, new Department of Health figures show.
Overseas doctors face English tests before starting work

Foreign doctors will be made to take language tests before starting work in the NHS, under new rules being introduced in the wake of a number of scandals involving overseas medical professionals.
Planning permission for new ward granted to Surrey and Sussex Healthcare

STRUCTURE: Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has been granted planning permission for a 40 bed ward, plus £2.8m from the government to build it.
Poole FT patient records stolen from nurse’s car

PERFORMANCE: Poole foundation trust has been rapped by the Information Commissioner’s Office after patient records were stolen from the car of one of its nurses.
Public health engagement group to steer DH policy

An engagement team has been set up to road test government policy on public health over the coming months.
Pull bill now, public health doctors urge Lords

The government’s health reforms will do “irreparable harm” to the NHS, a group of public health doctors and specialists, including Sir Michael Marmot, have warned.
RCN agrees not to ballot over pensions immediately

The Royal College of Nursing has decided not to ballot members for industrial action for now, but has warned it could do so if pensions talks fail.
Referral management failing to deliver savings in South East Essex

FINANCE: All five clinical commissioning groups in South East Essex are failing to meet referral management savings targets, causing NHS South East Essex to fall behind in its savings plans, according to board papers.
Royal Devon and Exeter gets backing for £19m research centre

COMMERCIAL: Royal Devon and Exeter Foundation Trust has been granted planning permission for a £19m research centre.
Royal Surrey and Circle confirm withdrawal from race to run Epsom Hospital

STRUCTURE: Royal Surrey County Hospital and Circle have announced they are no longer interested in taking over the running of Epsom Hospital.
Sally Gainsbury: in theory, the reality could be even worse

Let us start, as we hacks are so fond of doing, with the bad news. The Department of Health’s first quarterly report for 2011-12 reveals primary care trusts are planning to take savings worth £3.1bn out of acute care this financial year alone.
Savings shortfall leaves Southport and Ormskirk surplus 96 per cent behind plan

FINANCE: Failure to meet cost improvement programme savings targets has left the trust with a surplus of just £59,000 for the first five months of 2011-12, against a planned surplus of £728,000.
SHA highlights 'never events' at West Herts Hospitals

PERFORMANCE: West Hertfordshire Hospitals has admitted it has had seven “never events” since October 2010, after concerns were raised by its strategic health authority.
SHA rejects Ipswich trust's recovery plan

FINANCE: NHS East of England has rejected Ipswich Hospital Trust’s financial recovery plans because they rely on increased activity.
SHA slams Peterborough PCT over 'inaccurate' TCS assurance

STRUCTURE: NHS Peterborough have been criticised for providing “consistently inaccurate assurance” to the strategic health authority during the process to divest its community services.
Sheffield awarded ‘centre of excellence’ status in rheumatology

PERFORMANCE: Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been granted the title of Centre of Excellence in Rheumatology by a leading European health organisation.
Sheffield workforce plans 'clearly not yet aligned' to activity

WORKFORCE: The workforce plans of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust and Sheffield Children’s Foundation Trust “clearly are not yet aligned to commissioners’ intentions”, according to the NHS Yorkshire and the Humber Integrated Plan 2011-15.
Shrewsbury and Telford reducing nursing support

WORKFOCE: The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust is reducing the level of nursing support in wards in an attempt to save £110,000 a month.
Sickness absence up 1.3 per cent on year at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare

WORKFORCE: Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has reported that its sickness absence rate, while down on last month, is 1.3 per cent higher than last year.
'Social enterprise is a real alternative to the big, bland offer'

City Health Care Partnership CIC chief executive Andrew Burnell reports from the social enterprise’s first AGM how it is aiming to utilise its flexibility to deliver quality local services by making its offering bigger, and more sustainable.
Social enterprise takes over community services in Great Yarmouth

STRUCTURE: Great Yarmouth and Waveney primary care trust is to hand over the provision of community services in the area to a newly formed social enterprise.
Southampton gets FT status after DH promise of 'restructured' debt

STRUCTURE: A large hospital trust on the south coast has achieved foundation status, after being told its debt would be “restructured” by the Department of Health.
Southern Health doubts value of joint procurement scheme

FINANCE: Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust have opted not to join a joint procurement programme involving most other trusts in the South Central region.
Southern Health over target despite admissions cut

PERFORMANCE: Emergency admissions from Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust have fallen in 2011-12 compared with last year, but remain above target.
Southern Health slips on CIP

FINANCE: Southern Health, the community and mental health services provider for Hampshire, has had to release reserves to plug a £1.3m hole in its cost improvement plan.
Stoke-on-Trent CCG makes new appointments

WORKFORCE: Two GPs have appointed to mental health roles with Stoke’s new clinical commissioning group.
Strike ballot 'extraordinarily difficult' for managers, admits MiP

Managers in Partnership has written to members explaining the “extraordinarily difficult” decision to ballot for strike action over pensions changes.
Stroke care targets missed at Heatherwood FT

PERFORMANCE: Heatherwood and Wexham Park missed its target on stroke care for each of the first three months of 2011-12.
Supply chain faces challenges on two fronts over legal concerns

The procurement service for the NHS is facing challenges on two fronts, HSJ can reveal, amid claims some of its frameworks could put trusts at risk of legal action.
Surrey and Borders Partnership appoints non-execs

WORKFORCE: Three new non-executive directors have been appointed at Surrey and Borders Partnership Foundation Trust.
Surrey trust loses confidential patient records

PERFORMANCE: The security of hundreds of patients’ confidential details was compromised when a memory stick containing the data went missing, a healthcare trust has admitted.
Tees mulls acute paediatric centre reduction

STRUCTURE: Maintaining the current model of paediatric services on Teeside may not be a “sustainable” or “safe” option in future, according to board papers.
Tees PCTs eye regional commissioning support collaboration

STRUCTURE: Primary care trusts in the NHS Tees cluster are expecting to create commissioning support organisations with others in the North East, or in North Yorkshire.
The key factors behind a successful implementation of telehealth services

Telehealth can undoubtedly make a difference to the delivery of healthcare services, but only with a successful implementation, as Mark Ayton explains.
The system needs fixing if we're to find the financiers

The NHS’s flawed payments system must be mended and evolved into something more robust and attractive in order to secure the as-yet-undecided new financiers, warn James Barlow, Colin Gray and Steve Wright.
Thousands of records accidentally destroyed by Dartford and Gravesham

PERFORMANCE: Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust breached the Data Protection Act by accidentally destroying 10,000 archived records, the Information Commissioner’s Office has said.
Tide turning on transparency in the South

The government’s drive for a more open public sector does not sit easily with its “foundation trust or bust” policy, which gives FTs more say over the information they publish and whether their boards meet in public.
Two social enterprises for Surrey

STRUCTURE: Central Surrey Health has welcomed the launch of a second healthcare social enterprise in Surrey, called First Community Health and Care.
Two social enterprises up and running in the south west

STRUCTURE: The provider arms of NHS North Somerset and NHS Bristol have begun trading as social enterprises following a successful transfer on 1 October.
UCLH cancer centre to open next year

STRUCTURE: The central London foundation trust’s £100m specialist cancer centre is due to open next April.
Unison 'will not campaign' against all reconfigurations

A senior Unison figure has revealed to HSJ that the union is prepared to accept some hospital reconfigurations.
University Hospitals Bristol records mixed sex breaches

PERFORMANCE: University Hospitals Bristol Foundation Trust had three mixed sex accomodation breaches in July.
Warwickshire PCT overspends on acute contracts

FINANCE: Warwickshire primary care trust is over-spending on its acute contracts amid “exceptionally high” emergency activity.
'We cannot tolerate incompetence in the search for sustainability'

The turnaround of one factory into an efficient, clean, collaborative and effective faciility should shame healthcare organisations into doing more to make sure sustainability in the NHS becomes less an ideal and more a way of working, writes Sir John Oldham.
Whittington pressure ulcers rates down

PERFORMANCE: The incidence of the most serious pressure ulcers has fallen at the north London integrated care organisation.
Why accident prevention is a major policy issue for public health

The theory goes that prevention of accidents is better, and cheaper, than the cure. Tom Mullarkey argues that it’s now time for public health strategy to put this theory into practice.
Why public health practice must be integrated into commissioning

Whatever form the new NHS commissioning landscape takes, public health practice needs to be an integral part of it. A discussion is needed as to how it fits in to the structure, write Julie Sin, Su Sethi and Alison Rylands.
Wide variety in UK organ donation rates

The number of organs donated for transplant across the UK varies markedly, new research has suggested.
York GPs tell patients they can pay for NHS-limited procedures

FINANCE: A GP surgery has written to patients who it believed wanted minor surgery which is no longer funded by its primary care trust, offering to carry out the procedures for a fee, it has emerged.
Yorkshire Ambulance to submit for FT status in June

STRUCTURE: Yorkshire Ambulance Service Trust is due to submit its foundation trust application in June 2012.
Yorkshire PCT has 'significant concerns' about GP minor surgery letter

FINANCE: NHS North Yorkshire and York has said it has “significant concerns” about a letter sent by a GP practice to patients it believed wanted minor surgery, in which the practice offered to carry out procedures it said were no longer funded by the primary care trust for a fee.
Your Humble Servant: healthy fun for all the NHS family

What will be this year’s Christmas stocking must have: Mid Staffs Cluedo, PFI Monopoly or Liberating the NHS Scrabble?

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Health Service Journal
6 October 2011