Health Service Journal
7 July 2011

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Achieving behaviour change intervention value for money

Investment in behaviour change interventions must be justifiable. Rowena Merritt and colleagues present a set of tools that help demonstrate their cost effectiveness.
Andrew Lansley: the strength of feeling shows why we had to listen

Readers of HSJ will need no reminding that the NHS Future Forum recently published its recommendations on the Health and Social Care Bill. Nor that parliamentary scrutiny has begun on its amendments.
Andrew Taylor to leave competition panel

Andrew Taylor has announced he will leave his role as director of the Cooperation and Competition Panel at the end of August.
AQP 'bastardised', says Care UK boss

A director of one of England’s leading private sector health care providers has expressed doubts over the government’s “any qualified provider” policy, describing it as “bastardised”.
Aspirant FTs to have debt 'restructured'

Aspirant foundation trusts with liquidity or debt problems could have their debt restructured, the Department of Health’s head of provider development has said.
Barnet and Chase Farm facing £7m savings gap

FINANCE: The north London trust has published early findings of its finance review by new chief executive Mark Easton.
Barnet and Chase Farm plan on asking for NHS London bailout

FINANCE: A report to the trust’s board said the organisation would make a presentation to NHS London’s Challenged Trust Board in September to ask for funds.
Barts improves agency spend

WORKFORCE: The east London hospital has seen a falling off of the amount it spends on agency and bank nursing staff.
Battle to keep FT board meetings private is 'lost'

The battle to hold board meetings in private has been lost, the head of the Foundation Trust Network has told delegates at the NHS Confederation conference.
Big ambitions cause dilemma on the South East Coast

The South East Coast region is home to several large and ambitious mental health foundation trusts but evidence suggests that there has been a victim of one trust’s success.
Birmingham's PCTs face £44m financial shortfall

FINANCE: Birmingham’s PCTs face a £44m shortfall in their QIPP plans in 2011-12 and an underlying recurrent deficit of at least £53m in 2012-13.
Bradford FT finishes year with £3.7m surplus

FINANCE: Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust recorded a £3.73m surplus.
Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire CIPs slip as acutes over-spend

FINANCE: The Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire primary care trust cluster is struggling to meet cost improvement programme savings as acute provider contracts over-perform.
Bucks PCT to miss dental access target

PERFORMANCE: Buckinghamshire primary care trust is expecting to miss its target for patients accessing dental services after extra provision commissioned to meet demand was cancelled.
Bury LINk website to allow patients to give anonymous reviews of NHS services

PERFORMANCE: Bury’s local involvement network is to launch an un-moderated website to allow patients to anonymously rate their experiences of health and social care providers.
Cambridgeshire GPs may have to reform commissioning structures

STRUCTURE: Commissioning groups in Cambridgeshire - which have been at the forefront of the government reforms - may have to reform after changes to the Health Bill.
Chase Farm is 'signal' ministers will not back major NHS change, says Hunt

The government’s intervention into the future of Chase Farm Hospital was “the signal” it would not support “courageous” decommissioning decisions, according to a former health minister.
Clinical concerns in the South West rumble on

The aftershocks of last year’s independent inquiry into Bristol’s histopathology services are still being felt across the city through a series of reviews.
Clustering hits morale in South Essex

FINANCE: Primary care trust clustering in South Essex has led to a “decline in morale”, according to a board report.
CMO to 'twist arms' over public health medic job crisis

Chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies has said she will try and “twist some arms” to find a solution to the unemployment crisis facing the public health medical workforce.
Commissioning primary care plans still in development

The government has not yet decided whether clinical commissioning groups can take on management of general practice contracts, the responsible Department of Health has said.
Community provider future placed in doubt

Community provider foundation trusts may not need to exist as the services mature, the chief executive of one of the leading organisations has said.
Community staff setting 'rubbish' example on public health

District nurses often set a “rubbish” example to patients about healthy lifestyles, according to the head of community services in Leicester.
Confed chief cautions over the dangers of centralisation

The chief executive of the NHS Confederation has warned of the dangers of excessive centralisation and bureaucracy as a result of the health service reforms.
CQC launch investigation into troubled east London trust

PERFORMANCE: The Care Quality Commission has launched a “full investigation” of the acute trust focussing on emergency care, elective care and maternity.
CQC under fire from MPs over vacancies

The Care Quality Commission has come under fire for failing to recruit inspectors despite asking the Department of Health for an extra £15m to investigate problems more thoroughly.
Crossing the line: how shifting organisational boundaries are impacting roles in the NHS

The changing shape of the NHS means individual roles may straddle more than one organisation, if not several. But these “boundary spanners” are the diplomatic links that can bring success to collaborating organisations, argues Helen Scott.
Data shows mixed results in reducing 'low value' treatments

The NHS has reduced activity related to some “ineffective” treatments, but has not managed to stop the rise in other “low clinical value” procedures, according to data analysed for HSJ.
DH commits funds to support health and wellbeing board development

The government announced today it was committing £985,000 to support the development of health and wellbeing boards.
DH to review FT application process to avoid 'embarrassment'

The Department of Health is overhauling the process for checking whether a trust is ready to apply for foundation status to avoid “embarrassing” the health secretary, HSJ has discovered.
DH tsar slams NHS shake-up

The claim that “large chunks of the NHS” need to be abolished because services are over-managed is “complete baloney”, heart tsar Sir Roger Boyle has told HSJ.
Dilnot commission confirms cap on care contributions

Andrew Dilnot has confirmed expectations that his commission on funding social care would propose a cap of £35,000 on individual contributions for their care today.
Easton: QIPP can provide 'crisis' needed to break hospital dependence

The NHS’s £20bn savings drive can provide the “crisis” it needs to transform physical healthcare in the same way it has transformed mental health services, Jim Easton said yesterday.
Eleven acute trusts failed dignity and nutrition inspections - CQC

At least 11 hospital trusts have failed to meet essential standards for dignity and nutrition in a Care Quality Commission investigation, it has been revealed.
End-of-life funding change would be 'fairer' on patients

Changing the way end-of-life care is funded across the country would save millions of pounds and help focus on individual patient needs, according to a government-ordered review.
EU directive blocking trusts from clinical trials, says Confed

Managers are urging the European Commission to reduce the red tape they say is stopping trusts from entering the market for global clinical trials.
Exclusive: government to publish GP performance scorecards in transparency push

Ministers are tomorrow due to announce a new wave of transparency requirements for the NHS, including the release of GP performance scorecards and clinical audit data.
Exclusive: speech and language therapy suffers drop in scope and quality of services

Speech and language therapists across the UK are reporting serious falls in the scope and quality of their services, as they sustain a “double whammy” of NHS and local authority cuts.
Expressions of Interest required for provision of Adult Nursing and Physiotherapy Education and Training

NHS London
Fears over mental health gap in commissioning knowledge

Revisions to the Health Bill have failed to address concerns that mental health will be under-represented in commissioning, a trust chief executive has warned.
Field: clinical senates a 'hand grenade' to GP consultant relations

Clinical senates were designed to act as a “hand grenade” to remove barriers preventing GPs and hospital doctors talking, not “another level of bureaucracy”, Professor Steve Field has said.
Fine trusts and hospitals more for data breaches, says information chief

The information commissioner Christopher Graham has called for tougher penalties on NHS trusts and hospitals who lose patients’ personal medical records.
Flory highlights 'unacceptable' waiting times

Improvement is expected after “unacceptable” waiting times this winter, the NHS deputy chief executive has said.
Flu pandemic could cost UK nearly £50bn

The knock-on effects of a flu pandemic could be worse for the economy than originally thought, according to a new study.
Foundation trust jumps gun to calculate 'official' mortality rates

PERFORMANCE: A foundation trust has calculated new-look hospital mortality rates for all hospitals and sent them to trusts as a “heads up”, before they are revealed to the public later this year.
Foundation trusts borrowing over £1bn from DH

Foundation trusts have secured loans worth more than £1bn from the Department of Health, HSJ can reveal, prompting concern about the impact of increased debts on foundation trust independence.
Future Forum chair warns small CCGs they will have to merge

Many clinical commissioning groups are currently “too small to survive”, NHS Future Forum chair Steve Field has warned.
Government 'expects' DPHs to report to council chief execs

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has said it is his “expectation” that directors of public health will report directly to council chief executives.
Government technology strategy 'lacking detail' to measure progress

The government’s plan to root out waste and failure in official IT projects is too vague for MPs to be able to assess whether it is achieving its objectives, a report from Westminster’s spending watchdog warned today.
GPs pocketing millions in buildings payments, investigation finds

Doctors are receiving six-figure windfalls in surgery rent and sale payments, an investigation has found.
Half of NHS leaders predict longer waits, survey reveals

More than half of NHS leaders believe patients’ access to services is likely to worsen over the next year, an NHS Confederation survey has shown.
Heart of Birmingham submits £2.4m of capital plans

FINANCE: NHS Heart of Birmingham has submitted capital plans totalling £2.4m for approval to NHS West Midlands.
Heart of England FT faces Monitor escalation

PERFORMANCE: Heart of England Foundation Trust was issued with two exception notices and has been advised that a further two for stroke and outpatient indicators are likely to be issued.
Heart of England predicts 21 per cent savings shortfall

FINANCE: The trust is predicting that 79 per cent of its 2011-12 savings target will be delivered, with £4.9m unmet.
Hertfordshire PCT pledges £1.7m to delayed centre

FINANCE: NHS Hertfordshire has committed £1.7m of non recurrent funding on “ramp up costs” for a delayed treatment centre at the Lister Hospital
Hospital 'superbug' infections at new low

Rates of both C difficile and MRSA in hospitals are now at their lowest ever levels, official figures show.
How GPs can help patients make sense of health information

It is not a lack of information that confronts patients in the NHS now, but a problem with knowing where to get trustworthy and reliable information from. GPs themselves can take a leading role on giving patients a better experience, writes Michael Guida.
Innovative approaches to health priorities through NHS and industry collaboration

Partnering with the pharmaceutical industry and bringing together a diverse group of experts is a novel but valuable approach for the NHS to address healthcare challenges, write Robyn Hudson and colleagues.
Interim chief executive for London trust

WORKFORCE: North West London Hospitals Trust has brought in former St George’s chief executive David Astley in an interim capacity.
Investment alone is not enough to solve the social care crisis

It is now well established that there is a crisis in social care and that we urgently need more money in the system. But we must also reform the way care services are organised and delivered: a priority that has been absent from recent debate, says IPPR researcher Laura Bradley.
Is public health the most at risk from reform?

While the government paused, debate was very much in action. One key discussion at doctors.net.uk has raised serious concerns that public health could be at risk from reform when responsibility for public health campaigns falls to those ill-equipped to handle it.
Lansley meeting Future Forum to discuss its future

Members of the NHS Future Forum - set up to review the government’s controversial reform plans - are to meet to discuss whether and how the group should continue.
Lansley outlines new work for Future Forum

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has set out likely topics to feature in a continuing programme of work for the NHS Future Forum.
Lansley urges NHS to 'regain momentum' following reform debate

Andrew Lansley has urged the health service to “regain the momentum” lost in the “flux” sparked by the government’s reform plans.
Leeds Hospitals start year ahead of plan on finance

FINANCE: Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust finished the first month of the financial year £1.4m ahead of plan, but has identified risks later in the year.
Leicestershire PCT cluster appoints chair

WORKFORCE: Cathy Ellis has been appointed as chair of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland cluster.
London trusts fail ambulance handover targets

PERFORMANCE: Ambulance handover times have deteriorated across the capital since the government relaxed accident and emergency targets last year, a report has said.
Media Watch: backstreet operations and the threat to Human Rights

The “milking of the health service” was the message coming loud and clear from Monday’s Daily Mail as it accused the NHS of a “fertility free for all”.
Mental health patient bed levels fall

Cuts to the number of beds available for mentally-ill patients has corresponded with a rise in the numbers detained involuntarily, experts have said.
Mental health trusts pose 'challenge' to integration with community

Mental health trusts are a major barrier to developing mental health wellbeing services in community settings, a GP specialist in the field has said.
Michael White: the well-intended Dilnot report may fall on deaf ears

Ministers didn’t sound very grateful for Andrew Dilnot’s report on how to solve England’s elderly care problems and, I suspect, eventually those of the devolved Celtic regions too because they have similar money issues with oldsters who stubbornly won’t die.
Mid Yorks trust 'alerted to inaccurate finance assumption'

FINANCE: Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust end of year statement of internal control reveals it “was alerted to inaccurate financial assumptions” in November last year, and is planning to save £60m in the next two years.
Monitor downgrades Royal Devon

PERFORMANCE: Monitor has downgraded the Royal Devon and Exeter Foundation Trust’s governance risk rating for quarter four.
Monitor downgrades Somerset Partnership on governance

PERFORMANCE: Monitor has downgraded Somerset Partnership Foundation Trust’s governance risk rating from amber-green to amber red.
Neighbouring trust expecting jump in maternity work after East and North Herts Trust obstetrics unit closes

STRUCTURE:A business case to expand the maternity unit at Barnet Hospital will be presented to the next meeting of Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals Trust.
New hi-tech hospital to be opened by the Queen

A £300m hospital said to be one of the most modern in Europe will be formally opened by the Queen today.
'NHS England' name plan stirs controversy

A proposal for the NHS Commissioning Board to be known as “NHS England” is attracting criticism for inflating the organisation’s role and power.
NHS London outlines GP scorecard scheme

NHS London’s medical director has given details of a GP scorecard scheme which is expected to become a template for a national government drive to increase the transparency of general practice.
North West London Hospitals delays merger case

STRUCTURE: The outline business case for a merger with Ealing Hospital and the provider arms of Brent, Harrow and Ealing Primary Care Trusts has been put back.
Overview and scrutiny panel responsible for 'a tragedy', councillor says

The former chair of a county council’s health overview and scrutiny committee has described the delayed reconfiguration of a trust as “a tragedy”, and blamed the local HOSC.
PCT considers future shape of Whitstable community services

STRUCTURE: Early stage discussions are underway to consider how to improve health and social care services in the Whitstable area, according to NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent.
PCT legacy shows 'significant improvement' despite challenges

Primary care trusts have overseen improvement and were further “maturing” before their abolition was announced, an NHS Confederation report says.
Poole and Royal Bournemouth press ahead with joint working

STRUCTURE: The chairs of Poole Hospital Foundation Trust and the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Foundation Trust have signed a joint statement of intent, setting out details of how they will work more closely together.
Poor choose and book uptake in Bedfordshire

PERFORMANCE: The clinical executive committee of NHS Bedfordshire has reported that uptake of the “choose and book” system in the county is “poor”.
Power to the patients: promised improvements to patient choice need backing up

A change in what “choice” represents in policy has great potential for patients. Now that change needs to be backed with a firm will to implement it, writes Health Foundation chief executive Stephen Thornton.
Public health policy 'update' paper expected next week

An “update” on the government’s public health proposals is due to be published next week, health secretary Andrew Lansley has said.
Qualified view of 'financial resilience' for Mid Yorks hospitals

FINANCE: Auditors have issued a qualified opinion on the financial resilience of Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Reforms could put patient safety focus in danger

Changes to the NHS could see patient safety suffer as dedicated standards organisations are replaced by NHS Commissioning Board functions, an HSJ Resource Centre feature discovers.
Resilient NHS managers lack required leadership skills, DH research says

NHS leaders are resilient and intellectually capable but suffer from over-confidence and a “gung-ho” attitude, Department of Health research has found.
Responsible officers to sit with commissioning board

Primary care responsible officers will probably sit with the NHS Commissioning Board, the Department of Health figure in charge of the policy has confirmed.
Retailers' public health pledges praised by Lansley

Health secretary Andrew Lansley has praised food and drink manufacturers and retailers in backing the government’s Responsibility Deal to improve public fitness and well-being.
Sally Gainsbury: Southern Cross offers clue to designating essential services

Those nasty bits in the health reforms where snazzy well-loved hospital buildings were going to get “designated” as essential while boring outpatient and orthopaedic departments were cast aside as ultimately dispensable have gone, right?
Seven trusts and two primary care trusts finished 2010-11 in deficit, DH says

Two primary care trusts and seven trusts finished the year in deficit, according to figures released by the Department of Health.
Sheffield PCT plans £19m savings programme to deliver surplus

FINANCE: Sheffield PCT - which struggled financially in 2010-11 - has a £19m savings plan for 2011-12 and is planning to make a recurrent surplus.
Sir Bruce appoints lead for clinical networks scrutiny

Clinical networks are likely to emerge in three main forms and work under a new operating model that is being developed, NHS medical director Sir Bruce Keogh has revealed.
Southern Health faces 7.5 per cent CIP

FINANCE: Southern Health, the community and mental health services provider in Hampshire, is planning to save £23.7m – or 7.5 per cent of its turnover – in 2011-12 through its cost improvement plan.
Southern Health holds vacancies ahead of service redesign

WORKFORCE: Southern Health, the community and mental health services provider for Hampshire, is reporting a higher than planned vacancy rate ahead of a planned service redesign.
Southern Health misses performance targets and reports overspend

PERFORMANCE: Southern Health’s adult mental health and learning disability directorate is falling behind on a number of compliance targets, and is reporting an overspend for the first month of 2011-12.
Speculation begins over Commissioning Board top jobs

After the NCB’s draft structure was revealed by HSJ earlier this month, speculation has begun over who will be chosen to fill the roles.
Suffolk Mental Health Trust 'does not have' merger reports

STRUCTURE: Suffolk Mental Health Partnership Trust has said it is not in possession of independent reports into its planned merger with Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health FT.
Suffolk mental health trust risks £2m arbitration

COMMERCIAL: A mental health trust in the East of England may be “heading to arbitration” over the terms of its talking therapies programme, having failed to sign its contract for the current financial year.
Taunton and Somerset FT downgraded due to C diff failure

PERFORMANCE: Taunton and Somerset Foundation Trust has been downgraded by Monitor after breaching the Clostridium difficile target for the third consecutive quarter.
Transparency offers a chink of light in a dark week for reform

You should not mistake Professor Roger Boyle’s outspoken criticism of the health reforms as the demob happy words of a man about to retire.
Treasury review of NHS charities sparks 'nationalisation' fear

Treasury plans to place charitable assets worth £500m on the public balance sheet for the first time will have the effect of “nationalising” NHS charities, critics of the move have warned.
Trust sells half its beds to rent them back

FINANCE: A hospital trust has sold half of its beds to a Dutch company for half a million pounds and is leasing them back, HSJ has discovered.
Wandsworth Weight Management Service

Wandsworth PCT
Warner: DH resisting Dilnot reforms

The Department of Health is resisting reforms required to implement the fairer system of social care funding demanded by the Dilnot commission, one of the commission’s architects has claimed.
Why patient safety should remain the priority in healthcare

Responsibility for the safety of patients is a cornerstone of healthcare. Alison Moore looks at how changes to the NHS will affect its approach to this fundamental commitment.
Why trusts are in danger from increased judicial review - and how to mitigate the threat

The increasing willingness of the courts to challenge decisions made by public bodies and the government could represent a huge cost to the NHS, says Tim Care.
Winchester and Eastleigh misses waiting times targets

PERFORMANCE: Winchester and Eastleigh NHS Trust has reported several target breaches around waiting times both for elective treatment and in its emergency department.
Yorkshire & Humber PCTs struggle to meet financial plans for 2010-11

FINANCE: All primary care trusts in the NHS Yorkshire and the Humber region except one fell short of their planned surplus at the end of 2010-11.
Yorkshire trusts pulled up on elective waiting times

PERFORMANCE: Several Yorkshire hospital trusts have been pulled up by the Department of Health for failing to meet waiting times standards for elective care.
Young: I'll never work for government again after CQC woe

The former chair of the Care Quality Commission vowed never to work for government again after her experience at the regulator, the Mid Staffordshire Public Inquiry has heard.

Alastair McLellan

Health Service Journal7 July 2011

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Health Service Journal
7 July 2011