Health Service Journal
8 September 2011

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Acute trust advertises for new chief executive

WORKFORCE: Chesterfield Royal Hospital in Derbyshire has advertised for a new chief executive.
Birmingham Hospital physio joins Olympic team

WORKFORCE: A physiotherapist at University Hospitals Birmingham foundation trust is set to join the Great Britain women’s Olympic hockey team.
Bradshaw denies government pressured DH to approve FT applications

Former health minister Ben Bradshaw has denied Number 10 was putting pressure on the Department of Health to grant foundation trust status to unsustainable trusts at the Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust public inquiry.
Burnham defends decision on Mid Staffs' FT application

Former health secretary Andy Burnham has defended his decision to back Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust’s Monitor application, blaming the system for failing to pick up problems at the trust sooner.
Burnham 'followed civil service advice' on Mid Staffs FT approval

Andy Burnham backed Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust’s bid for foundation trust status after looking at just four lines of civil service advice, the public inquiry has heard.
Burnham to face Mid Staffs inquiry

Former health secretary Andy Burnham will today give evidence to a public inquiry into appalling standards of care at an NHS trust accused of putting targets ahead of patient welfare.
Chesterfield Royal pioneers e-prescribing

PERFORMANCE: Chesterfield Royal Hospital FT says the introduction of electronic prescribing across the hospital will help improve patient safety.
Clinical commissioning groups spend allocations - data visualisation
Commercial-only finance plans for FTs scaled back

The government has pulled back from plans to stimulate a market for private sector lending to foundation trusts, under which they would have been cut off from all finance other than commercial loans.
Community trust chief exec moves to regional role

WORKFORCE: Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust has announced that Sheila Adams-O’Shea is leaving to take forward a “key strategic piece of work” on behalf of NHS East of England.
Coventry and Warwickshire already £1.5m in the red

FINANCE: Trust board papers reveal a £1.5m deficit which includes a £0.6m overspend in non-elective activity.
Cumbria PCT agrees £164.6m contract with NCUHT

FINANCE: The PCT has now agreed a contract value of £164.6m in 2011-12 with North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust, its latest finance report shows.
Debate: is general practice pulling its weight in the efficiency challenge?

On 30 June, HSJ columnist Noel Plumridge suggested primary care should carry its share of the £20bn Nicholson challenge, alluding to the Nuffield Trust’s March recommendation that primary care “should become a key focus of the quality, innovation, productivity and prevention agenda”. Noel’s article led to this correspondence with Pat Stevenson, a GP practice manager in the North East.
Derby Hospitals' £33m working capital facility approved

FINANCE: Derby Hospitals Foundation Trust is to receive a £33m working capital facility following approval from Monitor and Barclays.
Derbyshire Healthcare celebrates best ever PEAT results

PERFORMANCE: Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has received its best ever scores in this year’s patient environment action team (PEAT) inspections.
DH in talks for 'international players' to take on struggling hospitals

The Department of Health has held discussions about “international players” running up to 20 NHS hospitals, according to confidential emails.
DH yet to agree FT dates for Mid Yorks and Leeds

STRUCTURE: The Department of Health has yet to agree tripartite formal agreements (TFAs), setting anticipated dates for foundation trust applications, for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
Doncaster pilot to integrate frontline services

STRUCTURE: An innovative new team to provide integrated health and social care services for adults in North East Doncaster was launched on 6 September.
Emerging Medway CCG sets out draft comms plans

PERFORMANCE: Medway Commissioning Group has published a draft communications and engagement strategy, focusing on reducing health inequalities.
Exclusive: 500 avoidable deaths a year in London due to understaffing

There are more than 500 avoidable deaths a year in emergency care each year in London, a report obtained exclusively by HSJ reveals.
Exclusive: fixed costs leave CCGs just £9 per head for commissioning

The average clinical commissioning group could be left with just £9 per head of population to spend on the commissioning process, once fixed costs have been accounted for, according to HSJ analysis.
Exclusive: GPs should seek legal advice over commissioning role - Gerada

Some GPs are already facing conflicts of interest due to the government’s commissioning reforms and should seek legal advice, Royal College of GPs chair Clare Gerada has told HSJ.
'Fake nurse' arrested in Kent

WORKFORCE: Kent police have arrested a woman suspected of treating hundreds of patients by posing as a registered nurse without being properly qualified.
Finance and performance problems persist at Mid Yorkshire

FINANCE: Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is recording an in-year deficit and having problems meeting A&E waiting time performance requirements.
FTs eyeing North Cumbria takeover to present proposals to stakeholders

STRUCTURE: The four foundation trusts bidding to take over North Cumbria University Hospitals Trust will put their proposals to a “wide range of internal and external stakeholders” at a meeting in October.
German firm linked to DH hospital plan down-plays involvement

Helios Healthcare, the company mentioned in correspondence between the Department of Health and McKinsey in recently released emails, said its “strategic focus [would remain] on the German hospitals market” .
Getting better with age: the challenges an ageing population poses to care providers

Increase in life longevity is a triumph for public health. But there is an inverse relationship between ageing population and resources. Making provisions to cope with the needs of the increasing numbers of elderly patients is paramount, says Dr Kailash Chand.
Government hits back over BMA 'high risk reform' claims

A call by the British Medical Association for the government to withdraw or further amend its health reforms, which they say pose an “unacceptably high risk to the NHS”, has been described as “disappointing” by the DH.
Government public health scheme 'inadequate', campaign group says

Efforts to improve public health by the government are likely to fail unless major food companies are forced to sign up to tougher guidelines, a children’s health group has warned.
GP leads for West Hampshire CCG announced

STRUCTURE: Five GPs have been selected to lead the clinical commissioning group for west Hampshire.
GP plans may result in ‘even greater reductions in funding’ for Countess of Chester

FINANCE: The foundation trust has warned that the, as yet unconfirmed, long-term commissioning intentions of pathfinder clinical commissioning groups may force it to make “significant workforce reductions”.
GPs commission new Norfolk community COPD service

STRUCTURE: Patients in west Norfolk with long-term lung problems are benefiting from new GP-commissioned clinics designed to help them manage their conditions and stay out of hospital.
Health Bill amendments could add 'political pressure' to reconfiguration decisions

Service reconfigurations following the failure of a foundation trust could be open to “political pressures” as a result of a proposed change to the Health Bill, lawyers and think tanks have warned.
House of Commons votes through revised Health Bill

The government will turn its attention to getting the Health and Social Care Bill through the House of Lords after a Commons vote yesterday passed the heavily amended bill.
How to share innovation across the health service

Members of the North West’s Advancing Quality Alliance want to ensure innovation flows through NHS services. David Fillingham explains why, and how it could be done.
How workforce management can make room for efficiency improvements

A workforce management solution at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust has been reducing costs and freeing up more time to care.
HSJ special report: sustainability in the NHS

HSJ’s special report this week looks at sustainability in the NHS, inculding the award-winning efforts by Sandwell PCT, and how the issue has a huge part to play in the futures of all organisations in the NHS - now, and after the reforms.
'Huge opportunities' for private provision under reform - Howe

The NHS reforms present “huge opportunities” for the private sector, a health minister has said.
'If the reforms go wrong, the potential risk to public health huge'

Andrew Lansley’s new vision for public health must overcome tough tests if it is to grow into a healthy being, says Alan Maryon-Davis.
Imperial denies newspaper report that St Mary's will be sold off

STRUCTURE: The west London trust said “we envisage having clinical services on each of our main sites” including St Mary’s in Paddington - but would not specify what these services might be.
Latest coverage: live updates from the Mid Staffs inquiry

NEW: NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has revealed his thinking on issues including the independence of foundation trusts, regulation and the reforms during his second day of evidence to the Mid Staffordshire Public Inquiry.
'Leadership is key to preventing another Mid Staffs'

Antony Sumara, who spent two years at Mid Staffs as interim chief executive, reflects on what has been learned from the inquiry so far and what questions still need answering.
Lib Dems renew Health Bill concerns ahead of Commons debate

NHS reform will again raise coalition government tensions this week when MPs consider the revised package.
Liberating Ideas Award 2011: can your idea benefit the rest of the NHS?

Great ideas drive improvement in the NHS. Enter your organisation into the second Capgemini and HSJ Liberating Ideas Award now.
London Ambulance Service rapped over laptop loss

PERFORMANCE: London Ambulance Service has signed an undertaking with the Information Commissioner’s Office to improve its data security, after breaching the Data Protection Act.
London trust wide of the mark on waiting times

PERFORMANCE: More than half of patients seen at North Middlesex University Hospital Trust in June had waited more than 18 weeks for treatment.
Luton and Dunstable unveils new electronic patient record system

PERFORMANCE: Luton and Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has introduced a new electronic patient record system for its accident and emergency department.
Manchester hospital rapped after medical student lost patient details

PERFORMANCE: University Hospital of South Manchester FT breached the Data Protection Act by losing sensitive personal information relating to the treatment of 87 patients, the Information Commissioner’s Office has said.
Mandarins and former ministers face the Mid Staffs inquiry

The public inquiry into the regulatory failures surrounding Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust has resumed this morning for its final five weeks of hearing, with Sir David Nicholson just one of the senior Department of Health witnesses scheduled to give evidence this month.
Media Watch: PCTs admit to deliberately making patients wait

Scheming NHS managers are making patients wait longer than necessary for operations to save cash, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Mental health savings scheme putting patients in 'inappropriate services'

A national scheme intended to drive savings in mental health is leading to some patients being “warehoused in inappropriate services”, a senior private sector clinician has warned.
Michael White: what's wrong with giving overseas providers a crack at managing NHS hospitals?

I was still on my late summer holiday during much of the renewed skirmishing which heralded the return of Parliament and the latest battles over the Health Bill.
'Misleading' cancer screening programme under fire

The NHS breast cancer screening programme “misinforms” women and fails to disclose the harms of over-diagnosis, researchers have claimed.
MPs call for PFI deals to be subject to FOI requests

The Commons’ public accounts committee has called for private finance initiative companies to be made subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
NAO to investigate St Helens and Knowsley FT bid

STRUCTURE: The trust is one of two in the North West to be visited by the National Audit Office for its research on the challenges to achieving foundation trust status, according to a report to the region’s strategic health authority.
NAO to probe Pennine Acute FT bid

STRUCTURE: The trust is one of two in the North West to be visited by the National Audit Office for its research on the challenges to achieving foundation trust status, according to a report to the region’s strategic health authority.
NHS 'substantially achieved' management cut target last year

The NHS fell slightly short of the government’s management cost reduction target for 2010-11, although the Department of Health says the cut was “substantially achieved”.
NHS Warrington facing 'probable' £4.5m deficit for 2011-12

FINANCE: The primary care trust is facing a “probable” deficit of £4.5m in 2011-12, according to its cluster’s latest finance report.
North Staffs launches 24 hour liaison team

WORKFORCE: A new liaison team is being set up by North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare Trust to ensure specialist 24 hour care for mental health patients.
Nurses least likely to get flu vaccine

Health workers who are least likely to receive the flu vaccination are nurses and midwives, figures have revealed.
Only two hospitals rated 'poor' in annual PEAT scores

Just two hospital sites across the NHS and private sector were rated “poor” in this year’s patient environment action team inspection results, published by the NHS Information Centre.
Patient outcomes could be threatened by HR cuts

Patient outcomes will suffer if NHS human resources work is allowed to deteriorate during the current period of reform and cost-cutting, a government commissioned report has warned.
Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust appoints new medical director

WORKFORCE: Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust has announced the appointment of Dr Sally Bradley as its new medical director.
Pharma sector calls on trusts to share data with industry

The pharmaceutical industry is urging the NHS to be more open to research projects which could illuminate the wider societal benefits of treatment.
Politicians block reforms - King’s Fund

Politicians “often act as a barrier” to essential NHS reforms, The King’s Fund has claimed.
Private income avenues being explored in the South West

Five foundation trusts in the overcrowded provider landscape of east Dorset and west Somerset are all looking to drum up some more private business.
Reforms risk 'the end' of the NHS - Robinson

The health reforms will spell “the end of the NHS” unless it is seen through fully and decisively by central management, Sir Gerry Robinson has warned.
Reforms will curtail access to information, say campaigners

Public access to information may be “increasingly restricted” because NHS reforms could increase the involvement of independent providers, campaigners have warned.
Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen to lose BRC funding

FINANCE: The trust will lose its biomedical research centre funding at the end of this financial year, after losing out in the competition for the next round of five-year funding, an NHS North West board paper shows.
Sally Gainsbury: the real problems affecting readmissions

How do we keep people out of hospitals – those giant, multimillion-pound “monuments to the failure of preventive medicine”, as one director of public health recently put it?
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals starts A&E alcohol screening

PERFORMANCE: Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals Trust is introducing a screening programme to help reduce alcohol-related illnesses.
Sheffield FT behind on C diff target

PERFORMANCE: Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is behind on its C difficile target.
Sheffield Hospitals community services integration underway

STRUCTURE: Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust has begun integration of corporate services between the acute trust and community services which it has taken on; and is commencing a review of clinical services across the two.
Shortlist announced for Suffolk community services tender

COMMERCIAL: Nine organisations have been shortlisted for the £43m contract to run Suffolk’s community services, it has been announced.
Somerset nurse makes mark with infection control work

PERFORMANCE: A Somerset nurse has been shortlisted for a national award for her work in developing a resource to help health staff and others reduce the spread of infection from the norovirus stomach bug.
South Central trusts reveal underlying cash problems

A collective report from the pleasingly named SHIP primary care trust cluster – Southampton, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth – gives a snapshot of the South Coast’s state of affairs.
South Essex Partnership completes takeover of Beds community services

STRUCTURE: Staff and services at Bedfordshire Community Health Services transferred formally to South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust on 1 September.
Southern Health proposes two mental health hospital closures

COMMERCIAL: Southern Health Foundation Trust is proposing to close two mental health hospitals as part of a reconfiguration which is expected to save £4.4m by 2013.
Staff arrested following death at hospital in Chichester

PERFORMANCE: Three staff at a Sussex hospital have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with the death of a 77-year-old patient from a suspected overdose.
Staffordshire community providers form partnership trust

STRUCTURE: Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Partnership NHS Trust was launched as a new provider organisation on 1 September.
Stepping Hill nurse 'made a scapegoat' by police

A nurse who spent more than six weeks in custody was made a “scapegoat” when police “jumped the gun” as she was charged with contaminating saline, her lawyer has said.
Struggling providers to get above-tariff payments

Struggling providers will be able to ask Monitor for permission to raise their prices above nationally set “tariff” rates, under proposed government changes to the Health Bill unveiled today.
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare ‘turning corner’ on maternity

PERFORMANCE: Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust chief executive Michael Wilson has paid tribute to maternity staff by highlighting anecdotal evidence of an improvement in standards.
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare gets 40 more A&E beds for winter

PERFORMANCE: Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust is to introduce a temporary ward of 40 beds to expand its capacity and reduce waits over winter, according to chief executive Michael Wilson.
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare looks to £2m A&E refurbishment

STRUCTURE: In his weekly message, trust chief executive Michael Wilson highlighted the start of work to overhaul East Surrey Hospital’s emergency department and a new patient pathway.
Sussex Partnership wins research grant

COMMERCIAL: Sussex Partnership FT has been awarded a major research grant to investigate whether a form of meditation can help people with schizophrenia who “hear voices”.
System switch-over sees 209 blood tests go unprocessed at Whipps Cross

PERFORMANCE: Whipps Cross University Hospital Trust last month began an investigation into a computer system failure that resulted in more than 100 blood tests not being processed.
Virtual care service launched for North West stroke patients

STRUCTURE: An “out of hours” virtual clinical service is being launched in the North West to help support treatment for acute stroke patients.
West Middlesex scores PEAT hat trick

PERFORMANCE: West Middlesex Hospital has gained the top rating in all three categories in the latest annual assessment of its inpatient services.
Western Sussex Hospitals introduces 24/7 thrombolysis

PERFORMANCE: ‘Clot-busting’ drugs for stroke patients are now available around the clock at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust.
Whipps Cross reports rise in alcohol-related falls in summer months

PERFORMANCE: The east London hospital trust said the number of falls had risen in June and July.
Why caution on hospital failure still has its price

This week the government looked into the abyss of hospital failure and shuffled nervously back from the edge of the precipice.
Why critical comparisons are needed to improve management of patients with chronic diseases

The results of a rheumatology case-mix survey has highlighted a need to better evaluate care pathways for patients with chronic diseases. Sangeetha Baskar and colleagues explain the evidence.
Why it could make sense to consider a non executive role

With career opportunities dwindling and uncertainty surrounding jobs in the NHS, there’s never been a better time to apply for a non excutive director role, says executive recruiters Odgers Berndtson’s head of healthcare Carmel Gibbons.
Why it is crucial for commissioning support to be established successfully

The theory behind commissioning under NHS reform is beginning to fall into place. But support for commissioners remains a concern, argues Helen Mooney, and doubts remain over whether the ideas can be successfully put into practice.
Yorkshire substance misuse service tender

COMMERCIAL: Managers in North Yorkshire have announced they are putting £1.3m worth of substance misuse services out to tender.
Your Humble Servant: survival of the fittest in the NHS

Perhaps we should look back to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to see who’ll survive in the dog-eat-dog world of health policy.

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Health Service Journal8 September 2011

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Health Service Journal
8 September 2011