Health Service Journal
9 August 2012
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Pennine Care nearly doubled in size through TCS
FINANCE: The foundation trust nearly doubled its turnover in 2011-12 through the Transforming Community Services programme of transferring commissioners’ provider arms, its annual report shows. -
‘Novel and contentious’
Slowly but surely the NHS is adapting to an environment in which large funding increases no longer roll through the door and in which previous sources of capital spending have all but dried up. -
3.2pc of Pennine Care diagnostic waits over six weeks
PERFORMANCE: 3.2 per cent of patients awaiting diagnostic tests from the trust in June had been on its waiting list for more than six weeks, against a national target that fewer than 1 per cent of patients should wait that long. -
5.4pc of East Cheshire Trust diagnostic waits over six weeks
PERFORMANCE: 5.4 per cent of patients awaiting diagnostic tests from the trust in June had been on its waiting list for more than six weeks, against a national target that fewer than 1 per cent of patients should wait that long. -
A collaborative operation
Charities and the NHS should work together to best deliver the joined-up care that patients deserve, writes David Shaw. -
Ashford and St Peter’s improves on four-hour A&E target
PERFORMANCE: Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital Foundation Trust was meeting the four-hour target for accident and emergency waits by the end of the first quarter of 2012-13, according to board papers. -
Ashton, Leigh and Wigan misses national target for diagnostic waits
PERFORMANCE: The primary care trust NHS Ashton, Leigh and Wigan had 4,254 patients on waiting lists for diagnostic tests at the end of June, of which 81 had been waiting for more than six weeks, latest Department of Health data shows. -
Bed waiting times soar for A&E admissions
The number of patients waiting more than four hours in emergency departments for a bed to become available has rocketed in the past year, HSJ analysis reveals. -
Bidders shortlisted in competition for Central Surrey Health contract
COMMERCIAL: Just two bidders have been shortlisted in the competition to run the services currently provided by Central Surrey Health, the first social enterprise to come out of the NHS. -
Birmingham and Solihull cluster heading for £18m shortfall
FINANCE: The Birmingham and Solihull primary care trust cluster’s financial forecast has improved by £5m, but it is still predicting a £14m overspend by the end of 2012-13. -
Birmingham cluster predicts £26m QIPP shortfall
FINANCE: Birmingham and Solihull primary care trust cluster has predicted a £26m shortfall on efficiency savings against a target of £58m. -
Blackburn with Darwen Teaching had highest sickness absence in Lancs
WORKFORCE: Blackburn with Darwen Teaching Care Trust Plus had the highest level of sickness absence in Lancashire in March, shows the second workforce report for the whole county. -
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals opens new clinical trials facility
RESEARCH: Blackpool Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust has opened a new dedicated clinical trials facility, in place of its former practice of undertaking research on wards, it has reported. -
Board to buy support services
The NHS Commissioning Board will become a major customer of the commercial commissioning support service bodies that it will host, HSJ has learned. -
Bolton FT may need extra funding, regulator warns
FINANCE: The foundation trust’s liquidity is forecast to come under “significant pressure” in the third quarter of 2012-13 and it “may require additional funding”, Monitor warned on 2 August. -
Bradford District Care Trust begins IT integration
COMMERCIAL: Bradford District Care Trust has begun an integration of two clinical IT systems. -
Bright approach to fast care
Same-day emergency care demands a shift in mindset from A&E staff comparable to that required by day surgery. -
Bring social care best to NHS
When faced with huge challenges like providing healthcare to an ageing population, it is reasonable to assume that only huge solutions will do. -
Call for NHS 111 rollout slowdown undermined
Just eight clinical commissioning groups have asked the Department of Health for an extension to the deadline for the rollout of NHS 111, despite widespread calls for the process to be slowed down. -
Call to target kidney care costs
Kidney disease costs the NHS more than breast, lung, colon and skin cancer combined, yet too many cases remain undiagnosed and untreated. -
Camden and Islington Foundation Trust deliver 9% saving
FINANCE: Camden and Islington Foundation Trust, the north central London mental health services provider, has reported a £12m saving to Monitor for 2011-12, 9 per cent of its turnover. -
Central and Eastern Cheshire misses diagnostics waiting target
PERFORMANCE: The primary care trust NHS Central and Eastern Cheshire had 5,191 patients on waiting lists for diagnostic tests at the end of June, of which 125 had been waiting for more than six weeks, latest Department of Health data shows. -
Central and NW London FT looks to expand private provision
COMMERCIAL: Central and North West London Foundation Trust is looking to expand its private mental health services, a document sent to Monitor reveals. -
Chelsea and Westminster FT anticipate smaller surpluses
FINANCE: Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Foundation Trust is anticipating smaller surpluses in 2013-14 and 2014-15. -
Chelsea and Westminster predicts pay inflation will cost an extra £3.4m next year
FINANCE:The central London acute provider Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Foundation Trust “anticipates” annual payawards of no more than 1 per cent in 2013-14 and 2014-15. -
Christie surplus £127,000 ahead of plan
FINANCE: The Christie Foundation Trust’s surplus for the first quarter of 2012-13 was £127,000 above plan. -
Commissioning board encourages CCG contract and risk sharing
The NHS Commissioning Board has published guidance highlighting the benefits of - and options for - clinical commissioning groups collaborating to share contracts with providers and pool financial risk. -
Commissioning board local director to take up acute chief exec post
WORKFORCE: An experienced primary care trust chief executive who was named a local area team director on the NHS Commissioning Board less than three weeks ago is now to take up a post as a hospital chief executive. -
Commissioning support service on track
STRUCTURE: The Cumbria and Lancashire Commissioning Support Service has passed through another development milestone, shows a report to the NHS Lancashire PCT cluster. -
Complaints fall at Yeovil FT
PERFORMANCE: Yeovil District Hospital Foundation Trust saw a 13 per cent fall in the number of formal complaints received in 2011-12 comparted with the prevoius year. -
Concerns over diagnostic performance in Birmingham and Solihull
PERFORMANCE: Increased demand for endoscopy tests has caused the Birmingham and Solihull primary care trust cluster to struggle to hit its target on diagnostic waits. -
Countess of Chester appoints former NHS chief exec as chair
WORKFORCE: The foundation trust has appointed former NHS chief executive Sir Duncan Nichol to be its new chair, it reported last week. -
CQC inspector disciplined over Winterbourne whistleblower failure
A Care Quality Commission inspector has been disciplined for mismanagement of concerns raised by a whistleblower about Winterbourne View Hospital, the regulator’s internal review of the handling of the case has revealed. -
Cumbria council launches £300,000 health and wellbeing fund
FINANCE: Cumbria county council has launched a £300,000 grant fund to support community health and wellbeing projects in Eden and Allerdale. -
Current West Kent overspend is ‘not sustainable’
FINANCE: Commissioners in West Kent have already been forced to dip into contingency reserves due to excess activity by their acute providers, board papers reveal. -
David Stout leaves NHS Confederation to run commissioning support organisations
NHS Confederation deputy chief executive David Stout has been appointed as managing director of two commissioning support units, covering Hertfordshire and Essex. -
Doctors should care to lead
With almost all healthcare expenditure driven by doctors’ decisions, it is only natural they should be involved in NHS decision making, argues Rajan Madhok -
Doncaster and Bassetlaw FT holding governor election
STRUCTURE: Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is holding an election for governor positions this month. -
East Cheshire £55K off target but doing well on savings
FINANCE: East Cheshire Trust reported a £572,000 surplus at the end of June, £55,000 less than a planned surplus of £627,000, board papers show. -
East Cheshire Trust CIP programme boosted by one-off savings
FINANCE: The trust exceeded its planned cost improvement programme savings by 4 per cent in the first quarter of 2012-13, but more than 40 per cent of the savings were achieved by one-off measures, its latest finance report shows. -
East London FT faces ongoing problems on women's intensive care
PERFORMANCE: The East London Foundation Trust is working to address continuing problems with the “provision of [a] Female Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit”. -
Eastern Kent PCT being kept afloat by reserves
FINANCE: NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent has used more than £5m in reserves to maintain a surplus in the first quarter of 2012-13, according to board papers. -
Elective activity through the roof in Birmingham cluster
PERFORMANCE: GP referrals in the Birmingham and Solihull area are 32 per cent above plan in May this year, with other activity level indicators also showing significant overperformance. -
Electronic health research funding
Four centres of excellence in electronic health research are to be set up. -
Emergency services feel strain of telephone trial
A telephone triage system developed by Connecting for Health to direct patients to the most appropriate forms of care appears to be increasing pressure on emergency services, HSJ has discovered. -
Exclusive: 400 PCT jobs at risk in Birmingham and Black Country
WORKFORCE: Four hundred primary care trust staff are likely to lose their jobs in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country in the transition to the new NHS commissioning structure, HSJ has learned. -
FTs with heavy PFI burdens could face ratings downgrade
Foundation trusts could in future have their financial risk rating downgraded if their private finance initiative payments amount to more than 10 per cent of income, NHS sector regulator Monitor has mooted. -
Games drug testing labs to become research centre
A £10m scientific research centre is to be based on the site of Olympic drug testing laboratories, David Cameron has announced. -
Government called on to prevent fresh care home scandal
Another care home scandal like Winterbourne View could happen again unless the government takes action, campaigners warned today. -
Great Ormond St says delay to lifting of private patient cap a 'key risk'
COMMERCIAL: Great Ormond Street Hospital has identified a delay to the lifting of the private patient cap as a “key risk”. -
Guy's and St Thomas' plans to cut costs by £23m
FINANCE: Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust intends to cut costs by £23m over the next two years, its annual plan review reveals. -
Health needs of young carers assessed
PERFORMANCE: NHS Surrey and a charity are surveying young carers to identify their health needs and inform future commissioning. -
Hillingdon Hospitals plans to reduce caesarian rate
PERFORMANCE: Hillingdonn Hospitals Foundation Trust hope to reduce their caesarian section rate to 27.6 per cent over the next two years, a report said. -
Homerton plans to grow turnover by 6 per cent
FINANCE: Homerton University Hospital Foundation Trust intends to grow its turnover from £243m last year to £259m in 2014-15, its annual plan review reveals. -
How to make it to merger
Trusts can boost their chances of success when merger proposals are considered -
In the new NHS, you are what you tweet
Social media is no longer optional but an essential tool that must be used by ‘communitarians’ offering value -
Kent acutes given more time to provide merger evidence
STRUCTURE: Two acute trusts that are seeking to merge have been given more time by the Cooperation and Competition Panel to provide information to support their case. -
Kent commissioners use £10m reserves to maintain surplus
FINANCE: The primary care trust cluster and clinical commissioning groups in Kent and Medway are turning to contingencies to maintain a surplus. -
King's has seen 'no evidence' commissioners will reduce referrals
FINANCE: King’s College Hospital Foundation Trust said the impact of commissioners’ demand management plans had been built into its plan it had seen “no evidence” to support them. -
Kingston Hospital Trust's FT application moves to next stage
STRUCTURE: Kingston Hospital Trust’s foundation trust application has been referred to the final stage of the authorisation process. -
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals FT hits A&E target despite pressures
[UPDATED] PERFORMANCE: Emergency services at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals FT hit the four hour A&E waiting time target in June, board papers show. -
Leaders of aspiring FTs receive confidential help to improve
More than 20 hospital trust boards have signed up to a leadership training programme which they hope will help them make efficiency savings and achieve foundation status, HSJ has learned. -
Leeds and Bradford to be designated centre for rare respiratory condition
STRUCTURE: Leeds Children’s Hospital – part of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust – has been named one of four national centres for children with Primary Ciliary Dyskinesia in a collaboration with Bradford Hospitals Foundation Trust. -
Leeds trust ordered to pay £1.2m over tumour
A woman who says she feels like a freak because of the effect on her growth of an undiagnosed tumour has won £1.3m damages after bringing proceedings against Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust -
Life expectancy linked to jobless rate
A greater risk of premature death is faced by people living in areas of England with long-term low employment, new research has claimed. -
Liverpool Community Health misses diagnostics target by huge margin
PERFORMANCE: Nearly 18 per cent of patients awaiting diagnostic tests from Liverpool Community Health Trust in June had been on its waiting list for more than six weeks, against a national target that fewer than 1 per cent of patients should wait that long. -
Loss-making Hinchingbrooke may require loan
Hinchingbrooke Healthcare Trust made a £2.3m loss in the three months to the end of June and may need a cash injection later this financial year if it does not deliver on cost improvement plans. -
Major capital project set to start at Ashford
STRUCTURE: A £2.8m refurbishment of the outpatients department at Ashford Hospital is scheduled to begin on 13 August, according to board papers. -
Major staff savings plan poses risk at Leeds trust
FINANCE: Potential underachievement of a larged planned saving on workforce costs poses a financial risk to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. -
Making legacy a reality
About a third of UK adults are not doing enough physical activity, causing 5.3 million deaths a year, according to estimates in a Lancet study into exercise and public health. -
Media Watch: Olympic NHS pride dissipates
The admiration following the Olympic opening ceremony has faded rapidly -
Medway FT ‘main factor’ driving commissioner overspend
FINANCE: NHS Medway and its clinical commissioning group have cited “over-performance” by the local foundation trust as the key cause of overspending during the first quarter of 2012-13. -
Mental health trust looks at savings through bed cutting
PERFORMANCE: The north central London mental health provider Camden and Islington Foundation Trust has “savings requirements” of £6.6m in 2012-13 and 2013-14, according to a document it submitted to the foundation trust regulator. -
Michael White: Lansley's pragmatism
More by accident than design, Andrew Lansley became such a hero of the Tory right during passage of the Health Act and such a swivel-eyed fanatic to his many critics that it’s going to be hard work persuading any of them that he can actually be quite pragmatic. Let’s try. -
Neglect contributed to death of patient at Somerset community hospital
PERFORMANCE: A patient who choked to death at a hospital run by Somerset Partnership Foundation Trust had been neglected by staff, a coroner has ruled. -
New £33m community hospital gets go ahead
STRUCTURE: NHS Somerset has approved the full business case for a £33m community hospital rebuild. -
New ambulance prep centre opened
STRUCTURE: South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust has opened a Make Ready Centre in Ashford. -
New complex care ward opens at Conquest hospital
STRUCTURE: East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust has opened a new ward that specialises in caring for older people with complex conditions at its Conquest Hospital site in Hastings. -
New medical director at Mid Staffs
WORKFORCE: Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust has officially welcomed its new medical director Robert Courteney-Harris who took over his new role today (Wednesday). -
NHS 'could save £462m' on over-65s
The NHS could save nearly half a billion pounds annually by reducing emergency admissions and hospital stays among older patients, according to a King’s Fund report shared with HSJ. -
NICE proposes indicators for holding CCGs to account
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has suggested 44 indicators which could be used to monitor the success of clinical commissioning groups. -
Nicholson orders trusts to offer approved drugs
All NHS organisations have been ordered to publish details of which drugs they will routinely fund in a bid to make sure patients get medicines they are legally entitled to. -
Nine directors appointed to NHS property company
The Department of Health has recruited nine directors to the independent property company it is setting up to manage NHS estate, all of whom are currently working in the NHS. -
North Staffordshire trust fined again over waiting time failures
University Hospital of North Staffordshire has been fined £2.5m by commissioners for its continued failure to hit a key accident and emergency target. -
Northumbria invests £700k in elderly care nurses
WORKFORCE: Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has announced it will recruit 30 registered nurses to work with elderly patients in hospitals and the community. -
NW Ambulance Service begins trauma investment ahead of funding agreement
STRUCTURE: North West Ambulance Service Trust has begun investment in additional staff and vehicles needed to establish major trauma networks ahead of funding confirmation from commissioners, according to latest board reports. -
Oldham: Tackle problem GPs to improve primary care in poor areas
Under-resourced primary care in poor areas could be improved by tackling practices currently providing a bad service, a senior GP adviser has said. -
Olympic legacy of a better life
NHS London is hopeful the Games will leave a lasting legacy after the athletes depart -
Paediatric review suggests changes at Morecambe Bay maternity unit
STRUCTURE: Restricting University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay’s troubled Furness General Hospital maternity unit to low-risk births could help take pressure off of its stretched paediatric services, an external review has advised. -
Patients 'should take trusts to court' over drug access
‘Numerous trusts are acting unlawfully… denying patients an innovative and cost-effective treatment,’ writes NICE chair Sir Michael Rawlins in a recent HSJ article. Read the article, listen to the BBC’s follow-up and share your views. -
PCTs begin new wave of redundancies
Eight hundred primary care trust staff are likely to lose their jobs in the West Midlands and Greater Manchester, HSJ has learned, heralding the start of a final round of job cuts in the transition to the new NHS structure. -
Pension funds to bankroll £298m hospital in finance first
Two pension funds have offered to finance a foundation trust’s new hospital in what could emerge as an alternative to conventional sources of private capital. -
Peter Carter: CCGs need nurses’ talents
As clinicians come together to establish clinical commissioning groups, they will soon set about designing their internal management structures, by creating governing bodies and wider leadership teams. -
Poor infection control highlighted at Mid Yorks Trust
PERFORMANCE: Serious shortcomings in infection control have been discovered at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust, including nurses having to carry out routine cleaning due to a lack of cleaning provision. -
Post Polio Syndrome awareness urged
Greater awareness has been urged among family doctors of a debilitating neurological condition almost as common as Parkinson’s. -
Readers' letters - 9 August 2012
A patient-centred service is a distant vision from Danny Boyle’s Olympic celebration -
Record keeping concerns remain at Ashford and St Peter’s
PERFORMANCE: The Care Quality Commission has declared that Ashford and St Peter’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is now compliant on five out of six quality indicators. -
Research establishes gender link in allergy hereditary
RESEARCH: Clinicians at Southampton University Hospital Foundation Trust have discovered a child’s risk of developing an allergic disease is doubled if a parent of the same sex has suffered from it. -
Rising to the QIPP challenge
According to the National Audit Office, apprenticeships generate £16 in economic returns for every £1 of funding -
RJAH to invest £11m in facilities
COMMERCIAL: Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital Foundation Trust has agreed an £11m three-year investment plan to improve hospital facilities. -
Ryhurst shortlisted in CWP estates tender
COMMERCIAL: Property management and development firm Ryhurst is among the bidders that have been shortlisted by Cheshire and Wirral Partnership Foundation Trust in its tender for a strategic estates joint venture partner, the company has reported. -
Sally Gainsbury: designated fallout
Roll up, roll up: the great commissioner-requested services bun fight is coming to a council chamber, local rag and Save our DGH campaign near you. -
Sefton over the threshold for diagnostic waits
PERFORMANCE: In June NHS Sefton was one of five North West primary care trusts to miss the national target of less than 1 per cent of patients waiting more than six weeks for diagnostic tests, latest Department of Health data shows. -
Social media for NHS dummies
Be yourself - but never post under the influence. Lisa Rodrigues offers her tips for tweeters -
Spending on mental health falls for first time in 10 years
Overall spending on adult mental health services has fallen in real terms for the first time in a decade. -
St George's and university appoint joint estates director
WORKFORCE: Neal Deans has been appointed as joint director of estates and facilities for St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust and St George’s, University of London. -
Staffordshire Partnership launches FT consultation
STRUCTURE: People living in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent are being urged to have their say on future plans for Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Partnership Trust. -
Staffordshire Police call-off hunt for NHS whistleblower
WORKFORCE: Staffordshire Police has told HSJ no further action will be taken in the hunt for an NHS whistleblower who leaked information about a doctor accused of negligence. -
Surgeon calls for obesity surgery to be prioritised over end of life cancer drugs
A surgeon has suggested that it might be better to spend NHS funds on surgery for obese patients than on palliative care for the terminally ill. -
Tameside Hospital admits failings in death of 12-year-old girl
PERFORMANCE: The foundation trust has admitted failings in the care of a 12-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who died of blood poisoning after being admitted to Tameside Hospital’s children’s unit. -
The paper chase is on
Despite some moves towards electronic document systems, strategic approaches to document scanning in the NHS are rare. Daloni Carlisle looks at how to be a successful copycat. -
Thousands attend rally on hospital cuts
STRUCTURE: Around 2,000 people have taken part in a protest against planned changes to acute services in Worcestershire. -
Treasury scrutinises Northumbria PFI buyout plan
FINANCE: The Treasury is expected to issue advice to regulator Monitor “shortly” on the first ever attempt by a foundation trust to use local authority borrowing to refinance its private finance initiative contracts. -
Trusts face higher pension costs so frontline staff can retire early
NHS trusts could have to pay higher pension contributions for some staff groups so they can retire earlier, HSJ has learned. -
UCLH estates director moving to new job
WORKFORCE: Director of estates and facilities at University College London Hospitals Foundation Trust Trevor Payne is to take up the equivalent job at Barts Health Trust. -
UH Birmingham praised on VTE
RESEARCH: University Hospitals Birmingham Foundation Trust has been named an “exemplar centre” for venous thromboembolism in recognition of its work on blood clot prevention. -
Under-resourced SHA holds up FT progress in Leeds
STRUCTURE: Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is continuing work on an integrated business plan, with the aim of gaining foundation status, but it has been held up by a lack of staff at its overseeing strategic health authority. -
West Midlands SHA releases £44m to Birmingham cluster
FINANCE: The West Midlands strategic health authority will release £44m to the Birmingham and Solihull primary care trust cluster, on the understanding the cluster pays for all its transition costs. -
Western Cheshire above national limit for long diagnostic waits
PERFORMANCE: The primary care trust NHS Western Cheshire had 3,193 patients on waiting lists for diagnostic tests at the end of June, of which 64 had been waiting for more than six weeks, latest Department of Health data shows. -
Western Sussex gears up for first governor election
STRUCTURE: More than 100 people have put themselves forward to stand in the first election of governors at Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, as it seeks to become a foundation trust. -
Winterbourne case 'a watershed moment'
The shocking report into abuse of residents at a care home by staff has led to those blamed for failure vowing to ensure it does not happen again. -
WWL reports £200,000 deficit for June
FINANCE: The foundation trust reported a deficit of £200,000 for June 2012, against a planned surplus of £100,000 for the month, its latest finance report shows.
