Health Service Journal
9 February 2012
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Regulator issues Morecambe Bay urgent warning to increase A&E staffing
PERFORMANCE: The Care Quality Commission has issued a warning to University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay foundation trust that it must improve staffing levels at The Royal Lancaster Infirmary, after an inspection of its accident and emergency department. -
AQP staff to receive NHS pension under Treasury proposal
The government is considering extending the NHS pension to private firms doing health service work under the “any qualified provider” scheme, even where staff have not been formally transferred from the health service. -
Becoming a successful social enterprise
Bristol Community Health has committed to the future success of its community healthcare services by becoming a social enterprise. Nicola Lowe explains why. -
Bradford surgeon becomes Yorks and Humber postgraduate dean
WORKFORCE: Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust consultant vascular surgeon David Wilkinson has been appointed postgraduate dean at the Yorkshire and the Humber Deanery. -
Cameron's comparison to Blair only highlights the differences
Labour leader Ed Miliband challenged David Cameron at last week’s prime minister’s question time over the critical editorial on NHS reform published jointly by HSJ, the BMJ and Nursing Times. -
CCG: East Cheshire Trust dependent on ‘significant reconfiguration’
STRUCTURE: East Cheshire Trust will require “significant reconfiguration” to maintain financial stability, clinical commissioners have stated. -
CCP recommends biggest acute merger go ahead despite 'reducing patient choice'
The Co-operation and Competition Panel has recommended England’s biggest hospital merger should be allowed to go ahead - but only because there is no alternative. -
Circle faces £10m hole in Hinchingbrooke budget
FINANCE: Circle will have to cut costs at Hinchingbrooke Healthcare Trust by 10 per cent if it is to break even next year, it has emerged. -
Commissioners overspending at Newcastle FT by £10.5m
FINANCE: North of Tyne commissioners are overspending on their contract with Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Foundation Trust by £10.5m. -
Commissioners 'very disappointed' as reconfiguration abandoned
STRUCTURE: Vascular services in the south of Hampshire are to remain unchanged after a planned reconfiguration was halted. -
Commissioning board restricted by Health Bill 'turbulence'
The NHS Commissioning Board is working under “strict limits” on what it can do as the government’s Health Bill battles “turbulence” in Parliament, its chair has said. -
CQC calls for improved care quality data
The Care Quality Commission is backing a campaign started by Dr Foster Intelligence for hospitals to record simple care quality information when patients are admitted to hospital. -
CQUIN and CQC quality results don't match, report finds
Trusts are improving the patient experience in areas where they receive financial incentives while neglecting others, a study suggests. -
Croydon Health Services looking at £10m savings plan for 2012-13
FINANCE: Croydon Health Services Trust in south London is planning a savings target of £10.1m according to the most recent finance papers the trust has published. -
Croydon Health Services reduces clinical income forecast
FINANCE: Croydon Health Services has reduced its clinical income forecast because of problems at its primary care trust. -
Dartford and Gravesham at risk of busting C difficile target
PERFORMANCE: Dartford and Gravesham Trust has reached the maximum number of C difficile cases allowed for the current financial year with a full quarter left to run. -
David Kerr: the true value of reform must be defined by patient outcomes
Rather than distracting from the NHS efficiency challenge, the Health Bill could help achieve it, writes David Kerr. -
Death rates higher after weekend admissions, study confirms
Patients admitted to hospital at weekends have a greater chance of dying than those admitted on a week day, a large-scale review of NHS data has reiterated. -
DH sets aside £617m for redundancy and restructuring costs
The Department of Health has announced £617m has been put into a contingency fund for NHS reform redundancy payments and restructuring costs during 2011-12. -
DH to issue guidance on terms and conditions for public health directors
Government guidance on how directors of public health and their staff should be employed will extend as far as stating their terms and conditions and how they should be managed, according to ministers. -
EMAS challenges PTS procurement process
COMMERCIAL: East Midlands Ambulance Service has challenged the procurement process behind the award of contracts for patient transport services after it lost out on all of the contracts in the region. -
Exclusive: Care Quality Commission to get external assessor
An “external body” is set to be appointed to assess the effectiveness of the Care Quality Commission, HSJ has learnt. -
Faculty of Public Health calls for withdrawal of bill
The Faculty of Public Health has joined the growing list of professional bodies calling for the Health Bill to be withdrawn. -
Five NHS commissioning board directors confirmed
The appointment of five NHS Commissioning Board executive directors has been announced, including Ian Dalton in the key role of chief operating officer. -
Gloucestershire backs down over social enterprise plan
COMMERCIAL: A primary care trust has backed down on the second day of a judicial review hearing by agreeing to reconsider the future of its community services. -
Government benefits clampdown 'increasing disability abuse'
Charities have warned that disabled people are increasingly being subjected to abuse as a result of the government’s focus on alleged fraud and over-claiming to justify benfits cuts. -
Government defeated in Lords Health Bill vote
The government yesterday lost the first vote in its Health Bill’s latest hearing in Parliament, just hours after the prime minister had passionately reiterated the case for reform. -
Government estimates central bail-out of seven trusts will cost £1.5bn
The government has estimated that bailing out hospital trusts with large PFI repayments could cost £1.5bn. -
Government risks going backwards on integration, warn MPs
Financial pressures and the government’s reforms risk the level of integration between health and social care actually diminishing, despite ministers restating their commitment to the policy, according to MPs. -
Government won't enjoy efficiency gained from public sector borrowing
While Fleet Street fixates on the possible privatisation of NHS services, up north they are thinking about nationalisation. -
Guy's and St Thomas' criticises SHA reorganisation of nurse education
WORKFORCE: Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust has criticised NHS London for its plan to change the way nursing education is commissioned. -
Hampshire reports pressure on acute contracts
FINANCE: The Hampshire health system is reporting a surplus, having released almost all its contingency reserves for the first three quarters of 2011-12. -
Hampshire trusts close to agreement on vascular reconfiguration
STRUCTURE: “Considerable progress” has been made towards reconciling a dispute between two trusts over the future of vascular services in Hampshire. -
Health Bill amendments target integration and secretary of state's duties
The government has tabled 137 amendments to its Health Bill. -
Healthcare trust hopes to nationalise second-ever PFI hospital
The foundation trust poised to take over one of England’s first ever private finance initiative hospitals hopes to renationalise it, HSJ has learned. -
How improved medication adherence can prevent costly medicine waste
Preventing unnecessary hospital admissions for medication could save the NHS a significant part of the £150m “medicine waste” recognised in a Department of Health report, say Nina Barnett and Andrew McDowell. -
How productivity and efficiency benefit from focusing on utilisation
The NHS stands to make huge efficiency savings from better productivity practices if it begins to focus on the underutilisation of its resources, argues Dr Angus MacDougall. -
How to improve staff collaboration and delivered integrated care
Collaboration and enabled leadership helped one trust achieve better integration of services, which ended up benefitting both the patients receiving care and the staff delivering it, writes Jane Wells. -
How to prioritise disinvestment in support services
A tool to help assess disinvestment in support services can help organisations validate their difficult decisions in this area, as Marion Bain, Hester Ward and Simon Belfer explain. -
Ideas to improve quality and safety in care homes sought
Nurses are being asked for ideas on how to improve patient care and working conditions in care homes, as part of a new programme of work by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. -
Imperial reduces deficit forecast to £19m
FINANCE: One of the capital’s most financially challenged trusts is now reporting a significant reduction in its predicted deficit. -
Inspectors recognise good healthcare in Surrey prison
PERFORMANCE: The healthcare given to prisoners at HMP High Down has been praised in a report. -
Isle of Wight judged as 'performing'
PERFORMANCE: The Isle of Wight was the only primary care trust in its cluster to be assessed as “performing” by the South Central strategic health authority. -
IT problems cause FT delay for Bath
STRUCTURE: Royal United Hospital Bath’s planned date for the submission of its foundation trust application to the DH has been delayed. -
Kent and Medway cuts deficit with asset sale
FINANCE: Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust has reached a near breakeven position after nine months of the financial year, according to board papers. -
King's College Hospital working to avoid year-end deficit
FINANCE: The south London acute trust King’s College Hospital Foundation Trust recorded a deficit of £1.28m in December, up from a £1m deficit in month 8. -
King's Health Partners looks to St George's
STRUCTURE: King’s Health Partners, the south London Academic Health Science Centre, has said it was exploring “partnership models with St George’s”. -
Leadership Academy highlights gender discrimination in NHS
The NHS Leadership Academy is compiling data on the proportion of NHS board members and clinical leaders who are women in order to expose inequalities. -
Lords set to debate integration and health secretary's duty
The Health Bill returns to the House of Lords today, with a raft of new amendments lined up including one proposing a “duty of co-operation” for providers of NHS services. -
Media Watch: the NHS money lost in translation
Health took a back seat this week as the news was dominated by atrocities in Syria, the resignation of Chris Huhne and the snow that Media Watch was so sceptical about last week. -
Michael White: there's no pleasing the peers
It’s time to take a break from that wretched Lansley bill,” I told the columnar staff at the weekend. “Find something different for me to write about.” -
Midwife numbers below par at Dartford and Gravesham
WORKFORCE: Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust needed to recruit another 20 midwives, according to latest board papers. -
New consultation on pharmacy regulation proposed
A consultation exercise has been launched on proposed reform of the regulation system governing pharmacies across Great Britain. -
'New insights could help CCGs be clear on population health services'
Learning from medical groups in the US could show the way for CCGs to develop practices that deliver better quality services for their population’s health, suggests Tim Riley. -
New NHS Confederation forum to bid for policy influence
The NHS Confederation has established a policy forum in a bid to increase its influence over government reform. -
New software causes 'significant problems' at North Bristol
PERFORMANCE: The introduction of a new electronic record and patient administration system has caused “significant” problems with outpatient appointments at North Bristol Trust. -
Newham hospice awarded national accreditation
PERFORMANCE: Richard House Children’s Hospice, in Newham, has been awarded a national accreditation for service standards. -
NHS Bristol to tender for new mental health provider
COMMERCIAL: Secondary mental health services in Bristol are to be put out to tender after clinicians raised concerns about the quality being delivered by the current provider. -
NHS manager launches care home rating website
An NHS manager hopes to improve national care standards by launching what she says is the first live, independent ratings website for care homes. -
North Bristol failing four hour target due to 'lack of beds'
PERFORMANCE: A lack of medical beds has seen North Bristol Trust miss the four hour accident and emergency target every month since September 2011 and is compromising performance against the 18 week referral to treatment target. -
North Somerset failing on C difficile
PERFORMANCE: NHS North Somerset failed targets for C difficile and MRSA during November. -
North Tyneside GP practice hails flu vaccine uptake
PERFORMANCE: North Tyneside PCT has highlighted the success of a GP practice which has increased uptake of the seasonal flu vaccine among the eligible population by around 20 percentage points, to achieve the highest figure in the region. -
Nov 30 strikes cost West Middlesex Hospital just £50,000
FINANCE: West Middlesex University Hospital Trust reported that thanks to an “effective contingency plan” on 30 November, the day of the national pensions strike, disruption was minimised. -
PCT in court over community services transfer
COMMERCIAL: A primary care trust’s claim it could not transfer its provider arm to an NHS organisation is “inaccurate and flawed”, the High Court has heard. -
PM responds to HSJ's criticisms of reforms
David Cameron has defended his government’s health reforms at prime minister’s question time from the criticisms set out in HSJ’s joint leader with Nursing Times and the BMJ. -
'Political bravery’ required to keep the NHS ‘the most open health system in the world'
The NHS is “the most open health system in the world” according to the government’s new public data transparency tsar, but only a mix of urgency, political bravery and public and clinical engagement will keep it that way. -
Pressure on Lansley grows as Lords scrutinise reforms
Health secretary Andrew Lansley will face yet more pressure over his controversial NHS reforms, with peers resuming their scrutiny of the legislation today. -
Radiographers and art therapists join opposition to the Health Bill
The professional body representing allied health professionals including radiographers, paramedics and physiotherapists has become the latest organisation to come out against the health bill. -
Reform cuts costing 6,000 nursing posts, Labour warns
Money earmarked for the costs of reorganising the NHS could pay to prevent the loss of 6,000 nursing jobs, Labour claims. -
Regulator installs new chairman at troubled Morecambe Bay hospitals
PERFORMANCE: Monitor has invoked its powers of intervention to install a new chairman at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust, following rising concern about the quality of care and leadership at the foundation. -
Revealed: all but six of London's non-FT hospital trusts unviable by 2014-15
Only six of London’s 18 non-foundation hospital trusts will be viable in their current form in 2014-15, HSJ can reveal. -
Revealed: CCG funding gulf could 'destablise services'
The first analysis of the budgets set to be given to clinical commissioning groups shows huge variation and has sparked concern about services being destabilised by a shortage of cash. -
Royal College of GPs joins calls for Health Bill to be scrapped
The UK’s largest medical royal college has called for the prime minister to scrap the Health and Social Care Bill, branding it “damaging, unnecessary and expensive”. -
Royal Surrey manager resigns following sacking of husband
WORKFORCE: A senior manager at the Royal Surrey County Hospital Foundation Trust has resigned following the sacking of her husband who was a director at the trust. -
Sacked Mid Staffs lawyer awarded £100,000
A lawyer who was sacked by Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust after allegedly trying to cover up failings in a patient’s care has won more than £100,000 at an employment tribunal. -
Sally Gainsbury: PFI bailouts are a sign of things to come
Those who are worried that the current top-down reconfiguration of the NHS will be the last of its kind received some good cheer last week, when the seven lucky recipients of its £1.5bn private finance initiative bailout scheme were announced. -
SHIP cluster struggles on prescribing savings
FINANCE: The Southampton, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth primary care trust cluster had collectively identified £69.9m worth of cost savings, just under its target of £71.7m. -
Shropshire hospital trust appoints director of nursing
WORKFORCE: Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has appointed Jayne Downey as its director of nursing and governance. -
South East Essex has £634k surplus
FINANCE: NHS South East Essex had a surplus of £634,000 at the end on month nine and is predicting a surplus for the year of £850,000. -
South East’s first stand-alone children’s A&E opens
STRUCTURE: The first stand-alone children’s emergency department in the South East has opened at the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton and Hove. -
South Essex PCT cluster tenders for NHS 111
COMMERCIAL: The NHS South West Essex and South East Essex primary care trust cluster is seeking expresions of interest from providers interested in providing an NHS 111 and out of hours service. -
South London Healthcare trust to spend £2.4m on private treatment
FINANCE: The south east London acute trust is predicting spending £2.4m on treating orthopaedics and bariatrics patients at private facilities. -
Southampton PCT forced to find non-recurrent savings
FINANCE: Southampton primary care trust is set to achieve its surplus target of £1.9m for the year, but is overspending on acute services and is only mitigating this through non-recurrent means. -
Southern Health reconfiguration 'paused' after concerns raised
STRUCTURE: A consultation into changes to mental health services in Hampshire has been “paused” after concerns were raised over the closure of one inpatient unit. -
Specialist stroke services in Gloucestershire to be centralised
STRUCTURE: Specialist stroke services in Gloucestershire are to be centralised at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital from summer 2012. -
Stockton-On-Tees health centre moving
STRUCTURE: A primary care health centre in Stockton-On-Tees is to move. -
Stroke care in the East of England proving problematic
Providing first class stroke care is problematic in the East of England. -
Surgery uses patient list to market private tests
A GP practice has used its patient list to distribute marketing material for a company offering private screening for heart conditions and stroke risk. -
Surrey and Sussex buys new ultrasound equipment
COMMERCIAL: The anaesthesia department at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has purchased in six SonoSite point-of-care ultrasound systems for its surgical and intensive care services. -
Surrey backs reforms ahead of public health push
Issues of public health past and present have emerged in Surrey and its surrounding area. -
Surrey Community Health hails dignity champions
WORKFORCE: More than 70 healthcare staff at Surrey Community Health have signed up to become dignity champions. -
Surrey health and wellbeing board backs bill
STRUCTURE: The joint chairs of the shadow health and wellbeing board for Surrey have supported the government’s NHS reforms in a letter to the Daily Telegraph. -
Sussex Partnership opens new secure unit
STRUCTURE: Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has opened what it says is the most modern medium secure mental hospital in the country. -
Tees chief nurse gains academic role
WORKFORCE: A senior nurse from the north east has been made a visiting professor at the University of Teesside. -
Telehealth can be at the heart of integrated health and social care
A council plans to integrate health and social care services in their new model of care. Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council executive director of adult social care and inclusion Paul Davies discusses how telehealth is fundamental to this service redesign. -
'There is inherent value in high quality outcomes data'
The goal of the Nicholson challenge can “only be achieved by making fundamental changes to the way care is delivered”, the commons health committee concluded last month. This is a sentiment that appears to be shared quite broadly. -
Training plans for major government project leaders
Whitehall officials will undergo training programmes before being allowed to run major public projects like the new high-speed rail link or the NHS IT project, ministers have said. -
Translation services costing NHS £60,000 a day
The NHS spend on translation and interpretation services is £60,000 a day, according to a report. -
West Cheshire clinical commissioners set out clinical priorites
PERFORMANCE: The West Cheshire clinical commissioning group has set out plans to focus on six priority areas over the coming half-decade, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and mental health. -
West Middlesex on-track for year-end surplus
FINANCE: West Middlesex University Hospital Trust is on course to achieve its planned surplus of £1.4m, a board report revealed. -
West Middlesex University Hospital records 'unexpectedly high' death rates
PERFORMANCE: Minutes showed the Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratio for August was 125.3 at West Middlesex University Hospital Trust, meaning the rate was roughly 26 per cent higher than would be expected.
