Maggie Rae on world class efforts

Maggie Rae

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The Olympics may be behind us but the legacy of rigorous training lives on in primary care trusts across the country as they prepare for the world class commissioning competency assessment process.

Like every other PCT, Team Wiltshire is in heavy training.

We booked ourselves into the masterclass with the same enthusiasm as if we were being pampered at a day spa. It was one of the best events I have ever attended. Team DH recognised the experience of the participants and genuinely wanted to help us all navigate through the maze of achieving good standards in our forthcoming assessment.

The jewel in the crown of the whole process is that at last we get an opportunity to focus on health outcomes. A chance like this only comes once in a lifetime. Having spent months gathering data, information and knowledge about the health of the local population, there is now a process to link commissioning to improving health outcomes for the population.

Our strategic health authority had encouraged us to stick to a shortlist of 10 health outcomes including the two mandatory ones on life expectancy and health inequalities. For the first time ever, I felt like a kid in a sweet shop - having to restrict my choice when I really wanted to choose them all! I even thought of persuading the SHA to let us sign up to more.

The next step is taking the public with us.

We all need to have a compelling story to get them interested. The run-up to Beijing gave the British team a real opportunity to get public support for London 2012. With success having exceeded expectation, public confidence and enthusiasm for the London games will really gain momentum. So can PCTs as leaders of the local NHS do the same? By using health outcomes and translating commissioning into real improvement in the services that affect the lives of ordinary people, I think we can.

When it comes to the big killers (heart disease, stroke and cancer), everyone knows someone who is affected. Using the billions of pounds in commissioning power the NHS has to invest can greatly improve health outcomes.

We also get the opportunity to invest in the future by looking at prevention. Fifty per cent of the improvements in health outcomes in cancer and heart disease are estimated to come from improving lifestyle factors such as smoking, obesity and the effects of alcohol and drugs.

We can get synergy between improving health and our preparations for 2012.

The health service in the UK is leading the way on tobacco control. In partnership with local authorities, PCTs are ideally placed to implement sustainable programmes for tackling obesity and alcohol consumption.

If the NHS can do as much for improving health outcomes as Team GB is doing for the Olympics in 2012 we will have a lot to be proud of.