Nicky Murphy's Comments
Comment on: Exclusive: Interactive commissioning system map
Thanks this is really useful. Is there anywhere we can see the conditions that have been imposed on authorised CCGs (rather than just the number of them)?
Comment on: Identifying waste in acute care
Interesting research, particularly the differences in perception of waste between patients and staff. Given that a rather narrow group of staff participated (i.e. nurses and therapists), it would be interesting to extend this survey wider to medical, managerial, supporting staff etc. as I suspect that further differences would emerge. I was left with the "so what?" question after reading this article - it would be great to see examples of the changes that UCH made following this study, and what the impact was on perceptions of waste in the organisation. Are there plans to produce this any time soon?
Comment on: Peer review finds 'serious concerns' at Mid Staffs
I would be very interested to know what the Trust's Internal Validation panel rated the service as, in terms of compliance. Did a discrepancy by the internal team cause the external validation to take place, or was it just a coincidence?
Comment on: Let's be clear on cancellations
This is extremely encouraging and something which I suspect other Trusts will (or at least should) also adopt. I have a couple of queries - firstly, has the reduction in cancellations been due to process changes (e.g. changing the way operations are booked) or due to fundamental system and operational changes? Secondly, is the downward trend in cancellations comparing the current month with the same month last year, or with the other months of this year? The latter will presumably lead to seasonal variations affecting the pattern and it would be great to hear that cancellations have reduced relative to last year too.
Comment on: Social care system needs urgent funding reform - report
I would be very interested in the effects of Personal Budgets (incl. Personal Health Budgets when they are rolled out nationally) on the funding crisis for (older) adult social care. Will the ability to pick and choose which services meet their own needs mean that funding requirements actually lessen through increased competition and more creative ways of meeting needs? And will the intergration of a person's social and health care budgets mean that economies are made through more joined-up care?
Comment on: 'Integrated care should be this decade's number one priority'
I agree with the sentiments of this article and was initially hopeful that the Health & Wellbeing Boards may go some way to integrating health and social care, at least in the minds of key players. However, given that the new CCGs must only "pay regard" to these HWBs (and so, can effectively ignore them if they wish to), where will the incentive to instigate integration be?
