Health Service Journal
16 February 2012

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£6.8m CCG contract overspend anticipated in Sheffield

FINANCE: CCG commissioning contracts are overspent by £4.9m at the end of November and could rise to £6.8m overspent by the end of the financial year.
12-13 target for FT status for West Midlands Ambulance Service

STRUCTURE: West Midlands Ambulance Service is hoping for approval as a foundation trust during 2012-13.
A&E performance falls at Princess Alexandra

PERFORMANCE: Performance against the four hour A&E standard feel to 86.9 per cent in December at the Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust.
All Northants and Milton Keynes' acutes miss A&E target

PERFORMANCE: All three acute trusts in the area covered by the NHS Northamptonshire and NHS Milton Keynes cluster are likely to miss the 95 per cent standard for A&E cases dealt with within four hours.
Ambulatory care unit set up at Chesterfield

SERVICES: An ambulatory care unit has been set up at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital aimed at reducing the need to admit patients.
Andrew Lansley: competition is critical for NHS reform

The section of the Health Bill which seeks to increase competition within the NHS is the focus of the growing row over the legislation. Here, in an exclusive article, a defiant health secretary Andrew Lansley champions the importance of competition.
BMA joins calls to slow down NHS 111 roll out

The British Medical Association has called on the government to “relax” the timetable for the roll out of the new non-emergency telephone number amid fears it could “destabilise” existing GP out of hours providers.
Buckinghamshire CCGs mull merger

STRUCTURE: Two Buckinghamshire clinical commissioning groups are consulting on whether to merge.
Bucks healthcare reviews FT application

STRUCTURE: Buckinghamshire Healthcare is “reconsidering” its timetable for becoming a foundation trust due to “financial pressures”.
Bucks PCT falling short on CIP

FINANCE: Buckinghamshire primary care trust is beating its revenue spending target, but falling behind on its cost improvement plan.
Bury forecasts £8m overspend on secondary care

FINANCE: At the end of November the primary care trust was forecasting it would overspend its secondary care budget by £8m this year, its latest finance report shows.
Calls to reduce 1.6m unnecessary prescriptions

Unnecessary prescriptions for antibiotics could be slashed by 1.6 million a year and save the NHS vital funds, researchers have said.
Cameron to tackle £2.7bn alcohol costs

The prime minister will today vow to take on the “scandal” of public drunkenness and alcohol abuse that costs the NHS £2.7bn a year.
Campaigners demand social enterprise future for community hospital

A campaign has been launched for a community hospital to be run as a social enterprise - to stop it becoming part of a foundation trust.
CCG contracts overspent by £3.1m in Barnsley

FINANCE: Clinical commissioning group contracts in the Barnsley area are overspent by £3.1m at the end of month eight.
Central Manchester loses appeal against £1m race discrimination award

WORKFORCE: The foundation has lost its appeal against an employment tribunal which awarded one of its former managers around £1m for unfair dismissal and racial discrimination.
Coalition tensions emerge as Cameron backs Lansley

The coalition is braced for further criticism of its NHS reforms today, with health secretary Andrew Lansley’s future still hanging in the balance.
Coastal configuration for vascular services runs aground

The proposed centralisation of complex vascular surgery in Hampshire has been mothballed after trusts failed to agree on the plans.
Commissioners intervene to prevent Furness maternity transfer

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay has dropped plans to temporarily shut maternity and neonatal services in Furness after commissioners intervened to resolve its staffing crisis.
Commissioning for Social Value: a vision for people, practices and communities

The Public Services Bill 2010 could help healthcare commissioning and procurement deliver wider social benefits to the community than population health, as David Maher and colleagues explain.
Commissioning support services to get private sector guidance

The Department of Health has invited private sector consultancies to brief NHS commissioning support services at a series of regular national “learning network” events, HSJ has learned.
Community engagement strategy for Kent and Medway Partnership

STRUCTURE: Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership has launched a Community Engagement Strategy.
Conservative ministers 'ring alarm bell' over NHS reforms

Conservative Cabinet ministers have “rung the alarm bell” about the government’s NHS reforms with one comparing it to the poll tax, it was claimed today.
CQC orders improvements at Great Western Hospitals FT

PERFORMANCE: The Care Quality Commission has ordered Great Western Hospitals Foundation Trust to make improvements to the safety of its operating theatres.
Debt cap proposed for private providers to NHS

Monitor has proposed to set a cap on the level of debt carried by any organisation providing essential healthcare services to the NHS.
Decline in NHS productivity 'a myth'

The decline in NHS productivity that the government has cited as grounds for health reform is “a myth”, it has been claimed.
Does the cost of private healthcare exceed the benefit?

There is little doubt that private sector involvement in the NHS can bring benefits to the service, but, argues Ian Greener, the costs of the NHS supporting private healthcare could outweigh the return.
Does the government really have a Plan B for NHS reform?

As the Health Bill staggers through the House of Lords and opposition grows to it in a daily basis, the question is reasonably asked whether the government has a Plan B.
'Drop the bill' online petition hits 100,000 signatures

More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition urging the government to abandon the Health and Social Care Bill.
East Cheshire misses surplus target, despite below-plan paybill spend

FINANCE: East Cheshire Trust’s bottom line was still hovering just above breakeven at the end of December, against plans to have delivered a surplus of £658,000 by that point.
East Kent Hospitals launches ‘passport’ for LD patients

PERFORMANCE: East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has developed and launched a “healthcare passport” for patients with learning disabilities.
East Kent Hospitals set to introduce new patient monitoring system

STRUCTURE: East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust is investing in a new deteriorating patient monitoring system.
Epsom merger with Ashford and St Peter’s to continue

STRUCTURE: Plans to de-merge Epsom Hospital from Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust and merge it with Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals Foundation Trust are to continue.
Ethics expert urges health service to consider losers when cutting costs

The NHS needs to think more about who is being harmed by decisions as it battles to reduce costs, a leading researcher has said.
Exclusive: London lost over 70 emergency calls after clocks went back

PERFORMANCE: London Ambulance Service Trust lost dozens of 999 calls after an IT problem caused by the switch from British Summer Time, it has been revealed.
Give it to me straight: improving patient communication for better outcomes

The language used in the health sector can seem remote, robotic and worse, uncaring. Neil Taylor argues that plain speaking medical professionals would make everyone’s lives better.
Government forced to defend McKinsey bill involvement

The government has denied that there is a conflict of interest between its health reforms and a management consultant advising on them.
GPs suggest 'radical' approach for Mid Staffs future

STRUCTURE: GPs in Staffordshire have proposed a “radical” approach to service provision at Mid Staffordshire Foundation Trust.
Great Western signs up with Swindon Town FC

COMMERCIAL: Great Western Hospitals Foundation Trust has won a contract to provide MRI scans to Swindon Town Football Club.
Hospital infection strategies 'wrong' - study

Hospitals may be adopting the wrong strategy for tackling a notorious healthcare associated infection, a study suggests.
'Hospitals should be hungry for quality patient meals'

“The story of the failure to provide tasty, healthy food in British hospitals is a result of an indefensible failure by those in charge of hospitals to understand the basic importance of good food to good health.”
How reduced internal delays can save money, and thousands of bed days

A toolkit used at one trust has proved to be effective at reducing internal waits, saving the trust millions of pounds in the process, as Liz Williamson explains.
How to choose the right treatment for community-acquired pneumonia

Clinical commissioners and providers alike need to ensure they are aware of the challenges of community-acquired pneumonia, says Professor Mark Wilcox.
How using a tariff system can help community service providers hit targets

Communicating activities to commissioners is easy with the right tariff system, and delivers enhancements in the performance of care teams, say Rachel Simkiss and Alex Hadayah.
Improved bereaved centre at Leicester Royal

SERVICES: Relatives of patients who have died at Leicester Royal Infirmary are to benefit from an improved bereavement centre which was opened this week (9th)
Institute of Healthcare Management joins 'drop the bill' calls

The Institute of Healthcare Management has become the latest professional body to call on the government to drop its plans to reform the NHS.
Integrate treatment for mental and physical conditions, NHS told

The NHS could improve care and reduce costs by improving how it treats patients suffering from both mental and physical health conditions, a new report says.
Kettering reports 30 pressure ulcers

PERFORMANCE: Kettering General Hospital has reported 30 grade three and four pressure ulcers since last April, the cluster board for Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes PCTs heard.
Lansley remains defiant as pressure grows over competition

An embattled Andrew Lansley makes a staunch defence of the importance of greater competition in the NHS this week, as Liberal Democrat peers pressed to further reduce its importance in the Health Bill.
Leicester treating burns patients at home

SERVICES: University Hospitals of Leicester Trust is treating some burns patients in their own homes.
Litigation authority reform could lower trust costs

Trusts could benefit from significantly reduced clinical negligence payouts and insurance premiums if the NHS Litigation Authority successfully reforms “draconian” risk assessments, HSJ has been told.
London FT to replace private patients' PIP implants free of charge

Patients treated privately with PIP breast implants at a London foundation trust will have them removed and replaced free of charge if necessary, it has been confirmed.
Marmot demands focus on inequality as cuts bite

Renowned epidemiologist Sir Michael Marmot has criticised the government for its lack of action on health inequalities - and called for the health impact of economic policies to be considered.
Media Watch: open season declared on defiant Lansley

Another week, another drubbing for Andrew Lansley. Papers reported with glee the latest twist in the Health Bill soap opera with senior Liberal Democrat Simon Hughes apparently breaking ranks to call for the health secretary to be “moved on”.
Mental health provider under scrutiny in the South West

NHS Bristol’s decision to re-tender the city’s mental health service comes at a bad time for current provider Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Trust.
Michael White: the coalition may sustain heavy damage by seeing the bill through

Have I been wrong to insist that David Cameron will go on supporting Andrew Lansley until the wretched Health Bill becomes law this side of the expected Queen’s Speech on 9 May?
Monitor intervenes to replace chair at underperforming trust

Monitor has stepped in to replace the chair of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust after three separate independent reviews last week revealed a catalogue of leadership and governance failures.
More equipment being leased in fight for savings

More trusts are leasing rather than buying expensive equipment in a bid to save money, new figures reveal.
New chair for Shelford Group foundation trust

WORKFORCE: One of England’s most prestigious foundation trusts has appointed a new chair.
New chief exec appointed to BANES cluster

WORKFORCE: Ed Macalister Smith has been appointed to lead the Wiltshire and Bath and North East Somerset primary care trust cluster through its last year of existence.
New MD for Surrey social enterprise

WORKFORCE: The newly formed social enterprise in east Surrey, First Community Health and Care, has appointed Philip Greenhill as its new managing director.
New theatre build set to begin next month

STRUCTURE: The Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is due to begin site redevelopment in March in preparation for the building of new surgical facilities.
NHS 111 roll out threatened after DH technical demand

PERFORMANCE: The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire primary care trust cluster has said delivery of its NHS 111 service could slip – with unknown time and cost implications – because of a new technical specification from the Department of Health.
NHS Blackpool prepares for consultation on major reconfiguration

STRUCTURE: Commissioners across Blackpool and Lancashire will next month begin public consultation on a major reconfiguration of community inpatient services across the Fylde coast.
NHS Lincs' PBR expenditure £26m above plan

FINANCE: Spending on PBR-based acute care - which falls within the remit of CCGs - is expected to be £26m above plan by year end in Lincolnshire.
NHS Midlands and East launches 'real time' monitoring of patient experience

PERFORMANCE: A system for ranking NHS trusts by patient satisfaction will be introduced across a quarter of England’s hospitals in 2012-13, with part of their funding dependant on league table performance.
NHS Suffolk underspent for year

FINANCE: NHS Suffolk is £0.5m underspent on plan for the year to date and has £2.2m in unallocated contingency funds. It is aiming to make a £1.1m surplus.
NHS Swindon challenges GWH on overperformance

FINANCE: NHS Swindon is at “significant” risk of failing to achieve its planned £2.9m surplus.
NHS 'to have 2,800 consultants more than it needs'

The NHS could end up with more fully trained hospital doctors than it needs - and potentially an increased wage bill - unless it makes changes to the way they are trained and used, the Centre for Workforce Intelligence has said.
NHS 'under-estimates' the cost of eye disease

Older patients may be missing out on sight-saving treatment because the NHS has seriously under-estimated the prevalence and cost of elderly eye disease, claim specialists.
NHS Worcs considers tendering for rehab beds

COMMERCIAL: NHS Worcestershire is conducting a market assessment of interest in providing admission prevention and rehabilitation beds.
NHSHMR advised to extend treatment centre contracts

COMMERCIAL: The primary care trust’s board was asked to approve contract extensions for two independent sector-run clinical assessment and treatment services (CATS).
Noel Plumridge: an uncertain future for payment by results

With annual efficiency gains of at least 4 per cent stretching far into the future, a little more certainty about future plans for the tariff would be useful – for, in reality, we know remarkably little about how the tariff will look, even in 2013.
Norovirus situation improving at Epsom and St Helier

PERFORMANCE: Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust has reported a “significant improvement” with its current outbreak of norovirus.
Norovirus warning at Royal Surrey County Hospital

PERFORMANCE: Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has asked outpatients to stay away if they have had diarrhoea or vomiting in the last 48 hours.
North Essex to continuing hosting Suffolk community services

SERVICES: An agreement that North Essex Partnership Foundation Trust will host Suffolk community services has been extended into the next financial year.
Oxford Radcliffe gets extra cash as overperformance grows

FINANCE: Oxfordshire primary care trust has agreed to pay an extra £7.5m to Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals Trust, which has reported an overperformance against contract worth £16m.
Oxfordshire and Bucks CSS told to address 'footprint' issue

STRUCTURE: The commissioning support service being set up in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire could merge with neighbouring bodies after its first assessment by NHS South of England.
Oxfordshire pockets surplus despite acute overspending

FINANCE: Oxfordshire primary care trust is on track to meet its surplus target of £2.2m, despite overspending on its major acute contract and deteriorations in other areas of commissioning.
Pennine Acute waiting targets performance falls again in November

PERFORMANCE: Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust’s performance on “referral to treatment” waiting targets declined again in November, its latest performance report states.
PM backing for NHS reform has 'drifted'

The prime minister and other senior ministers have been criticised for backing away from public sector reforms amid heavy political pressure.
Princess Alexandra faces deficit of £1.3m

FINANCE: Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust had a deficit of £1.3m at the end of December, against a planned surplus of £0.3m.
Princess Alexandra reports seven serious incidents

PERFORMANCE: Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust reported seven serious incidents in December, including one maternal and neonatal death and three serious pressure ulcers.
'Prudent' regulator amasses 50 per cent surplus

A £3.4m surplus run up by the body responsible for regulating fertility treatment could pay for up to 850 in vitro fertilisation cycles if returned to providers, it has been claimed.
Psychological therapies put out to tender in Leicester

SERVICES: Psychological therapies for Leicester City residents are to be put out to tender, the PCT cluster heard.
Public sector bonuses to be reviewed

The government is looking at public sector bonuses after the angry reaction to payouts at bodies such as Royal Bank of Scotland.
Quality standards hit by arm's length body underspends

Government spending restrictions are delaying key reform programmes and will mean an underspend of £40m across the Department of Health’s 15 arm’s length bodies.
Quiet third quarter leads to contract worries for ambulance service

PERFORMANCE: A quieter than usual December could be a mixed blessing for West Midlands Ambulance Service Trust.
QVH first to offer ‘claw hand’ drug on NHS

PERFORMANCE: The Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has become the first hospital to offer an innovative new treatment on the NHS.
QVH remains on course for surplus, despite challenges

FINANCE: Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s financial performance remains on course for a planned surplus.
QVH remains slightly over MRSA target

PERFORMANCE: Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is reporting only two MRSA cases this financial year, but has already failed to reach its tough target of just one case.
Rampton praised on risk reduction and containment

PERFORMANCE: Services at Rampton Hospital, run by Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, have been praised for its risk reduction and containment procedures.
Reforms spell end of joint commissioning in Peterborough

A long-running agreement on joint commissioning of health and social care has come to an end because of the government’s health reforms.
Rise in 'digestive procedures' prompts overspend on private contract

FINANCE: NHS Swindon is forecasting an overspend on its contract with the private provider BMI.
Rise in staffing incidents in Leicester

PERFORMANCE: There has been a significant rise in the level of ‘staffing level’ incidents at University Hospitals Leicester Trust in the last two months of 2011.
Royal Cornwall closes ward after allegations of poor care

WORKFORCE: Police are investigating “a number of” allegations relating to the care of a patient on a ward at the Royal Cornwall Hospital.
Six month project examines inappropriate admissions

SERVICES: The care home quality monitoring team has won funding for a six month pilot project to look at inappropriate admissions from care homes into acute hospitals
Somerset Partnership has addressed CQC concerns

PERFORMANCE: Somerset Partnership Foundation Trust’s governance risk rating from Monitor has returned to green, less than two months after it was downgraded due to concerns about patient care.
South West Essex breaks even

FINANCE: NHS South West Essex is reporting a breakeven position at the end of month nine - which it also expects to be its year end position.
South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw to share commissioning service

STRUCTURE: CCGs in South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw will be covered by a single commissioning support organisation and will be able to select a range of volume of services to meet their individual needs, the cluster board was told.
Southampton FT activity outstrips plan has demand management fails

FINANCE: University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust is reporting much higher than expected activity levels, after reporting “little activity management” has been successfully delivered.
Standardised GP contract by 2015 is 'naive'

GP practices will agree and move to a new standard national contract within “two to three years”, the NHS Commissioning Board is estimating. The timescale has provoked warnings from leading GPs that the plan is “naive”.
Suffolk's vascular surgery moves to Colchester

SERVICES: Major vascular surgery in east Suffolk is to be centralised at Colchester General Hospital.
The benefits of delivering healthcare in patients' homes

Taking patients out of the hospital and successfully providing their care at home is certainly achievable, and Mehmood Syed looks at steps commissioners and providers can take to ensure home is where the health is.
The Health Bill plan B is dead, but plan C lives on

David Cameron has made passing the Health Bill a matter of confidence – making it close to impossible the legislation will fail. We now need to ask what kind of bill will be passed and what will happen afterwards.
Three Lincs CCGs to merge

STRUCTURE: Three CCGs in Lincolnshire are to merge to ensure their viability and improve their position for authorisation, the PCT was told.
Treatment information for outpatients must improve, trusts warned

Hospitals must get better at explaining treatment, according to the Care Quality Commission, after a national survey of outpatients found many were left confused about tests, medicines and side effects.
Trust backtracks on umbilical blood collections

A foundation trust has seemingly backtracked on a scheme to offer mothers a private facility to collect blood from their baby’s umbilical cord.
Unite warns of further strike action over pensions

The health union Unite has warned of a “real prospect of strike action” if its members reject the government’s revised pension offer.
United Lincs' A&E performance slumps

PERFORMANCE: Many patients in Lincolnshire faced a long wait for A&E in December when performance at the United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust slumped to 90 per cent against the four hour standard.
West Midlands plans £9m efficiencies

FINANCE: West Midlands Ambulance Service Trust is planning £9m in cost improvements in 2012-13 to enable it to make a £4m surplus.
Western Sussex having trouble generating interest in spare hospital block

COMMERCIAL: Western Sussex Hospitals NHS has extended a deadline for organisations to express an interest in taking over the Harness Block at Southlands Hospital.
Why engaging the workforce helps enhance service innovation

To fully capture and stimulate NHS service innovation, Academic Health and Social Care Networks must go beyond striving to bring remote research into practice and include a focus on workforce innovation. Laurence Benson explains.
Why reconfiguration remains a difficult balance between commissioners and providers

The judicial process that saw a public consultation on children’s congenital heart services quashed following the Royal Brompton and Harefield Foundation Trust’s legal challenge has lessons for future NHS consultations, says David Mason.
Worcestershire Royal closes a third of beds due to norovirus

PERFORMANCE: Around one third of Worcestershire Royal Hospital’s 600 beds are closed to admissions due to increased cases of diarrhoea and vomiting.
Wrong eye operated on at Hinchingbrooke

PERFORMANCE: A patient had the wrong lens inserted during an ophthalmic at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, and had to be returned to the theatre for it to be replaced with the correct one, Janaury’s board meeting was told.
Yorkshire trust appoints new chief exec with council background

WORKFORCE: A new chief executive has been appointed at Calderdale and Huddersfield Foundation Trust.

Alastair McLellan

Health Service Journal16 February 2012

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Health Service Journal
16 February 2012