SHA questions Luton and Bedfordshire QIPP plans

In March the strategic health authority carried out its latest reviewed of regional quality, innovation, productivity and prevention (QIPP) plans.

NHS Luton and NHS Bedfordshire, which have clustered together, plan savings of £56m and £98m respectively by 2014-15.

At the start of last month the SHA’s chief executive Sir Neil McKay wrote to the chief executives of the two PCTs recognising “considerable progress” with the plans since September.

But he also highlighted a series of issues raised by the review, including lack of consultation with patients and the public, lack of formal support from all providers, and concerns that the savings plan was not fairly distributed across the system.

In particular, he called on the cluster “to ensure that the risk of the challenge is apportioned appropriately across the system”, after the review concluded that the PCTs, themselves, and their community service providers had a “lower than average challenge”, compared to acute providers.

The review said there was a “question whether the community providers are doing enough for the systems, the PCT are encouraged to go back and further review this”, and noted “that pay and price challenge identified for Luton PCT is incredibly low at 2.9 per cent”.

The review added: “We are nervous that the system plan for Luton has not been formally signed up to by Luton and Dunstable Foundation Trust.”