- Coverage of NHS Commissioning Assembly first meeting
- 100,000 to benefit from telehealth by 2013, says Hunt
- Cambridge pioneers DNA profiling to tackle MRSA
5.20pm: Jo-Anne Wass, commissioning board HR director (@JoNHSCB), reports: “David N … You can’t have a successful commissioning board without successful CCGs. We are in this together in the best way #nhsassembly”
5.18pm: Shane Gordon (@DrShaneGordon) tweets: “Excellent #nhsassembly event at Doncaster racecourse today. Consensus on quality focus.”
1.44pm NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar and King’s Fund chief executive Chris Ham join the Twitter debate on the NHS Commissioning Assembly.
Mike @FarrarMike tweets: “@Davewwest #nhsassembly Positive and encouraging signs for a coherent commissioning system emerging. Needs to be built on in practice too.”
Chris @ProfChrisHam tweets: “@FarrarMike @Davewwest #nhsassembly why will commissioning deliver now when disappointed in past? Remember world class commissioning?”
12.52pm: Stephen Thornton @THFstephen: “A quarter of England’s healthcare commissioned from head office. So what’s all this talk of local freedoms?”
12.51pm: Tim Kelsey @tkelsey1: “Barbara Hakin says great to be in a room full of GPs talking about urgency of reducing variation in quality of primary care #nhsassembly”
12.14pm: Steve Field (@ProfSteveField) tweets: “#nhsassembly Nicholson: most service change agreed and delivered locally- need to make changes happen quickly - key role H&Wb Boards”
12.13pm: Nick Tupper reports: “Sir David - giving more power to the local populations a key component of the changes….mutual accountability b/w CCGs & nhscb central “
12.08pm: Nick Tupper @drnat1 reports: “Ian Dalton: Local priorities shouldn’t be crowded out by national priorities…#commissioningassembly”
12.08pm: Shane Gordon reports: “#nhsassembly Ian D: focus on outcomes ( #NHSmandate ) and standards ( #NHSConstitution)”
12.04pm: @SteveKellGP tweets from the NHS Commissioning Assembly: “Hugh Porter GP: optimistic NHSCB genuinely engaging with CCGs not just ‘listening’. Agree”
10.53am: Meanwhile it is being covered on Twitter, including by Doncaster CCG lead Nick Tupper, SteveKellGP from Bassetlaw CCG, and DrShaneGordon from North East Essex.
10.51am: HSJ has a news story on the new group: Formal assembly for commissioners will avoid ‘usual suspects’
10.50am: The clinical leads of clinical commissioning groups, and the directors of the NHS Commissioning Board, are meeting today in Doncaster for the launch of the NHS Commissioning Assembly. It is designed for discussing and developing management and policy about the system, and aiding discussion.
10.46am The Schizophrenia Commission said that there are “shameful” standards of care on some acute mental health wards, which can make patients worse rather than better. The Commission, established by the mental health charity Rethink Mental Illness, has called for a “radical” overhaul of the care system.
10.42am A bug-busting “black box” is being developed that can rapidly identify the source of hospital infections and help staff to stop them spreading. An early test of the technology that combines DNA profiling and database analysis has halted an MRSA outbreak at Cambridge University Hospitals Trust.
10:30am Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has told an Age UK conference 100,000 people with long-term conditions will benefit from telehealth technology in 2013. “Technology can help people manage their condition at home, free up a lot of time and save the NHS money,” said Mr Hunt.
The announcment follows Labour last week joining GPs and industry groups calling on the Department of Health to publish evidence to support its claims that using telehealth could save the NHS £1.2bn.
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