Health Management and Policy Alert

28/04/06 - Mental health NHS foundation trust status

Monitor has published Applying for NHS foundation trust status: guide for mental health NHS trusts which has been developed so that potential applicants, partnership organisations, commissioners, service user organisations and other stakeholders are aware of the opportunities and risks facing mental health trusts applying for NHS foundation trust status. It also provides guidance on how trusts can develop ways of addressing those risks. Monitor has also auhtorised the first mental health NHS foundation trusts, effective from 1 May 2006. (Monitor - publications) (DH press release)

28/04/06 - NHS savings through improved staff productivity and managing agency staff costs

Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, highlighted recommendations from an NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement report, showing that £78m could be saved by the NHS by driving down agency spend and improving staff productivity. Based on 2004/05 figures, if all NHS trusts reduced their agency spend to the national average, savings of around £78 million could be made. The Institute will shortly be publishing Delivering quality and value – focus on productivity and improvement. This document will identify where to focus activity for the greatest potential productivity and efficiency gains. (DH - press release)

27/04/06 Health Select Committee - New inquiry into NHS deficits

The Health Committee has decided to undertake a major inquiry into NHS Deficits.  This inquiry will concern itself with the  size of the deficits and the savings which each trust has to make in 2006–07, the reasons for the deficits and their consequences.  Terms of Reference are given here and Organisations and individuals wishing to submit a short memorandum are invited to do so.  Evidence received by Tuesday 6 June 2006 will be considered for publication before oral evidence sessions begin.  Please see the terms of reference for guidance on how to prepare evidence for this select committee. 

Health Committee Press Notice [27/04/06]

27/04/06 - Choice at referral

Choice at referral: guidance framework for 2006/7 supplements Choose & Book – patient’s choice of hospital and booked appointment and Delivering a choice of four providers: a practical implementation guide for PCTs by setting out a framework to govern the extension of choice in 2006/7. It provides guidance for commissioners and providers on how the extensions to choice at referral in 2006/7 will operate. (DH - publications)

27/04/06 - Audit and review of service improvements in interhospital transfer arrangements for cardiac patients

Making Moves: results of a data audit review of service improvements in interhospital transfer arrangements for cardiac inpatients has been published by the NHS Heart Improvement Programme. The report reviews the key findings of an audit of interhospital transfers in inpatient cardiology undertaken in October 2005. It shares examples of good practice to address common issues and makes recommendations for service improvements to meet the needs of patients, staff and the wider NHS.
(NHS Heart Improvement Programme - press release)

27/04/06 - Outcomes of heart surgery Web site

The Healthcare Commission and the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery have launch a Web site with information on outcomes of heart surgery. Heart surgery in Great Britain gives rates of survival from operations at 30 out of 33 heart units in England and Wales, with surgeons from 17 of those units choosing to provide survival rates from their operations. The Web site provides information about rates of survival for two different types of heart operation (coronary artery bypass graft and aortic valve replacement operations) carried out in Great Britain between April 2004 and March 2005. During this time, 96.6 per cent of patients survived, well above the expected range of 93.7 per cent to 94.5 per cent. The Web site shows that all units and surgeons who have contributed their data have results which are within or better than the expected range. The Web site will be next updated in June 2006, it will then be routinely updated each January with data up to the previous March.
(Healthcare Commission - press release) (BBC news item)

27/04/06 - NHS foundation trust audit review

The aim of the review is to provide assurance to Monitor that the auditors reviewed have complied with the audit code and that the audits were of high standard and of suitable quality. Monitor requested that the Quality Assurance Directorate (QAD) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales review the work of the auditors for ten of the NHS foundation trusts relating to the period ended 31 March 2005. The sample was selected to give a broad coverage of NHS foundation trusts’ auditors. The key findings were:

• QAD have confirmed that, notwithstanding a few significant findings identified, audits were of a sufficient high standard and suitable quality
• There was no indication that an incorrect audit opinion had been given; however three of the audits reviewed gave rise to significant findings (partial compliance with the audit code). Where necessary Monitor has discussed the significant findings with the relevant NHS foundation trust

(Monitor - publications)

26/04/06 - Practice based commissioning: monitoring template

This spreadsheet aims to collect data to monitor PCTs setting up the arrangements for practice based commissioning by recording PCTs meeting the four criteria as set out in the Universal Coverage document. PCTs state whether they have met the criteria by entering a 1 or not by entering a 0 for each of the four criteria. The accompanying note outlines some issues that were problematic in the first collection. (DH - publications)

26/04/06 - Deficits in the NHS

This briefing, published by the King's Fund, details the scale of the deficit in the NHS and looks at the likely causes for the financial imbalance. The briefing cites three main groupings of causes that emerge from Public Interest Reports and official trust papers as: local management problems, local health economy problems, and national policies and decisions. It also goes on to suggest how the financial imbalance can be fixed. (King's Fund - press release)

26/04/06 - Audit of independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs)

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has announced a review of the quality of care provided by NHS treatment centres run by the independent sector. Giving evidence to the Health Select Committee Inquiry into ISTCs, she said that although all existing evidence pointed to a safe, high-quality service, the Healthcare Commission would carry out a wide-ranging clinical audit of the programme to date. The Healthcare Commission review will publish its full findings by the end of 2006, but will publish an interim report which will outline emerging findings. (DH - press release)