Health Management and Policy Alert

New/updated Health Management hot topics

Updated hot topics

Reconfiguring maternity services:

New providers in primary care: social enterprise organisations:

NHS foundation trusts annual plans 2007-08

Monitor, the independent regulator, has published its review of NHS foundation trusts' annual plans for 2007-08 which reveals:

• capital expenditure of £921 million on projects which will directly benefit patients and staff;
• significant increase in their membership base to strengthen local accountability, with total membership expected to approach 1.5 million by the end of the financial year;
• a planned combined surplus of £198 million (before exceptional items) for the year;
• further efficiency savings demonstrated by an improved operating margin of 6.8% compared with 6.6% in 2006-07.

The report calls for those boards of NHS foundation trusts failing to meet certain of the government's healthcare targets to identify how surpluses and borrowing freedoms can be used to address this underperformance.
(Monitor)

Health Inequalities Intervention Tool launched to improve life expectancy in disadvantaged areas

The tool is designed to help primary care trusts, practice-based commissioners and local authorities in Spearhead areas with their local delivery planning and commissioning. It can be used as part of a comprehensive local strategy to reduce health inequalities.

(GNN News) [Association of Public Health Observatories]

Read Code for Choice and Booking

The Department of Health has released a Dear Colleague Letter. It states that the Choice and Booking Directed Enhanced Service (DES) has been rolled over into 2007/08. Although the GP Patient Survey arrangements for measuring the Choice component have yet to be finalised, it is likely that we will be using data based on an extract of Choice Read codes. The Letter includes three new codes and advice on how they are to be used.

(Department of Health)

National Capabilities Survey

The National Capabilities Survey (NCS) is the regular biennial survey of current capabilities of resilience to disruptive events, be they terrorist related incidents, accidents, natural hazards or infectious disease outbreaks. This letter gives early warning of the 2008 survey together with further background and an update of the work being undertaken across Government as a result of the previous NCS 2006.

(Department of Health bulletin)

Two reports on shifting care outside hospital

The reports have been prepared by the Health Services Management Centre (HSMC) at Birmingham University on behalf of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement. They draw from fourteen change projects, across five local health communities, which were supported by the Institute over the past year. Getting the basics right identifies the key factors that affect the ability of local bodies to deliver shifts in care and sets out the conditions that have to be met if such service improvements are to occur. Beyond projects explores five of the projects in detail, highlighting these factors and conditions in a practical context.
(Department of Health bulletin)

New software for patient electronic health records

GP2GP is a new software application that enables the secure and direct transfer of patient electronic health records between GP practices. It is designed to improve patient care as GPs will usually have full and detailed medical records available to them for a new patient's first consultation.

(Department of Health bulletin)

New/updated Health Management hot topics

New hot topic

Reconfiguring primary care: polyclinics

Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services April 2006 - March 2007

The statistics presented in this bulletin supersede the quarterly results previously published for the period April to December 2006. This bulletin includes information on the number of people setting a quit date and the number who successfully quit at the 4 week follow-up. It also presents a more in depth analysis of the key measures of the service, including pregnant women, breakdowns by ethnic groups and regional analysis at Government Office Region, Strategic Health Authority and Primary Care Trust (PCT) level. In addition, some information is also given on smoking prevalence and attitudes to smoking to help put these results into context.

(The Information Centre)

Age Concern report on foot care services for the elderly

Age Concern has launched a campaign to highlight perceived rationing of foot care services to the elderly. The report Feet for purpose? the campaign to improve foot care for older people states that older people who require preventative foot care are increasingly not offered any NHS treatment, leading to damage to their health and restricting their ability to get out and about. Age Concern calls for a clear, coherent policy to be established.

(Age Concern) [BBC News]