| |
Home »
NHS Articles »
NHS News » NHS News April 2007
National Health Service, PCT & Local Health Board News
- April 2007
Search available book titles on the
National Health Service (NHS)
National Health Service (NHS), PCT & Local Health Board
News -April 2007
England - Local PCT News
Cambridgeshire PCT - Community Foundation
Trust Application
Cambridgeshire PCT Provider Services has
submitted an application to become one of 50 pilot sites across England to
develop the model framework for community foundation trusts. PCTs are now both
commissioners and providers of services, and it is felt that this requires an
"arm's length" arrangement, with some formal separation between the two aspects
of the organisation. The "stand alone" options considered by the PCT included:
- Trust
- Industrial and Provident Society (IPS)
- Limited
Company
- Charitable Incorporate Organisation (CIO)
- Social Enterprise
- Community Foundation Trust
- Community Interest
Company
Cambridgeshire PCT prefers the Community Foundation Trust option
for several reasons, including increased freedom and flexibility (distance from
DoH and SHA), the ability to focus on its core business, and the ability to
compete in the health and social care market.
Heart of England NHS
Foundation Trust / Good Hope Hospitals NHS Trust - Merger
A
three-month public consultation has revealed that 85% of respondents are in
favour of the proposed merger of the two hospital trusts. The final decision
from Patricia Hewitt is due in April. This is an unusual merger, in that only
Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust will be dissolved and its assets, liabilities and
staff will be taken over by the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust, which
has been running Good Hope Hospitals on a management contract for the past
year.
The new organisation would serve about a million people, from
Solihull through Birmingham and into south Staffordshire.
The
Financial Times recently reported that this was likely to be the first of a
wave of a dozen such acquisitions during the next two years.
Hounslow
PCT - GP Services
The contract to run six GP practices was put out
to tender in November 2006, and the PCT has announced that Greenbrook is the
preferred bidder. The practices will continue to be run under the guidance of
the Specialist Personal Medical Services (SPMS) team at the PCT until the
contract details are finalised. They are:
- Bedfont
- Broadwalk
- Chinchilla
- Heston
- Isleworth, and
- Manor
Greenbrook is a Hammersmith company whose Clinical Director, Dr David
Wingfield, is a member of Hammersmith & Fulham LMC, GP Representative on
Hammersmith & Fulham PEC, and a GP at Brook Green Medical Centre (an NHS
training practice).
Isle of Wight NHS PCT - Formal Joint Working with
Local Council
The IoW NHS PCT is uniquely both a commissioning and
providing organisation. It has now formalised its joint working arrangements
with the local council with regard to the care of the elderly and vulnerable.
A Memorandum of Understanding will be launched in April which will see
both organisations reviewing their property assets and agreeing a plan for
property disposal. It is hoped that this will enable budgets to be used more
efficiently to provide better care for the island's increasing elderly
population while also helping to initiate a shift away from acute care to care
in the community.
Norfolk PCT - Generic Prescribing
The
PCT has received complaints about statin-switching and children's
asthma medication
following the introduction of its new computer script programme which suggests
the most cost-effective drug each time a prescription is written. One patient
claims to have been switched from Atorvastatin (£18.03 per month) to
Simvastatin (£4.23 per month) without consultation, and believes the
higher price is indicative of better quality and fewer side effects.
GPs
are also being encouraged to prescribe Symbicort turbohaler (£16.30 per
month) instead of Seretide (£31.19 per
month), but a local paediatrician has voiced concerns that changing medication
in a stable asthmatic child is not wise. The PCT has explained that no specific
drugs are being targeted, but that GPs are being asked to consider cheaper
drugs which are therapeutically the same across the prescribing spectrum.
Peterborough & Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust -
Consultation
The Trust has proposed that Stamford Hospital be
jointly managed by local GPs and the Trust, and advised by a board of governors
made up of external partners. This would greatly increase GP influence on the
provision of major new services and equipment at the hospital. The hospital was
earmarked for closure in 2005, leading to a number of protests. However, the
hospital argues that the government’s drive towards community-based care
requires a reconfiguration of services, and it wants GPs to lead the
reforms.
Simon Parkes is Practice-based Commissioning Manager at
Lincolnshire tPCT. He said that as well as examining the proposed new
management arrangements, they have been "analysing patient pathways and which
new services we may be able to offer for patients at the hospital”.
This new partnership is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, and
comprises:
- Peterborough & Stamford Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Welland Practice-based Commissioning Group (PBC)
- Lincolnshire
Teaching PCT
The 12-week public consultation programme will run until
June.
Shropshire County PCT - Statin Prescribing
Statin
prescribing is a major component of the PCT's prescribing incentive scheme and
several practices have agreed to switch to Simvastatin. Non-dispensing
practices are more enthusiastic than dispensing practices as dispensing profits
can be affected.
Southampton City PCT - Royal South Hants Hospital
Southampton PCT will assume ownership of the Royal South Hants
Hospital site from Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust on 31 March. The
PCT is leading the strategy for the future development of the site, with plans
to establish GP surgeries, dentists, nurses, dieticians and physiotherapists
alongside community hospital services such as elderly care rehabilitation
wards.
An Independent Sector Treatment Centre will also be developed,
and Hampshire Partnership NHS Trust has plans to rebuild the Department of
Psychiatry as an Adult Mental Health Unit under LIFT. Work on this scheme will
start in 2007/2008 and the new facility should open in 2009/2010.
Suffolk PCT - New Practice-based Commissioning (PbC) Group
A new group has been formed to co-ordinate the 7 PbC clusters
across the county. Leaders from the clusters will be finding the best
commissioning strategies, checking hospital activity and costs, and will report
to future board meetings.
Suffolk PCT - PMS/GMS Contract
It is being reported that Suffolk PCT has sent letters to its PMS
practices informing them that the PMS contract will be terminated on 30
September. Options include signing a new PMS contract, returning to GMS or
"withdrawing from NHS primary care". Currently, 46 of the 69 practices in the
Suffolk PCT area are signed up to the PMS contract. Some health professionals
fear that a new contract which results in a substantial drop in income would
tempt some GPs to enter the private sector, and they are worried that there is
no indication of what any new contract will involve.
Melanie Craig is
Head of Performance at the PCT. She said that the reason for the review was to
introduce fairer payments and make more service improvements. “The PCT
proposes to phase-in the new payment structure over a three-year period so that
the change is not destabilising for some GP businesses.”
Sunderland tPCT - Anti-Depressant Prescribing
Recent
figures show that there has been an increase in the prescription of
anti-depressants in
Sunderland. Last year, 201,692 prescriptions were written - an increase of
15,000 within 3 years. However, the cost of this medication has fallen, so that
last year's figure of £1.9m is much less than the £2.6m which was
spent in 2003/4.
Dr Geoff Stephenson (Medical Director for Sunderland
tPCT and a GP in Washington) said that this was probably because practices are
more attuned to the treatment and management of depression, particularly in the
light of the 2004 NICE guidance.
Concord (in Washington) and Southwick
(in Sunderland) are the areas where the most anti-depressants are prescribed,
followed by Pallion, Bunny Hill, and Springwell. The most commonly prescribed
anti-depressants are: (no of items)
- Amitriptyline Hydrochloride
(12,005)
- Fluoxetine Hydrochloride (Prozac) (11,105)
- Citalopram
Hydrobromide (11,090)
- Venlafaxine (Efexor) (4,260)
- Paroxetine
Hydrochloride (Seroxat or Paxil) (3,668)
West Hertfordshire PCT -
Mental Health Services
An Enhanced Primary Care Mental Health
service was established a year ago which provides anxiety, mood and anger
management. It has proved so successful that waiting times can be up to eight
months for one-to-one treatment, and only slightly shorter for group sessions.
The PCT has said that more than 700 people have been referred, 450 already
seen, and that it is investigating ways of reducing the waiting
times.
Another pilot, a Primary Care Mental Health Team, has also been
runnning for a year at five practices in St Albans and Harpenden. This offers
access to computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and there are plans
to extend the service to all practices in the district. Waiting times for this
service are around one month.
Wales - Local Health Board News
Monmouthshire LHB - Pharmacy Practice
Development Scheme
The LHB Prescribing Team has received funding to
train community pharmacists in brief interventions for early problem drinking.
The scheme will commence within the next 6 months and will be run by the
Alcohol Action Group and the local Public Health Team.
Neath Port
Talbot LHB - Substance Misuse
A report on the local substance misuse
services managed by Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust has been presented to the LHB.
Staffing problems within the Community Drug Action Team (CDAT), coupled with
the failure of the LHB to commission any GPswSI to prescribe for more stable
patients, has caused the waiting list to increase to an unacceptable
level.
There is also concern over the fact that, whereas the West
Glamorgan service uses the abstinence model, the service model used by the CDAT
is based mainly on maintenance - individuals can be receiving services for an
average of seven years. It is felt that this is a critical issue for the LHB
and an action plan has been agreed which will involve all appropriate
agencies.
Scotland - Local NHS News
NHS Lothian - Kaizen
Workshops
NHS Lothian has been working with GE Healthcare to
introduce new "lean management" techniques such as
Kaizen Workshops, which
help staff at all levels to identify opportunities for service improvement. The
Kaizen management
principles were invented by Toyota and are now being used widely in
healthcare.
CT scanning and delayed discharges were the first two areas
targeted - waiting times for CT scans at the board's three main acute hospitals
have been reduced to six weeks, the reporting of results to within 24 hours,
and discharging patients earlier in the day has led to more beds being
available for new patients on the same day.
NHS Shetland - Dementia
Services Consultation
Forecast changes in Shetland's demography in
the next 20 years have forced the health board to undertake a major review of
services provided for people with
dementia. The services
are currently provided by the NHS Board, Shetland Islands Council, and the
voluntary sector.
Stephen Mullay, Project Manager, said: " ... it is
expected that the number of individuals with dementia will nearly double in the
next 20 years. With the working population also in sharp decline, we will
simply be unable to offer the service in its current form in the future and
changes need to be made". It is conservatively estimated that approximately 290
people in Shetland currently have dementia.
Northern Ireland - Local NHS News
Armagh & Dungannon HSS Trust -
Out-of-Hours Service
The first phase of a cross-border GP
Out-of-Hours pilot project was launched in January, which means that people
living in the border areas of Inishowen, Co Donegal, may now use the GP
Out-of-Hours Service (Western Urgent Care) in Derry. The pilot will be closely
monitored to address any issues which may arise and to determine how it could
be extended further in the border region.
This is a Co-operation And
Working Together (CAWT) project which is supported by the DHSPPS in Northern
Ireland, the Dept of Health & Children in the Republic of Ireland, and
which is part-funded by the EU. CAWT works towards health gains and social
well-being in the border areas.
Northern Ireland - Review of Public
Administration
The current Health & Social Services (HSS) Trusts
will be dissolved at the end of March to be formally replaced by five area
trusts in April. These new trusts have been shadowing the HSS Trusts since
August 2006. This is part of the continuing Review of Public Administration
(RPA). The new Health & Social Services Authority will be operational in
April 2008, as will the seven shadow Local Commissioning Groups, which will
mirror the new council boundaries.
The new Trusts are:
Western
Health & Social Services Trust Trust
- Sperrin Lakeland
- Foyle
& Altnagelvin
Northern Health & Social Services Trust
-
Homefirst Community
- Causeway
- United Hospitals
Southern
Health & Social Services Trust
- Craigavon Area Hospitals
-
Craigavon & Banbridge Community
- Newry & Mourne
- Armagh &
Dungannon
Belfast Health & Social Services Trust
- Belfast City
Hospital
- Royal Group of Hospitals
- Mater Infirmorum
- Greenpark
- North & West Belfast (incl Muckamore Hospital)
- South & East
Belfast
South Eastern Health & Social Services Trust
- Ulster
Community & Hospitals
- Down Lisburn
Search available book titles on the
National Health Service (NHS)
 Health Direction...
Turning NHS data
into incisive knowledge
Health
Direction is entirely focused on collecting, processing and analysing high
quality UK-based health information for dissemination through intuitive,
browser-based products via the internet, company intranet and CD-Rom. Privately
owned and run you will find our staff friendly, knowledgeable and helpful. We
put customer satisfaction at the top of our agenda.
If you have a
requirement for NHS information, contact
Health
Direction
Disclaimer
Net Media Marketing excludes any
warranty, express or implied, as to the quality, accuracy, timeliness,
completeness or fitness for a particular purpose of this briefing. Net Media
Marketing will not be liable for any claims, penalties, losses, damages, costs,
or expenses arising from the use of or inability to use this briefing or from
any unauthorised access to or alteration of the Briefing. Net Media Marketing
makes no warranty that the contents of this briefing are compatible with all
computer systems and browsers.
All jobs &
Vacancies, Pharmaceutical
sales jobs, Healthcare sales
jobs, Laboratory sales jobs,
Veterinary sales jobs,
Dental sales jobs,
Trainee
medical sales jobs, Nurse Advisor
jobs, Sales Management
jobs, Marketing
jobs, Senior Management
jobs, Regulatory &
Clinical jobs, Scientific Sales
Jobs, Pharmaceutical jobs,
Pharmaceutical Company,
British National Formulary (BNF),
British Pharmacopoeia
(BP)
|
