NHS-Exposed

The Directions and explanatory note concern the transfer of £859m in 2013 to 2014 from the NHS to local authorities for social care.

This funding, which was announced as part of the Spending Review and in the Care and Support White paper, must support adult social care services in each authority, which also have a health benefit. The local authority and clinical commissioning groups must agree together how to use the money.

These Directions should be read together with the conditions relating to payments between NHS bodies and local authorities

Article source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-transfer-from-the-nhs-to-social-care-2013-to-2014-directions

The National Health Service (Conditions Relating to Payments by NHS Bodies to Local Authorities) Directions 2013: s256, s257

Directions and an explanatory note setting out conditions for payments between the NHS and local authorities.

PDF, 123KB, 7 pages

Article source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/conditions-for-payments-between-the-nhs-and-local-authorities

This joint policy statement provides further information on the changes to the regulation and oversight of NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts proposed in the government’s initial response to the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry (the Francis report) and related clauses in Part 2 of the Care Bill. It is produced by the Department of Health, the Care Quality Commission, NHS England and the NHS Trust Development Authority.

The Francis report highlighted a lack of clarity over which part of the regulatory, commissioning and supervisory system is responsible for taking decisive action in response to a failure in quality of care.

The government’s initial response, ‘Patients First and Foremost’, sets out that it will develop a single failure regime to provide a clear and co-ordinated regulatory approach to identifying and dealing with failures of quality with a more clearly defined and timely end point for failed hospitals. This statement puts these changes and the clauses in Part 2 of the Bill in a broader context.

Article source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulation-of-nhs-hospitals

To understand the needs of patients and the pressures NHS staff face, every Department of Health civil servant will be expected to gain first hand experience of life in health or social care.

A key recommendation in the Francis report was changing the culture of the department to make sure the needs of patients are always the first priority. As an important step, the Health Secretary wants his staff to lead the way across Government, by gaining a personal understanding of life on the front line and using that experience to shape policies that serve patients and their families.

Expectations on all staff have been made clear:

• The Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health, Una O’Brien and directors will lead the way by expanding their experience of the frontline. This will start immediately and spend at least a month a year learning about patient experiences and understanding the impact of their polices on the frontline.

• Senior civil servants will also be expected to spend at least a month learning about the experiences of patients every year, increasing their experience levels over time. Policy staff and others will also follow suit, learning about how their policy areas work out in practice, and broadening their knowledge of patient experience.

• The experience of staff will be reflected in their performance assessments and it will become a normal part of how the Department works and a basic expectation of the people who work in it.

• Civil servants will get exposure to a range of environments to help them get broader grasp of how things work in practice and how people feel about their health and care.

• They could be accompanying hospital porters, listening to receptionists answer queries, or learning how busy nurses or health care assistants go about their business. Department staff may be finding out about NHS basics, or learning about how charities support people in our society. There will be a range of opportunities to support senior staff to change the way they work for the better.

Jeremy Hunt, Health Secretary said:

Putting patients at the centre of everything we do isn’t just the responsibility of the NHS – we need to make sure it is the root of our policies.

To understand more about what patients and service users need, and the issues which are important to them, civil servants need to walk a mile in their shoes. For the department’s leaders to hammer home the importance of putting patients first, they need to see for themselves what that actually means.

Too often, civil servants are accused of making policies from within the ivory towers of Whitehall. It is time for this perception of aloofness to end. No member of staff should be able to get on without a personal understanding of our most basic aim – providing excellent care for the public.

Department of Health Permanent Secretary, Una O’Brien, said:

Even for myself, with seven years front line experience this type of work is important because there is so much more to learn about current realities on the front line. Thousands of life altering events happen to patients in our hospitals and care settings every single day and NHS and social care staff face the pressures they bring. A lot of our staff have front line experience, but it’s time for all to see what life is like on the coalface to focus their minds on what we are all working towards.

This isn’t about getting in the way of the important work that health and social care staff do. This is about connecting civil servants with life on the front line, changing the culture of the department and progressing the civil service reform agenda.

Andrew Geldard, Chief Executive, of North Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust said:

We are looking forward to showing civil servants how their work translates at the front line.

Mental health is a mini NHS of its own, covering hospitals and community care. It’s where mental and physical healthcare merges, and the junction integrating health with social care. To know what’s going on in the NHS today, there’s no better place to look than mental health.

We’re a very well managed part of the NHS too, making a net contribution to efficiency, without redundancies and doing more than ever. It’s where effort goes into the service and not having to balance the books. We’re in good shape and want to impress them.

Dr Samantha Walker, Executive Director, Research and policy, Asthma UK said:

We’re looking forward to giving civil servants a chance to find out more about how the voluntary sector works and hear directly from patients and carers affected by asthma.

Asthma affects more than five million people in the UK, making it one of the commonest long-term conditions, so people with asthma will have lots to share about every level of the health service.

Article source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/civil-servants-swap-whitehall-corridors-for-the-nhs-front-line

Health Minister Lord Howe has confirmed the appointment of Crispin Simon and Caroline Thomson who will start their new roles immediately.

Crispin Simon is currently a director at UKTI, a UK government department which is administrated jointly by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Caroline Thomson is Chairwoman of Digitaluk, a not for profit organisation formed by broadcasters to assist consumers in the conversion to digital TV. Ms Thomson is also a Trustee/Deputy Chairman at the National Gallery.

Lord Howe said:

I am delighted to announce the appointment of Crispin and Caroline to the Board of the NHS Trust Development Agency.

They are exceptional talents who have a wealth of experience leading national organisations at the highest level.

I am sure they will bring this experience to bear when driving forward delivery by the NHS TDA.

Sir Peter Carr, Chair of the NHS TDA, said:

I would like to welcome Crispin and Caroline onto the NHS TDA Board.

Their appointments complete our Board and add to the wide and deep experience it contains.

I have no doubt that their skills in the broader world will be invaluable in guiding the NHS TDA on its journey to support non-Foundation Trusts to high quality, sustainable services and to achieve the ultimate goal of FT status.

Background information

For media enquiries please ring the Department of Health press office on 0207 210 5197.

The NHS TDA aims to support NHS Trusts to deliver high quality, sustainable services for the trusts they are responsible for. They develop and performance manage NHS Trusts, manage the Foundation Trust pipeline, appoint chairs and non-executive members of NHS Trusts and assuring clinical quality, governance and risk throughout the sector.

These appointments are made in accordance with the Code of Practice for Ministerial Appointments to Public Bodies, issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. All appointments are made on merit and political activity played no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees’ political activity (if any declared) to be made public. Neither have declared any current political activity.

The appointments started on 13th May and are for four years or to the closure of the NHS TDA, whichever date is the sooner. They will receive £7,883 per annum for a time commitment of 2 to 3 days per month.

For further information on the NHS Trust Development Authority visit their website.

Article source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-non-executive-directors-of-the-nhs-trust-development-authority

Article source: http://www.express.co.uk/news/health/399032/Now-we-pull-out-our-own-teeth-Boom-in-DIY-dental-kits-as-patients-cannot-afford-NHS-fees

A hospital should look like this

AE departments are “out of control” according to the NHS regulator. Under-manned and over-subscribed, AE departments have David Prior, head of the Care Quality Commission, worrying that another Staffs scandal is in the wings. Almost half of hospitals are providing poor care, he said. As for waiting times, the Government set targets that everyone is now ignoring.

Some hospitals have had to set up giant tents as “field hospitals” in order to cater for the increasing hordes of patients; others have queues of ambulances waiting outside, unable to deliver patients.

Mr Prior called for early intervention: stop health conditions deteriorating into life-or-death emergencies. Elderly care and chronic conditions like diabetes and heart failure can be monitored at home. Yet many of these sufferers end up in hospital — not least because their GP  refuses to work out of office hours.

Add to this disastrous scenario the over-reliance on AE by over-anxious parents who detect a dread disease in every child’s cough or sneeze and a cure looks near-impossible.

Whatever you do, don’t get ill.

Read more by Cristina Odone on Telegraph Blogs
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Article source: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/cristinaodone/100215891/its-official-ae-departments-across-the-nhs-are-an-accident-waiting-to-happen/

The government is committed to the founding principle of the NHS, that treatment is free at the point of delivery and available according to clinical need rather than ability to pay. However, independent, voluntary and private organisations have always been part of NHS services. For example, most GPs are private contractors, and the medicines the NHS buys are manufactured by private companies. What people say matters to them most is the quality of care they receive and that they receive it free when they need it.

The government believes that competition between providers will be a means, not an end, to empower patients and staff, to drive up responsiveness, outcomes and efficiency, and provide the best value for money for taxpayers.

Key to this will be the new economic regulator, Monitor. It will promote choice and competition to ensure that all providers can compete fairly and transparently, and it will have powers to address any anticompetitive behaviour in order to protect the interests of patients and taxpayers.

Patients will continue to have a choice of who provides their NHS services. They will be able to choose an appropriate provider based on information about the quality and accessibility of those services. Providers from all sectors, including NHS trusts, social enterprises and the independent sector will continue to have a role in providing NHS services.

The key criteria will be whether they can deliver the service to the standards set out in the National Standard Contract, whether they are registered with the Care Quality Commission, and whether they can deliver the service for the price the NHS is willing to pay.

Choice of provider has been in place for elective hospitals for some time, and has been extensively researched and evaluated. It should particularly benefit those social enterprises and voluntary sector organisations providing community and mental health services that have often found it difficult in the past to secure contracts from primary care trusts, despite offering excellent responsive services.

Competition will enable existing good providers who offer innovative and responsive services to grow. Potential new providers who can meet the standards and prices set by the NHS can enter more easily, enabling innovation and enhanced patient choice of both providers and, in some cases, treatment, whilst ensuring that quality and safety remain paramount.

The government listened to stakeholders and members of both Houses of Parliament, with a view to improving the Health and Social Care Act’s regulations and removing any scope for misinterpretation. The Government introduced new regulations on 11 March clearly state that there is no requirement to put all contracts out to competitive tender. This means that commissioners are able to offer contracts to one provider where only that provider is capable of providing the services. The healthcare regulator, Monitor, has no power to force the competitive tendering of services, ensuring that decisions about how and when to introduce competition is solely up to the doctors and nurses in clinical commissioning groups.

Also, competition should not override integration, which commissioners should use where it is in the interests of patients.

A copy of the new regulations, along with supporting documentation that sets out in more detail what changes have been made, can be found at Regulations on procurement, patient choice and competition.

Article source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/department-of-healths-response-to-the-avazz-campaign-about-nhs-reform

Monthly Recoveries 2013-2014

The document provides information on the amounts collected for April 2013 by the Compensation Recovery Unit and paid to the NHS.

PDF, 86.1KB, 1 page

Article source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-injury-costs-recovery-scheme-amounts-collected-april-2013-march-2014

Press Room

Article source: http://www.sanofi.co.uk/l/gb/en/layout.jsp?cnt=499CA28E-A311-475B-ABC8-D1C04FCF4600