Contents
Strategic issues:
A call to action for general practice
Update from NHS Commissioning Assembly
Information Governance Bulletin
NHS England publishes response to service specification and commissioning policies consultation
Health and Wellbeing System Improvement Programme
NHS England welcomes Berwick Report
Operational issues:
The flu immunisation – extension to children (2-3 year olds and geographical pilots)
National flu plan published
Other news:
European cross border healthcare
Call for Birthday 2014 Honours Nominations
NHS IQ sets out its offer to improve urgent and emergency care
Evaluating progress: the 2010 Adult Autism Strategy Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives
Royal College of Surgeons of England launches its National Surgical Commissioning Centre for commissioners
Celebrating compassionate care
Events and campaigns:
Building public support for change – 3 September 2013, London
What do you need to know about your patients with learning disabilities? – 5 September 2013, Birmingham
CCG invitation to pathway commissioning webex
CleanMed Europe: pathways to sustainable healthcare – 17-19 September 2013, Oxford University Examination Schools
NHS Healthcare Procurement Network Business Day – 24 September 2013, London
Health and Wellbeing Peer Challenge – Showcasing the learning event – 1 October 2013, London
Health and wellbeing board (HWB) peer challenge – peer training
Future of Health Conference: meeting the challenge of long term conditions – 3-4 October 2013, Business Design Centre, London
Help make England a great place to grow old
About this bulletin
Gateway reference number: 00320
Download the Bulletin for CCGs: Issue 39, 8 August 2013 (PDF, 125KB)
Strategic issues:
A call to action for general practice
Following the launch of ‘The NHS belongs to the people: a call to action’ at the start of July, NHS England will be publishing a ‘call to action’ for general practice later this month. This will be designed to support our area teams in working collaboratively with CCGs, health and wellbeing boards (HWB) and patients and the public to develop local strategies for general practice services – and to identify what changes we may need to make nationally to support these local strategies.
Our aim is to enable general practice to play an even stronger role at the heart of more integrated out-of-hospital services that deliver better health outcomes, more personalised care, excellent patient experience and the most efficient possible use of NHS resources.
We intend to publish a slide pack and analytical evidence pack to stimulate debate in local communities – GP practices, area teams, CCGs, HWBs and other community partners – on how best to develop general practice services.
This local engagement will also help shape decisions about NHS England’s overall strategic framework for commissioning of primary medical care.
We hope these will be useful resources in helping you work with area teams to identify how best to develop and improve services in your area.
Update from NHS Commissioning Assembly
NHS Commissioning Assembly event – 25 September 2013, Edgbaston Cricket Ground – Registration now open
The 2013 NHS Commissioning Assembly event will be held on 25 September Edgbaston Cricket Ground in Birmingham. Please put the date and venue in your diary.
Registration is now open and all Assembly members will receive an email request for them to complete their details on line. Please do confirm your attendance and answer the few short questions on the registration website to help focus discussions on the day. This is your opportunity to have your say about what you want your event to focus on.
The event is a key opportunity for all Assembly members from across England to get together, share experiences and continue to build the common purpose of our ‘one team’, as well as setting the direction of travel for the months ahead.
If you would like to comment on the design of the NHS Commissioning Assembly event please contact bethany.clift@nhs.net
NHS Commissioning Assembly Finance and Planning Working Group – volunteers needed
The Commissioning Assembly Finance Working Group is being re-energised and expanded to become a Finance and Planning Working Group and this is your opportunity to get involved.
The Assembly working groups deliver a shared work programme and membership includes clinical and managerial leads of CCGs and NHS England. This group will be looking at the potential issues to be resolved ahead of the two year allocations and two year planning framework as a result of the Health Settlement announcement in July.
If you would like to be involved in this working group, or would like any further information on the Assembly, please contact Samantha.walsh4@nhs.net.
Fundamental Review of Allocations Policy – workshops to be held in September 2013 to inform future resource allocations
NHS England is currently reviewing the local allocation of resources across the full range of its responsibilities, covering both allocations to CCGs and the budgets available for direct commissioning functions in area teams.
As part of the review process, we will be holding four regional workshops for CCGs, CSUs, NHS England and other stakeholders to discuss current thinking and to hear their views about the allocations process and proposals for the future.
Half day workshops (am) are planned during September 2013 with further details to be confirmed.
13 September – Leeds
18 September – Birmingham
20 September – Newbury area
23 September – London
If you would like to attend one of these workshops, please reply to ian.james4@nhs.net with the following information:
your name
job title
email address
your organisation name
the workshop that you wish to attend
Information Governance Bulletin
The Health and Social Care Act 2012 means that commissioners are no longer, in the main, able to use patient confidential data to support commissioning activity like invoice validation and risk stratification. NHS England, working with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), has set up a task force and work programme to enable commissioners and other stakeholders to be able to use data effectively for their needs within the legal framework. We will be publishing a regular bulletin advising on the work programme. The first edition is now available and regular updates and information will be posted on the webpage identified below.
Download the bulletin
Letter from Chris Outram, Chair of the Information Governance Transition Board, to NHS commissioning organisations in relation to Information Governance
In addition to the new regular bi-weekly bulletin, Chris’s letter sets out the work being led by NHS England to manage and overcome the limitations on use of confidential patient data by secondary data users, especially commissioners and their supporting organisations. The letter emphasises the recognition within NHS England and its partners in regard to the degree of current problems, and the seriousness with which action is being developed to address these.
Download the letter
NHS England publishes response to service specification and commissioning policies consultation
NHS England has published its response to the consultation earlier this year on the service specifications and commissioning policies which support its specialised commissioning function. More than 3,500 responses were received from individual patients, patient groups, commissioners, provider organisations and others.
As a result of feedback received, NHS England has already introduced a number of measures to strengthen its engagement activity in specialised services, such as patient and public representation on its clinical reference groups and the development of a model for engagement.
Access the response to the consultation
Health and Wellbeing System Improvement Programme
Health and wellbeing boards (HWB) represent a real opportunity for health, local government and public health leaders to work together to pursue shared priorities in improving outcomes and services for their local communities.
Through conversations with CCGs, local government and area teams about supporting the new commissioning system to be the best that it can be, there has proved to be a strong desire for a shared approach to development. In response, NHS England has worked in partnership with the Local Government Association (LGA), Department of Health, Public Health England, Healthwatch England and the NHS Confederation to develop a shared Health and Wellbeing System Improvement offer across local health and wellbeing partners.
A prospectus of support has been developed with and for local HWB partners.
CCGs are invited to discuss the prospectus with their HWB partners and consider how they might support their HWB development journey.
For more information, contact Sam Illingworth, CCG Collaboration Senior Lead at Samantha.illingworth@nhs.net
As part of the Health and Wellbeing System Improvement offer, the Local Government Association (LGA) has established a monthly bulletin. The bulletin will share updates on the programme, key news items, details about forthcoming events, learning from health and wellbeing boards and the sharing of good practice.
CCGs and NHS England area teams can subscribe to the bulletin by emailing healthimprovement@local.gov.uk.
NHS England welcomes Berwick Report
Following the publishing of the Berwick Report on Tuesday 6 August 2013, NHS England has pledged to take further action to help make the NHS the safest healthcare system in the world.
NHS England has also welcomed, as we all in the NHS do, a focus on a culture that puts patients first, engages and empowers patients and carers, supports transparency and learning and takes responsibility for poor care.
The Prime Minister asked Professor Don Berwick, a renowned international expert in patient safety, to carry out a review following the publication of the Francis Report into the breakdown of care at Mid Staffordshire Hospital.
Read how NHS England plans to work with all its partners across the health and social care system to assess and implement the recommendations.
You can also read the Department of Health’s response, the full report and letters from Don Berwick to senior government officials, senior executives in the NHS, clinicians, managers, NHS staff and the people of England.
Operational issues:
The flu immunisation – extension to children (2-3 year olds and geographical pilots)
In June we told you about the 2013/14 flu immunisation programme in the first of two letters. This second letter provides additional information about the extension of the 2013/14 flu immunisation programme to healthy children.
There are two elements to the children’s flu immunisation programme this year:
a routine offer of vaccination to all 2 and 3 year olds (but not 4 years or older) from 1 September 2013; and
geographical pilots for 4 to ten year olds (up to and including pupils in year 6).
Read Part 1 here
National flu plan published
The Flu Plan provides information to support planning for the demands of flu this winter, including encouraging vaccine uptake in over 65s, those in clinical at-risk groups and pregnant women, taking account of lessons learned during previous flu seasons.
Other news:
European cross border healthcare
NHS England has published new information for commissioners on European cross border healthcare. The document sets out the associated roles and responsibilities of NHS England, CCGs and CSUs and summarises the requirements of the EU Directive on cross border healthcare, which becomes UK law in October 2013.
Download the document
Call for Birthday 2014 Honours Nominations
The Department of Health (DH) has started the 2014 Birthday Honours process. DH is keen to receive nominations of worthy candidates who have made a valuable contribution to the health and care system of people’s health and wellbeing. In particular, DH is looking for candidates to be considered for the BEM award – people who provide very hands on service.
Find out more
Please note the deadline for submitting honour nominations is 4 September 2013.
NHS IQ sets out its offer to improve urgent and emergency care
A new leaflet has been produced setting out how NHS Improving Quality (NHS IQ) is supporting the NHS to improve urgent and emergency care. Recognising that the pressures currently faced in urgent and emergency care are symptomatic of a system-wide problem, the contribution NHS IQ can make spans the entire system. The leaflet includes details of:
NHS IQ’s emergency and urgent care improvement programme in the setting of seven day services;
How NHS IQ is building capability to lead change and transformation;
The tools and resources NHS IQ has available to help the NHS;
The practical support NHS IQ can provide through the NHS IMAS Emergency Care Intensive Support Teams.
The leaflet is available on the NHS IQ website, and further information can be obtained from enquiries@nhsiq.nhs.uk
Evaluating progress: the 2010 Adult Autism Strategy Fulfilling and Rewarding Lives
Norman Lamb, the Minister of State for Care and Support, has written to local authority chief executives (copied to CCGs) to ask for assistance in taking forward the second self-assessment exercise for the implementation of the Adult Autism Strategy. While the local authority is the lead body locally, it is important to gain a multi-agency perspective, including that of CCGs, to reflect the requirements of the implementation of the strategy.
The purpose of the self-assessment is to:
assist local authorities and their partners in assessing progress in implementing the 2010 Adult Autism Strategy;
see how much progress has been made since the baseline survey, as at February 2012;
provide evidence of examples of good progress made that can be shared and of remaining challenges.
Read the letter
Access the questionnaire. Respondents should be aware that all local responses will be published in full online.
Royal College of Surgeons of England launches its National Surgical Commissioning Centre for commissioners
The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) recently launched its National Surgical Commissioning Centre. The Centre is a web-based source of practical information and advice and offers a range of products and services to CCGs, including information on clear and simple patient pathways, designed to promote best practice across primary and secondary care. Bringing together relevant information on surgical services it serves as an important resource for commissioners and ultimately reinforces our commitment to ensuring that commissioning is patient focused and clinically-led.
The Centre comprises:
NICE accredited commissioning guidance, developed by the College and Surgical Specialty Associations, with funding from Department of Health’s QIPP Right Care programme.
Publicly accessible data tools to help commissioners understand local clinical variation for the surgical procedures covered by the commissioning guidance, including information on activity levels, length of stay and readmission rates.
Local advice through the College and Associations’ regional networks on the provision of local and national surgical services, according to the national standards and guidance are currently being developed.
If you would like further information or would like to be involved in this work, contact the College.
Celebrating compassionate care
NHS England has launched a Story of the Month competition in association with Nursing Times to make sure that compassionate nursing care gets the recognition it deserves.
Nursing teams from all care settings are being invited to submit their entry to tell us about how their work supports the delivery of the six areas of work within the 6Cs – care, compassion, competence, communication, courage and commitment.
All entries will then be considered by a panel and the winning one will be featured on Nursing Times online and on the newly launched 6Cs Live! Communication Hub.
CCGs are encouraged to promote and signpost nursing staff to the 6Cs Live! communications Hub to submit their entry.
Events and campaigns:
Building public support for change – 3 September 2013, London
This event for CCG board members and senior team members responsible for engagement strategy will enable CCGs to consider how they engage with patients and the public, and how they work with other organisations to hold big conversations about individual, local and national health issues.
Topics include community based development, how technology can link patient feedback to service change and why listening to and involving patients is the top strategic priority for CCGs.
Speakers include Giles Wilmore, Director of Patient and Public Voice, and Samantha Riley, Director of Insight, NHS England; Dr Brian Fisher, Don Redding of National Voices and social media expert Nick Booth.
Find out more and register for a complimentary place for your CCG
What do you need to know about your patients with learning disabilities? – 5 September 2013, Birmingham
This event will be helpful to GPs and CCGs wanting to improve primary health care services for patients with learning disabilities. Among the subjects the event will cover are:
mental health and people with learning disabilities
commissioning guidance
lessons from the Confidential Inquiry into Premature Deaths of People with Learning Disabilities
an example of successful commissioning
To book a place on this event please call Will Nicklin on 0121 415 6970 or email w.nicklin@bild.org.uk.
Find out more
CCG invitation to pathway commissioning webex
CCG leaders are invited to a webex which is taking place on 17 September, 12.30 – 1.30pm.
Work is already progressing between CCGs and area teams to effectively integrate specialised service specifications in individual areas.
NHS England are also planning to develop a process with CCGs to ensure the development of a shared understanding between specialised services and CCGs to enable care pathway consistency. This will ensure the products developed can support the need for local delivery and national consistency. The initial focus will be on forensic pathway clinical reference group, paediatric care pathways, acute kidney injury pathway, haemoglobinopathies, back pain and sciatica.
If you would like to be involved in the web ex, or would like further information / to contribute to this process, please contact patrickneville@nhs.net.
CleanMed Europe: pathways to sustainable healthcare – 17-19 September 2013, Oxford University Examination Schools
The conference is being organised by The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare in partnership with Health Care Without Harm. It is the fourth conference of its kind and is supported by the Sustainable Development Unit.
The conference offers a range of presentations and workshops focused on creating pathways to sustainable healthcare through greening hospitals and clinics, low-carbon technologies, leaner systems and preventative measures. With presentations from leading experts and organisations and over 450 expected participants, this is an ideal opportunity to meet people working in this vitally important industry.
Founded in 2001 by the non-profit organisation Health Care Without Harm, the conference serves as both showcase and workshop for cutting-edge practices where healthcare innovators can gather ideas and find new ways to inspire their organisations.
Find out more
NHS Healthcare Procurement Network Business Day – 24 September 2013, London
This free event run by NHS England is aimed at those with responsibility for procuring healthcare services in the new NHS landscape, including CCGs and area teams, along with CSUs as providers of healthcare procurement services.
The event aims to give delegates the opportunity to:
gain an understanding of the healthcare procurement environment in the NHS
learn about the future strategy for CSU
get a clinical perspective on the procurement of healthcare services
hear from Monitor about Section 75 Regulation
benefit from shared learning across CCGs, CSUs and NHS England
Find out more and book your place
Health and Wellbeing Peer Challenge – Showcasing the learning event – 1 October 2013, London
One of the key elements of the Health and Wellbeing System Improvement Programme is the HWB Peer Challenge Programme, part of the sector-led improvements from the Local Government Association.
The Peer Challenge Programme involves bespoke teams of HWB peers working on site with the council, CCGs and wider partners to explore how the organisations are working together to deliver successful health outcomes through the HWB. The peer team enable the council and its partners to focus on key issues and learning to take their agenda forward.
The Health and Wellbeing System Improvement Partnership are hosting this event to showcase the learning from the pilot peer challenge sites. It will provide useful insight from HWBs and guidance around key areas of good practice. The event will provide shared learning from the peer challenges and discuss areas in which HWB leaders might focus improvement efforts to take forward their agendas.
The event is aimed at CCG HWB leads, area team HWB leads and local government and public health HWB leads. Book a place
If you are a CCG senior leader who might be interested in being part of a peer challenge team, for more details contact Vicki Goddard at vicki.goddard@local.gov.uk
Health and wellbeing board (HWB) peer challenge – peer training
Peer challenges are part of our Health and Wellbeing Systems Improvement Support Programme. Free to councils and bespoke peer teams – including health / CCG peers, the challenge provides an opportunity to explore how the council and HWB partners are together in delivering successful health outcomes.
The Local Government Association (LGA) is running two free training events at Scarman House, Warwick University Conference Centre, 13-14 November 2013 and 9-10 January 2014. The training will offer networking opportunities as well as introducing peer challenge and the work involved through a simulated challenge. This will enable colleagues to participate in live challenges.
The training is also targeted at directors of public health, adult services and communities, and Healthwatch representatives. Further information is available from our website.
To apply or if you have queries, please email your name, job title, organisation, email address and telephone number to vicki.goddard@local.gov.uk by 13 September 2013.
Future of Health Conference: meeting the challenge of long term conditions – 3-4 October 2013, Business Design Centre, London
We see a world in which people with long term conditions are empowered to manage their conditions themselves, with the support of the health and care systems as and when they need them.
The Future of Health conference will act as a national platform for policy debate and sharing of successful practice. It will be the first step in creating an on-going dialogue and community for professionals to make joint progress for the benefit of the population. It will equip health and care professionals with the tools they need to make changes to the commissioning and provision of services, such as working collaboratively to provide the highest quality care and better outcomes for patients.
NHS England speakers include: Dr Martin McShane, Director, Long Term Conditions; Sir Bruce Keogh, National Medical Director; and Sir Malcolm Grant, Chairman.
Find out more
Book your place
Help make England a great place to grow old
The Department of Health recently launched a national engagement exercise to create a plan to improve health and care services for vulnerable older people.
As part of its engagement programme, the Department will hold two events on 5 and 11 September in Manchester and London respectively. Eminent speakers include DH Ministers, prominent leaders in health, social care and the voluntary sector, frontline practitioners, patients and the public. Delegates will be encouraged to participate in discussions to feed directly into the plan’s development.
Places are available on a first come, first served basis.
Register for Manchester (5 September 2013), click here
Register for London (11 September 2013), click here.
If you have any queries please email betterhealthandcare@dh.gsi.gov.uk.
About this bulletin:
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Future communications to CCGs
We have had feedback from a number of CCGs about preferred methods for communications. We will be putting in place a more systematic methodology to reach all CCGs directly. If you have any comments you would like to make on this, or indeed on the bulletin, please email the CCG bulletin mailbox.
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