Showing posts with label nhs-big sister. Show all posts

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Trust chief executive Lyn Hill-Tout said she welcomed working with Monitor

Rescue package for troubled Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust

A rescue package is being drawn up for a hospital trust accused of "appalling standards of care" three years ago.

Independent experts will look at a long-term solution for patients using Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, health service watchdog Monitor said.

The watchdog, which oversees finance and management, said clinical care has improved but needs to be made sustainable.

Experts will look at how services can be made viable.

Financial advisors, accountants, administrative and legal service firms will form part of the team recommending how services should be run.

'Deeply dysfunctional'

Monitor said the body had an "open mind" about what solutions would be reached but suggested a solvent restructuring of the trust or possibly putting it in special administration could be options.

A final report will be delivered to Monitor in spring 2013.

The trust looks after Stafford and Cannock Chase Hospitals.

A 2009 Healthcare Commission report revealed a higher than expected number of deaths at Stafford Hospital.

Analysis

Nick TriggleHealth correspondent, BBC News

After the placing of South London Healthcare into administration in July, this is another significant step for the NHS.

The decision by the health secretary two months ago was a first for the health service and could lead to that trust being broken up and services closed.

Mid Staffordshire is a foundation trust so this option is not open to ministers or regulators - yet.

But come April Monitor will have the powers to take the same step and so by announcing troubleshooters will be brought in Monitor has paved the way for that to happen.

It will not be the first time that outside experts have been asked to assess the governance and finances of an NHS trust.

But it is the first time they will have the remit to recommend administration for a foundation trust.

It is another sign that in the current financial climate tough action will be taken against struggling trusts.

A public inquiry into the role of regulators in the lead up to the critical report is set to report later this year.

The A&E unit is also temporarily shut at night and earlier this month an NHS report criticised the standard of breast cancer care, describing the set-up as "deeply dysfunctional".

A contingency planning team will work with local commissioners and clinicians, Monitor said.

Dr David Bennett, chair and interim chief executive of Monitor, said: "We have been working closely with Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust to improve its performance.

"It has made significant improvements in the clinical care provided for patients, but we need to make sure these services can be secured in the long-term.

"It is therefore time for us as the sector regulator to step in and look for a solution that ensures services are provided for local patients on a sustainable basis.

"We have an open mind about the form that solution might take, but it should be the best one for patients in the long term."

Lyn Hill-Tout, the trust's chief executive, said she welcomed working with Monitor so "clear decisions" could be made.

She said: "Reviews of the trust over the last few years and the changes to the way healthcare has begun to be provided nationally have led to a growing feeling of uncertainty about the future of the two hospitals."

Dr David Bennett: "We are open minded about what is the right answer"

In July a new medical director took over at the trust replacing Manjit Obhrai, who was brought in three years ago to improve standards.

At the same time, the Care Quality Commission lifted all of its previous concerns regarding the hospital, saying all "essential standards" were being met.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said the hospitals trust was "still facing serious financial challenges".

She added: "This puts at risk its work on improving services for patients.

"It is important that valued local services are sustainable and able to continue providing high quality treatment and advice for patients."

Sunday 2 September 2012

NHS announces new deadline to register claims For cases during the period 1st April 2004 – 31st March 2011 the deadline for individuals or their families and representatives to notify the relevant PCT will be 30th September 2012. For cases during the period 1st April 2011 – 31st March 2012 the deadline for individuals or their families and representatives to notify the relevant PCT will be 31st March 2013

NHS announces new deadline to register claimsFor cases during the period 1st April 2004 – 31st March 2011 the deadline for individuals or their families and representatives to notify the relevant PCT will be 30th September 2012.For cases during the period 1st April 2011 – 31st March 2012 the deadline for individuals or their families and representatives to notify the relevant PCT will be 31st March 2013

Wednesday 22 August 2012

NHS hospital trusts invited to expand abroad

NHS staff from Great Ormond Street Hospital took part in the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony

An agency will aim to link hospitals such as Great Ormond Street with foreign governments that want access to British-run health services.High-profile NHS hospitals in England are to be encouraged by the government to set up profit-making branches abroad to help fund services in the UK.

Investment would have to be drawn from hospitals' private UK work, but with profits ploughed back into the NHS.

A patients' group said the move was a "distraction" at a time of "upheaval".

The drive, building on an initiative first started under the Labour government, is set to be launched by the Department of Health and UK Trade and Investment this autumn.

The BBC understands the initiative is unlikely to involve regular district or general hospitals but would target world-renowned hospitals like the Royal Marsden, Great Ormond Street and Guy's and St Thomas'.

“David Stou

'Benefit patients'

NHS staff taking part in the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony

It would mirror schemes such as that of Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, which in 2007 built a unit of the same name in Dubai. Children's hospital Great Ormond Street also has interests abroad.

In 2010, Labour's Health Secretary Andy Burnham set up NHS Global to help the health service make the most of the global market for healthcare and the coalition now wants to build on this.

A source close to current Health Secretary Andrew Lansley emphasised that hospitals would be able to pay for their investments abroad using only revenue generated from their private patients in the UK.

Any profits made overseas would be ploughed back into the health service and so benefit NHS patients, the source added.

The Health and Social Care Act, which was passed by Parliament earlier this year, eased the way for hospital trusts to expand their work in the private sector.

Health Minister Anne Milton said: "This is good news for NHS patients who will get better services at their local hospital as a result of the work the NHS is doing abroad and the extra investment that will generate.

"This is also good news for the economy, which will benefit from the extra jobs and revenue created by our highly successful life sciences industries as they trade more across the globe.

"The NHS has a world-class reputation, and this exciting development will make the most of that to deliver real benefits for both patients and taxpayers."

Moorfields medical director Chris Canning said no taxpayers' money had been spent on its Dubai venture and it had been in profit for the past three years while "raising the reputation and profile" of the NHS and the hospital, and making money to reinvest in UK health services.

David Stout, deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations around England, denied the scheme would divert attention away from health services and said an international exchange of ideas could in fact improve local services.

"This is not about distorting what the NHS offers to UK citizens, this is about how we can exploit the brand of the NHS internationally," he told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

When asked if the NHS could end up under-funded by taxation because of increasing funds raised abroad, he said: "We are not talking about completely skewing the way the health service funding comes in - this will be marginal in the scheme of a £100bn organisation organisation in the NHS."

'Rampant commercialisation'

However, the move was criticised by the Patients Association.

"The key and only focus of an NHS hospital should be to provide treatment to patients on the NHS. We would be very concerned by any moves which would see commercial ventures, which are naturally going to be important for hospitals because they need to use them to raise revenue, would simply result in the attention of the hospitals being taken away from the core purpose - to treat patients in the UK and instead be focused on these hospitals abroad," said Michael Watson, of the group.

Andy Burnham, Labour: "The government's plan fundamentally alters the character of the NHS"

Labour began the initiative while in government, but shadow health minister Jamie Reed criticised the coalition's plans.

He said: "At a time when staff are losing their jobs and waiting times are rising, the government's priority should be sorting out the mess it has created in our NHS.

"Under David Cameron we're seeing a rampant commercialisation of the NHS. He needs to get a grip and start focusing on patients, not profits."

Thursday 5 July 2012

Probe into 25 deaths after trust admits 'poor records'

By Jane DreaperHealth correspondent, BBC News

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust sign

The trust said it had been open and transparent about the matter

The deaths of 25 patients are under review by one of the UK's biggest NHS trusts, after it admitted "poor record keeping".

Westminster and two other London local authorities have expressed "extreme concern" about lost data on referrals at Imperial College Healthcare.

BBC News understands Imperial is still unaware of the outcomes of 86 patients who were referred for cancer tests.

The trust says it does not believe any patient has come to serious harm.

Imperial, which runs four big hospitals in London, has however admitted that patients may have faced "discomfort, worry and possible deterioration as a result of a delay".

In an unprecedented move, the trust was allowed to suspend the reporting of its waiting times for planned operations and diagnostic tests to the government for the first six months of this year.

Waiting longer

The trust has been unable to make contact with 86 people who were referred for a possible cancer diagnosis.

It made efforts to trace 87 patients, through GPs and by sending letters by recorded delivery to the last available address.

Seven letters were returned undelivered and just one patient contacted the hospital to be seen directly.

“Start Quote

The safety of our patients is an absolute priority”

Sir Richard SykesImperial College Healthcare chairman

And at the height of the problems in February, around 3,500 patients were waiting longer than the 18-week NHS target for treatment or operations. Currently the figure stands at 1,600.

Some of these patients - and some of the suspected cancer cases - were recorded as having been on the waiting list since 2009.

So far, 74 deaths have come under the spotlight. A review group is satisfied that 49 were unrelated to any problems caused by delayed treatment.

In a joint letter, Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea Councils complained to the trust about its handling of the problem.

The letter said: "It seems to us there could be a possibility of clinical harm as a result of delays in the diagnosis and commencement of treatment arising from the trust's failings.

"We are unhappy that the trust appears to have responded to the scrutiny function of local authorities with a lack of openness and transparency."

Westminster Council's scrutiny committee will question Imperial's interim chief executive, Mark Davies, at a meeting on Thursday night.

An NHS source described the discovery of such long-waiting patients as "dynamite" and "appalling".

The source said: "I would be surprised if there were not similar scandals waiting to be uncovered at other London hospitals.

"London has problems because that is where so many of the long-waiters and financial problems are."

'Extremely sorry'

Imperial has blamed issues arising from multiple computer and record-keeping systems.

A spokeswoman said: "To date we have found no evidence that these patients have come to clinical harm as a result of our poor record keeping.

"We are extremely sorry that this situation was not identified and resolved earlier."

In a letter responding to the councils, the trust's chairman, Sir Richard Sykes, said: "The safety of our patients is an absolute priority.

"We have been handling this in an open and transparent manner. We did not want to raise undue concerns for people when the issue was actually with our data collection."

In a statement, the Care Quality Commission said it would continue to monitor the trust closely "to make sure that it complies with the essential standards of treatment and care that people are legally entitled to expect".

Thursday 10 May 2012

NHS 'can't cope' with multi-disease patients

GPs often have to deal with patients who have multiple health problems

The health system in the UK cannot cope with the rising number of under-65s with long-term medical conditions and needs "radical change", says a study in The Lancet.

A team of researchers analysing 1.75 million people in Scotland found that nearly a quarter had two or more chronic diseases.

Their care was often co-ordinated poorly and inefficient, the study said.

The team wants a more personal approach to patients with complex problems.

At present, healthcare services, medical research and the education of medical students are dominated by a focus on individual diseases, the study authors say.

Yet rising numbers of people are living with more than two long-term disorders, called "multimorbidity", which could include coronary heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke and depression.

In general, people with multimorbidity are more likely to live in deprived areas and have a poorer quality of life. Their care is fragmented because they see a number of different specialists.

“Start Quote

Patients with multiple conditions need someone who can oversee all the problems of a patient.”

Prof Graham WattGlasgow University

Generalist approach

The study, led by Bruce Guthrie, professor of primary care medicine at Dundee University, Professor Stewart Mercer, of Glasgow University, and Graham Watt, professor of general practice at Glasgow, says this approach should change.

"Existing approaches need to be complemented by support for the work of generalists, providing continuity, co-ordination, and above all a personal approach for people with multimorbidity."

Their study of nearly two million patients registered with 314 medical practices in Scotland showed that people living in the most deprived areas were particularly affected by long-term physical and mental disorders.

These disorders were more common among poorer communities and occurred 10-to-15 years earlier than among those living in affluent areas.

The study looked for 40 chronic conditions among the participants' data.

Researchers found that 42% of patients had one or more conditions and 23% had two or more.

It also found that only 9% of those with coronary heart disease, had that one disease alone.

Similarly, only 23% of those with cancer, had only cancer and no other long-term disease.

'Wake-up call'

Although the prevalence of multimorbidity increased with age and was present in most people aged over 65, the actual number of people with multimorbidity was higher in those under 65, the study said.

Graham Watt, professor of general practice at Glasgow University, said this was a problem affecting many countries, not just Scotland.

“Start Quote

This economic burden heightens the need to manage people with several chronic illnesses in more efficient ways.”

Dr Chris SalisburyUniversity of Bristol

"Any country with an ageing population is heading in this direction. All these countries are waking up to the problem.

"The status quo isn't an option because it leads in the wrong direction."

Prof Watt said that rather than more specialists, patients with multiple conditions "need someone who can oversee all the problems of a patient".

"These patients need continuity, and we need ways of measuring how well care is joined-up."

Financial burden

In an accompanying article in The Lancet, Dr Chris Salisbury, from the School of Social and Community Medicine at the University of Bristol, said the increasing proportion of people with several co-existing medical problems had a financial impact.

"Expenditure on health care rises almost exponentially with the number of chronic disorders that an individual has, so increasing multimorbidity generates financial pressures. This economic burden heightens the need to manage people with several chronic illnesses in more efficient ways," said Dr Salisbury.

Dr Salisbury suggests that general practitioners in more deprived areas should have lower caseloads to account for higher levels of multiple morbidity.

He also says that in hospitals, those with multimorbidity should be assigned to a generalist consultant who would be responsible for co-ordinating their care.

The Scottish Government's Health Secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, said: "We are working in partnership with NHS, primary-care providers and patients, as well as the research community, so that we have effective systems in place to address the needs of people with multiple health conditions and to reduce these health inequalities."

Friday 25 November 2011

operations to be postponed

Strike means thousands of operations to be postponed

Operations are set to be delayed across the UK

Hospital managers are planning to postpone thousands of non-emergency operations next Wednesday, because of the public sector strike over pension changes.

Patients across the UK have been sent letters warning them of the disruption.

Diagnostic tests and outpatient appointments will also be delayed, but hospitals insist emergency and critical care will not be affected.

Managers say they are preparing as they would for Christmas or bank holidays.

An estimated 400,000 nurses and healthcare assistants, as well as paramedics, physiotherapists, and support staff like cleaners and administrators have said they will join the action on 30 November over changes to public sector pensions.

However, the main medical unions - the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives and the British Medical Association are not taking part.

The Department of Health in England said it was expecting at least 5,500 non-emergency procedures like hip and knee operations to be rearranged.

More than 12,000 patients are likely to have diagnostic tests postponed, and 40,000 outpatient appointments are expected to be rescheduled.

On an average day, 28,000 patients have planned treatments or operations in England and there are 60,000 diagnostic tests.

However, managers say they are putting plans in place to make sure people can still get emergency or urgent care, in the way they do on bank holidays or at Christmas.

999 calls

Patients needing urgent treatment like chemotherapy and kidney dialysis will still be able to get it, and maternity units will remain open.

Calls to 999 will still be answered, but patients are being urged to think hard and only call if it is a genuine emergency.

The Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, said health service workers should not take action that harms the interests of patients.

"I would ask staff to consider carefully whether going on strike is the right thing to do," he said.

Unison's head of health Christina Nacanea said members did not take strike action lightly.

"Most of them will first and foremost ensure that there is adequate cover is in place and that patients' safety is not compromised," she said,

"But by the same token they will be wanting to demonstrate their opposition to what the government is trying do to their pensions."

Sunday 20 November 2011

NHS jobs 'under threat'

Nearly 50,000 NHS jobs 'under threat'

The RCN believes nearly 50,000 posts are under threat in England

Nearly 50,000 jobs are under threat or have already gone in the health service in England, union figures suggest.

The Royal College of Nursing report warned in many cases front-line posts were being hit as the NHS was struggling to make savings.

The total represents 3.5% of the 1.4 million people employed by the NHS.

The union said that for some trusts the culls represented significant chunks of their workforces, but the government accused it of "scaremongering".

The RCN warned the cuts could end up harming patient care, while it also predicted the total would rise in the coming months as the figure was based on evidence from less than half the trusts in the country.

The remaining trusts either are not making cuts or have yet to have announced them, the college believes.

Cutbacks

The RCN has been closely monitoring job cuts since April 2010.

The posts it has identified have either being lost already or are due to be cut by March 2015.

Many of them do not involve redundancies as the NHS tends to cut posts by not replacing staff who leave or retire.

The total highlighted - 48,029 - is the equivalent of shutting four large hospital trusts.

It includes all types of staff from administrators and porters to doctors and nurses.

The union also carried out an in-depth look at 41 trusts where cuts were being made.

In total, nearly half of the posts under threat were clinical and the scale of the cutbacks represented nearly a tenth of the workforce on average.

In the worst cases over 20% of the workforce was due to be culled.

The RCN said the findings were proof that the savings the NHS has to make - £20bn over the next four years - could not simply be achieved through efficiencies.

Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham: "Nurses are being handed their P45s and patients are being told they have to wait longer"

Evidence was also uncovered of job cuts being made elsewhere in the UK.

Some of the trusts highlighted in the RCN's report have accused the union of using out of date figures, and said they have since downscaled the number of planned job cuts.

The RCN acknowledged the forecasted cuts did fluctuate regularly, but said overall the report was still an accurate picture of what was happening.

RCN chief executive Peter Carter said the scale of the cuts could have a "deep and potentially dangerous impact on patient care".

"Staffing levels should be based on rigorous clinical evidence and should not be arbitrarily lowered in a short-sighted effort to save money."

'Scaremongering'

David Stout, deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents managers, questioned whether there would be a large drop in staff numbers overall, saying staff were more likely to be redeployed into other areas rather than losing their jobs.

But he added some would be affected.

"We all need to be honest with the public, patients and staff that we have no pain-free option.

"Managing the financial challenge, while undergoing a huge structural reorganisation, is going to be tough. There is no doubt that many staff will find this personally very difficult."

Health minister Simon Burns said it should be possible to make efficiency savings at the same time as improving patient care and accused the RCN of "typical trade union scaremongering".

mengele plus

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Trust chief executive Lyn Hill-Tout said she welcomed working with Monitor

Rescue package for troubled Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust

Analysis

Sunday 2 September 2012

Wednesday 22 August 2012

NHS hospital trusts invited to expand abroad

NHS hospital trusts invited to expand abroad

“David Stou

Thursday 5 July 2012

Probe into 25 deaths after trust admits 'poor records'

Probe into 25 deaths after trust admits 'poor records'

“Start Quote

Thursday 10 May 2012

NHS 'can't cope' with multi-disease patients

“Start Quote

“Start Quote

Friday 25 November 2011

operations to be postponed

Strike means thousands of operations to be postponed

Sunday 20 November 2011

NHS jobs 'under threat'

Nearly 50,000 NHS jobs 'under threat'

Featured post

More patients in Scotland given antidepressants

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Rescue package for troubled Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust

Related Stories

Analysis

More on This Story

Related Stories

Related Internet links

Share this page

Sunday 2 September 2012

Wednesday 22 August 2012

NHS hospital trusts invited to expand abroad

“David Stou

Thursday 5 July 2012

Probe into 25 deaths after trust admits 'poor records'

Related Stories

“Start Quote

Thursday 10 May 2012

NHS 'can't cope' with multi-disease patients

Related Stories

“Start Quote

“Start Quote

More on This Story

Related Stories

Friday 25 November 2011

Strike means thousands of operations to be postponed

Related Stories

Sunday 20 November 2011

Nearly 50,000 NHS jobs 'under threat'

Related Stories

Featured post