News in brief
- NHS abroad can rescue UK economy: The deputy chief executive of the NHS Confederation David Stout has said that it is “absolutely right” to charge for NHS services abroad and bring back the profit to help improve patient care in Britain. Under new plans hospitals will be encouraged to set up profit-making branches abroad to raise funds for patients at home and raise the international profile of the health service. Concerns have been raised by the Patients Association over ensuring that outcomes and care for patients comes before profits. The scheme will be launched in the autumn by officials from the Department of Health and the UK Trade and Industry.
- PAS and EPR market ‘worth £2.7 billion’: Research carried out by EHI Intelligence has concluded that English acute trusts are looking at spending £2.7bn on electronic patient records over the next six years. The report – ‘Electronic patient records: the £2.7 billion opportunity’ – focuses on how NHS trusts will pick up the pieces from the long wind-down of the National Programme for IT in the NHS. It identifies the different approaches that individual trusts are likely to take, and costs the market activity that will be needed to deliver the plans. It concludes that trusts will be taking three approaches; buying new systems from a single supplier, looking to adopt a ‘best of breed’ approach by building on the IT systems that they have, and trying to undertake their own development.
- Bradford integrates primary care, community care and mental health systems: The first phase of Bradford District Care Trust’s (BDCT) initiative to enable the electronic sharing of patient information between GPs and the trust′s community care and mental health services has been completed. This marks the first milestone in the trust′s ‘Healthy Ambitions′ initiative to provide a single point of access for GPs and clinicians. The final phase will aim to deliver full integration between BDCT′s two major clinical systems to deliver the objectives of the Trust’s Transformational Programme.
- Daisy Hill Hospital recruits robots to aid care: A Northern Ireland Health Trust is the first in the UK to use a robot, which allows intensive care specialists from one hospital to remotely assess patients in another. Daisy Hill Hospital in County Down will use the ‘telepresence’ robot to enable doctors to examine and interact with patients in different locations. With no intensivists on site at Daisy Hill, it means that 24/7 access can be provided from Craigavon Area Hospital in County Armagh, more than 20 miles away, giving advice and support to patients in high dependency and other units throughout the hospital. The Northern Ireland Health Minister Edwin Poots said: “This is at the cutting edge of innovation in our health service and makes the best use of health resources by creating an effective hospital network.
- AxSys Technology named a ‘Leader’ by IDC Health Insights: US Health Information Exchange Platform Solutions 2012 Vendor Assessment report, published in July 2012 has named UK based AxSys Technology as a Leader in IDC Health Insights. AxSys is one of five vendors included in the leader category, which spotlights vendors that are positioned to gain marketshare in the next few years. AxSys’ Excelicare platform was noted by IDC as a major factor in the ranking. The platform is designed to support collaborative care across the whole care continuum.
- Moorfields ready to ‘Open Eyes’: Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is going live with the first three clinical modules of its open source electronic patient record (EPR) early next month. The move will allow the trust to switch off its legacy system, called ePatient. Moorfields has invested £3.5m in Open Eyes over four years and the system is expected to save £4.5m over the same time. Project director Bill Aylward said: “Few EPRs offered good drawing functionality, and I aimed to change that. Feedback has been very good, the clinicians love it because it’s designed by them. The collaborative model works very well with doctors.”
- NHS super-merger proposals ‘create logical landscape for healthcare’: Plans for three NHS foundation trusts in London to merge will see the creation of the biggest hospital trust in England, reported the Guardian. A business plan is expected by the end of the year, but as it stands, the merging of Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley looks set to be agreed by all three trusts and could be completed as early as 2014.
- 12,000 NHS posts unfilled: HSJ (subscription required) has reported that figures suggest more than 12,000 job posts have not been filled after people have moved on to other organisations. Data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that between May 2011 and May this year, there were 89,926 people who left the NHS in England but just 77,522 of the roles were filled. Figures based on NHS hospital and community health service staff, showed that the overall headcount of employees has reduced by almost 20,000 people since September 2009. The number of NHS infrastructure support workers also fell. The Royal College of Nursing said the reduction of posts would have an impact on patient care.
- New consultancy wins Cambridge contract: EPR Works has won the contract to project manage the eHospital programme at Cambridge University Hospitals and Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts. The new company was incorporated on 5 March this year by directors David Kwo, Keith Swinburne and Caroline Armitage. A spokesperson for the trust said: “We can confirm that EPR Works is the preferred bidder for the project management consultancy services following an open and fair OJEU competition in line with public procurement processes.” The two-year programme includes the transition from an in-house technical infrastructure, including networks, servers and desktops, to a fully managed service, as well as the provision of new services to support new clinical and administrative applications.
- DH looks to secure new contract for Choose and Book: The Department of Health is reported to be reviewing the software architecture for Choose and Book. The current e-booking system is built on an implementation of Cerner Millennium, however the Department is hoping to release itself from dependency on commercial-off-the-shelf products for the provision of business functionality and data access. Atos Healthcare, will continue to provide the service during procurement and transition up until December 2013.
- Increasing pressure may cause hospital funding cuts: NHS hospitals are forecasting real terms cuts in funding (registration required) of more than 8% over the next three years. Emphasising the significant pressures the service faces despite government pledges to protect frontline spending. Monitor has warned in its review of independent NHS trusts’ three-year plans to 2014-15 that cuts were unlikely to be matched with any let-up in the numbers of patients requiring care. This has prompted concerns that hospitals may cut corners as they attempt to treat a similar number of patients on dwindling incomes. The cuts are being planned despite government pledges to protect “frontline” NHS spending with a marginal increase above inflation over this parliament.
- Class divide in health widens, says think tank: A survey carried out by the King’s Fund think tank has revealed a stark social class divide in health, as better-off people increasingly shun damaging habits such as smoking and eating badly. The number of people in England who risk their health by smoking and drinking too much has fallen, however the most disadvantaged remain stuck in a cycle of risky behaviour which increases their chances of developing a range of serious illnesses and will put “unavoidable pressure” on an already hard-pressed NHS. The researchers found that people with no educational qualifications were more than five times as likely as those with degrees to engage in four key damaging behaviours in 2008, compared with three times as likely in 2003.
- DH patient choice pilots recruit just 36 patients: The Patient Choice Pilot scheme allows patients to register with a practice away from home and also allows patients to attend a practice in another area as a day patient. However, since starting the scheme in July only 34 patients have registered with a practice near work and a further two have visited practices as day patients, reported GP. The scheme is being piloted in Manchester, Salford, Nottingham and across three PCT areas in London. The pilots will last for one year and will be subjected to an independent evaluation organised by the Department of Health.
- Lewisham picks Cerner for EPR: Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust has picked Cerner as the preferred supplier of its new electronic patient record system. This is Cerner’s first EPR contract win in the NHS since Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust signed a deal with University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre to deliver the Cerner Millennium system in mid-2009. The EPR tender document, released last December, said the trust was procuring a patient master index and that a replacement acute PAS and enterprise-wide scheduling would be part of an optional procurement. Cambio and Intersystems were the other two top bidders.
Opinion
New NHS needs freedom to tackle its biggest problems
NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar has spoken out this week saying that the NHS needs freedom to tackle its biggest problems not “a tsunami of bureaucracy”.
“With the government setting up a range of new organisations to run the NHS in future and at least seven new bodies impacting on the NHS day-to-day, their collective impact must help, rather than hinder NHS leaders tackling major financial problems, reducing hospital admissions and moving care closer to people’s homes. They need to minimise the burdens their policies place on the system by making it as easy as possible to comply. With so many new structures, the danger of a tsunami of new bureaucracy is obvious. The NHS must stay focused on patient care, not repeatedly providing information in different formats to multiple bodies.”
Mr Farrar’s comments come after the results of a major survey of NHS chairs and chief executives. It reveals significant concerns about the new organisations with 57% of respondents highlighting a lack of expertise or experience in the new organisations as the biggest risk to the government’s NHS reforms. Other major risks included:
• Disruption caused by organisational restructuring (54%)
• Financial pressures of cost saving targets (54%)
• A lack of system management (cited by 46%).
NHS IT – Look overseas and then ask if it is really such a failure?
NHS IT might have its share of problems, but after experiencing the emergency health system in another European country, writing in an article for Public Service Sarah Bruce, healthcare marketing specialist, says things could be a lot worse.
“Having spent days in a Portuguese hospital after a close relative fell ill, this was my first experience of any healthcare system other than the NHS. Being in the health IT industry, I couldn’t help notice that despite the care being of a good standard in many areas, there was a stark and obvious contrast compared to the experiences I have had in the UK – namely, the complete lack of technology used.
“This experience has really highlighted that for the most part the NHS understands that technology is a help and not a hindrance, which for a start is a huge leap above the attitudes of so many other countries. So, on this particular occasion, it has driven home the progress the UK is actually making, despite the set backs of the National Programme for IT and that at least for now, I’d like to praise NHS IT!”
Did Olympic nurses reflect the mood in the wards?
In an article for the Guardian Dan Royles, Director of NHS Employers, analyses the results of the NHS staff survey and explains that:
“Although there are some issues to be addressed, staff have reported improvements in the NHS”.
Despite a difficult year with constant debate over the health bill, significant structural reorganisation affecting hundreds of thousands of staff, and financial pressures impacting the health service the survey reports:
“Job satisfaction remains positive, with 76% satisfied with the support they get from colleagues and 87% satisfied with the quality of care they are able to provide. Quality, safe patient care relies on reporting concerns and 89% now say they would know how to do so. Nine-tenths of staff felt their job made a difference to patients. Almost nine-tenths felt there are opportunities for promotion and career progression. The overall positive trend indicates that partnerships between unions, employers and staff that have been so good for patients, for staff and employers, are prevailing even during this significant NHS organisational change.”
Using an App as prescribed
A recent article published by the New York Times, suggests that:
“Before long, your doctor may be telling you to download two apps and call her in the morning.”
Smartphone apps already fill the roles of television remotes, bike speedometers and flashlights. Soon they may also act as medical devices, helping patients monitor their heart rate or manage their diabetes, and be paid for by insurance. The idea of medically prescribed apps excites some people in the health care industry, but first, a range of issues around vetting, paying for and monitoring the proper use of such apps needs to be worked out.
A number of advocates including H. Perlman, managing director of Happtique, a subsidiary of the business arm of the Greater New York Hospital Association and Sailesh Chutani, the co-founder of MobiSante, which created a smartphone-based ultrasound system, agree:
“This is the transition from something that is superficial to serious healthcare delivery, but the the healthcare system is going to need somebody to help organise this.”
Highland Marketing blog
Ravi Kumar gives his views on the big news this week regarding the announcement by the British government to encourage the NHS to set-up branches abroad. He questions if this is an ‘opportunity or a distraction?
