Transparency is supposed to be a key element of the new clinical commissioning NHS system – something we’ll be looking closely at. So it’s encouraging to see that the new NHS Commissioning Board has been livestreaming its board meetings, then putting the whole thing up on its own YouTube channel, too.
A useful source if you’re interested in the governance of health – and you can subscribe to that channel in your RSS reader too.
Thanks to HMI contributors Che Seymour and Duarte Varela, we are now halfway to recording websites for clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).
The spreadsheet can be found here. It contains details on:
Many CCGs don’t yet have a website, of course, as the authorisation process is still taking place and will not be completed until next Spring.
We’re hoping that compiling and sharing this information will make it easier to send FOI requests, as well as possibly leading to a ‘news scraper’ that brings together news from all CCGs into one convenient feed.
If you want to add to or update the details, please get in touch.
Here are the health-related links that have caught our eyes between October 30th and November 19th:
For an identical box of blankets the lowest price was £47, the highest more than £120.
It is only in numbers that the ignored can hope to make an impression. When the first few women began to speak up about Savile's behaviour, his nephew, Roger Foster, was brutally dismissive, describing himself as "disgusted and disappointed" that such claims were being made. With a further 300 people now stepping forward, his tone has changed markedly.
The charity, Rethink Mental Illness, has launched an e-campaign to persuade the government to reintroduce the mental health inpatient survey. It can be accessed via its website rethink.org, and I would urge you to sign it.
new measures to improve care for patients with long term conditions and help prevent unnecessary emergency admissions to hospital
ensuring that quality rewards for GPs reflect expert advice, from NICE, so that patients receive the very best care in line with the most up to date evidence
stopping additional rewards for organisational tasks like good record keeping, which should be part of any good health organisation. This money will instead go into rewarding the quality of services that GPs offer patients.
ensuring that more patients benefit from best practice in areas such as keeping blood pressure low and reducing cholesterol levels, especially those in most need or hardest to reach.
The department has not said what the new enhanced services would be but it is expected they would include:
A requirement to risk-stratify their population for likelihood of illness and deterioration, and provide support/attention to them
Improving services for those with chronic conditions and for older people
Promotion of patients’ self care, including through access to their own records.
If you’re interested in information relating to either Norwich CCG (clinical commissioning group), South Norfolk CCG, North Norfolk CCG, West Norfolk CCG or HealthEast CCG, and cannot get information directly, you’ll need to send a Freedom of Information request to the local Primary Care Trust – Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT.
The email address to do so is gyw-pct.foi@nhs.net. Continue reading
If you’re reporting on health issues here are two useful resources for health journalists:
European Health Journalism (register for free to gain access) includes a range of resources on reporting health policy, healthcare quality and performance, conflicts of interest and health industry economics.
The related Health Reporting Training Project (HeaRT) includes a database of courses, a discussion forum, and resources on medical research, global health, multimedia reporting, statistics, and the politics and business of healthcare, among others. Registration is also free.
Here are the health-related links that have caught our eyes between October 5th and October 29th:
A parliamentary written answer from Anna Soubry MP provides some useful information for those interested in the lines of accountability of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).
In short, this involves consulting with the local authority’s health and wellbeing board, which in turn can report to the NHS Commissioning Board if it is not happy (which can in turn take action). The health and wellbeing board is also accountable itself to the local authority’s scrutiny committee, for which you can find details by adapting this search for your own local council site.
Here’s Anna Soubry’s answer in full: Continue reading
Philip John is one of the users of Help Me Investigate looking at his local clinical commissioning group (CCG), for which there isn’t much information (there isn’t even a website).
Here’s why: CCGs are being authorised in four waves, which take place from this month through to March 2013. In addition to those four waves, there are dozens of CCGs which were already operating as ‘pathfinder’ groups – in other words, pilots.
You can find out which wave your CCG is in by searching for it in this document (PDF). Continue reading
Having previously identified 20 useful sources for CCG-related news, here are 25 Twitter accounts to follow if you want to know what’s happening with clinical commissioning: Continue reading
This month it emerged that Wivenhoe Town Council had held a secret meeting with Realise Health Ltd (RHL) to discuss a change in location for a proposed new surgery.
Wivenhoe is a North Essex town with a population of just over 10,000. The current surgery is based in a converted bungalow. It also serves the nearby village of Alresford, which has a population of over 2,000 residents. A new health centre has been needed for over fifteen years.
In February Wivenhoe Town Council announced that NHS North Essex had finally signed off a £1.5m funding bid from the surgery.
A site that was relatively central in the town was stated as the location, subject to the successful purchase from the private landowner.
No further news emerged during the monthly Town Council meetings.
Realise Health Ltd (RHL) is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the aim of securing contracts to build health facilities in North Essex. The company falls under the wider structure of Mill Asset Management, a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) that provides financial management for PFI and PPP projects.
The new location, Cook’s Shipyard, that was discussed behind closed doors has raised concerns from local residents. Cook’s Shipyard is inaccessible by public transport. Access is limited via a narrow stretch of old Victorian properties. Parking is at a premium.
Although Wivenhoe Town Council has offered no minutes on the meeting with RHL, it has emerged that lawyers have already been instructed on the new land acquisition.
A pre-planning meeting has taken place with the local authority and the District Valuer has opened his file.
All of this activity has been taking place without the residents of Wivenhoe being informed. No information has been offered as to why the previous site is now unsuitable; it is unclear as to who owns the new preferred site and what the conditions of sale are that make it preferable.
The concern is that this new location is being pushed through ahead of the introduction of the new Clinical Commissioning Group. Residents fear that the hushed up deal will be offered as a Hobson’s Choice: accept the second best option now before the CCG takes control, or lose the new health centre altogether.
I am interested in working with others using Help Me Investigate and the hyperlocal Wivenhoe Forum to find out why residents weren’t informed of this new deal, and why there is such an urgency to make it happen ahead of the phasing out of the Primary Care Trust.
If you want to help or have some expertise that might be useful, please get in touch via paul@helpmeinvestigate.com, this form, or the contact details below:
Jason Cobb
Twitter: Jason_Cobb
http://about.me/jasoncobb
