Monitor Issues Recommendations Following Failed Foundation Trust Bids

Posted by Debbie Williams

Filed in Blog on Wednesday 12th January 2011

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Independent regulator Monitor has published a list of lessons to be learnt following recent failed foundation trust applications. In new guidance published this week, Monitor said common reasons for failure were lack of transparency in board reporting, limited savings plans and breaches of the private patient income cap.

The guidance came as a number of trusts announced that they would look to merge, rather than pursue applications and become autonomous foundations.

Since September ten trusts have been authorised as foundation trusts but a further 74 acute and 18 mental health trusts are yet to achieve the status. All NHS trusts must either become a foundation trust or merge with one by March 2014.

In preparation for these changes, trusts need to show that they are financially stable, have appropriate market share and are operating as efficiently as possible within budget. This is why implementing business intelligence tools – like Ardentia’s Patient Level Costing and Activity Flow Analytics – which facilitate robust financial analysis could be key in the process of achieving foundation trust status.

Read the full article on HSJ.

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Outpatient Attendance Rates Found to Vary Significantly

Posted by Debbie Williams

Filed in Blog on Thursday 6th January 2011

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An article published on Health Service Journal has outlined how outpatient attendance rates vary significantly between Trusts and regions.

Of the 147 Trusts analysed between September 2008 and August 2010, 30 had attendance rates below 70%, 28 between 70% and 79%, 37 between 80% and 89% and 52 above 90%.

The Royal Free Hampstead and Barts and the London Trusts were shown to have the worst attendance rates at 60 and 62%. In contrast, Plymouth Hospitals Trust had one of the highest attendance rates at 94%, with just 62 cancellations out of more than a million appointments recorded during the period.

Among patients in their 20s, for every seven appointments attended one patient failed to turn up. According to the statistics, men failed to attend 3.1 million appointments – equivalent to nearly 9% of their total appointments – while women missed 7.3%.

Poor outpatient attendance is undoubtedly costly for Trusts, which is why managers and clinicians need to be aware of these problem areas and find ways to improve the situation.

Ardentia’s Activity Flow Analytics offers a solution that can provide information on outpatient attendance, enabling clinicians and managers to identify trends in Did Not Attend (DNA) rates. By drilling down further into the location of these patients and their treatment requirements, Trusts will be able to make a more informed decision on how best to tackle the issue of poor outpatient attendance and collaborate with GPs to ensure NHS resources are being used as efficiently as possible.

You can read the full article on HSJ.

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Patient Level Costing at Southampton

Posted by Debbie Williams

Filed in Blog on Wednesday 5th January 2011

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A case study about Southampton University Hospitals Trust’s deployment of Ardentia’s Patient Level Information & Costing System (PLICS) has been published on Director of Finance.

The Trust provides local hospital services to 500,000 people in Southampton and South Hampshire, as well as specialist services such as neurosciences, cardiac services and children’s intensive care to more than three million people in central southern England and the Channel Islands.

Based on an interview with the Trust’s finance manager Fiona Boyle, the case study shows how the Trust has moved from static service line reports to in-depth patient-level costing using a solution from Ardentia. The article also discusses the complex business of financial management in hospitals, and looks at how both efficiency and levels of patient care have been improved with the Ardentia solution implemented.

Click here to read the full case study on Director of Finance and find out more about how patient-level costing has paid off at Southampton.

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NHS Faces ‘Defining Year’ Ahead, Warns BMA

Posted by Debbie Williams

Filed in Blog on Tuesday 4th January 2011

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According to the British Medical Association (BMA), the NHS will be tested to the limit in 2011 as a result of ambitious reform plans and pressure to deliver significant cost savings.

In his New Year message to doctors, Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of the BMA Council, said that the NHS faces a “defining year” ahead, set against a backdrop of unique financial challenges with efficiency savings of at least £20 billion being sought in England alone.

However, Business Intelligence solutions like those from Ardentia can help finance managers and clinicians overcome these challenges, and ensure Trusts are operating on a firm financial footing.

Ardentia’s Patient Level Costing software enables Trusts to accurately calculate treatment costs, right down to the minutes spent in surgery. This financial clarity allows managers to make sure that resources are being used in the most effective way, and that any areas of waste are driven out to improve patient experience and deliver the required efficiency savings.

You can read the full message from Dr Meldrum on the BMA website.

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New ‘Pathfinders’ Revealed to Lead Commissioning Services Reform

Posted by Debbie Williams

Filed in Blog on Thursday 23rd December 2010

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The Worksop Guardian has reported on how Bassetlaw GPs are to become ‘pathfinders’ in the new Government reform, which will give them greater control over patient services.

They are one of 52 groups selected across the country to lead the commissioning services reform, and will work together to manage their local budgets and commission services for patients directly with other NHS and local authorities.

The move comes ahead of GP consortia taking on statutory responsibilities when the PCTs disband in April 2013.

Bassetlaw MP John Mann has welcomed the plans and said that giving GPs greater control will improve the overall patient experience. He believes that giving local GPs the responsibility of commissioning care will undoubtedly benefit healthcare, because they have a better understanding of the needs of patients living in the area.

Health bosses think that local decision-making will reduce unnecessary bureaucracy, which will lead to more effective outcomes for patients and the community as a whole.

Therefore, with the responsibility of NHS funds falling into the hands of Bassetlaw GPs earlier than expected, they need to make sure they are well-prepared for these changes. Having high-quality data on treatment costs and patient pathways will be key to ensure GPs make the right decision at the right time to improve patient experience and manage the budget effectively.

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Outcomes Framework to Improve Patient Care

Posted by Debbie Williams

Filed in Blog on Wednesday 22nd December 2010

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The NHS is to scrap its target measures in favour of a new Outcomes Framework following the release of the White Paper and the consultation ‘Transparency in outcomes- a framework for the NHS’.

Traditionally the NHS has focused on process-driven targets such as waiting times, making health outcomes less of a priority. This new framework seems to reflect how the NHS is moving toward patient-centred incentives by prioritising the outcome of healthcare rather than the targets.

There will be particular focus on tackling five key areas where the NHS is expected to deliver improved outcomes for patients. These include preventing premature deaths, enhancing the lives of those with long-term illnesses, aiding recovery from ill health, ensuring patients have a positive experience of care and making sure people are treated in a safe environment and protected from undue harm.

In order to successfully adhere to this framework, the NHS will need to deliver improved healthcare without significantly increasing expenditure. And to demonstrate how they are meeting these national outcome measures, it’s important that Trusts have access to robust data on patient costings and pathways, reinforcing the need for effective Business Intelligence solutions.

To read the official Department of Health’s press release click here. You can also find out more about it on Health Insurance & Protection.

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NHS Reforms to Go Ahead

Posted by Debbie Williams

Filed in Blog on Thursday 16th December 2010

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The speculation is over – Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has announced that the Government will proceed with plans to shake up the NHS marking the biggest shift in power and accountability in its 62-year history.

The announcement was met with opposition from almost every part of the health service, including the Royal College of GPs, trade unions and the health think tank the King’s Fund.

Central to the reforms is the shift of £80bn of taxpayers’ money into the hands of England’s 35,000 family doctors. PCTs are already being “clustered” together in order to save 45% in management costs, with their powers being transferred to the 52 emerging GP consortia.

Andrew Lansley believes that there is scope and necessity for the savings and hopes it will help improve the healthcare service for patients. However, the opposition fears that the reforms will come at a price, with Labour’s spokesman on health, John Healey, criticising the timing of the reorganisation when “health is under pressure and budgets are tight”.

To drive the NHS forward and ensure its survival throughout these radical changes, new GP consortia must have tighter control over budgets and work with high quality data to guide the decision-making process. This is where Business Intelligence solutions can play a vital role and help NHS managers to spend the NHS budget in the most effective way, enhancing care delivery and improving patient experience.

You can read the full article on the Guardian.

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Government Spending Plans Will Test NHS, Says Report

Posted by Debbie Williams

Filed in Blog on Tuesday 14th December 2010

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The NHS and social services in England will be tested to the limit by Government spending plans, according to a report by the Commons Health Select Committee.

The MPs say that the plans assume efficiency savings on a scale never before seen in the NHS or in other countries, and call for the Department of Health to deliver a “credible plan” on where the efficiency gains will be made.

NHS chief executive Sir David Nicholson has estimated the health service needs to make efficiency savings worth between £15bn and £20bn over the next four years.

Chairman of the Health Select Committee and former Conservative health secretary Stephen Dorrell said: “There is no precedent for efficiency gains on this scale in the history of the NHS, nor has any precedent yet been found of any healthcare system anywhere in the world doing anything similar.”

Therefore with this in mind, how can Trusts hope to deliver savings on such a large scale? Once again, having financial clarity is key in enabling managers and clinicians to identify areas where efficiency can be improved and waste driven out. Business Intelligence tools, like Ardentia’s Patient Level Costing, provide Trusts with a means of achieving this and allow managers to review the treatment costs of each patient, including the minutes spent in surgery or with a clinician.

Drilling right down to patient-level gives Trusts the insight needed to generate long-term savings, as well as the best chance of meeting the Government’s efficiency targets.

You can read the full article here.

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Collaborative Effort Sees Health Data Made Available

Posted by Debbie Williams

Filed in Blog on Thursday 9th December 2010

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As a result of the Government’s campaign to increase transparency in the NHS, there is growing demand for improved access to information and health data.

Through a collaborative effort between the NHS and the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, it has been announced that Londoners will now be able to view data on maternity, stroke and performance indicators via the London Datastore. Further data on other health services and conditions is expected to follow.

Commenting on the decision to release this data, Boris Johnson said: “Improvements in the NHS can only be sustained if information about service and quality is unmediated for clinicians and public alike.”

Johnson believes that by allowing data to be analysed, interpreted and assessed, a high quality service can be delivered to patients.

Ruth Carnall, NHS London’s chief executive said improved transparency will help drive up standards.

She said: “Freely available data will ensure that NHS services reflect what patients want and that we measure the right things to support improvements and not just what’s easy to measure.”

The Government’s transparency drive will ultimately mean that all Trusts will need a strategy in place to allow them to effectively process data and present it in such a way that is not only accessible, but also easy to understand. Without these procedures implemented, Trusts may risk getting left behind.

You can read the full article on Public Service.

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Elderly Suffering Most as Malnutrition Cases Hit New High

Posted by Debbie Williams

Filed in Blog on Tuesday 7th December 2010

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The number of patients becoming malnourished in hospital has doubled in just three years, according to an article on the Daily Mail.

Official figures show that a record 13,500 patients fell victim to some form of nutritional deficiency last year, raising concern amongst campaigners and relatives that nurses are now too busy to carry out basic duties of care.

It has been reported that the elderly tend to be most affected by cases of malnutrition, as they are often too weak to feed themselves.

Dr Peter Carter, general secretary and chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing said that the figures are a cause for ‘serious concern’.

He commented: “Nurses want to ensure they can serve the nutritional needs of patients, however with 27,000 posts earmarked to be cut in the NHS, steps need to be taken now to provide safe staffing levels and the right level of skill to ensure nutrition is a priority in hospitals.”

Despite the Government’s planned efficiency savings forcing NHS Trusts to make cuts wherever possible, patient experience and quality of care should not be affected. Ardentia’s Service Line Reporting ensures that nurses have the correct resources to be able to provide the highest standard of care regardless of the efficiency drive.

Business Intelligence solutions like these enable nurses to monitor their own performance, allowing them to clearly identify the areas that need most attention to improve overall efficiency, provide quality care and help prevent cases of malnutrition in hospitals.

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