News
Health news update
Public Finance (18 April 2008)
NHS Confederation defends Darzi's polyclinic proposals
The NHS Confederation has expressed surprise at opposition to Lord Darzi's plans for polyclinics. While maintaining that the key driver for polyclinics is improved patient care, it notes the need for incentives for hospital cooperation as polyclinic treatments would reduce hospital income.
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http://www.cipfa.org.uk/publicfinance/news_details.cfm?News_id=32669
Health Service Journal (17 April 2008)
PCTs ignoring demands to inspect private providers
Despite calls from the Healthcare Commission for PCTs to carry out closer checks on private mental health providers, fewer than 7% of trusts surveyed could supply clinical governance assessments carried out in the last two years.
Full article:
Hardly any commissioners are carrying out full inspections of private mental health providers despite fears over poor standards. Of 47 primary care trusts surveyed, only three - Kirklees, Oxfordshire and West Essex - were able to supply clinical governance assessments of independent sector mental health providers carried out within the past two years. Most PCTs said they monitored individual patients' treatment plans but relied on the Healthcare Commission to check broader service quality. This is despite a call from the regulator to PCTs to keep a closer eye on private mental health providers. The plea followed the discovery that almost 15% of them were failing at least five national minimum standards. Many children and adolescents and around 14% of adult inpatients are treated in the private mental health sector, which is valued at £845m. Much of the patient data collected by the NHS does not have to be provided by independent sector organisations.
Daily Telegraph (16 April 2008)
Out-of-hours GPs told to reduce home visits to save cash
Private companies paid to provide out-of-hours care have been found to be cutting their service to make it cost effective. The confusion in out-of-hours care has been said to be putting lives at risk.
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http:/ / www.telegraph.co.uk/ news/ main.jhtml ?xml=/ news/ 2008/ 04/ 16/ nhs116.xml
Daily Telegraph (15 April 2008)
NHS pay deal may be cut if offer is rejected
The pay offer to health workers worth 8.1% over three years could be staged or reduced if union members reject the deal. Unison's conference will decide whether to recommend the deal to its 500,000 health workers.
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http:/ / www.telegraph.co.uk/ news/ main.jhtml ?xml=/ news/ 2008/ 04/ 15/ nhs115.xml
Public Finance (11 April 2008)
Welsh to scrap the internal market in the NHS
The Welsh Assembly government has launched a three month consultation on plans to abolish the NHS internal market in Wales, replacing it with a government funded NHS Board for Wales. Health minister Edwina Hart supports the reduction of market driven bureaucracy and promotes a collaborative approach.
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http://www.cipfa.org.uk/publicfinance/news_details.cfm?News_id=32642
inthenews.co.uk (10 April 2008)
BMA: private sector does not bring value for money
The British Medical Association has said the government is ignoring the negative impacts independent sector treatment centres have on local health services.
Guardian (9 April 2008)
NHS GPs at new Virgin health centres will get 10% of profits
Virgin Healthcare's planned health centres, the first of which is due to open in Swindon later this year, will give GPs working there a share of profits made by the private operator's add-on services. Campaigners have protested at Virgin Healthcare roadshows around the country.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/09/nhs.health2
Cambridge News (8 April 2008)
Private laundry 'will hit hospital patients'
Addenbrooke's Hospital is considering outsourcing laundry services to a private company. Unison members have said there could be increased risk of MRSA infection, having seen a privately-run hospital laundry.
Full article:
Patients may lose out if a hospital laundry is privatised. Addenbrooke's Hospital is considering two options for its outdated laundry for patient and staff linen - investing £4.6m in a new facility or outsourcing to a private company. But members of Unison have criticised the move. They told Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that outsourcing would hit standards. They said patients could be at increased risk of contracting infections like MRSA. Unison said a hospital-owned facility could bring in laundry business from other public sector bodies. Martin Booth, chairman of the Cambridge health branch of Unison, said: "Ensuring you have a high-quality, safe supply of clean linen is part of the core service." Mr Booth told the meeting that Scotland was served by an NHS laundry which was "providing a first-class service". In contrast, he said Cambridge Unison members had been concerned by standards of cleanliness when they visited a privately-run hospital laundry in England. The laundry employs 31 workers. The trust said it was likely that around half would stay under a private contractor, and it hoped to find alternative posts at the hospital for the remainder.
http:/ / www.cambridge- news.co.uk/ cn_ news_ home/ DisplayArticle.asp ?id=305042
BBC Online (7 April 2008)
Three-year 8% pay offer to nurses
Health workers in England, Wales and Scotland have been offered an 8% pay deal over three years. The Royal College of Nursing has welcomed the deal and Unison's Karen Jennings has been broadly positive, while the Royal College of Midwives will not endorse the offer.
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http:/ / news.bbc.co.uk/ 1/ hi/ health/ 7334446.stm