The Point of Care Programme aims to help health care staff in hospitals deliver the quality of care they would want for themselves and their own families.
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/current_projects/the_point_of_care/index.html
PDF version Being admitted to hospital in England at the weekend is risky, experts say.
Research company Dr Foster came to this conclusion after finding a "worrying" 10% spike in deaths compared with weekdays across 147 hospital trusts.
It said some deaths could have been avoided with better staffing and access to services such as diagnostics.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said staffing levels on some older people's wards was "risky and irresponsible" and called for proper planning systems.
The review looked at performance overall, warning death rates appeared to be higher than they should be in more than a quarter of trusts.
Dr Foster co-founder and director of research, Roger Taylor, said a shortage of senior doctors at weekends was at the heart of the problem.
He told the BBC
: "It's about having the more experienced staff in the hospital, looking after patients out of normal working hours.
"The junior doctors, they're always around, but they're not the ones making a difference here."
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The Operating Framework for the NHS in England 2012/13
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Health Secretary Andrew Lansley today set out his vision for an NHS that is truly on the side of patients.
In a key speech at Guy’s Hospital, he made three major announcements about driving up patient results and giving patients more control over their healthcare, including:
- A renewed focus on improving patient results through the NHS Outcomes Framework 2012/13;
- A new map of local health services which patients will be able to access through the ‘Any Qualified Provider’ policy starting from April 2012; and
- A new map of GP practices on NHS Choices which will make it much easier for patients to identify the best GP practice for them.
In a push to focus on results, from now on, the NHS will be measured against a number of areas including whether a patient’s treatment was successful, whether they were looked after well by NHS staff and whether they recovered quickly after treatment.
In a step towards improving choice in the NHS, the door is now open to a range of qualified providers to offer services to patients. From today, patients will be able to see on a new user-friendly map which local services will be available to them through ‘Any Qualified Provider’ from April 2012. From hearing services to wheelchair providers, patients across the country will have a choice of who looks after them in at least three areas of clinical care.
In a move to give patients more information about GP practices, from today new user-friendly maps will be available on NHS Choices which will make it much easier for patients to identify the best GP practice for them.
Millions of people with long term conditions like asthma, diabetes, depression and heart disease will now be able to see which surgeries have significant experience of treating patients like them. They will also be able to see the number of patients registered at a practice and their breakdown by age and gender as well as, for the first time, to what extent different GP practices offer patients choice of their first hospital appointment. This is the beginning of a journey towards giving patients choice, regardless of where they live, over their GP.
Andrew Lansley said:
"Today, we are making it clear that the NHS is about one ambition and one ambition alone - improving results for patients.
"And that is the change that the NHS Outcomes Framework that we’re publishing today, will bring about. It sets the direction for the whole NHS. Orienting the NHS back towards the people who really matter: its patients.
"And it sets out how we will hold the NHS to account for improving the results that patients get.
"But to realise my ambition -- I must realise the ambitions of the near one million patients that come into contact with the NHS every day.
- to give patients genuine options over their care
- to give patients the tools they need to decide with their doctors the right way forward.
- to ensure decisions are only taken by doctors, nurses and patients together - genuinely sharing in the decisions made about their care.
“My ambition for patients is, quite simply, this: ‘No decision about me, without me.’
“And let me tell patients - remember that in the NHS - it really is all about you."
Commenting on the NHS Outcomes Framework, Norman Williams, President of the Royal College of Surgeons, said:
"The Royal College of Surgeons strongly supports the focus on improving clinical outcomes for patients outlined in the NHS Outcomes Framework and, in particular, in this newest publication, the increased attention given to reducing premature mortality for all cancers.
“It will help the NHS Commissioning Board, clinical commissioning groups, NHS trusts and all clinicians and managers to focus on our most important challenge - to work together to bring the quality and standard of care for all patients, of all ages, up to that currently being experienced by those treated in the highest performing hospitals.
“At the moment, patient death rates and standards of care vary significantly between hospitals and specialties and, as we have consistently recommended in our national guidance, this must be improved."
Ends
Notes to editors
- For further information, please contact the Department of Health Newsdesk on 020 7210 5221
- The NHS Outcomes Framework 2012/13 can be found here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_131700
- The new map of health services available through the Any Qualified Provider policy can be found here: http://www.supply2health.nhs.uk/AQPResourceCentre/AQPMap
- These community based services have been selected by commissioners after consultation with their local patients about where they want to have a greater choice in who provides their care, making the NHS more responsive to local need.
- The new tool for patients to choose GPs based on indicators of quality can be found her: www.nhs.uk/findgp
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=422386&...
The Government today showed its commitment to improving health outcomes for patients by shining a light on variation in NHS healthcare services.
The NHS Atlas of Variation has today been published by the Department of Health to highlight the amount each Primary Care Trust (PCT) spends on clinical services and links this with the health outcomes patients see.
Consisting of 71 maps, the Atlas will help commissioners learn from one other, consider the appropriateness of a service, and investigate when clinical health outcomes are not reflecting the financial investment that has been made.
The first NHS Atlas of Variation, consisting of 34 maps and published in November 2010, was welcomed by the NHS and other stakeholders – over 120,000 copies have been downloaded and 10,000 hard copies requested.
While variation occurs naturally in the NHS and is encouraged where the NHS tailors services to meet local needs, we have expanded this year’s Atlas so we can support commissioners to expose unwarranted variation and help the NHS provide consistently high quality care for patients.
Examples of variations highlighted in the Atlas:
• A 25-fold variation in anti-dementia drugs prescribing rates across England
• Patients with Type 2 diabetes are twice as likely to receive the highest standard of care in some areas of England in comparison to others
• There is an eight-fold variation in the range of patients receiving angioplasty treatment for a severe (STEMI) heart attack – this variation may be due to long travel times to reach patients living in rural areas.
Health Minister Lord Howe said:
“Our modernisation plans for the NHS will result in a more patient-centred NHS that achieves health outcomes that are amongst the best in the world and gives people a greater say about their healthcare.
“The Atlas of Variation lets us look at how the local NHS is meeting the clinical needs of their local population. This will help commissioners to identify unjustified variations and drive up standards so patients are receiving consistently high quality care throughout the NHS.
"We are committed to improving results for patients and our new NHS Outcomes Framework will hold the NHS to account for this. Commissioners will be able to apply contractual penalties if any organisation is failing to deliver improvements for patients."
Notes to Editors
1. The NHS Atlas of Variation has been published through the Department of Health’s national QIPP programme and can be found at:
http://www.rightcare.nhs.uk/index.php/atlas/atlas-of-variation-2011/
2. Last year’s Atlas of Variation can be found at:
http://www.rightcare.nhs.uk/index.php/nhs-atlas/
3. A STEMI heart attack stands for (ST segment elevation myocardial infarction or heart attack)
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=422439&...
Patients are already benefitting from GPs starting to take a lead in designing local health services and a renewed focus on health outcomes.
Examples from around the country highlight that during the first year of emerging clinical commissioning groups redesigning services, patients are starting to experience improvements in quality of care.
These include clinical commissioning groups such as in Newcastle where the number of patients admitted to hospital with emergency respiratory problems has decreased by 70 per cent. And in Bedfordshire a team has been set up to deal with emergency calls from care homes, helping reduce hospital visits by 40 per cent. A group in Wigan has redesigned stroke services, cutting the average hospital stay for patients from 56 days to 12 days.
After a decade of rising emergency hospital admissions, 2011 saw the first year on year decline. This has been achieved at the same time as a growing number of GPs have started to play a more central role in choosing the most appropriate care for their patients. It also coincides with a renewed focus on improving outcomes rather than targets, giving the NHS greater freedom to focus on delivering the very best care for patients.
The figures show a 0.5% decline in emergency hospital admissions, compared to 4.6% and 3.3% increases in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Between 2001 and 2010 there was a 36% increase in emergency admissions, which has put sustained pressure on doctors and nurses.
The Prime Minister will today host a roundtable discussion with Royal College leaders, Clinical Commissioning Group chairs and other stakeholders. In addition, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has written to all clinical commissioning groups outlining the key role they will play in the future health service.
Andrew Lansley said:
“We have always been clear that patients will benefit from putting power in the hands of frontline doctors and nurses. By starting to do just that, we are seeing a positive change in the way our NHS is responding to rising pressures. Patients are being treated in more convenient places, pressure on hospitals is reducing, and we are safeguarding the NHS for future generations.”
Paul Bowen, a GP and clinical commissioning group lead in Cheshire, said:
"Instead of someone else making decisions about what patients need, my clinical staff and I will work with patients, giving them a wider choice of where, when and how they receive their healthcare.
“Putting doctors and nurses in the driving seat for the first time to commission services for patients is essential if we want to boost the quality of services for patients, but also deliver the efficiency savings needed in the NHS."
Examples of clinicians in clinical commissioning groups starting to move away from the hospital-based system and deliver better care for their patients in the community include:
• The Dartford, Gravesham & Swanley Clinical Commissioning Group’s focus on preventing hospital admissions saw a 33% reduction in hospital attendances and admissions amongst care home patients over a six month period.
• In Nottingham, the clinical commissioning group has reduced emergency admissions by working with all GP practices in the area to provide as much information as possible to patients about the new 111 service.
• A clinical commissioning group in Barnet has set up a community gynaecologist, helping over 400 women a month get this treatment closer to home, not in hospital.
• A clinical commissioning group in Bedfordshire has set up a team to deal exclusively with care home emergency calls and arranged for vulnerable older people to be treated in their home, and made nearly a 40% reduction in hospital visits.
• Bath and North East Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group has developed a simple blood test for GPs to improve care for heart failure patients which will save the NHS locally up to £60,000 a year, and benefit on average 10 patients at every practice in the catchment area.
• A clinical commissioning group in Torbay has set up an innovative fitness and exercise programme that has resulted in around 60 per cent of the people who attended the pilot course losing 5-10 per cent of their body weight.
• A clinical commissioning group in Wigan has redesigned stroke services and reduced the average hospital stay for patients from 56 days to 12 days, reducing A&E waits and saving £700,000 per year.
Further case studies can be found at: http://healthandcare.dh.gov.uk/resources-pathfinders/case-studies/
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=423369&...
also see http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=423389&...
http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/detail.aspx?NewsAreaId=2&ReleaseID=423409&...
The adult social care outcomes framework: handbook of definitions
The Department of Health is publishing this data definitions handbook, which sets out the technical detail of each measure in the Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework, with worked examples, to promote consistency in reporting and interpretation. This handbook supersedes the July 2011 edition.
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/Publicati...