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Practices will have to work for CCG premiums
CCGs must not use quality premium funds as bonuses for member GP practices, insists the Government’s head of commissioning development.
Dame Barbara Hakin, national director of commissioning development at the NHS Commissioning Board, says practices could instead benefit from the premium pay-outs in the shape of incentives to improve patient care. Like QOF for GP practices, the CCGs will be paid a quality premium to achieve
certain targets, including reducing emergency admissions and healthcare- associated infections.
The quality premium is due to be put before Parliament in April. Dame Barbara had previously suggested the CCGs might hand these quality payments directly to GPs, but speaking to Pulse she instead insisted that GPs would have to earn them by meeting improvement targets in specific areas, like diabetes, for example. “We are recommending that the quality premium can only be used to improve services for patients,” Dame Barbara told the GP magazine. “I don’t believe [offering bonuses
directly to practices] would fit that definition.”
A spokesperson for the NHS
Commissioning Board reiterated that CCGs would be free to set their own local priorities and improvement programmes.
NHSCB questions practices’ role in urgent care
The NHS Commissioning Board is reviewing the model of urgent and emergency services in England, including GP out-of-hours and urgent care centres. The review, led by medical director Sir
Bruce Keogh, will set out proposals for the best way of organising care to meet the needs of patients. The team will work with clinical commissioning groups to develop a national urgent care framework The NHSCB plans to work with CCGs to provide more seven-day services. As
10 february 2013
part of this, the review aims to help find a balance between better clinical care and local access.
Sir Bruce said: “Treatments for many common conditions such as heart attacks and strokes have evolved considerably over the last decade and are now best treated in specialist centres. Yet we know people want their A&E nearby. This makes me think we need to review the increasingly complex and fragmented system of urgent and emergency care.”
Hunt to make NHS paperless by 2018 The NHS should go paperless by 2018 to
save billions, improve services and help meet the challenges of an ageing population, says Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. In a speech to the think tank Policy Exchange, Hunt said patients should have compatible digital records so their health information can follow them around the health and social care system. This means that in the vast majority of cases, whether a patient needs a GP, hospital or a care home, the professionals involved in their care can see their history at the touch of a button and share crucial information.
His speech comes as two reports were published that demonstrate the potential benefits of making better use of technology. This includes cost savings of more than £4bn, freeing up professionals’ time to spend caring for patients and helping patients take control of their own care.
On the way towards the 2018 goal, the Health Secretary wants to see: • By March 2015 – everyone who wishes will be able to get online access to their own health records held by their GP.
• Adoption of paperless referrals – instead of sending a letter when referring a patient to hospital, send an email.
• Clear plans to be in place to enable secure linking of electronic health and care records wherever they are.
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