Doctors hold purse for NHS By Dennis Fowle
LOCAL GPs are preparing under new Gov- ernment policy to take control of a £450m NHS budget from next April through the new NHSWest Kent Clinical Commission- ing Group. The board of 18 voting members will be dominated by 12 salaried doctors, elected locally by fellow GPs in their areas, with a combined population of about 450,000 (62 practices). They are: Maidstone/Malling (population 209,000 – five GPs) Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and the Weald (population 174,000 – five GPs) Sevenoaks (part) (population 77,000 – two GPs)
Maidstone and Malling area GPs were
well advanced in setting up their own in- dependent commissioning group, and sev- eral of these GPs and patient bodies criticised Strategic Health Authority pres- sure for forcing a merger with larger West Kent (Downs Mail, May). There were fears that the Maidstone
area’s local NHS voice would be subsumed again – and powerful locality influence was sought. The Maidstone chairman, Dr Garry Singh (Shepway practice), seeks election by local GPs toWest Kent Group. The West Kent Board will include six
other voting members: an appointed pa- tient representative, a consultant, nurse, fi- nance director, finance and audit lay member and an accountable officer. Non-votingmembers (observers) will in-
clude local government councillors, pub- lic health representatives and patients representing patient groups attached to GP practices. Working committees will be formed, in- volving additional area GPs and specialists as required, such as consultants, nurses, paediatricians, and practice managers.
Making things better THE group is already planning specific health- careandaccess improvementsandenhancing GP and practice nursing skills so that: More people with type two diabetes can be looked afterat theirGPpractice rather than at a hospital clinic. Everyone injured in a fall or at risk of falling can attend a newassessment clinic. Anewheart failure service can be provided.
A war of words over
nurses’ language skills THE war ofwords over the ability of some nurses in Maidstone Hospital to communicate in Eng- lish (Mail, July) goes on. Responding in a letter to a formal complaint by
an 81-year-old Royal Navy veteran from Grove Green, Flo Panel-Coates, director of nursing, said: “Every effort is made to ensure their language stan- dard is commensurate with their role requirement. If an occasional problem is highlighted immediate action is taken.” She had been assured that “no staff have been identified on John DayWard who do notmeet re- quired language skills”. The complainant has now written to Glenn Douglas, chief executive at Maidstone & Tun- bridge Wells NHS Trust, giving more details about a staff nurse and an agency nurse. He is concerned that the staff nurse could not under- stand his needs – and about her ability to read drugs information.
28 South
Dr Bob Bowes, chairman ofWest Kent CCG, and Dr Garry Singh, chairman of Maidstone and Malling CCG
The group will be responsible for com- missioning the full range of planned and unplanned care in hospitals and by com- munity services for everyone living in the area. Thiswill also embrace the ambulance service, GP out-of-hours services andmen- tal health services. Some services will be commissioned with partners such as KCC or neighbouring groups. The group will not be responsible for services provided by GPs under the na- tional contract (which are still handled by the NHS Commissioning Board). Inaugural group chairman is Dr Robert
(Bob) Bowes, a Tunbridge Wells GP, who explained to Downs Mail that strategy will be set by the NHS, Kent Health and Well- being and the county’s HealthWatch. “We want to keep this as local as possible
to meet the needs of local population.” He understands fears that the publicwill
see new boards as a Government strategy to ration NHS services, but he believes this is a big opportunity to re-shape some serv- ices to make the NHS more cost-effective without impacting on quality patient care. The groupwill have a budget increasing by
just half a per cent above inflation during the first five years. He sees this as challenging, with an ageing population and demand for improving technology and drugs. “The wants will be high,” he forecasts.
Listening to patients THE group structurewill ensure patients and those interested in specific conditions and concerned with local NHS issues will have a place in decision-making before next April. There will be four locality patient represen-
tationgroups feeding views intothe mainpa- tient group.
“We live in an area of good health compar- atively, and we must maintain this within budget. We have to ensure health services meet local needs – including those patients with no one to speak on their behalf.” The largest part of the board’s budget is
for the two major hospitals (Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells), but he sees more serv- ices moving out of hospitals to patients’ own homes, by providing improved capac- ity and skills in primary care. Dr Bowes said he was excited by the prospects of much more patient involve- ment in making choices. “We welcome patient views. These will
be fed to us by the GP practice groups and will drive much of our group strategy.” The group is likely to be centred at cur-
rent Primary Care Trust offices in Wharf Road, Tonbridge, with about 20 full-time staff. It is hoped six board meetings a year will be held in public.
prevent patient falls MAIDSTONE and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW)has made major investment inpatient care in a bid to prevent falls. The Trust and League of Friends (at both Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells) have joined forces to buy £58,000 worth of fall prevention devices for vulnerable patients. The money is being used to buy alarms and motion sensors to help keep patients who are most at risk of falls, safe while in the trust’s care.
Reducing patient falls is one of the trust’s key patient safety priorities this year. Slips, trips and falls have a real impact on patients, ranging from loss of confidence and self-esteem to phys- ical injuries from cuts and bruises to broken bones. Falls also impact on recovery, with patients having to stay in hospital for longer as their re- cuperation is delayed.
£58,000 investment to £1,000 a day
for director THE interim finance director of Maidstone and TunbridgeWells Trustwas being paid £1,050 per day, it has been revealed. Colin Gentile joined the trust
as interim finance director in December 2010, and was paid £240,000 over a 12-month pe- riod. The trust’s top man, chief executive Glenn Douglas, was paid £200,200. Mr Gentile left the trust inMay
to work at Darent Valley Hospi- tal, and was replaced by John Headley, who is believed to earn less than the chief executive. Earlier this year it was re- ported that the trust was was struggling to meet its Private Fi- nance Initiative payments for the new Tonbridge hospital.
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