Archive for the ‘Efficiency’ Category

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NHS struggling due to Community cuts

Monday, May 14th, 2012

A report compiled by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has stated that cuts to NHS Community Care mean that clinicians and nurses in these services are facing job cuts, rising workloads and a reduction in face-to-face patient contacts.

The RCN assert that despite pledges by Ministers that NHS community services would be focused on to relieve the pressure on acute services, community services are struggling to cope with growing demand brought on by the ageing population, hospital bed shortages and staff cutbacks.

The “Nicholson Challenge” is an efficiency savings drive which is intended to save the NHS £20 billion by 2015. Whilst savings are supposed to be recouped using the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) plan, the RCN state that job cuts are being targeted instead. They claim that a total of 61,113 posts in the NHS across the UK have been lost or placed at risk since April 2010.

A survey of Community workers revealed that 89% reported to have seen their caseload rise over the last year, while 59% said they were spending less time with their patients than this time last year. 68% also said staffing levels had fallen within their service, while 86% reported that patients were being discharged from hospital more quickly than before.

Chief Executive of the RCN, Dr Peter Carter, has stated that NHS Community Services are “overburdened, under-invested and at risk from cutbacks”. He said that targeting jobs for cuts is “a false economy”, and that cuts to community services would just lead to greater burdens on acute settings in the long run.

Whilst community services are essential for ensuring that patient choice is fully catered for, departments may often have difficulties in justifying their contribution both financially and with regard to patient outcomes, meaning that they can often be the first target of cuts. Trusts with domiciliary care services could therefore seek to implement an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system like Therapy Manager which enables clinicians to create secure offline databases of patient records for easy community travel. Effective utilisation of mobile technologies coupled with an EPR can help to ensure that clinicians are provided with the tools to perform to the highest standards, which will help to streamline working processes, reduce costs and ultimately improve the patient experience. Activity recording and reporting on performance and finance can also highlight exactly where costs are being incurred, ensuring that cuts are only targeted to the relevant areas.

Original Source The Guardian

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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“Bed-blocking” cost NHS £18.5 million last month

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

Department of Health data has shown that the number of patients who are being delayed in their discharge from hospital is continuing to increase.

It is thought that “bed blocking” is occurring more frequently due to lack of support by Social and Community Services for vulnerable patients. There is a wide gulf of information and a lack of communication between acute and community services.

A problem also highlighted is that of delayed discharge due to hospital processes even in cases where care home places are available or patients are seen as fit for discharge. Compiling discharge summaries and “care packages” can often be delayed by staff having limited access to patient records and the restrictions that occur from usin paper-based systems.

The Department of Health state that during March 2012, 71,000 inpatient bed-days were taken up by these patients, a 7.5% rise on the figure for March 2011. At an estimated cost to the NHS of £260 per day, bed-blocking delays in March are thought to have cost approximately £18.5 million.

Liz Kendall, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Care said the rises were a result of the government’s cuts to services.

“Every day thousands of older people are stuck in hospital.This isn’t what they or their families want and it’s not what hard-pressed taxpayers need either, because hospital care is far more expensive.

In order to streamline the discharge process, Trusts could seek to implement an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system like Therapy Manager. The system allows clinicians to create quick “tick-box” discharge summaries for instantaneous electronic submission back to the referring source. Assessments, clinical notes and patient documentation are also created electronically and can be automatically triggered and populated with patient demographics, reducing administrative input and the costs associated with paper processes.

Original Source BBC News

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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Online tools to help the NHS integrate AHP’s into care

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

A new series of online tools launched today will help the NHS to identify how Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) can better integrate themselves into patient care to improve outcomes whilst yielding cost savings.

The AHP toolkits highlight how physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dietitians, podiatrists orthotists and speech and language therapists can positively influence outcomes for patients.
The Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) toolkits have been designed collaboratively with all 12 AHP Bodies and national clinical directors.

The online tools provide case studies and examples from local NHS services who have made changes to services to optimise savings whilst ensuring the best quality of care for patients. Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust are cited as a case study after reorganisation of their foot care pathway for diabetes sufferers. This now includes an annual screening, a preventative foot care service and education programmes, leading to a potential saving of more than £1 million over four years. The Stroke REACH Early Discharge Scheme (Stroke REDS) in Camden, London was developed to provide seamless transfer of care from the hospital to the patient’s home. This has reportedly reduced the average length of stay in hospital, leading to a potential £307,000 savings in acute bed day costs.

Other examples of effective integrated care with AHPs include the use of podiatrists to help treat patients with diabetes. It is thought that this can lead to a drop in foot ulcers and foot amputations. With approximately 5,000 leg, foot or toe amputations in England every year at an individual cost of £65,000, it is thought that bringing this number down could save the NHS almost £300 million. Integrated care can also help stroke survivors to regain independence faster and have faster discharges from acute hospital settings. It is estimated that this could save the NHS an annual £7 million.

Health Minister, Lord Howe said that AHPs play a critical role in integrated care, one of the foundations of the proposed changes in the Health and Social Care Bill. He stated that integrated care not only improves the quality of patient care, but it can also save the NHS money.

“These online tools highlight some excellent examples of when and how Allied Health Professionals involvement can work and will help commissioners pinpoint opportunities for better integration of care” Howe said.

Shelia Stringer, Senior Physiotherapist and service manager at the Royal Wolverhampton Hospital NHS Trust said that despite this tool being developed specifically for commissioners, it can be effectively used elsewhere. “It is a one stop shop of information and evidence that I hope will promote local discussions amongst all clinicians on how we can improve services for our patients and deliver the savings the NHS needs to achieve” she said.

Original Source Department of Health

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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GP’s overpaid for 950,000 “ghost patients”

Friday, February 24th, 2012

A report by the Audit Commission has stated that GPs have been overpaid for thousands of “ghost patients” on their lists who have moved practice, died or been forced to leave the country.

Their report identified more than 95,000 patients who were unnecessarily existing on GP lists in England and Wales and required removal. This figure represents 0.16% of the total UK population. In deleting these records, the commission state that approximately £6.1 million could be saved.

Work to identify and purge “ghost patients” took place in the form of the National Duplicate Registration Initiative (NDRI) undertaken by the Audit Commission. This looked for anomalies in patient lists across England and Wales for 2009-2010. They compared GPs’ patient lists with those of other GPs and with other lists to find “matches”.

The data revealed that the lists included almost 30,000 patients who had moved to another practice. There were more than 32,000 who had died, with 157 of them having died before 198. Furthermore, almost 10,000 failed asylum seekers who no longer resided in the UK appeared to still be registered. Nearly 20,000 patients were also removed from lists after investigators found high numbers of people registered at the same property.

GP practices are paid £64.59 on average per year for each patient’s care. Inaccurate GP lists can therefore mean that some practices receive more than their fair share of funding. For example, when patients move to another practice, two GPs can end up being paid for one patient’s care if they are not removed from an old list.

Dr Laurence Buckman, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GPs committee, said that “ghost patients” should be routinely picked up by Primary Care Organisations (PCOs) and removed as a matter of course.

The Audit Commission said that despite these patients, considering the millions of records which had to be monitored, the NHS and GPs generally managed patient lists well.

Health Minister Lord Howe said that identifying “ghost patients” will ensure that practices are fairly funded only for the patients they are responsible for.

“The NHS needs to make the best use of the funds it has available and avoid giving GPs extra income for patients who have moved away or died” Lord Howe stated.

Original Source BBC News

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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£2.5bn NHS savings from QIPP

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012

The Department of Health (DoH) has announced that the NHS saved £2.5 billion in the first six months of the financial year under the government’s efficiency savings programme.

The Quality, Innovation, Productivity, and Prevention (QIPP) programme was intended to guide Trusts to improve the quality of their services whilst simultaneously achieving £20 billion of efficiency savings by 2015. In the first published figures on progress of QIPP, the DoH state that the NHS is on track to deliver up to £5.9 billion savings this financial year.

The report shows NHS quality and financial performance between July and September 2011, which details the significant savings made during this period. It urges Trusts to move forward with the same focus if they are to achieve the forecasted £3.4 billion of savings in the second half of the year.

Concerns have been raised over the effect of seasonal pressures on the NHS, often significantly increasing demand for services. Whilst the report states that this challenge is understandable, Trusts are urged to progress with their savings initiatives in order to continue driving up quality and efficiency.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley recently announced a £12.5 billion increase in funding over the next four years, but stated that the service would still come under pressure from the ageing population and the rising costs of medications and treatments. He said he believed that the NHS could be made more efficient without cuts to services, but needed to get “better value for money” for every pound spent. “Where the NHS can do things better and save money to reinvest in patient care, it must do so” he said.

Lansley stated that the report demonstrated that benefits of the QIPP programme were already being seen. In addition to the cost savings, he asserted that waiting times were being kept low, services were performing more tests and an overall reduction in infections was being seen. “We are already seeing the results.”

Original Source The Guardian

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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