Posts Tagged ‘NHS’

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NHS unable to cope with multimorbidity

Friday, May 11th, 2012

A study published in The Lancet has revealed that the NHS is struggling to co-ordinate care for people with multiple conditions.

Approximately 1.75 million people in Scotland were analysed in the study, of which it was found that nearly a quarter had “multimorbidity”, meaning that they suffer from two or more chronic diseases. These conditions were found in many cases to include Coronary Heart Disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Stroke and Depression.

The authors of the study state that care for patients with multiple disorders was often co-ordinated poorly and inefficient, with the focus of research and education for medical students on single diseases only. The report stated that in general, people with multimorbidity are more likely to live in deprived areas and have a poorer quality of life. As a result, their care is likely to be fragmented because they see a number of different specialists.

Bruce Guthrie, Professor of Primary Care Medicine at Dundee University who led the study asserted that the current approach towards treating multimorbidity needs to change. “Existing approaches need to be complemented by support for the work of generalists, providing continuity, co-ordination, and above all a personal approach for people with multimorbidity” he said.

Graham Watt, Professor of General Practice at Glasgow University, said that rather than more specialists, patients with multiple conditions “need someone who can oversee all the problems of a patient”.

“These patients need continuity, and we need ways of measuring how well care is joined-up” Watt said.

In order that clinicians can adequately manage patients with multiple disorders, Therapy Services should look towards the implementation of collaborative systems. An Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system such as Therapy Manager is highly focused on efficiently capturing clinical activity within Therapies. It enables therapists across all professions to view all aspects of the patient journey, including Referrals, Notes, Assessments, Letters and Discharges. The Therapies Viewer can also be used by any healthcare professional, allowing the sharing of information and collaboration around treating multiple conditions.

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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80% chance of NHS becoming IT world leader

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

The current Head of IT in the NHS has stated that the service has an 80% chance of being the world leader in health IT within the next 10 years.

Kate Davies made the announcement whilst speaking at the 2012 Health Informatics Congress in London yesterday.

Whilst stating that “definitely” having a world-class IT infrastructure by 2022 was “unrealistic”, she reported that the likelihood was an 8 out of 10.

“What gives me that confidence is when you see huge enthusiasm and a real understanding that there is an opportunity here. There are so many examples of GPs and hospitals doing different and innovative things with IT, all with the patient at the core and all about using information in the proper way” Davies said.

Criticisms were however made by members of the audience, specifically by small IT companies. Despite the change in direction for NHS IT, there are still fears that it will be too difficult for small companies to compete with their larger counterparts. Whilst the Department of Health has previously pledged to work with Intellect to create a ‘vibrant’ healthcare IT market, Davis said this did not mean it was her role to create a system that would allow such companies to prosper.

Professor Sir Muir Gray, director of the NHS National Knowledge Service, told the conference that the history of problems with IT in the NHS stemmed from a “managerial and culture issue” within the organisation.

Professor Iain Carpenter, president of Institute Health Records and Information Management, argued that clinicians are “fired-up”, and that significant inroads are being made towards implementing a new attitude towards IT.

“They are fired up and are getting the message that the world is changing. We do have a chance at being world beaters and I believe we are going places” Carpenter said.

Original Source The Register

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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Only inefficient services need to fear NHS competition

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

Researchers at the London School of Economics have published evidence stating that competition in the NHS has yielded demonstrable positive effects on the health service.

The study of two million patients found that when NHS hospitals are made to compete with one another for treatment, they experience an overall increase in savings and increase efficiency.

Measures which encouraged competition in the NHS were last introduced six years ago, which were found to lead to “moderate but statistically significant” reductions in patients’ length of stay in hospital.  They also lead to efficiency savings of between 6-9%, which the researchers say is of financial significance.

The researchers state that these figures demonstrate the benefits of internal competition, asserting that NHS professionals should embrace instead of oppose competition.

Furthermore, the researchers state that the changes around competition proposed in the controversial Health and Social Care Bill are actually a continuation of a process started by the last government. They believe that if this data had been available earlier in the process, the reforms may not be so widely opposed.

Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, has repeatedly made the point that competition is the key to a more efficient and productive health service. He recently argued that it stimulate  the adoption of new treatments and technologies while allowing innovative individuals within the health service to flourish.

Commenting on the research, the Telegraph state that “only the inefficient and unproductive have anything to fear from greater competition”.

Original Source The Telegraph

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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Paper indicates 10 year rise in NHS productivity

Monday, February 13th, 2012

A new paper published in The Lancet has stated evidence that productivity in the NHS has significantly increased in the last 10 years as a result of additional funding.

Primarily, the paper focuses on increased productivity, which counteracts claims by the health secretary, Andrew Lansley. Lansley previously asserted that NHS productivity had fallen by 15%, with this supposed reduction thought to be one of the key foundations for the controversial Health and Social Care Bill.

The paper was published by Nick Black, Professor of Health Services Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. He produces evidence that questions the analysis of the Office of National Statistics (ONS) previously used to work out the productivity of the NHS. The ONS looked at the return for taxpayers by comparing public expenditure with how much patients used the health service and what the outcomes were. Black argues that the measures used by the ONS do not reflect the substantial improvements in NHS care.

The paper additionally states a reduction in deaths resulting from specialist procedures in the NHS. Declines specifically occurred in adult critical care (2.4% a year), dialysis (3.3% a year), and coronary artery bypass surgery (4.9% a year).

Patients’ experience of how they were treated is also thought to have improved. 70% of respondents to the annual British Social Attitudes survey reported they were overall “satisfied” with the NHS, the highest figure ever recorded.

Additionally, there were annual relative increases in the proportion of patients treated within four hours in accident and emergency departments (2.5% a year) and in the numbers operated on within 28 days of their operation having been cancelled for non-clinical reasons (10.4% a year).

Despite criticisms over pay increases for front-line staff, Black asserts that this was money well spent. Although staff continued to work the same amount of time, Black states that increased spending had a direct effect on improving quality and outcomes.

The paper does not put a figure on the rise in NHS productivity, and Black said this would need more work.

In response to the paper, the Department of Health issued a statement from the health minister Simon Burns.

“We have always been clear that productivity in the NHS needs to improve and are committed to better outcomes for patients across the country. We are investing an extra £12.5 billion in the NHS, but we want to make every penny count” Burns said.

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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