Listed are the latest 50 news and events items
posted by Insight Solutions. If you require further information about any of the items displayed or services we offer please contact us
06/02/2012 Insight expand their team of consultants ...
Tina has worked for the NHS for 8 years and specifically primary care for the last 4 years at a PCT as a Data Quality Facilitator. Tina loves working with practices and using her expertise to help practices with their day-to-day IT needs. She is looking forward to working with our client base delivering data quality assessments.
05/02/2012 Online Data Quality Assessment
For one reason or another you haven’t yet booked an on-site data quality assessment. You may be convinced that your data is already as good as it can be or you may not really understand prevalence and the difference patients missing off your register will make to your annual practice income.
Whatever the reason, we are now offering you the chance to analyse your own data (register totals) from the privacy of your own practice! To access our on-line DQA toolkit click on the Exclusives tab and select the link to register for access.
Follow through the registration process, enter in your practice population and current disease register totals and hit the calculate button. If there are any figures that you are unsure about, or you want to follow-up with an on-site assessment, do not hesitate to contact us. On-site DQA’s come with a full 100% money back guarantee if we do not find more than your initial investment - you cannot possibly lose out.
Further Information: Click here for more Info
02/02/2012 View Our Free Newsletters and Documents
To view our newsletters- click on 'Client Zone' and scroll down until you see 'Documents and Downloads'. Click on this link and you will be taken to the public downloads and the folder options for Documents or Newsletters.
Or Sign up for a free newsletter from the home page
02/02/2012 Version 84 of the Primary Care Commissioning Application is available for download in Excel
INFORMATION TAKEN FROM THE PCC.CO.UK WEBSITE
The release comprises updates and additions to data, including:
• Updated QOF achievement, prevalence and exception data to 2010/11
• Average clinical QOF scores
• Adding practice level immunisation data
• Updating the stroke, CHD, COPD and hypertension prevalence data from the new models
• IMD has now been attributed to the practice population to improve relevance
The Application collates, benchmarks and analyses a wide range of primary medical care data at both PCT and practice level:
• Gathers existing primary medical care data and presents it in a range of simple, usable formats
• Presents PCTs, practices and practice groups with a set of indicators enabling benchmarking at both practice, practice groups and PCT level within a selection of peer groups
• Offers simple analysis to assess relationships between indicators and changes in those indicators over time
• Allows users to enter additional data about their practices to support local priorities and insights
• Allows users to set up their preferred practice peers groups (e.g. CCGs or localities) and benchmark between the groups and between the groups.
• Practices can benchmark against those with a similar IMD throughout the reports.
For optimal performance please ensure your Excel macro security setting is 'low' before opening the application.
Further Information: clcik to go to the PCC website for more information
20/01/2012 Prepare your Property for CQC
News article taken from Pulse Today
By Andrew Darke | 18 Jan 2012
Assura property expert Andrew Darke on how you can prepare for CQC registration at your practice premises
Preparing your property for CQC compliance
The news that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has delayed the deadline for GP registration will have been greeted with relief by many practices. Bringing older surgeries up to the required standard could become a costly and time-consuming exercise and we have already seen the costs associated with compliance cited as a reason for the potential closure of a small number of surgeries across the country. Converted premises are likely to be particularly problematic, and it is vital that GPs and practice managers take action now to be ready for April 2013.
Related articles
Read more practice dilemmas
There are two outcomes that have significant implications for property – outcome 8, which covers cleanliness and infections control, and outcome 10, which concerns the safety and suitability of the premises. The steps that are to be taken will vary from property to property, but for the vast majority there will be work to be done.
Designating a treatment room
For any treatment room, the changes that may need to be made will depend on the nature of the additional service that is to be provided. Counselling, for example, can be undertaken with very little need for alterations or refurbishment. However, once any minor invasive operation is carried out, whether by a GP or by a practice nurse, the room must comply with substantially more stringent rules and regulations. This could be as basic as the type of flooring, which should be seamless with an up-swept skirting to avoid leaving places where bacteria and dirt could lurk. Old-fashioned, converted houses with traditional skirting boards or even vinyl over plastic tiles will certainly be picked up by CQC inspectors. In certain circumstances, it may be necessary to look at any air-changing equipment to ensure the
Soundproofing doors
There are also a number of issues that could easily be missed by the untrained eye or those who are not completely up to date with the legislation. Many people might not be aware that the doors to a consulting room must meet with current decibel restrictions to protect patient confidentiality. Solving this problem might be as simple as adding door seals, but the challenge will be in spotting these shortfalls before the CQC inspectors come calling.
Accessing funds
In the past, PCTs have had the financial ability to support practices in bringing premises up to standard when there has been a change of legislation, as was the case with the Disability and Equality Act 2010. In these straitened times, however, the NHS has very little capital available to assist GPs with the process. It may be necessary for Trusts and GPs to look to private sector landlords to help them meet new requirements.
One option to consider for GPs that own their own premises is a purchase and leaseback agreement, where property ownership – and thereby the responsibility for compliance – can be transferred to a third party as part of the leasing arrangements. This has a number of benefits beyond CQC compliance, removing many of the property-related headaches associated with incoming and outgoing partners and repair and maintenance issues. However funding is accessed, it is vital that it is put to use quickly to bring premises up to standard in advance of the deadline.
This is not only about ticking boxes – it is about ensuring the best possible quality of care for patients in the new healthcare environment.
Andrew Darke is the managing director of property at Assura Group Limited
http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/newsarticle-content/-/article_display_list/13302711/bringing-premises-up-to-scratch
Further Information: Link to Pulse Today
13/01/2012 Consultation on QOF indicators 2013-2014
From NICE.org.uk
As part of the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) process, stakeholders have the opportunity to comment on potential new indicators for the QOF. We encourage stakeholders from all participating countries to comment on potential new indicators for consideration for the 2013/14 QOF. The consultation is now open for a four week period from Monday 9 January and will close at 5.00pm on Monday 6 February 2012.
There are 20 potential new indicators across the following ten domains:
•Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
•Heart failure
•Secondary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD)
•Diabetes: Erectile dysfunction
•Depression
•Diabetes: Lipid management
•Hypertension
•Rheumatoid arthritis
•Asthma
•Cancer
This information is taken from the NICE website. Please click the link below to read more and to submit your comments
Further Information: Click to go to the NICE website
03/01/2012 Regulator chastises managers forcing GP practices to prepare for CQC registration
News item from the Pulse website.
NHS managers trying to force GP practices to prepare for registration with the CQC early have been slapped down by the regulator, it has been revealed.
In a move to reassure GPs over registration, the CQC has also pledged that surgeries won't be closed over not having disabled access and that supporting evidence won't always be necessary to prove compliance with standards.
However, GP leaders warn that the beleaguered commission is likely face a shake-up and the requirements for registration may change before April 2013, when regulation of GPs begins.
In answers to questions submitted by members of the Family Doctor Association, the CQC said it was taking a tough line over PCTs which have jumped the regulatory gun, as Pulse reported recently.
A response from the regulator said: ‘PCTs should not be telling practices to do things in the name of CQC.'
‘GP practices are not subject to regulation by CQC until April 2013 and where we have found out that this has gone on we have spoken to the PCTs involved and will continue to do so.'
Click link below to reead full story from Pulse
Further Information: Link to Pulse for full story
15/12/2011 Prescribing by GP practice
From NHS UK:
In his letter to cabinet ministers on 7 July 2011, the Prime Minister restated the commitment to make available "prescribing data by GP practice by December 2011".
This data was released for the first time on 14 December 2011, and provided information relating to September 2011. Data for subsequent months will be released monthly thereafter.
Covering all general practices in England, the data includes figures on the number of prescription items that are dispensed each month and information relating to costs.
What information is being made available?
■All prescribed and dispensed medicines (by chemical name), dressings and appliances (at section level) are listed for each GP practice.
■For each GP practice, the total number of items that were prescribed and then dispensed is shown.
■The total Net Ingredient Cost and the total Actual Cost of these items is shown.
This data does not list each individual prescription and does not contain any patient identifiable data.
Using and interpreting the data
Practice prescribing data requires careful interpretation, and the information should not be looked at in isolation.
This data can be used to construct comparators of practice prescribing, for example some of the Quality Innovation Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) measures of prescribing. Details of these can be found on our Prescribing Comparators (including QIPP comparators) page.
Accessing the data
Each month a file of practice prescribing data will be made available in CSV format. Due to the large size of each monthly dataset (over 4 million rows), it will be necessary for data users to analyse the information using specialist data-handling software. Standard spreadsheet applications will not be able to handle the volumes of data contained in the monthly datasets.
Practices are identified in the prescribing datasets by their national code. Supplementary file(s) will contain further practice identifiers, such as names and addresses. This supplementary information can be linked to the prescribing dataset using the national practice code.
What does the data cover?
General practice prescribing data is a list of all medicines, dressings and appliances that are prescribed and dispensed each month. A record will only be produced when this has occurred and there is no record for a zero total. For each practice in England, and for each medicine (by chemical name), dressing and appliance, the following information is presented:
■the total number of items prescribed and dispensed
■the total net ingredient cost
■the total actual cost
The data covers NHS prescriptions written in England and dispensed in the community in the UK. Prescriptions written in England but dispensed outside England are included. The data includes prescriptions written by GPs and other non-medical prescribers (such as nurses and pharmacists) who are attached to GP practices.
GP practices are identified only by their national code, so an additional data file - linked to the first by the practice code - provides further detail in relation to the practice
To go to the NHS UK website to read more and to download available data click the link below
Further Information: Link to NHS uk
08/12/2011 Directed enhanced services 2012/13
Taken from the nhsemployers website.
Directed enhanced services 2012/13
In 2012/13 the Extended Hours DES will be extended by one year, in England, to 31 March 2013. The Patient Participation DES which was introduced in April 2011 for two years and will continue in 2012/13.
The following existing DESs are to be re-commissioned by PCTs, in England, for the twelve-month period ending on 31 March 2013:
the alcohol reduction scheme, and
the learning disabilities health check scheme.
The requirements for these clinical DESs remain the same and the payment scheme will mirror the payment scheme at the same rate that applied for the period 1 April 2011 to 31 March 2012.
The Osteoporosis DES will no longer be available from 1 April 2012 in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The GMS portion of the funding from the DES will be reinvested in the global sum with no corresponding increase to correction factor payments. Any money released through reductions in correction factor payments are reinvested back into the global sum.
Directed Enhanced Services 2011/12
In 2011/12 the Extended Hours DES was extended by one year, but with a reduction in the detailed requirements and cost. The Extended Hours monies was reinvested to fund a new Patient Participation DES to ensure patients are more involved in decisions affecting the services they receive. Three of the clinical DESs were rolled forward for a further year: the alcohol reduction scheme; the learning and disabilities health check scheme; and the osteoporosis diagnosis and prevention scheme.
Directed Enhanced Services 2010/11
In 2010/11 the Extended Hours Access DES and four clinical DESs were continued for a further year.
Directed Enhanced Services 2009/10
In 2009/10 the heart failure DES formed part of the Quality and Outcomes Framework. The four remaining clinical DESs and the Extended Opening Hours Access DES continued.
Directed Enhanced Services 2008/09
In 2008/09 five new clinical DESs and the Extended Opening Hours DES were introduced. Practice eligibility to receive one-off payments under the IM&T DES continued.
Further Information: Link to nhsemployers website- to read more
06/12/2011 Interactive Guide to the Flu Season 2011/12 from gponline
From gponline- link below- Track the progress of the flu season and the effect on GP workload with the series of interactive guides following consultation rates, vaccination uptake and more across each of the UK countries.
To view this content you need to sign in or register for free.
Click the link below to be taken to the GpOnline site, to log in and read more
Further Information: Link to gponline for the Interactive guide
06/12/2011 GPs face tougher QOF in new contract
Negotiators have also agreed to scrap all prescribing indicatrors in the quality and productivity (QP) domain in QOF, introduced in 2011/12.
But the BMA and NHS Employers revealed that practices would be expected to continue doing much of this prescribing work for no extra pay.
Under the changes for 2012/13, all lower thresholds for QOF indicators that are currently 40% will be raised to 50%, while any indicator with an upper threshold of 70-85% will now have a lower threshold of 45%.
There have been further, specific upper threshold changes for 14 indicators.
The changes agreed in the 2012/13 contract mean GPs will need to perform better to earn the same points as in previous years.
Five of the 11 quality and productivity (QP) indicators introduced in the 2011/12 contract have been scrapped.
Negotiators agreed to withdraw QP1-5, which incentivise improvements in prescribing behaviour.
Instead, new QP indicators worth 31 points will see practices work in groups to reduce avoidable A&E attendances.
They will review patterns in use and design a strategy to improve the quality and accessibility of the care provided to avoid unnecessary attendances.
The DoH said the scheme will focus 'in particular on quality of care for older patients with complex health needs at high risk of admission, children with minor illness or injury and patients who frequently re-attend A&E'.
Information taken from the gponline website.
click the link below to read more
Further Information: link to 'GPs face tougher QOF in new contract'
27/11/2011 QoF Back to Basics Manual
Insight are always asked about when the next QoF Back to Basics seminar/webinar is being delivered - unfortunately they are never always in the right place at the right time!
Therefore, we have written a QoF Back to Basics manual - this is a perfect read for your new starters, it just covers the basics but includes all of the essential QoF start-up information they need as well as busting much of the QoF jargon that is used.
Included in the manual is:
- Structure of QoF - domains & indicators
- Clinical Domains
- Organisational Domains
- Patient Experience
- Additional Services
- Quality & Productivity
- Exceptions v Exclusions
- Remission Codes
- QoF Management Software
- Read Codes (V2 & CTv3)
- Managing Disease Registers
- Disease Register Diagnosis Codes
- Resolved Codes
- Year End Reporting & achievement
- Year End Process
This manual is available for only £30 + VAT & will be a real asset to your staff- it will give them the basic confidence they need to embark on tackling QoF!
Visit the manual section in the shop now and place your order
Further Information: Visit the Insight solutions E-Shop
24/11/2011 Wave of CCG mergers expected
Dozens of CCGs look set to merge after the 2012/13 NHS Operating Framework published today set GP commissioners a management allowance of £25 a head and said that CCGs should be ‘coterminous with a single local Health and Wellbeing Board'.
SHA clusters have been charged with ensuring that ‘any outstanding configuration issues' are ‘resolved by the end of March 2012', in a move expected to trigger a wave of mergers among smaller clinical commissioning groups.
The £25 per head figure is at the lower end of the predicted range for the CCG management allowance, which GP commissioners were previously advised would be between £25 and £35. It comes after a Government-backed paper from the NHS Alliance and NAPC earlier this week warned that funding at that level would mean CCGs would need to cover at least 100,000 patients in order to manage clinical and financial risk.
Further Information: Pulse Article and Full Story
23/11/2011 2011 QoF Data Now Available
The 2011 data is now available on the GPContract website, and the new version of the site is on line. This currently mirrors of the function of the old site with more detail at the SHA, country and UK level.
There is more functionality to come which is made easier by an entirely new data model in the background. The database will be able to cope with things such as comparisons between years.
There is also a new look which is hopefully easier to find your way around. Search is on pretty much every page.
Don't forget that an Insight Solutions Data Quality Assessment can identify missing patients and income. Contact us now for more information
Further Information: GP Contract Website (opens in new window)
07/11/2011 Manipulating Data in Excel Recorded Webinar
Data is provided in a number of ways either from the clinical system or other organisations and being able to analyse it is key to presenting and understanding what it means. Excel provides a number of ways to analyse and manipulate the data easily to make the results more meaningful and usable
This recorded webinar will show you how to:
Analyse the Data in Excel
- Using Excel Functionality to format the Data
- Insert/Delete/Hide Rows and Columns
- AutoFit Data
- Using Filters
- Using Subtotals
- Conditional Formatting
- Using Pivot Tables
Further Information: Insight Solutions Recorded Webinars
04/11/2011 The Adult Patient’s Passport to Safer use of Insulin
The aim of this Alert is to improve patient safety by empowering patients as they take an active role in their treatment with insulin.
This will be achieved with a patient information booklet and a patient-held record (the Insulin Passport) which documents the patient’s current insulin products and enables a safety check for prescribing, dispensing and administration. The Insulin Passport will complement existing systems for ensuring key information is accessed across healthcare sectors.
NHS organisations should ensure that by 31 August 2012:
1. Adult patients on insulin therapy receive a patient information booklet and an Insulin Passport to help provide accurate identification of their current insulin products and provide essential information across healthcare sectors.
2. Healthcare professionals and patients are informed how the Insulin Passport and associated patient information can be used to improve safety.
3. When prescriptions of insulin are prescribed, dispensed or administered, healthcare professionals cross-reference available information to confirm the correct identity of insulin products.
4. Systems are in place to enable hospital inpatients to self-administer insulin where feasible and safe.
Ordering information
Supplies of the Insulin Passport and patient booklet will be available from June 2011 (in English and in Welsh) from the current NHS Forms and Print Contract.
Orders can be placed as follows:
GP Practices should order via their PCT or Agency Stores, Hospitals and other organisations should place their orders in the usual way for national forms, www.nhsforms.co.uk or email nhsforms@mmm.com.
Information in this News article has been taken from the Nationasl Patient Safety Agency Website
http://www.nrls.npsa.nhs.uk/
Further Information: Link to the NPSA website
20/10/2011 GPs could be given three months notice of revalidation
GPs will be given at least three months notice of their revalidation submission being due, under plans tabled by the GMC.
The proposal for doctors to receive a ‘minimum notice period of three months' of their revalidation is part of a raft of regulations featured in a new GMC consultation paper. The GMC said that the three month threshold will given them the power to ‘revalidate promptly' where it is in the wider public interest, but said that in most cases GPs will ‘know the due date much earlier.'
Under the draft regulations the GMC will also be handed the power to force early revalidation on doctors where risks to patient safety have been identified.
The GMC said the ability to ‘vary the revalidation period' could also be used to bring forward revalidation dates for GPs who wish to be revalidated before taking a break from practice. The three month notice period would still apply.
To read the full story from 'Pulse' click the link below
Further Information: Link to Pulse
19/10/2011 Practices face £28,000 service cuts
Cuts to enhanced services across England will wipe out slim uplifts to GP contract funding agreed for 2011/12, a GP investigation reveals.
Click on the link below which will take you to the news item.
You will need to register for free on GPonline to access this news item
Further Information: Gponline News items
10/10/2011 Does your Surgery need a WebSite for your Patients Participation Des?
Amongst many features the website deals with the Patients Participation Des-giving your patients access to the Patient Questionaires and collating the information for you
'...FREE with your website or Intranet
You won't find an easier way to create surveys for your patients!
No fussing with special tools - just type out your survey the way you want it to appear
Manage your patient samples and send out batches of surveys as simply as sending an email
Meet the objectives outlined in the Patient Participation DES (in England & Wales) or just find out what your patients really think about the services you provide...'
Go to MySurgeryWebsite.co.uk for further information and to view demo and live versions.
When contacting MySurgeryWebsite- please mention our name.
Or Contact us for more information on our Patients participation Des Managers pack and the website.
Info@insightsol.co.uk
Tel Number 01527 557407
Further Information: click this link for the MySurgeryWebsite
08/10/2011 HbA1c Converter
HbA1c results are currently given as a percentage. However, the way in which HbA1c results are reported in the UK is changing. From 1 October 2011, HbA1c will be given in millimoles per mol (mmol/mol) instead of as a percentage (%).
To help make this transition as easy as possible, all HbA1c results in the UK will be given in both percentage and mmol/mol from 1 June 2009 until 30 September 2011.
This new way of reporting results will just be a different way of expressing the same thing. For example, the equivalent of the HbA1c target of 6.5 per cent will be 48 mmol/mol. The fact that the number is higher does not mean there is more glucose in your blood.
More information on this change can be found under on the same page as this converter.
To help people during this period of change, Diabetes UK has developed an easy-to-use online HbA1c converter.
Further Information: HbA1c Converter
30/09/2011 CQC compliance scams
GPs are being approached and asked for hundreds of pounds in payments for Care Quality Commission ‘compliance' support in apparent scams that are being investigated by NHS counter-fraud teams.
This month Wessex LMC, Londonwide LMCs and Cambridgeshire LMC alerted GPs to CQC scams, with some practices asked for up to £300 by company representatives claiming to provide CQC compliance services.
One company attempted to bill practices for a guide they claimed was ‘essential to complete CQC registration', despite the fact CQC standards for general practice have yet to be clarified.
Further Information: Pulse Article and Full Story
29/09/2011 Influenza Schedules and Documents for 2011/12
Visit our Documents and Download area for useful Documents- including 3rd part documents on the 2011/12 influenza schedules,leaflets and child immunisations.
Go to 'client Zone' and click on 'Documents and Downloads' Click on 'Documents' to be taken to numerous folders with useful information available free of charge.
Further Information: Click here to go to Documents and Downloads
28/09/2011 INPS Vision Download area for Reports/Audits
INPS download area for reports and audits.
Including Immunisation and Health protection reporting.
Information supplied by INPS please click the link to go to go their website download ara
Further Information: INPS Download for Audits and Reports
26/09/2011 Dismantling the NHS National Programme for IT
The government has announced an acceleration of the dismantling of the National Programme for IT, following the conclusions of a new review by the Cabinet Office’s Major Projects Authority (MPA). The programme was created in 2002 under the last government and the MPA has concluded that it is not fit to provide the modern IT services that the NHS needs.
In May 2011 the Prime Minister announced in the House of Commons that the MPA would be reviewing the NHS National Programme for IT.
The MPA found that there have been substantial achievements which are now firmly established, such as the Spine, N3 Network, NHSmail, Choose and Book, Secondary Uses Service and Picture Archiving and Communications Service. Their delivery accounts for around two thirds of the £6.4bn money spent so far and they will continue to provide vital support to the NHS. However, the review reported the National Programme for IT has not and cannot deliver to its original intent.
In a modernised NHS, which puts patients and clinicians in the driving seat for achieving health outcomes amongst the best in the world, it is no longer appropriate for a centralised authority to make decisions on behalf of local organisations. We will continue to work with our existing suppliers to determine the best way to deliver the services upon which the NHS depends in a way which allows the local NHS to exercise choice while delivering best value for money.
A new partnership with Intellect, the Technology Trade Association, will explore ways to stimulate a marketplace that will no longer exclude small and medium sized companies from participating in significant government healthcare projects.
The Department of Health said:
“The exchange of information between patients and clinicians and across the NHS is a fundamental part of how we are centring care on patients and making sure innovation and choice are fully supported. The NPfIT achieved much in terms of infrastructure and this will be maintained, along with national applications, such as the Summary Care Record and Electronic Prescriptions Service, which are crucial to improving patient safety and efficiency. But we need to move on from a top down approach and instead provide information systems driven by local decision-making. This is the only way to make sure we get value for money and that the modern NHS meets the needs of patients.”
Click the link to read more from the Dept of Health
Further Information: Link to the Dept of Health Website
22/09/2011 Government axes NPfiT
The timing of the move appears to be linked to the party conference season. The Labour Party is meeting next week, and this morning a number of Conservative-supporting papers put significant emphasis on the programme's Labour roots.
The Daily Mail opens its coverage by saying that “ministers are to axe Labour’s disastrous £12 billion NHS computer scheme” which it goes on to describe as a “monument to Whitehall folly during Labour’s 13 years in power.”
The paper does not say what will happen to NHS Connecting for Health, the agency that runs the programme, or to CSC’s local service provider contract for the North, Midlands and East of England, on which considerable sums of money are still to be spent.
However, eHealth Insider understands that in line with previous announcements, the future of CfH will be clarified in a report on the future of health informatics that is due later this autumn.
EHI also understands that the DH continues to lead on negotiations with CSC, although there will be further involvement from the Cabinet Office.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude will chair an 'oversight committee' to get best value from the contracts, with DH and Cabinet Office representation.
The DH and the US company have been locked in negotiations about a new deal since CSC missed another key deadline to install iSoft’s Lorenzo software at Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust.
The deal has been interrupted by a highly critical National Audit Office report on the detailed care records elements of the national programme.
This also criticised the deals re-signed with BT for London and parts of the South, which delivered less functionality to fewer trusts for only a small amount less money.
The CSC negotiations were also interrupted by a lively meeting of the Commons’ public accounts committee on the report, and a review of the whole national programme by the Cabinet Office’s Major Projects Authority.
Click the link to read more from the ehi Health Insider website
Further Information: Click to read more from E Health Insider
20/09/2011 Line manager training reduces Absence rates
Employers that targeted line managers for absence management training saw improved absence rates at two-thirds (64%) of organisations, according to new research from XpertHR.
The research reveals that training line managers gave them more confidence to tackle non-attendance proactively.
Among those employers that saw improved absence rates as a result of manager training, 20% witnessed a significant reduction and 68% saw "some reduction" in their absence levels.
Only one organisation in 10 of the 178 that conducted absence management training thought that it was unsuccessful.
Charlotte Wolff, XpertHR training editor and author of the report, said: "This research echoes findings of a similar study carried out by XpertHR in 2007. It appears that giving line managers the skills they need to deal with the sometimes complex issues surrounding sickness and absence frequently pays off.
"Line managers are not always equipped to have sensitive conversations with team members and can be nervous of falling foul of employment law. Training that involves discussion, real-life examples and an opportunity to learn in a safe environment will provide them with the confidence they need."
Wolff added that it is beneficial for line managers to develop an understanding of the organisation's absence policies and procedures, learn how to seek help and guidance from HR and occupational health, and understand why absence matters to the organisation.
The report found that the topics most covered by employers in absence management training included: organisational policy (99%); return-to-work interviews (99%); recording absence (97%); and communicating with employees (92%).
Fewer employers included the promotion of good health (51%) and Health and Safety Executive management standards (25%) (a tool that helps managers be proactive about minimising workplace stress), areas that were more widely covered by the organisations that saw significant reductions in their absence rates as a result of line manager training.
To learn how to manage your Absenteeism-order our Absence Management Pack.
From our website go the 'E shop' tab and select Managers packs for an over view of the contents.
http://insightsol.co.uk/shop.php
Or call the Office on 01527 557407 or email info@insightsol.co.uk for more information
Further Information: Personnel Today and full story
20/09/2011 Who should have the seasonal flu jab?
For most people, seasonal flu is unpleasant but not serious and they recover within a week.
However, certain people are at greater risk of developing serious complications of flu, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. These conditions may require hospital treatment. A large number of elderly people die from flu every winter.
The seasonal flu vaccine is offered free of charge to at-risk groups to protect them from catching flu and developing serious complications.
At-risk groups
It is recommended you have a flu jab if you:
•are 65 years of age or over
•are pregnant
•have a serious medical condition
•are living in a long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facility (not including prisons, young offender institutions or university halls of residence)
•are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if you fall ill
•are a frontline health or social care worker
Pregnant women
As was the case last year, this winter (2011/12) it is recommended that all pregnant women should have the seasonal flu vaccine irrespective of their stage of pregnancy.
This is because there is good evidence to suggest that pregnant women have an increased risk of developing complications if they get flu, particularly the H1N1 strain.
Studies have also shown that the inactivated flu vaccine can be safely and effectively administered during any trimester of pregnancy. The vaccine itself does not present an increased risk of complications to either the mother or baby.
If you are the parent of a child (over six months) with a long-term condition, speak to your GP about the flu vaccine. Your child's condition may get worse if they catch flu.
Frontline health or social care workers
Employers are responsible for ensuring that arrangements are in place for their frontline healthcare staff to have the seasonal flu vaccine.
Outbreaks of flu can occur in health and social care settings with staff, patients and residents at risk of being affected.
Therefore, it is very important that frontline health and social care professionals protect themselves by having the flu vaccine and in doing so prevent the spread of flu to colleagues and other members of the community.
If you care for someone who is elderly or disabled, you should also be vaccinated against seasonal flu and you should ensure that the person you are caring for has the flu jab as well.
To read more on this topic go to link below which will take you to the NHS UK website. Here there are more links in referenece to the risk groups.
Further Information: link to NHS NET and more information
16/09/2011 Electronic Prescriptions
A survey has found widespread support among GPs for the Government's Electronic Prescription Service (EPS), as the second stage of the service's rollout gathers pace
A total of 18 practices and 1,559 pharmacies are now EPS Release 2-enabled, which means GPs can send a prescription electronically and directly to a pharmacy of a patient's choosing
Some 40,400 patients have ‘nominated' which pharmacy they want their prescription to be sent to.
A survey, carried out by Doctors.net for NHS mail order pharmacy Pharmacy2U, asked 1,006 GPs about their understanding of electronic repeat dispensing, which will be a feature of EPS when it is fully launched later this year.
The service allows GPs to digitally authorise bundles of repeat prescriptions, which are then dispensed to the patient's nominated pharmacy.
Two thirds of GPs said they thought it would reduce their workload and on average, GPs in England said they would expect to use it for 39% of patients on repeat medication.
However a third of GPs were concerned they would lose control over repeat prescribing and 43% were concerned it might reduce opportunities to review patients' medication, while one in five GPs admitted they did not understand electronic repeat dispensing or were not aware that it was to be introduced under EPS.
Further Information: Pulse Article and Full Story
16/09/2011 Audit Commission probe patient list inaccuracies
The Audit Commission is to publish national data on patient registration inaccuracies by the end of the year amid mounting concerns over a new list cleansing drive
The regulator, which 'protects the public purse', told Pulse it plans to publish the latest data from The National Duplicate Registration Initiative – a project that analyses PCT data to identify inaccuracies in GP patient lists – in the coming months. The new report will detail inaccuracies in patient lists that were identified during 2009.
The last time the initiative was run, in 2004, it led to the removal of 185,000 patients from GP practice lists, saving the Department of Health £9.5m in the process.
In a statement, the Audit Commission said: ‘In line with our pre-existing timetable the Commission is collating these outcomes and plans to publish a national report later this year. The report will detail the outcomes identified in the October 2009 data extract.'
Contact us for further information about our Data Quality and Audit Service (http://www.insightsol.co.uk/email.php)
Further Information: Pulse Article and Full Story
15/09/2011 Ready Reckoner Commissioning Costs Tool
The Department of Health has launched a clinical commissioning group running costs tool, or 'Ready Reckoner' for GPs in CCGs.
The DH has written, 'The tool helps CCGs work through the financial implications of different commissioning support arrangements. It provides the flexibility to consider the potential impact that different populations have on resources and the different costs of internal staffing structures. We hope for it to support a range of local discussions between CCGs and with PCT clusters about where it makes sense to share functions and enter into more federated models in orders to generate better value for money.'
Click here to view and download support guidance for the ready reckoning tool, and click here to download the ready reckoner.
NOTE: Links above are external and provided by Pulse Today
Further Information: Pulse Article and Full Story
15/09/2011 QoF Delays leave GP's Facing loses
A GP investigation found that less than half of PCTs met the 30 June deadline for choosing areas for improved prescribing under the new quality and productivity domain, worth 96.5 points.
Despite prolonged local negotiations, almost all PCTs used the same set of 15 indicators proposed by the National Prescribing Centre (NPC.
96% of PCTs used indicators from this list and only one in three trusts have developed any of their own measures to add to these.
GP used the Freedom of Information Act to request details from PCTs and received responses from 68 trusts.
GP's investigation also found that, in agreements that have been reached, the thresholds practices must achieve vary widely between PCTs.
For one indicator on osteoporosis prescribing, practices reaching the same achievement level would gain five QOF points in one part of the UK but just one point in others.
For other indicators, payment thresholds set by PCTs for the same indicators varied by more than 20%.
Further Information: GP Article and Full Story
13/09/2011 Email your GP pilots shunned
An Exclusive Article in Pulse has reported that the Government's controversial vision of 24/7 online access to GPs has been dealt a severe blow with the news only 89 patients from a potential total of at least 30,000 have agreed to take part in pilots of its Communicator system.
Healthspace Communicator, which provides patients with email access to GPs via a secure online platform, is being piloted at six sites across England, the locations of which the Department of Health refuses to divulge.
But Pulse has learned that only 36 doctors have agreed to take part, one pilot has already been forced to close and another practice has pulled out amid claims that all correspondence had to be updated manually into patients' notes.
The response from patients and GPs comes in contrast to comments made last month by Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director of the NHS, that online consultations with GPs ‘open up the spectre of 24/7 access'.
The DH admitted just 89 patients had signed up for pilots and that the business case for Communicator was ‘under review'. Only 3,119 people have registered for an advanced account and 182,000 for a basic account on the umbrella Healthspace system since 2009 – compared with a projected four million people by 2014.
Further Information: Pulse Article and Full Story
05/09/2011 Five simple tips for reducing DNAs
Millions of GP and hospital appointments are wasted each year – at a considerable cost. Health thinktank the King's Fund estimates that some £700m in direct cost alone is wasted every year due to patients who fail to turn up for their appointments and don't bother to cancel with enough time to offer the appointment to another patient.
While in many cases that will be the extent of the financial waste, this will not always be true. Just because a patient has not attended, we cannot assume that a potential medical condition has been resolved. In fact, it is frequently the case that patients re-attend, often at less convenient times and in less appropriate settings – A&E, for example.
The issue of DNAs is not just about cost – patients who do turn up for their appointments, especially follow-up appointments for long-term conditions, are likely to be healthier and have better control of their condition than those who don't.
The problem of DNAs isn't confined to GP practices, and GPs will increasingly need to confront it as they take on commissioning of services, too.
And it's not just the NHS that has problems with no-shows – it is a longstanding issue in the hospitality industry. A restaurant, for instance, depends for its livelihood on people turning up for their booking, so it needs effective policies to ensure that customers do keep their reservations or at least call to cancel.
So can GPs learn lessons from restaurants and similar industries? We, as behavioural scientists, would argue that they can indeed – and some of these lessons have been tested and proven.
Click on the link below to access the pulse article and full story
Further Information: Pulse Article and Full Story
04/09/2011 WALES- Clinical Governance Practice Self Assessment Tool
What is the CGPSAT?
The CGPSAT is designed to encourage practices to reflect and assess the governance systems they have in place in order to facilitate safe and effective clinical practice. It can be mapped to the Welsh Healthcare Standards. The CGPSAT may act as an assurance to other bodies such as Local Health Boards, the General Medical Council and Community Health Councils that such systems are in place and effective or, if not, that the practice is planning to introduce or improve such systems.
Further Information: Click here for link to Wales NHS
03/09/2011 On-Site Practice Data Quality Assessments
Insight are offering practice’s on-site data quality assessments for only £395 + VAT with a full money back guarantee if you don’t get a return on investment to cover the cost of the day.
This assessment will identify key areas for you to focus on, starting in areas where you are most at risk. Time is a major factor in practices not carrying out data quality work so let us help you out by providing you with a resource that is guaranteed to increase your income, improve your prevalence figures to help set vital future commissioning budgets & improve the care that you offer to patients.
This offer is for a limited time only. Contact us now for more information.
Further Information: Data Quality Flier
03/09/2011 NICE announces new 2012/13 QOF menu
NICE has published a set of new proposed indicators for 2012/13 QOF. Set to drive up quality of care across general practice, the “menu” will help target resources where they are most needed and deliver the best patient outcomes. Each indicator has been piloted across a range of practices and is based on the most up-to-date evidence. NICE has also today made recommendations on which existing QOF indicators should be retired or amended.
The “menu” includes three new indicators on offering support and treatment for smokers, and two new indicators to assess levels of physical activity and provide a brief intervention to people with high blood pressure who score ‘less than active'. There is also an indicator to improve care for people with asthma, and a set of indicators on fragility fractures in osteoporosis patients.
Further Information: Click here to go to NICE.ORG
12/08/2011 DH rejects call to delay CQC registration beyond April 2013
The Department of Health today confirmed that, as set out in its consultation proposals published in June, the deadline for registering GP practices will be put back a year, from April 2012 to April 2013.
However ministers have rejected submissions to the consultation from the GPC and the Medical Defence Union to ‘radically rethink' registration and further relax the timetable, amid concerns a 2013 deadline will clash with the introduction of revalidation and GPs taking on commissioning responsibility.
The Department of Health has amended the timetable set out in its June consultation to delay the deadline for walk-in centres to register until April 2013, but out-of-hours services will still have to register by April 2012, despite GPC concerns.
Legislation to take account of the revised timetable will now go through Parliament in the autumn.
A Department of Health spokesperson said: ‘The registration of GP practices by the CQC) will now take place by April 2013. Out of hours providers that are not GP practices looking after their own patients will be required to register with CQC by April 2012.'
In their responses to the consultation, both the GPC and the MDU flagged up fears that an April 2013 deadline was unrealistic.
In a strongly-worded submission last month, the GPC said: ‘We have concerns about the capacity of the CQC to manage the registration and compliance of all primary medical services providers from April 2013, and would suggest that consideration is given to a more flexible approach.'
In a separate submission published earlier this week, Dr Mike Devlin, MDU head of Advisory Services, said: ‘If GPs are required to register with the CQC at the same time as they are expected to provide all the information for revalidation, we believe this would impose an unnecessary and potentially insupportable regulatory burden on them and their practice.'
The GPC also raised a range of wider concerns about the CQC plans, claiming the registration requirements were ‘overly burdensome' and warning GPs would be diverted from patient care and hit with hefty registration fees.
This link is to GPOnline website with more information
http://www.gponline.com/bulletin/daily_news/article/1084664/care-quality-commission-registration-gps-pushed-back-april-2013/?DCMP=EMC-ED-News,jobsandCPD-1084664
Further Information: Link to the Pulse Website
10/08/2011 GP Extraction Service is go
The NHS Information Centre said approval from the DH for the primary care data extraction and analysis tool brought to an end “a long period of external review” and meant the service could move towards full implementation.
GPES will extract data from all NHS GP practices in England and provide the information for all nationally sponsored initiatives that require GP data.
It will provide access to practice level information on a national basis for the first time.
It will also support GP payment systems as part of a replacement for the current Quality and Outcomes Framework system, the Quality Management and Analysis System (QMAS).
Dave Roberts, senior responsible owner for GPES, wrote to stakeholders to announce the result of the DH deliberations, which included a review of the proposal by the cross-government review of ICT projects.
In his letter Roberts said: “The 30 plus statements of support that GPES received in summer 2010 formed an essential part of the team’s response to the cross-government review of ICT projects and they undoubtedly played a major part in ensuring GPES emerged from the review process with its importance confirmed.”
Roberts said the funding approval confirmed the strategic importance of GPES and signalled the DH’s confidence that it was an essential part of the NHS’s future information needs.
The approval of the appointment business case is the second stage in the Department of Health's process for approving business cases. It means the project can invite final tenders and announce a preferred bidder and confirms the availability of funds.
The NHS information Centre will now received funding to pay for the technical components of GPES and the implementation of the wider service. Roberts said the NHS IC would be announcing its preferred bidder for the GPET-Q query tool in late summer.
The NHS IC said it would set up an Independent Advisory Group for GPES and added that its information governance principles had received approval in the last year from the medical ethics committees’ of both the BMA and Royal College of GPs.
GPES will work with the new General Practice Payment Calculation Service to replace QMAS from April 2013.
Roberts said the new systems would provide the proposed NHS Commissioning Board with current and emerging outcomes data including data from QoF and the proposed Commissioning Outcomes Framework.
He added: “The resulting service will also have the functionality to support other national or local payment services devised by national or local commissioning arrangements.”
Roberts added that GPES was ready to engage with prospective customers including any organisation that had DH sponsorship, NHS bodies operating at a national level and some academic research initiatives.
He said it would soon be able to support their requests for data from GP clinical systems.
Further Information: Link to EHealth Primary Care
05/08/2011 Insight Membership for only £150+VAT
Where do you turn when you have those niggling queries that you just can’t find answers too?
Unable to complete a task because you just can’t remember how to do it on your clinical system?
Why is this search giving me the wrong results?
Why is this QoF indicator including all these patients?
I know that the information is in this document only 120 more pages to search!
How do I work out bank holiday entitlement?
Which Read Code should I use to record …?
We’ve all been in these frustrating situations but how many hours do we waste just trying to get answers to these queries and many more like it! If this amounts to more than a couple of hours of any staff members time, Insight membership will pay for it’s self. You can ask any IT or HR related question - don’t waste time looking for the answer when we already have it. If we don’t already have the answer, its our job to find it.
Further Information: Click this link to view our flier
05/08/2011 Fit notes help patients back to work, GPs say
The survey of 1,405 GPs showed that 61% said the fit note, which was introduced last year and replaced the sick note, had improved the quality of their discussions with patients about return to work.
It also showed that almost all (99%) of GPs thought that work was beneficial for health and that helping patients to stay in or return to work was an important part of the GPs role.
The report concluded: ‘This survey serves as a baseline of GPs’ early experiences of the fit note against which to compare future views of the GPs’ role in patient health, work and wellbeing.
‘The findings suggest that GPs see themselves as having an important role in promoting the health benefits of work and that fit notes have helped them to fulfil this role.’
GPC deputy chairman Dr Richard Vautrey said the survey was in line with the situation on the ground for GPs.
He said: ‘We are not hearing much from GPs which suggests they haven’t go so many concerns about the fit note.
‘With the previous sick note there was the possibility to add in comments about a phased return to work. But with the fit note this is much more explicit and does provide the opportunity to more discuss that option.’
Further Information: Link to GP Online
04/08/2011 GP Patient Survery April 2010 to March 2011
The Practice factsheet shows each practice’s results for a number of key questions from the survey.
The survey data in this report is based on findings from the combined quarterly surveys run between April 2010 and March 2011, and is compared with previous results where possible. Pages 3-10 of the report also provide PCT, SHA and national comparisons.
Click on the Link below to view the results from gp-patient.co.uk
Further Information: Link to gp-patient
04/08/2011 MPs rap DoH for failing to consult doctors over IT programme
A report by the House of Commons public accounts committee revealed that the National Programme for IT had not achieved its aim of creating an individual electronic care record for every NHS patient, since its creation in 2002.
Completing the task was ‘beyond the capacity’ of the DoH, which has failed to demonstrate ‘the benefits achieved for the £2.7bn spent to date on care records systems', the report said.
According to the report, the DoH has recognised that the programme would have been more successful if it had ‘consulted with medical professionals from the start’.
'The DoH could have avoided some of the pitfalls and waste if it had consulted at the start of the process with health professionals,' the report said.
The National Programme for IT has so far cost the government £6.4bn.
However the report revealed that the DoH is overspending by millions of pounds on its contracts and is not getting the best out of its suppliers.
Despite having paid Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), £1.8bn since 2002, the company is yet to deliver the bulk of the systems it is contracted to supply, the report said.
The DoH will now rely on individual NHS trusts, which will have responsibility for care records from 2015/16, to develop their own compatible IT systems, the report revealed.
Health secretary Andrew Lansley criticised Labour for initiating the programme.
He said: ‘This is yet more evidence that Labour’s botched approach to IT in the NHS failed taxpayers and failed patients. Their one-size-fits-all IT programme has once again been found unworkable.'
Mr Lansley said the coalition government had already reduced the cost of Labour's IT scheme and would soon announce its own plans for the programme.
'We are making sure that systems are not imposed on the NHS from the centre which organisations do not want. And we will shortly announce our plans for even stronger action to deliver value for money for taxpayers and the NHS,' Mr Lansley said.
Richard Bacon MP, (Conservative, South Norfolk) a member of the public accounts committee, also criticised the programme.
He said: ‘After many years of thinking big but achieving little, the DoH has been forced to admit that the central aim of a detailed electronic care record for every patient in England will remain a pipe dream.
‘The DoH is unable to show what has been achieved for the £2.7bn spent on the care records system,’ Mr Bacon said.
‘The only good news from this fiasco is that every move of the DoH in this area will now be subject to the closest scrutiny from the Cabinet Office,’ he added.
Further Information: Link to GP online
02/08/2011 NICE publishes QOF 2012/13 proposals
The menu of 18 new indicators, reported by GP in June, includes five public health measures for addressing smoking and lack of physical exercise.
The list, finalised at NICE’s June meeting, also recommends removing 17 indicators from the QOF. These have mostly become standard practice with high levels of achievement.
NICE has also published suggestions for amending wording of several existing indicators.
Aberdeen GP Dr Colin Hunter, chairman of the QOF advisory committee, said he hoped the recommendations would make ‘a real difference to patient care’.
Proposed new indicators target asthma, AF, prevention of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, peripheral arterial disease, hypertension and public health.
GPC negotiators and NHS Employers will decide on which recommendations to accept for the QOF 2012/13 in talks due to start in the autumn. The final decision will be announced in the winter.
Further Information: Click this link to see more
05/07/2011 GPs told to switch to HbA1c testing for diabetes diagnosis
Exclusive: GPs are to be issued with new NHS guidelines this month requesting they use HbA1c testing for diagnosis of type 2 diabetes in a move Government research suggests will drive up the number of cases by a fifth.
Pulse has learned that the UK has decided to adopt World Health Organisation advice issued in March that GPs switch to use of HbA1c testing with a cut-off point of 6.5% for diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.
Patients with HbA1c levels between 6.0% and 6.4% will be considered as having impaired glucose regulation and also at high risk of diabetes.
Health departments in all four UK countries are working on new guidelines for GPs. But the move is controversial, with unpublished research finding there will be a 20% increase in diabetes prevalence under the diagnostic threshold, with increases of up to 30% in some ethnic groups.
Research has also suggested the technique could be inaccurate in older patients and levels may be naturally higher in black patients.
The UK guidelines will recommend GPs use blood tests to measure HbA1c levels in patients with suspected type 2 diabetes, and confirm a diagnosis in all patients with levels above 6.5% or above on two separate occasions.
The guidance, drafted by a UK-wide working body led by Dr Rowan Hillson, the Department of Health in England's national clinical director for diabetes, is due to be published this month and will be endorsed by the Primary Care Diabetes Society (PCDS), the Association of British Clinical Diabetologists and Diabetes UK.
HbA1c testing is not recommended for diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, and should not be used to diagnose type 2 diabetes in children, or patients with end-stage kidney disease, haemoglobinopathies or anaemia.
Dr Brian Karet, a GPSI in diabetes in Bradford and member of the PCDS committee who sat on the UK-wide guideline group, told Pulse: ‘It's going to detect more people at risk, especially in black and minority populations. There will be more people diagnosed [than with fasting plasma glucose] - it could be as much as 30%.
‘It will undoubtedly increase workload, particularly in practices in urban areas or those with large populations of ethnic minority patients.'
Professor Kamlesh Khunti, professor of primary care diabetes at the University of Leicester and a GP in the city, said overall the switch was likely to be ‘a good thing'.
‘Our research shows patients and professionals don't like oral glucose tolerance testing and I'm sure HbA1c testing will be preferable. It is more expensive but if you factor in patients' and GP time we more than make up for the extra cost. We need to pick more people up early to prevent complications in later life.'
NICE is due to decide this month whether it will review its 2008 guidance on type 2 diabetes.
Further Information: Click link to Pulse Article
05/07/2011 One in four practices would lose £5,000 under plan to raise QOF thresholds
Exclusive: A quarter of GP practices will lose around £5,000 in QOF payments if the Government accepts NICE recommendations for achievement thresholds to be raised across the board, research shows.
Figures seen by Pulse reveal that if indicators are raised by 5% across the QOF, as proposed by NICE advisors, a quarter of practices would be below thresholds and miss out on payment in at least five indicators, and have to improve their performance to earn back the rewards.
One in ten would miss out on ten indicators, worth around £10,000, and one in twenty would fail to achieve 15 or more indicators – at a cost of £15,000 or more.
In certain indicators, such as CHD8 - the percentage of patients with coronary heart disease whose total cholesterol in the preceding 15 month is 5mmol/l or less – the number of practices more than 5% below the threshold would increase five-fold, and the number more than 10% below the threshold would more than double.
Pulse revealed last month that NICE experts had begun moves to reshape the QOF and increase GP performance by significantly toughening up both minimum and maximum payment thresholds.
Speaking to Pulse, Dr Tim Doran, clinical research fellow at the University of Manchester whose research formed the case for raising thresholds, said it was the best way to continue to incentivise improved GP achievement.
‘Existing thresholds are not doing the job any more. All we’re trying to do is set thresholds in an appropriate level, by using performance by practices over seven years of the QOF to set new benchmarks, rather than guessing. We can look at where the top 25% of practices are we can use that as the benchmark for the maximum.’
The QOF indicator advisory committee agreed to propose a trial of raised thresholds to GPC negotiators, to investigate the effect on achievement and on unintended consequences – which Dr Doran proposed would be a national trial in GP practices.
Committee members and GPC negotiators both raised concerns that changing thresholds would have unintended consequences – disincentivising practices, encouraging exception reporting, and creating narrow payment thresholds that would penalise small practices.
Dr Doran said: ‘We have modelled what would happen if we set thresholds in the new way and overall small practices do not lose out.'
‘But almost inevitably you will have to improve to earn the money. In all likelihood most practices will see a decrease in income and you will not see the same payment as last year.’
Further Information: Click link to Pulse Article
05/07/2011 What are the fees for accessing medical records (health records)?
Fees to access health records
Accessing health records is free of charge if:
•the records have been updated in the previous 40 days, and
•you don’t require a copy
If the records have not been updated in the last 40 days and you don’t require a copy, the maximum charge is £10. This charge applies whether the records are stored:
•on computer
•partly on computer and partly in another form, for example, paper records such as letters or hand-written clinical notes, or images such as X-ray film
•totally in another form
If you decide that you do want a copy, the maximum £10 charge for viewing will be included in the fee for obtaining a copy (see below). You will not be charged twice for one access request.
Fees to get a copy of health records
If you want a copy of the health records, the fee will depend on how the records are stored:
•on computer: maximum £10
•partly on computer and partly in another form: maximum £50
•totally in another form: maximum £50
The maximum charges include postage and packaging.
Further Information: Link to NHS.UK for more information
04/07/2011 Nice Pathways
NICE Pathways: guidance at your fingertips
A new online tool provides quick and easy access, topic by topic, to the range of guidance from NICE, including quality standards, technology appraisals, clinical and public health guidance and NICE implementation tools. Simple to navigate, NICE Pathways allows you to explore in increasing detail NICE recommendations and advice, giving you confidence that you are up to date with everything we have recommended.
Further Information: Link to Nice Pathways
09/06/2011 Business Rules V20 now released
For a full summary on the changes which could affect you within this QoF year, book a place on one of our Changes To QoF Seminars 2011/2012.
The QOF Read Code Manuals are updated to reflect V19 and V20 changes to QoF.
Click on the 'E shop' tab at the top of this page to order.
Further Information: Click this link to go to pcc.nhs.uk
08/06/2011 PM scraps April 2013 deadline for commissioning handover to GPs
Prime Minister David Cameron has dramatically removed the 2013 deadline for GP consortia to take over full commissioning responsibility, saying GPs should only assume full control when they are 'good and ready'.
In a keynote address to health professionals at University College London Hospital, Mr Cameron scrapped Andrew Lansley’s April 2013 deadline for consortia to take on full commissioning responsibility.
In a speech the BMA said was a 'significant step in the right direction', Mr Cameron also pledged that other healthcare professionals would be involved in commissioning and that GPs will sit alongside nurses and consultants to review the integration of care in new 'clinical senates'.
The movement on the timetable for the transition comes after heavy pressure from Lib Dems to achieve concessions on the bill, with deputy prime minister Nick Clegg recently hinting strongly that the 2013 deadline for all GP consortia to assume control of NHS budgets was likely to be relaxed.
In a speech aimed at bolstering support for the coalition’s under-fire NHS reforms, the Prime Minister set out his five key pledges on the NHS that he vowed to be 'personally accountable' on, following the conclusion of the Government’s listening exercise last week.
His five pledges are:
- Not to endanger universal coverage - ensuring that it remains a NHS
- Not to break up or hinder efficient and integrated care, but to improve it
- Not to lose control of waiting times, ensuring they are kept low
- Not to cut spending on the NHS, but to increase it
- Not to sell-off the NHS but to ensure competition benefits patients.
He said: 'I’ve heard the concern that the direction is right but the pace is too fast.
Further Information: Click this link to read in full
05/06/2011 NHS Wales Link
Link to NHS Wales Quality and Outcomes framework
http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/page.cfm?orgid=480&pid=6063
Further Information: NHS Wales Website
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