The report outlines examples of good practice in provision of health care services to offenders in prison and the community. The examples have been drawn from surveys, internet search and individual submissions. From all of the documents and sources reviewed, over 400 were selected as potential examples of good practice. The examples have been distilled from that selection and form the results of the survey.
(Published July 2007, 81 pages)
Recent years have seen great changes in the accountability of different parts of the NHS as alternative providers have become an increasingly visible part of the healthcare landscape. This latest report from Durham University is therefore very timely in its analysis of the wide variety of organisations characterised as social enterprises and their approaches to involving staff, public and patients.
(Published July 2007, 63 pages)
This report sets out our findings on: the extent and nature of the voluntary sector's delivery of public services; the locally perceived impact of government efforts to build capacity; the current state of commissioning; and procurement practice. The report is primarily for managers in local councils who are responsible for commissioning services, but it will also be of interest to voluntary organisations and national policymakers.
(Published July 2007, 76 pages)
This paper argues that effective joint commissioning between health and social care is a necessary component of the government's plans for adult services manifest in the policies of its 2006 white paper, 'Our health, our care, our say'.
Journal of Care Services Management 2007; 1 (3) p. 279-93
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Strategic Health Asset Planning and Evaluation toolkit (SHAPE) has been developed by the Department of Health for SHAs and PCTs. SHAPE is a web enabled, evidence based tool designed to support and inform strategic planning. It brings together existing national data sets of clinical activity, human geography and healthcare estate assets supported by Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology.
This paper presents a conceptual framework that is expected to facilitate comprehensive, rigorous, and standardized evaluation of contracting-out at health system level.
Health Policy 2007; 82 (2) p. 200-11
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As the primary care landscape changes following recent proposals for expansion and greater services, astute individuals and teams are taking the opportunity to expand their horizons.
Management in Practice 2007; 8 p. 26-27
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The purpose of this Primary Care Service Framework is to equip commissioners, providers and practitioners with the necessary background knowledge, service and implementation details to safely commission and deliver a high quality, integrated service for the management of health for people with learning disabilities in primary care.
(Website)
South West Primary Care Leads Network Event: PBC & Pharmacy
New university-accredited programme: Advanced Commissioning
Delivering the 18 week pathway; Update
Practice based commissioning and 18 weeks: How to create win-wins
Improving services and support for people with dementia
Dental Commissioning and Contract Monitoring
How can funding of long-term care adapt for an ageing population?
This briefing bulletin will help directors of children’s services and senior managers with lead responsibility for strategic commissioning to improve outcome for children and young people by developing more robust commissioning arrangements. The briefing is informed by a study seminar sponsored by the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA), the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and Research in Practice (RiP). Discussion at the seminar was wide ranging; it provided a rich source of information and practical suggestions. The seminar confirmed that strategic commissioning is a complex process and that directors of children’s services need to play a lead role in championing new approaches. Commissioning must focus on outcomes – and this is a different and challenging way of designing and performance-managing services.
(Published July 2007, 20 pages)
This guidance provides assistance in influencing the commissioning process for nurses who manage and lead children’s and young people’s services. As children’s nurses, it is our professional duty to monitor the quality of services provided to children and their families and influence processes for service enhancements. Commissioning processes are continually evolving, and this document will provide information and support to help you influence the development of effective, efficient and appropriate high quality services for your area.
(Published May 2004, 20 pages)
The Laming Inquiry, followed by the publication of Every Child Matters, heralded the start of a debate that would bring about the most significant changes to the provision of Children’s Services for a generation. This document seeks to bring together core principles and challenges, as well as evidence of good practice. We hope it will help professionals in all sectors to share a common understanding of commissioning and the role of voluntary sector plays at the moment and has the potential to play in the future, as we progress our shared goal of improving children’s outcomes.
(Published 2004, 35 pages)
The framework aims to help local planners and commissioners to design a unified system in each local area which will create a clear picture of what children and young people need, will make the best use of resources, and will join up services so they provide better outcomes than they can on their own. The framework is designed for people working in all sectors of children, young people and maternity services including political leaders, senior management, planners, commissioners, providers, corporate procurement, finance, legal and other support staff, central and regional government officials.
(Published 2006, 36 pages)
This self-assessment tool is designed to assist PCTs and their partners in assessing their knowledge and capability to commission children's and young people's services. It reflects the importance of effective partnerships in commissioning the integrated services, which are fundamental to the improved outcomes of services for children and young people.
(Published April 2007)
This paper examines commissioning processes for drug services in the case of vulnerable young people. In the context of government's modernisation agenda it characterises drug service commissioning as an activity that should occur across professional boundaries in health, social care, local authority and crime agencies.
Drugs education prevention and policy, 2003, 10 (3) p. 251-262
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What will a shake-up of children's services mean for joint commissioning bodies? Amanda Reid provides an overview.
Care and Health Magazine, 2005 Suppl., (105) p. 17-18
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The Children and Young People's Plan (CYPP) is an important element of the Every Child Matters reform programme. It has been a powerful force in driving forward better local integration of children's services and the development of local partnership arrangements.
A series of 12 papers that presents the findings from NFER’s analysis of Children and Young People’s Plans (CYPPs) were produced. Number 3 Commissioning and Resourcing in Children and Young People’s Plans sets out how aspects of commissioning and resources feature in CYPP and includes illustrative examples.
This document provides best practice guidance for commissioners and providers on how the roll-out of free choice in elective care in 2007/8 will operate. It supplements existing guidance on choice at referral policy and implementation by setting out a framework to govern the further extension of choice in 2007/08.
(May 2007, 16 pages)
This document evaluates the NHS Institute’s Care Closer to Home Programme, which ran from November 2005 to March 2007. It identifies the factors that helped or hindered progress in shifting care outside hospital, and the lessons for the NHS from the experience of field test sites. The NHS Institute’s Care Closer to Home Programme
was established in 2005 to explore the scope for bringing about shifts in care within the NHS. Following an observation phase that ran from November 2005 to February 2006, the NHS Institute selected five healthcare communities to act as field test sites. In these five sites, 14 projects were identified to provide the focus for the programme.
This report summarises the main findings of the evaluation and the lessons for the NHS. It notes that almost all the 14 projects have started to test the scope for making shifts in care, with some getting underway more quickly than others.
(May 2007, 49 pages)
The Government has set out its vision for a Sure Start Children's Centre in early community. Children's centres offer significant opportunities for improving children's health and ensuring that families are able to access the information, support and services they need to help their child to thrive and achieve their full potential. The purpose of this document is to increase PCTs awareness of the childrens’ centres agenda and the opportunities it provides.
(June 2007, 30 pages)
This document aims to help Local Pharmaceutical Committees think through the action they should be taking to assist community pharmacy contractors understand and engage with Practice Based Commissioning (PBC). As well as providing background information on the place of PBC in current policy, it provides practical suggestions.
The NHS has undergone many reforms over the past decade. To test out where the reforms – and interactions between them – might lead the NHS, the King’s Fund formed a partnership with Loop2, Monitor and Nuffield Hospitals to produce Windmill 2007. This initiative included a two-day simulation of a fictional but realistic health economy from 2008 to 2011 and extensive discussions of the emerging findings from that event with clinicians, managers, policy-makers, regulators and analysts.
(June 2007, 80 pages)
This report sets out a rational way forward to secure the long-term future of the NHS in England. The main body is divided into two sections, on: a) where and why the reform programme is going wrong; b) the BMA’s rational way forward for health service reform in England.
(May 200, 82 pages)
A Practice Based Commissioning (PBC) Comparators website is launched nationally this month. The benchmarking service uses existing data sources from The Information Centre and NHS Connecting for Health Secondary Uses Service, standardises it for population and breaks it down by GP practice to show activity and referral patterns and outcomes for a number of key conditions.
This guidance provides advice on strategic commissioning of sedation services, together with advice on some transitional issues where PCTs have sought clarification of existing guidance. (June 2007, 14 pages)
A toolkit to enable PCT commissioners plan and commission high-quality TB services for their local population. (June 2007, 60 pages)
This paper sets out the tools and levers now available for practice based commissioners to provide more services in the community.
Journal of Care Services Management 2007; 1 (3): 245-251
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major cause of disability, morbidity and mortality in old age. Patients with advanced stage COPD are most likely to be admitted three to four times per year with acute exacerbations of COPD (AECOPD) which are costly to manage.
PBC has the potential to increase the quality and range of services available to patients, but PCTs must exercise caution to avoid conflicts of interest.
HSJ, 2007; 117 (6057): 14-15
Health Management Specialist Library: Demand Management, referral from primary to secondary care
NHS Costing Manual: 2006-07
The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care
Focus On Commissioning - End of Life Care: A Commissioning Perspective
Estimating health and productivity gains in England from selected interventions
Dental Commissioning and Contract Monitoring - General Commissioning
Practice Based Commissioning (PBC) Bulletin 5 – Pharmacy and PBC
Commissioning News
This briefing paper is intended for use by managers and professionals who are either involved in the direct management and delivery of integrated services in England, or the commissioning of these services. The paper provides an overview of the scope of public health practice, outlines some of the tools and techniques that might be used in designing and evaluating integrated services, and explains how they might be used as a lever for change and service improvement. The paper includes case studies showing how public health techniques can be applied, and links to further resources and material for those interested in developing a more detailed understanding of public health practice.
(Published May 2007, 52 pages)
Our health, our care, our say - a new direction for community services reinforced the importance of services provided by healthcare professionals working in community settings, and both Practitioners with Special Interests (PwSIs) and NHS specialist staff have a key role in the delivery of such services. This updated national guidance aims to provide practical support to commissioners for the provision of more specialised services closer to home with the emphasis on the role of PwSIs. It also includes new robust governance arrangements for GPs and Pharmacists with Special Interests to ensure the services in which they work are safe, of a high quality and better able to meet patients’ needs in the communities in which they are located.
(Published May 2007)
King’s Fund: Although practice-based commissioning (PBC) receives widespread support among the main political parties and NHS stakeholder groups, implementation of this policy has been slow. The NHS now boasts ’universal coverage’ of PBC but in practice this means it has created an environment in which PBC could flourish rather than one in which it is flourishing. This paper considers the current state of PBC implementation and how it might be driven forward within the NHS. Drawing on the results of a ‘straw poll’ of GPs and practice managers, the paper outlines a course of action that the NHS could adopt to move PBC from a good idea to effective practice.
(Published May 2007, 16 pages)
(Press Release)
The Department of Health document: Specification of the provision of psychological therapies by commissioner-led pilot sites. Organisations are invited to tender for participation in pathfinder sites based on the specification and demonstrate how and when they will meet the specifications contained within the document.
(Published May 2007)
Everyone in society has the right to make a difference within their local community, but some can be restricted by their mental health problems. This document, by CSIP Choice and Access Team, describes services that provide everyone with depression and anxiety disorders with access to the right treatment. It also sets out the learning so far from the demonstration sites. It is intended to be used to inform the development of a further 10 Pathfinder sites. Other commissioners who wish to review their current services and consider improvements to their services can also use it.
(Published May 2007, 32 pages)
Zosia Kmietowicz states GPs and practice managers in England are struggling to implement practice based commissioning, a survey shows, because of problems getting support and information from their primary care trusts.
BMJ 2007;334:1079
The introduction of practice-based commissioning [PbC] has meant a new set of challenges - and responsibilities - for the practice manager. The need to oversee clinical delivery demands a new relationship with the community and with local hospitals. Christine Ranson, a practice manager in the West Midlands, relates how PbC has impacted on both her surgery and her job.
Management in Practice 2007; 6 : 19-21
The aim of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of four risk-lowering interventions (smoking cessation, antihypertensives, aspirin, and statins) in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSIONS: A cost-effective strategy should offer smoking cessation for smokers and aspirin for moderate and high levels of risk among men 45 years of age and older. Statin therapy is the most expensive option in primary prevention at levels of 10-year coronary heart disease risk below 30 percent and should not constitute the first choice of treatment in these populations.
Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2007 Winter;23(1):71-9.
The national director for diabetes sets out how services are changing to meet the needs of patients, and how they need to change in the future. Clinicians in primary and secondary care need to work together and work in partnership with patients to improve care for people with diabetes.
(Published May 2007, 16 pages)
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