Changes to Primary Care Trusts


Book Description

NHS Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) were created in 2002 to commission health services for their local populations, and are currently responsible for controlling about 80 per cent of the £76 billion NHS annual budget. In addition, PCTs have responsibility for public health, and many also provide community-based health services such as district nursing and community hospitals. The Committee's report examines the Government's proposals (set out in the Department of Health paper 'Commissioning a Patient-led NHS' published in July 2005, which can be downloaded at http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/11/67/17/04116717.pdf) to cut the number of PCTs and to contract out community health services by the end of 2008. The report raises a number of serious concerns about the proposals, including in relation to: failings in the consultation process; the impact of PCT restructuring and divestment of provider services; and the likelihood that the estimated financial savings of £250 million will be achieved.




Care Trusts


Book Description

This book explores the Care Trust concept promoted by central government for improving partnership working between health and social care. Using case studies and examples to raise current issues related to partnership working, it explains how Care Trusts are bridging the gap between health and social care, and considers how they are delivering more co-ordinated services and improved outcomes. All healthcare and social care professionals with responsibility for, involved in or affected by the new partnership working arrangements will find this book useful reading.







The Primary Care Trust Handbook


Book Description

This handbook describes how primary care trusts works as organizations and offers guidelines for present and future development through the process of change towards PCT status.




Clinical Governance in Primary Care


Book Description

Extending and amplifying the principles outlined in the first edition, this book provides a description of clinical governance in primary care by a panel of renowned leading contributors - based on practical examples on how clinical governance functions in Primary Care Trusts and teams.




Primary Care Trust Workforce


Book Description

Even though primary and community care managers face the same challenges as their hospital counterparts they’ve never had an equivalent range of methods for evaluating workforce size and mix. So this book aims to set the record straight by explaining community demand and supply side workforce planning and development. Eight chapters set out the main variables, from dependency and workload, activity and performance, staff education, recruitment and retention, before the most recent data are synthesised into a set of software-supported algorithms that managers can easily adopt. The book and software enable readers to not only compare their organisations with those in the same socio-economic group but also against ‘best-practice’ staffing and performance. Both help managers determine if their stock of workers is equitable, efficient and effective. Finally, a large annotated bibliography helps users locate relevant publications, and readers should look out for workshops in 2006 designed take them through the book’s methods.




Cultures For Performance In Health Care


Book Description

· What is organizational culture? · Do organizational cultures influence the performance of health care organizations? · Are organizational cultures capable of being managed to beneficial effect? Recent legislation in the United Kingdom has led to significant reforms within the health care system. Clinical quality, safety and performance have been the focus for improvement alongside systematic changes involving decision-making power being devolved to patients and frontline staff. However, as this book shows, improvements in performance are intrinsically linked to cultural changes within health care settings. Using theories from a wide range of disciplines including economics, management and organization studies, policy studies and the health sciences, this book sets out definitions of cultures and performance, in particular the specific characteristics that help or hinder performance. Case studies of high and low performing hospital trusts and primary care trusts are used to explore the links between culture and performance. These studies provide examples of strategies to create beneficial, high-performance cultures that may be used by other managers. Moreover, implications for future policies and research are outlined. Cultures for Performance in Health Careis essential reading for those with an interest in health care management and health policy including students, researchers, policy makers and health care professionals.




Healthy lives, healthy people


Book Description

The Government recognises that many lifestyle-driven health problems are at alarming levels: obesity; high rates of sexually transmitted infections; a relatively large population of drug users; rising levels of harm from alcohol; 80,000 deaths a year from smoking; poor mental health; health inequalities between rich and poor. This white paper outlines the Government's proposals to protect the population from serious health threats; help people live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives; and improve the health of the poorest. It aims to empower individuals to make healthy choices and give communities and local government the freedom, responsibility and funding to innovate and develop ways of improving public health in their area. The paper responds to Sir Michael Marmot's strategic review of health inequalities in England post 2010 - "Fair society, healthy lives" (available at http://www.marmotreview.org/AssetLibrary/pdfs/Reports/FairSocietyHealthyLives.pdf) and adopts its life course framework for tackling the wider social determinants of health. A new dedicated public health service - Public Health England - will be created to ensure excellence, expertise and responsiveness, particularly on health protection where a national response is vital. The paper gives a timetable showing how the proposals will be implemented and an annex sets out a vision of the role of the Director of Public Health. The Department is also publishing a fuller story on the health of England in "Our health and wellbeing today" (http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/@ps/documents/digitalasset/dh_122238.pdf), detailing the challenges and opportunities, and in 2011 will issue documents on major public health issues.




Financial Management in the NHS


Book Description

This report examines in detail the 2004-05 revenue situation of NHS organisations and considers key financial management and reporting issues facing the NHS both currently and in the future. Jointly prepared by the National Audit Office and the Audit Commission, the report incorporates the findings of their audit work on the NHS summarised accounts, the consolidated account of NHS foundation trusts, the Department of Health's resource account and the accounts of individual NHS organisations, as well as the unaudited NHS revenue out-turn for 2005-06 as reported by the Department of Health and Monitor. Findings include that in 2004-05, the Department reported a deficit across the NHS as a whole for the first time since 1999-2000, with an aggregate overspend for all NHS bodies of £251.2 million, with 171 out of 615 bodies recording a deficit or overspend, with 68 out of 259 NHS trusts failing to break even, and with 90 out of 303 primary care trusts exceeding their revenue resource limits.




Primary Care and Public Health


Book Description

Ensuring that members of society are healthy and reaching their full potential requires the prevention of disease and injury; the promotion of health and well-being; the assurance of conditions in which people can be healthy; and the provision of timely, effective, and coordinated health care. Achieving substantial and lasting improvements in population health will require a concerted effort from all these entities, aligned with a common goal. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) examine the integration of primary care and public health. Primary Care and Public Health identifies the best examples of effective public health and primary care integration and the factors that promote and sustain these efforts, examines ways by which HRSA and CDC can use provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to promote the integration of primary care and public health, and discusses how HRSA-supported primary care systems and state and local public health departments can effectively integrate and coordinate to improve efforts directed at disease prevention. This report is essential for all health care centers and providers, state and local policy makers, educators, government agencies, and the public for learning how to integrate and improve population health.




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