20 February 2009

Ambitious programme will help improve local health and well-being

NHS South Gloucestershire has today published its first ‘assurance’ report for world class commissioning, a ground-breaking development programme designed to deliver significant benefits for local people. The PCT is responsible for purchasing healthcare for all those living in South Gloucestershire and this is known within the NHS as “commissioning”.

The programme takes best practice from this country, and from health systems around the world, to help PCTs commission services in the most effective way. Effective, best practice commissioning will ensure that the health services that are provided provide to patients are as good as they can be, and match local needs, improve health and well-being and reduce health inequalities across South Gloucestershire.

Today’s assurance report follows assessment of NHS South Gloucestershire’s progress over the first year of the five-year development programme. It reviews NHS South Gloucestershire’s performance in three key areas: its progress on addressing local health priorities, its commissioning capabilities and the effectiveness of its management arrangements.

In the first year of this programme, NHS South Gloucestershire has an average rating of 1.6 out of a maximum of 4. Nationally, the expectation of the programme was that most PCTs would be assessed between level 1 and level 2 in the first year, and the PCT’s assessment is therefore in line with these expectations. Like all other PCTs across the country, NHS South Gloucestershire has received an initial assessment of progress, accompanied by detailed guidance and recommendations on areas to work on to help it evolve into a world class organisation.

The report notes strengths in working with our community partners and innovation in improving local services but also highlights the need to enhance progress in areas such as delivering a more targeted approach to delivering health priorities and gathering more information about our services to identifying where we need to invest next in order to meet our goals of improving health and well-being and reducing health inequalities in the local community.

Penny Harris, Chief Executive of NHS South Gloucestershire, said: “Our job is to improve the health of all those living in South Gloucestershire and this assessment of how we work will help us to do this. In this first year of the development programme, WCC recognises that we are improving local health services and that we work well with local GPs and South Gloucestershire Council and it also recommends areas where we need to improve. This is unlikely to mean much to the average member of the public but essentially it is a very useful tool that will help us to use our resources better and enable us to work better.”

The full assurance report for NHS South Gloucestershire is available at www.sglos-pct.nhs.uk

For further information, please contact Sue Pratt, Communications Manager, NHS South Gloucestershire, on 0117 330 2499 (mobile 07502 184 701).

Notes to editors

1 About world class commissioning

‘Commissioning’ is the process through which Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) assess local health needs, identify the services required to best meet those needs, and then buy those services from potential healthcare providers. World class commissioning (WCC) is a new, ground-breaking approach to this task. It takes best practice from this country, and from health systems around the world to help PCTs commission services in the most effective way. It is designed to ensure delivery of better services which are more closely matched to local needs, resulting in better quality of care, improved health and well-being and a reduction in health inequalities.

Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are leading the way in delivering this new approach in practice, as part of their role as leaders of the local NHS. In conjunction with partners, other healthcare providers and the community more widely, they have established strategic plans based on priorities identified through analysis of the long-term health and care needs of their local community. These five-year strategic plans will ensure that resources are allocated in the most effective way possible, resulting in improvements in health of the local population and better services for patients. For more information on world class commissioning, visit: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyourorganisation/Commissioning/Worldclasscommissioning/index.htm

About the assurance process

The assurance process is the means by which PCTs are assessed and given guidance on making progress towards the goals of the world class commissioning programme. The assurance process is designed to be robust and challenging, helping each PCT review progress and identify areas for development. It combines a review of local data, feedback from local audiences, self-assessment and validation through an external panel (including the Strategic Health Authority, the Chief Executive of another PCT, a clinician, a local council representative and an independent international healthcare expert). Because world class commissioning is such an ambitious programme, PCTs are not expected to score highly in this first year.

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