This will be followed by two larger QIPP summits for clinicians and commissioners in London and Wakefield in June.

QIPP roadshow Newcastle

Our final roadshow takes place on 21 May at the Village Hotel, Newcastle. Attendees can expect to look at local HES data and get bite-sized ideas for how to improve pathways and quality of care whilst reducing unnecessary spend.

QIPP summits

These bigger events will showcase best practice from around the country and discuss how better commissioning and services for people with neurological conditions can help meet QIPP (Quality, Improvement, Prevention and Productivity) objectives.

The London summit will take place on 12 June at at Mary Ward House WC1 and the Wakefield event on 13 June at Cedar Court Hotel, which is just off the M1.

How to book

For more information or to book a place at any of these events, please contact Duncan Gillett, our
Events Officer.

If you work for a charity and would like to find out how NCS can mentor you in working with commissioners, contact Charlie Peel or call 020 8438 0715. We have a small number of fully funded opportunities for support.

On Twitter? Join the debate under the hashtag #commissionbetter and follow us @NeuroCSupport. We’ll post whenever a new resource is available.

Join us

Are you a commissioner or clinician based in the area? We can’t measure progress without your local knowledge. Come along on 9 or 10 May to help us identify what gaps still exist and what we need to do. The events are in workshop form, led by an NCS facilitator.

Email Alex Ehmcke to book a place.

Service user consultation

NCS is also running four public focus groups in partnership with the Gloucestershire Neurological Alliance for anyone affected by a long-term neurological condition.

We’re inviting local people to come along and tell us how they think services are doing and what still needs to change. Please spread the word to anyone using services in the area.

Read more about our work in Gloucestershire.

NCS has been awarded new funding to mentor three charities, or groups of charities, so they can develop commissioning support – and thus improve health and social care services for the people they represent.

We’re looking for organisations who would like to bring the voices of those they support to commissioning, learn more about service design, and start influencing service planning and delivery.

Charities who share our vision of a future where people are better supported to manage their own condition, in the way that they want to.

Does this sound like you?

• Do you already provide some form of commissioning support and want to extend this?
• Perhaps you already have the skills needed but don’t know how to ‘get into the system’?
• Or maybe you are looking for resources to help you start engaging commissioners?

We are running an introductory event in London on 8 May to explain more and share some of our learning face to face. Read the event programme and see who’s speaking.

If you like what you hear, you can then apply to join the project.

To register for the event, or to find out more about being mentored by NCS, please email Charlie Peel or call 020 8438 0715.

We’ll also gradually add resources here.

Sue Thomas, our Chief Executive, is speaking at a Staffordshire Neurological Alliance (SNA) event on 15 May alongside representatives from Stafford and Surrounds Clinical Commissioning Group and Mid Staffs NHS Trust.

The meeting will focus on how to achieve high quality neurological services, including the provider’s perspective and how commissioners can work with the third sector.

There will also be a workshop led by the SNA to review local progress over the last two years.

To book a place please email Dr Steve Searle, Vice-Chair, SNA. The event will take place at Stafford General Hospital.

We will use the money to extend the benefits of user-led commissioning support to other health sector charities – through a programme of mentorship, training, support and hands-on experience.

‘When you put patients at the heart of decision-making about their own care and treatment, you get services which are not only better, but more cost-effective as well,’ said Sue Thomas, Chief Executive of NCS.

‘The approach works well for people who have neurological conditions, and we think it can work with other conditions too.’

Voluntary sector expertise

Sue Thomas also stressed the importance of voluntary sector expertise:

‘Voluntary sector organisations have a wealth of knowledge and expertise in their own fields, and direct access to the populations that CCGs are now commissioning for.

They can bring the voice of service users into the commissioning arena, as well as bringing innovative solutions to service delivery which can drive up quality whilst eliminating unnecessary spending.’

Paul Burstow MP, Minister of State for Care Services, said:

‘This new funding will improve the lives of thousands of people across England, helping them to lead healthier and more independent lives. It is crucial that we continue to champion our voluntary organisations, because their expertise allows them to design and develop innovative solutions to the big challenges we face in health, public health and social care.

NCS ideally placed

The grant comes as a report from the Public Accounts Committee has criticised neurology services as falling ‘well below’ the standard set out by the Department of Health in 2005.

Steve Ford, Chair of the Neurological Alliance, said: ‘With its expert knowledge of neurological conditions and some of the best practice nationally for treatment and care, NCS is ideally placed to help bring about the changes that the Public Accounts Committee is calling for.’

Read our full press release

A team of five marketing students will be interviewing stakeholders, attending NCS events and drawing up a strategy that captures how we can reach all the right people to make a real difference to neurology services. The team are all MA students in either Marketing or Marketing Communications.

Got an opinion on this? We’d love to hear from commissioners and clinicians who have advice to share. If you would like to contribute, please contact Alex Ehmcke who will put you in touch with the team.

Keep an eye on this page to see how the work is progressing.

Get e-QIPP-ed for Neurology: Positive practice in service redesign is packed with examples from around the country of how to improve neurology services in a way that achieves QIPP.

We hope you find it useful!

Sue Thomas, our CEO

So asks NCS Chief Executive Sue Thomas in this month’s Primary Health Care.

A recent National Audit Office report revealed the Department of Health has been spending millions of pounds on unnecessary hospital admissions for neurology.

Alongside our partner charities and the Neurological Alliance, NCS is urging the government to implement the changes recommended in the report. The most important change is a targeted and properly resourced national outcomes strategy for neurology.