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.

The role can be taken on either a freelance basis or a temporary employee contract. Find out more.

Our commissioning roadshow visited Birmingham on 9 February. Delegates included nine clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and PCT clusters, and local neurologists.

The event explored how to achieve QIPP – quality, innovation, productivity and prevention – for neurology.

Attendees heard how to achieve QIPP through simple interventions that both save money (productivity) AND improve service users’ experiences (quality). Avoiding costly emergency admissions (prevention) was a big theme. We also showcased innovative ideas from different local areas (innovation).

Data

Taking action

Many commissioners who came to the roadshow decided to take clear action to achieve QIPP.

• Three CCGs plan to submit business plans for specialist nurses.
• CCG GP leads in Telford will be exploring how NCS could give tailored support with their neurology commissioning.
• Delegates wanted to share good practice locally. They explored the idea of setting up a neurology clinical network, as well as a Regional Neurological Alliance in the Black Country.

Great local practice

We heard about some great local practice already happening in the area. Dudley CCG has a QIPP neurology programme, and is developing a risk stratification tool for neurology patients.

The Staffordshire Neurological Alliance, Parkinson’s UK and the MND Association gave a local voluntary sector perspective on services.

We are currently recruiting for a Regional Commissioning Advisor to work in the north of England. The closing date is 5 March 2012.

Read on for highlights so far and how to book a place at one of these free events.

Roadshow topics

At each roadshow, we showcase best practice that delegates can adapt for their own local area, plus tools like Neuronavigator that demystify neurology commissioning.

We have also been distributing ‘neurology performance profiles’. These take HES data from NHS comparators to show how an area is performing against national statistics. The data and costs came as a shock to many delegates!

Our speakers highlighted ways people could modify and improve practice, such as with a nurse specialist or care co-ordinator.

As one delegate put it: ‘It was very inspirational … it made me realise that NCS could really help us move forward’.

E- ‘QIPP’-ing people for action

Delegates decided to take action in a number of areas:

• One group agreed that staff in ‘planned care’ needed to liaise with colleagues in urgent care, instead of planning in isolation.
• Some delegates committed to looking at coding issues now that they understood more about the data.
• Participants from Sussex set a target to reduce emergency admissions by 15% and will investigate specific conditions within this.
• Parkinson’s nurses in one area decided to develop admin support to free up more clinical time.

Join us

Want to look at ways to make changes like this? Join us. The roadshows are aimed at commissioners, QIPP leads, clinicians and service planners and full dates are here.

Contact Duncan Gillett, NCS Events Officer, to book a place.

‘There are some well developed offers emerging from the voluntary sector such as Neurological Commissioning Support that other organisations can learn from.’

This was reported in Pulse Today, and came on the back of news that the Stroke Association plans to support commissioners by contributing both data and expertise.

The charity will use audit data to show GPs how to keep people who have had a stroke out of hospital through early intervention. It also plans to use its expertise to get patients’ voices better represented and involved in commissioning.

The Stroke Association has reportedly decided not to offer ‘formal’ commissioning support to CCGs due to the complexities involved.

The Department of Health also said they would be engaging with voluntary and third sector organisations in the coming year to explore how we can all expand our role in commissioning support.

Read more about how we support commissioners.

This comes in the wake of the damning report into neurology services in England by the National Audit Office.

Neurology tsar and strategy needed

We’re calling for a targeted and properly resourced national outcomes strategy for neurological conditions. There also needs to be a national clinical director for neurology to oversee the strategy, drive improvements, and ensure that neurological services receive due attention amidst structural changes and beyond.

As Steve Ford, Chief Executive of Parkinson’s UK, puts it:

‘We need a leader to champion improvements – a neurology tsar, if you like, backed up with a plan and a strategy. When diabetes, cancer and stroke were assigned tsars, things really started to happen.’

Simon Gillespie, Chair of NCS and Chief Executive of the MS Society, said:

‘The Government now needs to send a clear message to everyone living with a neurological condition that these services are a priority, not at the bottom of a long list. That’s why we’re calling for a national outcomes strategy for neurological conditions – so that taxpayers’ money is better spent and people’s lives improve as a result.’

In his role as Chair of the Neurological Alliance, Steve Ford is giving evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday 18 January 2012, to highlight problems with current services and put forward solutions for the future of neurology. He is speaking on behalf of Parkinson’s UK, the MS Society, the MND Association and Neurological Commissioning Support.

The report found that despite an £800 million increase in spending on neurological services since 2006, both quality of care and availability of vital services remain patchy. Help us raise awareness of these concerns.

Together with our partner charities and the Neurological Alliance, we’re calling on the government to introduce a national strategy for neurology with clear clinical leadership, to prevent unnecessary spend, help commissioners provide the best services they can, and get a fair deal for everyone affected by a neurological condition.

We need the help of all commissioners and clinicians to raise awareness of these concerns amongst MPs.

Email your MP now – it only takes a minute.

This project was commissioned by the PSP Association and is part of NCS’s work to support and give higher profile to rarer long-term neurological conditions.

 The PSP Year of Care pathway

This pathway model gives health and social care professionals national guidance on PSP for the very first time. It can be used as both a model of best practice and an educational tool.

The model had detailed input from people living with PSP, consultants and clinicians. It breaks PSP down into four stages and shows:

• the different ways this complex condition can develop
• the impact PSP has on a person’s life overall
• what support and services are needed at each stage

The pathway also includes a yearly budget. This is built from a series of assumptions about service usage: things like when somebody may need to visit a neurologist, the type of appointment they will need and the likely cost of this.

This model will provide a framework for professionals and commissioners to deliver the right services, in the right way, at the right time, for people with PSP. The PSP Association will also use it to inform some of their future work.

For more information about this project or how we support rarer long-term neurological conditions, please contact Charlie Peel, NCS Project Officer.

Get e-’QIPP’-ed for neurology!

The events are aimed at clinical commissioning leads, QIPP leads, commissioners and service planners.

At the roadshows, we’ll demystify neurology commissioning, look at data and help you identify potential cost savings. We’ll also showcase tools to help effective commissioning, such as Neuronavigator, and innovative ideas from other areas that you could put into practice locally.

What is QIPP?

QIPP stands for Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention and is a current buzzword in the NHS. It’s a framework for looking at how the NHS can deliver efficiency savings whilst maintaining or improving quality.

Roadshow details

The first event was in the East of England (Peterborough) on 9 November. The roadshow is visiting:

• Manchester – 24 January 2012
• Taunton – 25 January 2012
• Brighton – 31 January 2012
• Southampton – 1 February 2012
• Birmingham – 8 February 2012
• London – 9 February 2012
• Sheffield – 28 February 2012
• Nottingham – 29 February 2012

To book your free place, please email your roadshow choice, job title and organisation details to Duncan Gillett.

Read more about how we support commissioners.