Correspondence

Independent provider bulletin: January 2016

Published 28 January 2016

Applies to England

1. For information

1.1 Update on the 2016/17 national tariff and current draft prices

Ahead of the 2016/17 national tariff statutory consultation in February, we’ve published current draft prices and an update that includes:

• proposed payment currencies
• the proposed tariff efficiency rate
• indicative prices for 2016/17

If you have any queries, please email pricing@monitor.gov.uk.

1.2 Considerations for determining local health and care economies

You may find our recent research on defining the boundaries of local health and care systems of interest. We’ve also produced a mapping table which shows how the administrative boundaries of different health bodies and local authorities relate to each other, including the local health and care economies identified, based on our analysis of funding flows.

2. Events

2.1 Whistleblowing employment support scheme workshop

London, Tuesday 23 February

Who is it for?

Employers, regulators and whistleblowers.

Why attend?

To help implement the recommendations from Robert Francis’s Freedom to speak up report, NHS England, Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) are running this workshop to bring together employers, regulators and whistleblowers and discuss what an employment support scheme could look like. The aim of the scheme is to help whistleblowers, who have lost their jobs as a result of raising a concern, to return to work.

If you are interested in attending or would like to find out more about the workshop, please email alison.kirk5@nhs.net.

3. External updates

3.1 From NHS Choices: resources you can share to support hospital discharge

NHS Choices has a range of resources for both patients and staff to support hospital discharge. This useful summary on choosing care services includes homecare, care homes, funding aspects and links to further information. NHS Choices also describes the housing options available for people. Please share these resources with your patients and colleagues.

3.2 From NHS England: medical directors, patient safety leads and clinicians - reminder of the requirements to report and investigate hospital-associated VTE

Following a venous thromboembolism (VTE) related patient safety incident, Dr Mike Durkin, NHS England Director of Patient Safety, has written to all clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) requesting them to routinely ensure their providers are complying with all of the requirements relating to VTE in the NHS standard contract.

Ahead of contact from your CCG, please read the letter and its appendix to remind yourselves of the contractual obligations in relation to compliance with NICE guidance (CG92, CG144, QS3), and the context in which learning from the investigation of all cases of hospital-associated thrombosis should be applied to continue to improve outcomes for patients and prevent avoidable harm.

3.3 From NHS England: new RTT webpage

The NHS Constitution sets out that patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from GP referral to treatment (RTT). To support this NHS England has launched a dedicated RTT webpage, providing a central collection of resources for providers, commissioners, and the public. It offers access to best practice support and guidance on:

• recording and reporting
• non-reporting
• reviewing patient pathways
• maximum waiting times
• NHS Interim Management and Support (IMAS) and elective care

3.4 From NHS England: share your story on critical incidents or Never Events

NHS England is running 5 free workshops with the Patient Voices programme for NHS staff to create digital stories based on their real experiences of working in healthcare. These short video stories will be published on the Patient Voices website to help NHS organisations understand better how to support staff and encourage reflection and learning.

Each workshop runs over 3 days and will be held in a venue near Cambridge, between February and April 2016. Please email pip@pilgrimprojects.co.uk or tony@pilgrimprojects.co.uk for more details.

3.5 From the CQC: Dame Eileen Sills DBE announced as the first National Guardian for freedom to speak up in the NHS

Dame Eileen, Chief Nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, will help to lead a cultural change so that healthcare staff always feel confident and supported to raise concerns about patient care.

Find out more about the role of the national guardian and what it could mean for you and your organisation as we strive towards the NHS having a truly safe and open culture.

4. Getting in touch

4.1 Questions or feedback

If you have any questions about the information in this bulletin, please email licensing@monitor.gov.uk.

4.2 News alerts

You can subscribe to Monitor’s news update service which is a convenient way for you to receive relevant information direct to your inbox.

4.3 Publications

All of our publications for independent providers are available to download from our website.

4.4 Our latest job opportunities

For more information or to apply, please visit our recruitment website joinmonitor.com.