Our work is driven by our commitment to help independent sector providers work closer and more effectively with NHS organisations in delivering quality care to patients.
Network update: Recent meetings
Department of Health
NHS Partners Network (NHSPN) Director David Worskett recently met with Mark Britnell, Director General of Commissioning & System Management, Department of Health (DH) for a discussion on the role of the independent sector following the Darzi Report. The meeting followed Mark Britnell's recent letter outlining opportunities for ISPs arising from Lord Darzi's final report. The discussion allowed NHSPN to discuss the process for ensuring that SHAs will be able to fulfil the broader economic and 'market making' roles being given to them. The letter also covered the DH's plans for a review of the role of the Commercial Department following Chan Wheeler's departure; the nature of likely IS involvement in the primary care sector and the need to continue the dialogue with the investor community initiated by NHSPN earlier in the summer.
British Medical Association
David Worskett and senior clinicians from NHSPN met with Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chair, British Medical Association and his colleagues to discuss a variety of issues including the new Care Quality Commission, development of IS clinical outcomes data and the implementation of 'free choice'. It was a productive meeting and the two groups have agreed to schedule further discussions on all of these topics.
Membership meetings
David Worskett will also be speaking at the next round of NHS Confederation membership meetings. David will be speaking at the south west, east of England and west Midlands meetings. Visit the membership meetings page on our website for more information.
Other events
The Liberal Democrat Health Spokesman Norman Lamb MP attended the NHSPN's quarterly dinner in July. Mr Lamb was strongly supportive of the Network's goals and approach.
Matt James, Group External Affairs Director, Nuffield Health, recently attended the Confederation's Joint Medical Consultants Committee dinner to discuss doctors' training and careers.
Dr Massoud Fouladi, Circle, took part in the June Healthcare Commission dinner that reviewed the reports on maternity services and the HCC after three years, and discussed the transition to the new Care Quality Commission.
NHSPN will be hosting breakfast meetings at all three major party conferences this autumn.
Independent sector Data/Benchmarking project
The Independent Healthcare Advisory Services (IHAS) and the NHSPN are working jointly on the establishment of a sector wide approach to the collection and analysis of patient level outcome data. Good progress is being made and we expect to be able to report the position fully by the end of August. We will be feeding back to our members on this project and calling for their input into it at a later stage. For more information contact Leah Bevington, Policy Manager, NHS Partners Network on leah.bevington@nhsconfed.org
Advertising and Promotion of NHS Funded Services
In April 2008 the NHS Code of Practice for the Promotion of NHS-funded services was launched. The code states that advertisers must comply with the Committee of Advertising Practices (CAP) codes. In order to support this, CAP recently held a seminar for marketing personnel to help them understand the regulatory framework and code requirements. For our independent sector members who would find it helpful the presentation is available to download on the left hand side of this page in the publications column.
