Press release: Independent providers are making a difference in the NHS
15 Jun 2006
The NHS Confederation today publishes a report that shows the difference that independent sector providers are making in the NHS.
The report shows the independent sector providing innovative services that make a real difference to patient care and help cut waiting times, reduce length of stay in hospital and save the NHS money.
Independent providers...making a difference features a range of independent providers - voluntary, commercial and not for profit - and shows how they are benefiting NHS patients.
The report features the independent sector treating people with long-term conditions, providing care in the community, delivering mental health services as well as performing operations and diagnostic testing on behalf of the NHS - all free at the point of entry.
Independent sector treatment of NHS patients is not a new phenomenon. GPs as well as ophthalmic and pharmacy services have all largely been provided by independent contractors since the NHS was formed in 1948. The report brings this story up to date by showing the breadth and depth of NHS care provided by the independent sector in the modern NHS.
Dr Gill Morgan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:
"This report brings alive the real difference that independent providers are making to NHS patients. Like their NHS colleagues, the independent sector is making significant and wide-ranging improvements to the lives of NHS patients through the care they provide.
"As we look forward to the future, all providers of care to NHS patients face challenges as they respond to complex patient needs in a timely, cost-effective way using increasingly sophisticated ways of working in different settings.
"All these challenges have to be met at the same time as responding to new organisational arrangements and new policy initiatives. As we undergo this period of significant change in the NHS, we mustn't forget that all providers of care - NHS, commercial, voluntary and not-for-profit - are focused on improving the lives of patients."
Mark Smith, Group Strategy Director at Mercury Health and co-chair of the affiliates' forum, said:
"It's all too easy to underestimate how many organisations, that are not traditionally thought of as part of the NHS, are providing care free at the point of delivery to NHS patients."
Yvonne Lewis, Director of Clinical Services at the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability, said:
"The independent sector - including commercial, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations such as the Royal Hospital for Neuro-disability - has a vital role to play in the provision of NHS services, and in the development of new and innovative services for the future that make a difference at both a local and national level.
"Paul Ward, Deputy Chief Executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said:
"In partnership with the NHS, charities like Terrence Higgins Trust are helping to deliver real improvements in patient care by diagnosing and treating groups of people who are traditionally hard-to-reach and are less likely to engage in traditional NHS services."
The NHS Confederation has hosted a group of independent sector providers of NHS services since 2004.
The affiliate membership scheme, as it is currently known, reflects the increasing diversity of service providers in the modern NHS. There are now 48 affiliate members including voluntary, not-for-profit and commercial providers of NHS services.
A selection of the case-studies featured in the report.
Further information and interviews are available on request.
RNID has worked in partnership with the Department of Health to radically change NHS hearing aid services. The £125m programme to modernise all 160 audiology departments in England has benefited over 800,000 people through the fitting of digital hearing aids. The programme has achieved significant cost savings for the NHS and RNID have also worked with the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency to reduce the cost of a digital hearing aid to the NHS from £2,500 to an average of £100.
Rethink, a national mental health charity, is working with Doncaster and South Humber NHS Trust and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council to provider the Rotherham Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment service. The service offers treatment at home for people with mental health problems as well as rapid access to 'crisis' beds, helping to minimise the effects of mental health problems. Since it opened in 2004, positive feedback has been received and the service is on target to save 3,400 bed days.
Terrence Higgins Trust runs community HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing services across England, providing additional capacity and a range of alternatives to NHS GUM services. They provide testing in existing GUM clinics as well as in convenient community settings such as leisure centres. In two years, THT have tested over 2,500 patients and are actively reducing the number of undiagnosed cases.
Partnership Health Group's Peninsula NHS Treatment Centre has introduced an innovative blood conservation service that processes and cleans a patient's own blood during and after surgery and then re-transfuses it to the patient. The process helps patients to recover from surgery more quickly and effectively - up to 3 days quicker after knee and hip surgery. By treating a patients' own blood in this way, their haemoglobin levels are enhanced and so recovery time is quicker, reducing the likelihood of hospital readmission.
The Horder Centre, a charitable organisation comprising a nursing home and an acute orthopaedic hospital, specialises in joint replacement surgery. They have developed the Joint Excellence Programme, which supports patient during all stages of their operation, from pre-admission to post-discharge through group education and rehabilitation. The programme has helped create an atmosphere of wellness at the centre and has increased the number of orthopaedic referrals to the Horder Centre, freeing up capacity within the local NHS.
Clinovia provides short-term intravenous antibiotic therapy service for people in their own home. The treatment is available for patients with cellulitis, and respiratory, diabetic and orthopaedic infections and enables them to maintain their normal lifestyle while receiving treatment. By reducing the number of patients arriving at A&E for treatment, the service is helping local trusts to meet their four hour wait target and overcome the problem of bed-blocking. Through 110 referral cases in 2005, Clinovia helped to save 1,211 bed days.
Ends
Notes for editors
1. The NHS Confederation represents more than 90% of the organisations that make up the NHS. Its members include the majority of NHS acute trusts, ambulance trusts, foundation trusts, mental health trusts, primary care trusts, special health authorities and strategic health authorities in England; trusts and local health boards in Wales; and health and social service trusts and boards in Northern Ireland.
2. The Confederation has hosted a group of independent sector providers of NHS services since 2004. The affiliate membership scheme, as it is currently known, reflects the increasing diversity of service providers in the modern NHS. There are now 48 affiliate members including voluntary, not-for-profit and commercial providers of NHS services.
Contact details
Contact Media Relations Manager Joanna Clason on 020 7074 3306 or 07798 571078 or Senior Media Officer Amy Darlington on 020 7074 3304 or 07767 770309.
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