National Health Service (NHS), PCT & Local Health Board News - March 2006

England - Local PCT News

Cambridge City / South Cambs PCTs - National Appointment

Dr Mike Knapton, a GP at the Nuffield Road Medical Centre, has become the first Director of Prevention and Care at a the British Heart Foundation. He will no longer be the Acting Medical Director for the PCTs, but will continue as a GP for one day a week.

Colchester PCT - GP Services

All pain-relieving injections and operations on cysts and lumps will now be provided by a salaried GP, working for Colchester PCT, from a base at Colchester General Hospital. This has been approved as a temporary measure by the PCT's Professional Executive Committee, and it is hoped that it will increase the chance of achieving financial balance while retaining clinical effectiveness.

However, there has been some local opposition from GPs who have been restricted from performing these minor operations and are frustrated at having to refer patients when they have the expertise to treat them. They are also worried that this could become a permanent arrangement. The PCT insisted that it was simply tightening its policy to ensure, among other things, that this type of minor surgery is performed only in cases of clinical, not cosmetic, need.

Doncaster & South Humber Healthcare NHS Trust - Foundation Status

The Trust, which provides mental health, learning disability and substance misuse services in Doncaster, Rotherham and North Lincolnshire, as well as hospice and palliative care in Doncaster, is to apply to the DoH to become a Foundation Trust.

East Staffordshire PCT - Proposed Organisational Changes

The PCT board has rejected merger plans which would create one or two large PCTs in the county. It fears this could have disastrous consequences for health in Burton and has announced that it would prefer to merge with Burntwood, Lichfield & Tamworth PCT.

North Cumbria PCTs - Practice-Based Commissioning

GPs from the Maryport Medical Centre are considering whether practice-based commissioning might be the perfect means for taking over the running of the town's Victoria Cottage Hospital, and are meeting the Health Minister, Liam Byrne, to discuss their plans. There is strong local opposition to proposed bed cuts in Maryport, and GPs feel that the two centres (which already work together and are next door to each other) are ideally placed to extend links. Sarah Cousins, Practice Manager, explained that their plan would allow GPs to have more say about the services offered and benefit the community as a whole. “Three quarters of admissions are from the community. If we didn’t have a cottage hospital [patients] would have to go to Whitehaven.”

GPs in Cockermouth, and other Cumbrian towns, could follow suit if plans are approved. There are already plans for GP surgeries in Cockermouth to join together on a new site next door to the town’s cottage hospital, which would provide a base for a similar development. The Cockermouth situation is slightly different, in that the GPs who will share the building are not a single practice, as the GPs in Maryport are. Dr David Lees, of Cockermouth's South Street surgery, said: “Maryport already run their own show so they are probably in a better place to do their own practice-based commissioning.”

Southern Norfolk PCT - Orthopaedics

The Health Coaching Service is a telephone helpline for people with orthopaedic conditions. It was launched in February 2005 and is now being expanded, particularly to support patients with long-term conditions. Norfolk Healthline is a partnership between the local NHS and Health Dialog UK, providing patients with support, information and the skills to enable them to make informed decisions about their own healthcare. The service is provided by experienced registered nurses, called Health Coaches.

Two more practices are now sending letters to patients with details of how to access the service: Heathgate Medical Practice, Poringland and Dr Hughes & Partners, Mattishall.

Suffolk East PCTs - GP Payments

Letters have been sent to all GP surgeries throughout Ipswich, Suffolk Coastal and Central Suffolk regions telling them that, thanks to external cash support from the SHA, their funding from Suffolk East PCTs will not be deferred until April.

Wales - Local Health Board News

NHS Wales - Mental Health Awards

The results from the first annual Mental Health Nursing Awards have been announced. There are five categories, and winners were presented with their award by Dr Brian Gibbons, Assembly Minister for Health and Social Services.

Best Project Developed and Delivered by a Mental Health Nurse: Angela Davies (Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust) & Tracey Salathial (Prison Health Leader at Gwent NHS Trust)

Best Contribution to Inpatient Care: Ian Kemp and Trudi Peterson (Pembrokeshire and Derwen NHS Trust)

Sustained Achievements over the Course of a Career: Michael Williams (North West Wales NHS Trust)

Best Health Care Assistant: Catrin Jones (North Glamorgan NHS Trust)

Best Mental Health Nurse Leader: Lynne Roberts (North Glamorgan NHS Trust)

Scotland - Local NHS News

NHS Grampian - Dermatology

Waiting times for the Dermatology Service in the city of Aberdeen have fallen dramatically. In January 2004, people in the city seeking help for conditions such as acne or psoriasis faced an average wait of 71 weeks, but are now seen within five. Waiting times in the region had developed very unevenly, with patients in Aberdeenshire only waiting an average of six weeks for the same service. Jenny Reid is NHS Grampian's Service Manager for Dermatology. She said that one of the reasons for Aberdeenshire's shorter waiting time was that it had GPs with a special interest and training in dermatology.

"The kind of things we have done is set up nurse practitioners, which has been incredibly successful. Their input has allowed consultants to discharge patients earlier, either to the care of a nurse practitioner or discharge them entirely because, as part of the service, we have set up a telephone helpline." NHS Grampian is one of the pilot regions for the Executive-backed initiative, "Skin Action" and has benefitted from £320,000 of funding.

Northern Ireland - Local NHS News

Northern Ireland - Consultation on Reforms

An 8-week consultation period has begun for the proposed reforms to Northern Ireland's Health and Social Service Trusts. It is proposed that 18 HSS Trusts will be reduced to 5, and that they will assume full operational control in April 2007. The consultation period will end on 7 April 2006. Health Minister, Sean Woodward, said: "This massive cut in bureaucracy will save tens of millions of pounds. I will ensure this money goes into front line services and new drug treatments."

In summary, the proposed reorganisation comprises:

- A new Strategic Health and Social Services Authority, responsible for performance managing and developing the HPSS (Health & Personal Social Services)

- Seven Local Commissioning Groups mapping on to the areas of the seven new District Councils. These will work with local primary care practitioners and the Authority to commission services from Trusts - existing Local Health and Social Care Groups will be abolished.

- Five integrated Health and Social Services trusts plus the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, which will bring the total number of trusts to six.

- A single Patient and Client Council, replacing the four Health and Social Services Councils.