Correspondence

FT Bulletin 12 August 2015

Published 12 August 2015

Applies to England

1. For action

1.1 Tell us what you think about the 2016/17 national tariff proposals

Over the next 2 weeks we’ll be publishing the 2016/17 tariff proposals for currency design and relative prices, and national variations and local pricing.

Your feedback will be important in helping to shape the final proposals that will be subject to statutory consultation.

You’ll be able to share your feedback in a variety of ways, including by joining our webinars, where you can also find out more about the proposals.

We’ll also be seeking your views on our proposals for the efficiency factor, cost base and service development after the spending review.

We encourage you to use this opportunity to review our proposals and let us know your views.

1.2 Introducing new rules on nursing agency spend: tell us what you think by Thursday 20 August

We are seeking your views on how proposed new rules on using agency staff in the NHS will work in practice. We first contacted you about this in June.

The rules aim to increase your bargaining power when you negotiate with agencies for nursing agency staff, and to encourage a move among nurses back to permanent and bank working. They should also help you to manage your workforce in a more sustainable way, reduce reliance on temporary staffing, raise quality and improve the working environment for staff. The rules will not prevent you from prioritising patient and staff safety.

We would like to hear from you about the design of the rules, including:

• maximum rates a provider can pay for agency workers
• mandating use of certain framework agreements for procuring agency staff
• stipulating a maximum each trust can spend on agency staff

Please email your views to agencycontrolproposals@monitor.gov.uk by 5pm Thursday 20 August 2015.

1.3 Changes to the risk assessment framework: what you need to know

Thanks to all of you who took part in our risk assessment framework consultation in June.

Following this we’ve made changes to the risk assessment framework that will enable us to act sooner if we have concerns about financial sustainability and/or efficiency. You were emailed details of these changes last week and can find more information on our website.

1.4 Preparation for winter 2015/16: please share across your organisation

Together with the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) and NHS England, we have set out next steps and goals for the rest of the year, to help ensure the system is in as strong a position as possible ahead of winter. These include:

• System Resilience Group (SRG) assurance
• available support
• development of mental health services
• surge management
• this year’s winter marketing campaign
• flu preparation

Please could you share this information across your organisation with colleagues who have a role in resilience work, preparations for winter, and wider transformational changes in line with the Urgent and Emergency Care Review.

1.5 Help shape support for medical directors

We’re in the process of designing a networking event for medical directors this autumn, based on your feedback from last year’s survey asking how we can support you in your role.

Some of the topics raised in the survey feedback that we’re looking to cover in the event include:

• how your role as medical director can lead cultural change
• ways to deliver quality and finance alongside each other
• leading, managing and motivating medical professionals

We’d like to understand more about what you’d find most useful for us to focus on, so propose running 2 focus groups of 5-6 people in late August /early September in London (likely to be 27 August and 3 or 10 September).

We’d like to hear from any medical directors interested in attending, particularly if you are new to the post. The networking event will be open to all medical directors and is likely to be in late October / November.

Please email any thoughts about the proposed topics for this event, and whether you would like to participate to mark.redhead@monitor.gov.uk.

1.6 Could you lead the way in transforming costing?

The Costing Transformation Programme aims to improve costing processes and information in NHS providers. The long-term aim is to introduce a single, mandated patient-level cost collection across all care settings.

It’s important that the new approach is developed, tested and implemented in a real-world environment, before being rolled out across the sector. To help us with this, we’re looking for up to 5 acute providers to act as roadmap partners to provide technical expertise in the development of costing standards, datasets and dictionaries.

Your input will ensure that the standards are practical and that our implementation plans are realistic. You’ll also have a direct influence on the development of the standards and will receive on-site support from our costing team during the implementation phase. Improving the quality of costing information in your organisation will help you to identify possible efficiency savings, and can be used to inform service development and redesign to improve patient care.

Apply online to be a roadmap partner.

For more information, email costing@monitor.gov.uk.

2. For information

2.1 A 3-part payment approach to support urgent and emergency care networks

We have published a new payment example for urgent and emergency care (UEC), as part of our series of local payment examples that support the rapid shift to new care models.

A 3-part payment is a single, consistent payment approach that has the potential to drive greater collaboration between all of the services within a UEC network.

It has been specifically designed to support commissioners and providers to establish networks by:

• reflecting the ‘always-on’ nature of UEC services
• aligning incentives across the UEC network

If you’re exploring the use of a 3-part, or alternative, payment approach for UEC, we’d like to hear about your experiences. Email us at pricing@monitor.gov.uk.

2.2 GPs working together: 3 commissioning risks to manage

Commissioners frequently ask us if the rules around choice and competition prevent them from encouraging GPs to work together and with hospitals, and from awarding contracts to GP federations.

If your trust works with local GP federations, read our latest blog post to find out more about what providers and commissioners can do to manage possible risks.

3. Webinars

3.1 Price modelling - from reference costs to tariff prices

Tuesday 18 August, 1-2pm

Who is it for?

Acute providers only:

• finance directors/managers
• clinicians
• costing specialists
• service managers

Why join?

Find out how the annual reference costs submitted are changed into tariff prices.

We will:

• explain how we calculate tariff prices
• look at what steps we take to clean the data
• outline the review process

Please note that this will not include information on tariffs currently in development – it is an overview of the current process.

Register now for the ‘Price modelling’ webinar.

3.2 Best practice tariffs explained

Tuesday 25 August, 2-3pm

Who is it for?

Acute providers only:

• finance directors/managers
• clinicians

Why join?

Hear from Monitor and NHS England on best practice tariffs.

We will:

• outline the basic principles of best practice tariffs including how they are constructed and how they operate
• explain the rationale for amending the methods of price calculation for 2016/17

Register now for the ‘Best practice tariff’ webinar.

4. Events

4.1 Health and Care Innovation Expo 2015

2-3 September 2015, Manchester

Who is it for?

Executive and non-executive directors

Why attend?

Expo 2015 brings together change agents from health and care, the voluntary sector and local government.

Monitor, NHS TDA and NHS Providers are running dedicated sessions for providers, which include:

Session title	What will be discussed?	Who is speaking?
Enabling new care models – locally led, nationally supported	Hear about the support available to support new care models and to ensure their replicability. Organisations already in the vanguard will share their experiences and innovations.	Paul Dinkin (Programme Director on the New Care Models Team, and Provider Sustainability Director, Monitor) and Ralph Coulbeck (Director of Strategy, NHS TDA).
What is the success regime and how will it affect you?	Discuss the success regime and how together we aim to provide a systematic approach to tackling entrenched issues across health and care, in particular across local health economies.	Adam Sewell-Jones (Director of Provider Sustainability, Monitor), Ralph Coulbeck (Director of Strategy, NHS TDA), Saffron Cordery (Director of Policy and Strategy, NHS Providers).
Developing cultures to deliver value	Looking at the leadership capabilities needed to deliver on the ambitions of the Five Year Forward View. A focus on enabling change from within by developing cultures that support staff to deliver value, and the importance of strong local leadership in actively engaging staff and patients in the redesign and transformation of healthcare.	Suzie Bailey (Development Director, Monitor) and Jo Vigor (Senior Development Advisor, Monitor).

We are also running 2 sessions for commissioners, in the pop up university, looking at managing conflicts of interest, and involving patients in commissioning community services. Book your place now.

Free tickets are still available for NHS provider organisations – register online using code PROVEXP1 if you are a chair or chief executive, or PROVEXP2 for other roles.

5. External updates

5.1 The government’s public efficiency challenge

Chancellor George Osborne and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Greg Hands are seeking suggestions from the frontline for where public services could be provided for less money.

If you think there is a better way to do things, please submit your ideas by Friday 4 September. These will be looked at and considered by the Treasury and Cabinet Office, in partnership with government departments.

5.2 Updates on the NHS procurement and efficiency programme

DH published the latest updates for NHS procurement staff on the Centre for Procurement Efficiency portal on 6 August 2015.

6. Get in touch

6.1 Our latest job opportunities

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

6.2 Queries or feedback

If you have any queries about the information in this bulletin, please contact your relationship manager at Monitor.

6.3 News alerts

You can subscribe to Monitor’s news update service and receive relevant information direct to your inbox.

6.4 Publications

All of our publications are available to download from our publications section.

*SRG]: System Resilience Group