Correspondence

FT Bulletin 6 January 2016

Published 6 January 2016

Applies to England

1. For action

1.1 Chief executives and chairs: please save the date for a major provider conference on Thursday 11 February 2016

We wrote to you on 24 December about a provider conference we’re hosting jointly with NHS Providers on Thursday 11 February 2016.

The conference will provide you with an opportunity to hear about and discuss:

• the provider ‘roadmap’ setting out the medium and long term vision in the key areas of quality and safety, productivity, new care models, workforce, and technology and innovation
• the planning round and immediate priorities for delivery
• the role and purpose of NHS Improvement

Please hold the date and details on how to register will be sent to you shortly.

1.2 Timetable to help with your operational plans

As set out in the NHS shared planning guidance, NHS providers and commissioners are required to submit an operational plan that is in line with the emerging local strategy and completed in time to allow contract sign-off by the end of March 2016.

This table outlines various planning submissions: we’ll be sharing final versions of the technical annexes to help you with these submissions shortly.

Requirement	Deadlines (all midday)	Template	How to submit
Baseline agreement checkpoint - provider / commissioner	18 January	Template has been issued via the portal	Through online foundation trust (FT) portal
Contract tracker – provider / commissioner	Regular submissions beginning from 8 February	Provider template accessed via UNIFY	Via a provider return on UNIFY
One-year plan summary	Draft, 8 February: Final, 11 April	No template supplied; format is described in NHS Improvement’s forthcoming guidance on provider plans	Through online FT portal
Financial plan	Draft, 8 February: Final, 11 April	APR template accessed via the portal	Through online FT portal
Workforce plan	Draft, 8 February: Final, 11 April	APR template accessed via the portal	Through online FT portal
Activity plan - by organisation	Draft, 8 February: Final, 11 April	APR template accessed via the portal	Through online FT portal
Activity plan - provider / commissioner	Draft, 8 February: Final, 11 April	Provider template accessed via UNIFY	Via a provider return on UNIFY

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

Alongside NHS England, we’ve published a 2016/17 national tariff update and current draft prices to help with your planning. The draft prices include:

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

We’ve shared this ahead of the national tariff statutory consultation, which will follow in February.

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

1.4 Your last chance to tell us what you think of the national whistleblowing policy

You have until 5pm this Friday to share your thoughts on the draft of the first national whistleblowing policy.

Please share our online form with staff across your organisation and patients to help shape the final policy.

2. For information

2.1 Considerations for determining local health and care economies

You may find our recent research on defining the boundaries of local health and care systems useful when agreeing your planning or transformation footprints.

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.

2.2 Providers of mental health services: new guides on episodic and capitated payments

We’ve published 2 short guides that explain and outline the key components of payment approaches for adult and older people mental health services. Use the guides alongside our recent webinars to find out the best way to adopt these payment options within your organisation.

3. Events

Event name	Event details	Who is it for?	Why attend?	How can I sign up?
Demand and capacity planning events	Various dates and regions throughout January	Members of planning teams who are involved with demand and capacity modelling – operations managers, information analysts and interested clinicians.	These events are held over 2 days. They aim to improve understanding of the basics of demand and capacity planning, and will provide access to a number of models which will inform the production of local activity plans for the 2016/17 planning round.	Find out more and book your place now.
Chief operating officer development event	Leeds, Monday 25 January	Foundation trust and NHS trust chief operating officers (COOs).	This is a development event for COOs and will cover career development, improving organisational change and meeting the challenges of the current strategic and operational environment.	Find out more and book your place now.
Introduction for new foundation trust and NHS trust medical directors	London, Wednesday 27 January	New foundation trust and NHS trust medical directors.	Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) are holding this workshop to support you in this demanding role both now and in the future.	Find out more and book your place now..
Delayed transfers of care roadshow	Newcastle, Wednesday 27 January	Morning session: chief executives, chief operating officers, clinical commissioning group accountable officers; Afternoon session: staff who deal with admission and discharges on a daily basis.	Hear about the revised delayed transfers of care guidance and find out how you can put it into practice using case studies and best practice examples.	To book a place at the event, please email transformingcare@local.gov.uk.
Provider conference: jointly organised and hosted by NHS Improvement and NHS Providers	London, Thursday 11 February	NHS trust and foundation trust leaders.	Hear about and discuss: the provider ‘roadmap’; the planning round and immediate priorities for delivery; the role and purpose of NHS Improvement.	Please hold the date and details on how to register will be sent to you shortly.
Board induction day	Monitor’s offices, Waterloo, London - Thursday 18 February	Newly appointed chairs and chief executives of NHS foundation trusts who have not had prior experience of Monitor’s foundation trust assessment process.	Come along to our free event and find out about the following areas that will help you in your role: Monitor’s role; the foundation trust legal framework; the regulatory regime, quality and quality governance; foundation trust governance (including working effectively with governors) and current issues in the NHS.	Email mel.baldwin@monitor.gov.uk to enquire about a place.

4. External updates

4.1 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.

4.2 From the Department of Health (DH): new survey of NHS staff

DH has commissioned Ipsos MORI to conduct its 3rd survey on NHS staff’s awareness of, and attitudes towards, national policies affecting the NHS.

The survey will focus on the charging process for some groups of patients who may not be entitled to free NHS care and you may be contacted to take part over the next few weeks: participation is entirely voluntary. Your feedback will be used to provide an up to date evaluation of an ongoing programme of work at DH and will inform future policy developments.

If you have any queries please email DH-Survey@ipsos.com.

4.3 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.

4.4 From the Care Quality Commission (CQC): updated guidance on the role of councils of governors

CQC’s updated guide aims to support governors in encouraging improvements in the quality of healthcare in their foundation trust by explaining CQC inspections of NHS foundation trusts and how the CQC engages with councils of governors.

5. Get in touch

5.1 Our latest job opportunities

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

5.2 Queries or feedback

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

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5.4 Publications

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