Correspondence

Foundation trust bulletin: August 2014

Published 1 December 2014

Applies to England

1. For action

1.1 Patients are letting us know their views on choice of adult hearing loss services

What do you think? You have until 4 September to tell us

Please complete our survey on the extent to which patients in England benefit from having a choice of NHS adult hearing loss services by 4 September.

We have had a great response from patients and would love to hear more from providers, commissioners and GPs.

Find out more and share your views on choice and Any Qualified Provider (AQP).

1.2 Licence conditions: 1 week to tell us the impact for you and your patients

Please tell us about your experience of the NHS provider licence since it came into effect for NHS foundation trusts in 2013. Share your views by 31 August through:

• our online survey
• the word response form

1.3 Sign up to Safety: join the campaign

Sign your foundation trust up to the campaign and join the 33 foundation trusts that have committed to developing safety improvement plans. Our letter explains why your personal leadership of foundation trusts is crucial to strengthening patient safety.

1.4 Reimbursement of urgent and emergency care paper

Please help us identify a single, consistent payment system for urgent and emergency care.

The options in our joint paper with NHS England aim to help providers and commissioners plan quality, well co-ordinated urgent and emergency care services.

Read the consultation and share your views on our options for reform by 9 September

2. For information

2.1 2015/16 national tariff payment system: next steps

Monitor and NHS England are in the process of developing the 2015/16 national tariff payment system. We have now completed our engagement programme, which included a detailed survey in which we asked for your views, as well as a series of webinars and workshops.

Thank you to all who were involved in this. We will be using your feedback in the proposals we present for formal consultation later this autumn. You still have the chance to watch all of the webinars.

2.2 Maternity pathway payment system: guidance for NHS providers and commissioners 2014 to 2015

We have published guidance outlining which services are included in the maternity pathway payment and how to implement the payment system. It supplements Annex 4A of the National tariff payment system 2014 to 2015.

The Maternity pathway payment system has more guidance on this issue.

2.3 Supporting NHS providers considering transactions and mergers

Supporting NHS providers considering transactions and mergers helps NHS providers navigate through transactions such as mergers and acquisitions. All NHS providers considering a merger should contact us early in the planning stages to ensure proposals work well for patients.

Listen to our podcast Supporting NHS providers considering transactions and mergers’ to hear more about the guidance.

2.4 Patient Level Information and Costing Systems (PLICS) - 2013/14 collection and 2012/13 findings

Monitor’s annual PLICS data collection began on 01 July 2014 and ends on 03 October 2014. If you are planning to participate this year, please refer to the approved costing guidance which has been designed for use by all NHS staff who are responsible for, or contribute to, the production of cost information. You will need to use version 1 of the PLICS data collection template. Please also make sure you use this updated version (version 2) of the MAQS template.

We have now published the findings for the 2012 to 2013 collection. This provides a summary of last year’s process, participation, and our findings on the quality of data received. It also outlines how trusts could improve their submissions this year, and areas of potential development for the 2014/15 collection. Trusts participating in this year’s collection should review the document.

If you have any questions or would like to participate in this year’s collection then please email us at plics_collection@monitor.gov.uk.

2.5 What are patients saying about choice? Read the measurement of choice survey results

We have published results of a joint survey we conducted with NHS England, which asked patients if they were offered a choice of outpatient appointments. The results showed that more than half of the 2,706 patients interviewed were aware of their right to choose between hospitals and clinics but more still needs to be done to promote choice.

Read the full findings of the survey.

2.6 Special measures: 1 year on

Monitor, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the NHS Trust Development Authority (TDA) have published a report on the progress made by the 11 trusts put in special measures in July 2013. Our joint findings show that improvements for patients were seen in most of the trusts.

2.7 Annual reports and operational plans online

All foundation trusts’ annual reports and accounts, and operational plans are now available to read on your individual trust page on our website, which can be found in the foundation trust directory.

2.8 What do you know about integrated care and your obligations?

We have a range of information and resources available on our website that helps to explain what integrated care is, Monitor’s role and what this means for you and how you deliver care. For a detailed guide answering some commonly-asked questions about integrated care, read Complying with Monitor’s integrated care requirements. It has been, and will continue to be, updated as new information becomes available.

2.9 NHS foundation trusts’ accounts data 2013/14

We have now published the accounts data for all foundation trusts for 2013/14. This includes staff costs, income and private finance initiative payments. Having this data will allow you to see how much your foundation trust is spending compared with other trusts.

3. Events

3.1 CEO and chair induction day - 12 September, London

For: newly appointed chairs and chief executives, and those without experience of the foundation trust authorisation process

Attend to learn about:

• Monitor’s role (including an overview of pricing and choice and competition)
• the NHS foundation trust legal framework
• the regulatory regime, including how we assess risk and our enforcement processes
• current issues in the NHS
• quality and quality governance
• foundation trust governance, including working effectively with governors

If you’d like to attend in September or be kept informed of future dates, please contact mel.baldwin@monitor.gov.uk. Places are limited. The next induction session will not be until 2015.

3.2 Increasing value for patients through enabling effective clinical and financial engagement – 16 September, London

For: finance directors and senior finance professionals, operations directors, medical directors, nursing, divisional leads, service line leads or equivalent.

Why attend? Attend this conference to explore the benefits of ensuring business decisions are clinically led, and to share tips and ideas with other NHS providers on how they have put this into practice.

The joint Monitor and HFMA 1 day programme includes sessions from acute, mental health and community service providers, and looks at issues such as leadership, culture, training and data availability.

Find out more and sign up.

3.3 Save the date: Strategic planning and transactions, 16 October, London

For: chairs and chief executives of foundation trusts and NHS trusts

Why attend? Attend for insights into bringing about change in local health economies, strategic planning, and competition rules and processes.

You’ll hear from Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority, find out about a new strategic planning toolkit which will be available, and have the chance to ask questions on the experiences of your peers in these areas. The confirmed speakers include the Senior Director for Mergers at the Competition and Markets Authority, and the Chair and Chief Executive of the Royal Free. Booking information and further details have been sent to all foundation trusts and NHS trusts.

To book your chair and/or chief executive into this event, please email helen.crumley@monitor.gov.uk.

3.4 NHS strategic financial leadership programme, 20 to 24 October and 10 to 14 November 2014, London

For: finance directors and deputy finance directors across the NHS.

Attend to learn about effective financial leadership and develop the skills you need to perform your role to an optimum level.

The days will cover:

• corporate governance and business risk management
• modern treasury management and capital budgeting
• strategy
• change management
• business intelligence for business development
• negotiation skills
• the economics of health and demand management
• service line management
• business development processes

Find out more and sign up.

3.5 New non-executive directors, sign up for Monitor and FTN’s joint induction programme, 29 to 30 October, London

For: new NHS foundation trust non-executive directors and NHS trust non-executive directors nearing completion of the foundation trust application process.

Attend to get an overview of the NHS, foundation trust governance and more.

The programme includes:

• an overview of the NHS and where NHS foundation trusts fit in
• foundation trust governance, risk and assurance
• Monitor’s regulatory regime and where the CQC fits in
• NHS foundation trusts, governance and the law
• governors, stakeholders and the public
• patients, quality and safety
• finance

Find out more and sign up.

If you have any questions, contact: Carolyn May, Monitor’s Senior Development Advisor, on 020 3747 0083 or Kim Hutchings, Head of Development and Engagement at the Foundation Trust Network (FTN), on 020 7304 6881.

3.6 Join our free webinars: urgent and emergency care resilience and capacity planning

For: Anyone who is responsible for the commissioning or delivery of emergency care, including A&E doctors and nurses, chairs, clinical leads. Read the full list of who should watch.

Why join? Join the webinars to discuss the issues that affect how patients flow through urgent and emergency care services.

These webinars will also explore best practice in alleviating pressure on emergency departments and delivering safer, high quality and more responsive emergency care services. The webinars are taking place in September. Please circulate details of the webinars to emergency care staff within your organisation. Read more and sign up.

4. External updates

### Is your trust great at handling patient complaints and feedback?

Case studies needed for the government’s One Year On report by 19 September

The Department of Health needs your examples of excellence in handling and listening to patient feedback. These case studies could include how boards have listened to and learned from complaints, how patient feedback has been used to improve services and cases where innovative changes have been made to a service because of a complaint or feedback.

Some of the case studies may then be included in the government’s One Year On report later in the year, which will highlight how patients’ voices are being heard and acted on a year after the publication ‘Hard Truths – The Journey to Putting Patients First’ was issued.

If you would like to submit a short case study, please send it to louise.wright@dh.gsi.gov.uk by 19 September.

4.1 Jeremy Hunt: message to NHS staff about changing culture in the NHS

The Secretary of State for Health has a message for NHS staff about creating a more transparent culture within the NHS. Read more about recent milestones including special measures and safe staffing.

4.2 Jeremy Hunt: ‘Freedom to speak up’

The Secretary of State has also issued a letter about the importance of the ‘Freedom to speak up’ review undertaken by Sir Robert Francis QC. This letter outlines the importance of staff being able to work in an environment that encourages and allows them to speak up about patient safety. You can read the full letter here.

As part of this campaign, all NHS workers, organisations, professional bodies and representative groups are also being asked to take part in a review. You can contribute directly on this here or through an online survey.

4.3 ‘Know your Limits’ campaign

The Department of Health has been advised that posters from the ‘Know your Limits’ campaign in 2006 are still being displayed in some NHS premises. The Department of Health has received a complaint as the poster could have victim blaming implications, and asks that you please remove any posters from this campaign.

5. Getting in touch

5.1 Our latest job opportunities

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

5.2 Queries or feedback

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

5.3 News alerts

You can subscribe to Monitor’s news update service which is a convenient way for you to receive relevant information direct to your inbox.

5.4 5.4 Publications

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