Agenda item

NHS PLYMOUTH - QUALITY, INNOVATION, PRODUCTIVITY AND PREVENTION PROGRAMME

The panel will receive information on the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention programme.

Minutes:

Sharon Palser, NHS Plymouth Director of Development reported on the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention programme (QIPP). It was reported that-

 

  1. the magnitude of the changes was very large and the pace of change was very quick;

 
  1. it was possible to make efficiency savings in service reconfiguration, by changing the way in which services were delivered could prevent services being cut;

 
  1. there were increasing expectations on the Health Service in general and the inflation in NHS costs was much higher than experienced in the rest of the economy;

 
  1. there were services that were being provided by the NHS which were ineffective and which had led to more effective services being unaffordable;

 
  1. there was a reliance on in-patient mental health care but community mental health care had been shown to produce better outcomes. There were many services which could be better provided in the community away from primary care settings;

 
  1. there would be a public engagement event on the 9 November 2010 and meetings with patient’s groups had been arranged.  Public messages would be distributed through newspapers and would be in plain English, the public would be invited to engage;

 
  1. NHS Plymouth would be happy to provide updates on a regular basis.

 

John Richards added that although the QIPP programme was high level and unspecific at this stage, NHS Plymouth wanted to provide the panel with an overview of the key points of the programme. The economic outlook for the country was poor and the NHS was not immune from this despite a ring-fenced budget. The end of the growth trend that the NHS has experienced over a number of years would be very difficult to deal with. The QIPP programme would highlight savings available in a range of NHS services and the 50 delivery plans which underpin the programme would help NHS Plymouth deal with budgetary constraints. Over the course of the next month financial information would be made available to the general public.

 

In response to questions from members of the panel it was reported that-

 

  1. the PCT would be abolished by 2013 under current government plans but cuts would begin next year so work had to start now. The PCT were discussing the plans with clinical colleagues and involving Sentinel;

 
  1. there was no intention to increase the number of staff to increase efficiency. It was not accepted by NHS Plymouth that more staff would be needed as many staff were caring for patients who did not need to be admitted to hospital;

 
  1. extensive cuts to services was not an option and the QIPP programme was a credible alternative;

 
  1. each delivery plan underpinning the QIPP programme would be assigned a project manager and a clinician;

 
  1. there was a good basis on which to take this programme forward in the city and evidence was available to support this view.

 

Agreed that NHS Plymouth would continue to provide regular updates on the QIPP programme and any substantial service variation that resulted from it. The updates would be added to the panel’s work programme.