Commissioning simulator launched
Commissioning specialist Humana Europe has launched an interactive training system to help GPs and practice managers in the UK learn how to commission services more effectively. The Practice Based Commissioning Simulator has been developed in conjunction with the primary care body the NHS Alliance and Swedish-based BTS, a provider of customised business simulations. Humana Europe […]
News
NHS Brent gets PBC support
The first project under the Department of Health’s practice-based commissioning support framework has begun work. Clinicians and managers in NHS Brent are working with the NHS Alliance, Humana Europe and health information provider Dr Foster Intelligence. The partnership is one of five consortia on the DH’s practice-based commissioning development framework. The framework was set up […]
News
DH launches new vision for PBC
Practice-based commissioners are entitled to receive accurate and timely financial and management data and analysis, according to the Department of Health’s newly released vision for practice-based commissioning. The DH says its vision will mark the start of a new drive to see practice-based commissioning working to its full potential. The document, Clinical commissioning: our vision […]
News
Information barrier to PBC
Poor quality data and financial information remains a barrier to the successful implementation of practice-based commissioning, according to the National association of Primary Care. The NAPC, whose membership covers GP practices and PCTs, is calling for timely financial and clinical data to be made available to practices. It claims the future of practice-based commissioning is […]
News
MPs cast doubt on Darzi reforms
The future pay of NHS managers should be linked to their data-analysis abilities, according to MPs concerned about the health service’s capacity to implement Lord Darzi’s health service reforms. In a report on the Next Stage Review of the NHS, the House of Commons Health Committee says primary care trusts “lack analytical and planning skills” […]
News
PBC satisfaction improves
GP practices are becoming slightly more satisfied with the quality of information they receive for practice-based commissioning – although more than one in three still rate it as poor or very poor. The latest Department of Health survey on PBC shows that 36% of practices rate the quality of information they receive as fairly or […]
News
Data identified as key factor in PBC failure
Lack of high quality data is one of the key factors behind the poor progress of practice-based commissioning, the King’s Fund has concluded. The think-tank is calling for a major shake-up of PBC, following an in-depth, two year study of four primary care trusts in England. The report, Practice-based commissioning: Reinvigorate, replace or abandon? says […]
News
Slight increase in satisfaction with PBC data quality
GPs have become marginally more satisfied with the quality of the data they receive for practice-based commissioning over the past six months, although more than 35% are still dissatisfied, according to a Department of Health survey. The DH’s latest quarterly poll of 1,891 GP practices, carried out between June and August 2008, found that 16% […]
News
Call for information investment in PBC groups
The NHS Alliance is calling for practice-based commissioning groups to be given the money to fund their own information needs. The Alliance, which represents PCTs and GP practices, has claimed that PCTs’ failure to provide GP practices with accurate and meaningful data has been sabotaging PBC. In a new policy document, A Vision for Practice […]
News
QoF to be re-focused on health promotion
Lord Darzi’s NHS review outlines plans to overhaul the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QoF) to place a greater emphasis on health promotion activity. Higher Quality Care for All: The NHS Next Stage Review states that the number of organisational and “process” indicators in the QoF will be reduced as part of plans to give GPs […]
News