Awaiting the Contract for 2015/16!

2nd March - 6th March 2015

We are currently playing the waiting game... along with other CCGs in England, we are awaiting the national guidance for the NHS Standard Contract which is published each year by NHS England. The NHS Standard Contract template allows the Contracts Team at the CCG to produce new contracts and create contract variations for the local healthcare providers. Each year the NHS Standard Contract varies; the structure and content may differ slightly, therefore we must follow the guidance and template available on a portal to produce the contracts for 2015/16. I will be helping the Contracts Team here at Eastern Cheshire CCG so hopefully the guidance and contracts portal will go live very soon!

The national guidance for CQUINs (Commissioning for Quality and Innovation) has recently been published by NHS England, therefore a number of my tasks this week have involved developing the CQUIN goals for each provider, with particular focus on producing the rationale and the milestones for each goal. Each local provider has a different number of local CQUIN goals which they must achieve. At the CCG, the Quality Team is responsible for producing and implementing the local goals and meeting with the providers to ensure they are realistic and achievable. The process involves a lot of negotiation to ensure the provider is happy with the goal and the milestones they must achieve; working collaboratively with the providers makes sure that high quality care is delivered and patient safety is key.
The local healthcare providers must also achieve National CQUINs which are created by NHS England. The 2015/16 National CQUINs will focus on reducing the rate of AKI (Acute Kidney Injury) and early identification and treatment of SEPSIS within Hospitals. The 2015/16 National CQUINs for Mental Health providers include improving Dementia and Delirium care and also improving the physical health of patients with SMI (Severe Mental Illness).