Summary
Lord Carter’s latest report in the NHS Operational Productivity series shifts the attention to unwarranted variations in mental health and community health services. Potential savings of around £1 billion in efficiencies could be made by 2020/21, allegedly, if the recommendations in this document were to be implemented rigorously. The main section headings comprise:
- Chapter 1: Mental health and community health services.
- Chapter 2: Quality and efficiency across the pathway.
- Chapter 3: Engaging the workforce.
- Chapter 4: Optimising clinical resources in the community.
- Chapter 5: Optimising inpatient services and other clinical resources.
- Chapter 6: Optimising non-clinical resources.
- Chapter 7: Expanding the Model Hospital.
- Chapter 8: Securing effective implementation.
The principal 16 recommendations include:
- Learning from new models of care.
- Improving quality of care and Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT).
- Driving standardisation in the community health services ‘offer’.
- Improving the management of restricted patients.
- Optimising workforce well-being and engagement.
- Strengthening the oversight of workforce productivity for services delivered in the community.
- Improving the productivity of the clinical workforce for services delivered in the community.
- Monitoring the cost and efficiency of inpatient care and care hours per patient day.
- Improving inpatient rostering and e-rostering.
- Improving medical job planning.
- Medicines and pharmacy optimisation.
- Reducing variations in corporate services.
- Benchmarking estates and facilities management.
- Improving / benchmarking procurement practices.
- Extending application of the Model Hospital framework.
- Implementation of the above recommendations by NHS Improvement, NHS England, other national bodies and NHS Trusts.
Reference
Lord Carter of Coles (2018). NHS operational productivity: unwarranted variations – mental health services and community health services. London: Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement [Unbadged report; An independent report for the Department of Health by Lord Carter of Coles], May 24th 2018.
There is also an Executive Summary.