Priority Areas
Wirral Health Commissioning Consortium Commissioning Priorities 2010/11
Priority 1- Unplanned Care and Admission prevention
Due to the geography of the consortium, WHCC recognises the need to manage unnecessary hospital admissions/ attendances, by providing patients with alternative choices to hospital. These include:
- Commissioning and access of bespoke social care packages for patients with social care providers, including effective deployment of the social fund
- Working with residential and care homes to develop pathways for patients.
- Implementation of end of life tools- ensuring that patients have appropriate support during the last days of life.
- Commissioning of community nursing services to support patients within the community.
- Supporting access to primary care services
Priority 2 – Commissioning Services Closer to Home
GPs have identified there are a range of services that could be offered within the community setting which improve the patient journey. This view has been echoed by patients in surveys who would like services at a convenient location and time for them.
The consortium will work in partnership with Wirral University Teaching Hospital and other providers to develop or adapt clinical pathways in order to:
- Improve health and reduce inequality
- Improve the quality of services offered to patients
- Improve the equity of access of services to patients
- Improve cost effectiveness and value for money
Priority 3 – Referrals Management
Managing demand to secondary care remains a major challenge for the consortium. By adopting a policy of GP upskilling in a number of key clinical conditions this will allow patients to be treated appropriately within the primary care setting. The consortium will assist in the development of a “buddy” system to enable neighboring practices to share examples of best practice and expertise. Each practice will have systems in place to proactively peer review their referrals. Additionally mechanisms will be created to share this information across members that will inform the requirements for education, training and service redesign.
Priority 4 - Medicines Management
The consortium will build on the work and initiatives already undertaken in PBC groups in relation to identifying efficiency gains these include:
- ‘Drug of the month’ in order to maximise potential cost benefits. All member practices will actively participate in the switching and prescribing of these drugs.
- Use of Scriptswitch which allows clinicians to view prescribing alternatives
- Supporting medicines reviews to identify wastage and reduce harm
The Consortium is keen to forge new partnership working arrangements with the Pharmaceutical industry, which is consistent with the national direction.
Priority 5- Leadership and Development
The critical success to the consortium is ensuring there is strong leadership at all levels. It is imperative that clinicians and managers of constituent practices feel able to contribute to the business of the consortium. Local opinion and decision making will inform the strategic direction set by the board. This will be achieved by the consortium facilitating the development of both formal and informal networks of practices that work together in groups. This work will be complimented by a strong ethos of training and education to ensure the success of the consortium. Communication both between members and between members and the board are key to delivering this process. We will ensure that the decision making process is transparent and that members of the board are visible and accessible to their colleagues in primary care. We will work with members to develop clear routes of communication and ensure that we adopt a broad approach to the exchange of ideas that includes practice visits, written statements, e mail and a consortium website.