01.12.12
The NHS Alliance and the new health and care landscape
Source: National Health Executive Nov/Dec 2012
Rick Stern, chief executive of the NHS Alliance, discusses the new direction the organisation is taking as the NHS reforms come into force.
Clinical commissioning is now enshrined in law, the full force of which we will see in April 2013. This unprecedented change in the way services are designed and delivered is something the NHS Alliance campaigned for at length, and passionately believes to be a positive step towards improving healthcare.
However, while some clinicians will become commissioners in this changing landscape, the majority will continue providing services at the frontline. Our offshoot, NHS Clinical Commissioners, has become the independent voice for clinical commissioning groups, while the Alliance continues to speak for the wide range of organisations – general practices, trusts, charities and independent providers – providing services in the community.
My personal belief is that these ambitious reforms will only be successful if they harness the enthusiasm and commitment of those at the heart of service delivery. Excellent commissioning relies on excellent provision. To support this, the Alliance has bold plans in terms of primary care provision and helping providers support clinical commissioners to deliver what is being demanded of them.
There is no doubt the new system presents enormous changes and challenges, but where there is adversity there is always opportunity. We have to explore how this complex institution can behave in a different way, and allow people to take more control and stop telling them how to do things.
The Alliance has made a firm commitment to support all those involved in the provision of primary care through its networks and campaigns, guidance in the form of practical tools and advice to meet the new commissioners’ requirements.
We are launching a new online resource for general practices at our 2012 Conference, Healthcare Management Plus (www.healthmanagementplus.co.uk) which we have developed in partnership with Alpha Primary Care, to provide essential support – initially around CQC registration – and to mark the launch of our new general practice network, which represents the interests of GPs and practice nurses, as well as practice managers.
Our membership already includes a growing number of individual general practices that want to be part of an organisation that speaks clearly for providers in the new landscape, but also one that demonstrates clear understanding of what clinical commissioning really means. The NHS Alliance is uniquely able to do this, bringing together patients, providers and partners, and connecting them with the new commissioners.
Acting as a strong voice for primary care for the past 15 years, our values have given us the ear of Government, while our growing focus on patient and public involvement has supported a stronger voice for patients. I passionately believe a sustainable NHS can only be achieved through a collaborative, partnership approach between patients and clinicians. Mutual trust and respect is vital.
Part of what we set out to achieve in our networks is a platform for people to discuss how to improve higher quality outcomes, develop new ideas and share them – rather than people constantly having to reinvent things themselves.
We especially want to harness the insight of our members to feed into one of our key initiatives for 2013; a manifesto for primary care. This will provide a vision for the future that will guide the work of the Alliance, and influence policy makers. I believe it’s entirely possible for different providers to sit alongside each other and share a whole range of information about how they work, because in the end, we all have a common goal: improving care for patients.
Uniquely, the NHS Alliance brings together clinicians, managers and patients, connecting them with commissioners to provide a health service relying strong, trust-based relationship between patient and clinician reflecting the strong, trust-based relationship with our own members. And as positive reinforcement of the trust we have in our members we are trialling an entirely new approach to our membership.
For a trial period until the end of March 2013, we will be asking potential new members to decide how much they are going to pay for a year’s membership. We want as many people as possible who care about the same things as we do – improving care for patients and ensuring a strong progressive voice for primary care – to join the Alliance. We trust our members to make good choices both for themselves and for the Alliance as a whole.