01.02.12
Circle promises revolution at Hinchingbrooke
Circle has launched a 16-point improvement plan as it takes over fully at Hinchingbrooke hospital from today.
Circle chief executive, Ali Parsa, said: “Today, an ambitious programme will be unveiled, to turn a hospital, once labelled as 'a basket case', into one of the top ten in the country. The plan came together in unprecedented sessions with 1,200 NHS staff, who gathered to share their vision for their hospital's transformation.”
The healthcare company, partly owned by its staff, was initially selected as preferred bidder to run the hospital in late 2010, and finally signed the contract in November 2011. It has pledged to turn the hospital into one of the top 10 district generals in the country in terms of patient safety, the patient experience, value for money and staff wellbeing.
One of the 16 points in the new plan is to escalate life-threatening patient safety incidents to the chief executive within an hour, which Parsa said would have a “gigantic effect”.
Many of Circle’s top people coming in at Hinchingbrooke has years of experience in NHS management, including Ben Lloyd, who was South Central SHA’s finance and performance director for four years, Rachael Magnani, who worked in change management roles in the NHS for 12 years, and Roddy Nash, a consultant surgeon and previously a medical director and chief executive of an NHS hospital.
Dr Stephen Dunn, director of policy and strategy at NHS Midlands and East, said: “With the challenges the NHS now faces, new solutions are needed so services can be provided how and where patients want them, but at a cost which taxpayers can afford. Today heralds just that, a new chapter in creativity and partnership working.
“Without this franchise, the future of Hinchingbrooke could have been uncertain. We are not privatising, we are bringing in new management. The hospital can plan a future where its staff and assets remain within the NHS, energised by the innovation which its new partner will bring. NHS Midlands and East and its ground-breaking Strategic Projects Team are proud to have steered this opportunity, and we look forward to Hinchingbrooke going from strength to strength.”
Critics have raised concerns about Circle’s own finances – it has been losing money and has nearly £100m of debt – and about the whole principle of outsourcing management of an NHS hospital to a private company. Although the process was begun under the former Labour Government, its health spokesman Andrew Gwynne told the Guardian its finances were a “major worry”.
Christina McAnea, Unison’s head of health, said: “Patients and hospital staff are right to be worried today. Bringing in an inexperienced private company to run Hinchingbrooke is an accident waiting to happen. The company has the same dangerous property set-up as Southern Cross – and serious questions have been raised about its financial security.
“Patients should come first, but Circle's priority will be its profits. Their mantra is they will do more with less, but this is impossible. This is nothing more than an experiment for the privatisation of our NHS which is putting patients at serious risk.”
Circle’s 16-point plan for Hinchingbrooke (Source: www.huntspost.co.uk)
1. Fix services thought to be unsafe
2. ‘Stop the line’ on life-threatening incidents, and report to hospital chief executive and top medics within an hour
3. Zero harm – stamp out medical errors and infections
4. Compassionate care – patients to get two-thirds of nursing time within 18 months
5. Patient-centred pathways – patients to be seen wherever suits them best, cutting out unnecessary duplicated appointments
6. Patients will be told when their ideas will be implemented or why they would not work
7. Michelin-influenced patient food will be freshly-cooked, nutritious and locally-sourced where possible
8. In-patients to have a new, value-for-money entertainment system within a year
9. War on waste – and some savings have already been delivered
10. Smarter procurement to deliver big savings within two years
11.Hospitalof choice – capturing 5,000 patients from within 30 miles
12. Better, simpler design of reception areas, and fairer car parking by April 1
13. Decisions on care to be taken by staff closest to patients, organised into two simple clinical units
14. Support services realigned to serve those units
15. Staff performance to be reviewed by direct reports, peers and self, not just line managers
16. Clinical and frontline leaders to be given the chance to take part in the ‘CircleLeadershipAcademy’
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