09.08.16
Clinical leadership strengthened in urgent care and specialised services
NHS England has appointed the outgoing president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine as clinical lead for its recently launched Accident & Emergency Improvement Plan, as well as forty of the nation’s leading doctors to drive reform of specialised services.
Dr Clifford Mann will work closely with NHS England's National Urgent and Emergency Care director, Pauline Philip, and director for Acute Care, Prof Keith Willett, on the joint NHS England and NHS Improvement programme to redesign urgent care services and improve A&E performance.
Under recent proposals, NHS England and the regulator announced that it would replace national fines with trust-specific improvement incentives in order to allow A&E and elective services to recover from extensive performance problems.
“This new opportunity to represent the collective views of frontline emergency medicine clinicians is both welcome and timely,” said Mann.
“Current challenges require us to ensure our emergency care systems are sustainable as well as effective. The creation of this role recognises the importance of emergency medicine clinicians within the system and I am pleased to be their representative.”
The role of clinical lead – which is a three-year appointment – will include chairing the programme’s Clinical Reference Group and supporting local CCGs and trusts to implement changes to care pathways.
NHS England has also formally appointed 41 leading clinicians to support and advise it on the direct commissioning of specialised services, an area which costs the NHS £14bn every year and has come under recent criticism.
The specialised services commissioned by NHS England are grouped into six National Programmes of Care (NPoC), each of which is then supported by CRGs focusing on specific clinical specialties.
Simon Stevens, CEO of NHS England, said: “The appointments are another concrete step towards NHS England's commitment to harness the nation's top clinical leadership as we get going on the implementing of the NHS Five Year Forward View in every part of the country.”
For the first time NHS England has also formed a series of cross-CRG working parties, including some which will work with other health and care bodies to contribute to improving services, data and efficiency. Those working parties are:
- Research - building an interface with the National Institute for Health Research to advise how future research strategies align with commissioning and maximising opportunities
- Data and Resource - working with NHS Digital and NHS Improvement to provide clinical advice to these organisations in their work to improve information that guides commissioning
- Guidance – working with NICE as a stakeholder in their guidance development and providing clinical advice as needed
- Value – to better understand, and therefore reduce, variations in services and, where appropriate, ceasing treatments/ways of working that are no longer of clinical or patient benefit
Under the new Strategic Framework for Specialised Services, CRGs will also be expected to identify best practice in different places, helping to spread innovation and improve outcomes for all patients.
Recently, a legal ruling against NHS England’s decision to stop commissioning the HIV prevention treatment PrEP meant that it could no longer confirm funding for some specialised services.
In addition to CRG chairs, Antonio Pagliuca, professor of stem cell transplantation at King’s College Hospital, has been appointed as national clinical lead for Regenerative Medicine, and Dr Richard Fluck, consultant renal physician at Royal Derby Hospital, has been appointed as co-chair Internal Medicine National Programme of Care.
The clinical and patient and public voice members are currently being selected, and will be published on each of the CRG specific web pages.
The full list of CRGs and their chairs, organised by the six NPoC, is as follows. The Medicines Optimisation CRG chair had been recently appointed and was not part of the new appointment process.
Internal Medicine
- Specialised Respiratory- Professor Mike Morgan, Consultant Respiratory Physician at University Hospitals of Leicester
- Hepatobiliary and Pancreas- Professor Graham Foster, Consultant Hepatologist at Barts Health
- Specialised Endocrinology- Professor John Wass, Professor of Endocrinology at Churchill Hospital, Oxford
- Specialised Vascular- Professor Robert Sayers, Consultant Vascular Surgeon at Leicester Royal Infirmary
- Cardiothoracic Services- Professor Huon Gray, Consultant Cardiologist at Southampton University Hospital
- Renal Services- Dr Richard Baker, Consultant Nephrologist at Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust
- Specialised Colorectal Services- Mr Mark Chapman, Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at Heart of England Foundation Trust
- Specialised Dermatology– was not appointed, the future of this CRG will be discussed with the specialty association
- Specialised Rheumatology- Dr Bridget Griffiths, Consultant Rheumatologist at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Cancer
- Radiotherapy- Professor Nicholas Slevin, Consultant in Clinical Oncology at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust
- Chemotherapy- Professor Peter Clark, Consultant Medical Oncologist at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS FT
- Specialised Cancer Surgery- Mr Vijay Sangar, Consultant Urological Surgeon at University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
- Cancer Diagnostics- Dr Wai Lup Wong, Consultant Cancer Radiologist at East and North Herts NHS Trust
- Children & Young Adult Cancer- Dr Rachael Hough, Consultant Haematologist and Transplant Physician at University College London Hospital's NHS Foundation Trust
Mental Health
- Specialised Mental Health- Dr Steve Pearce, Consultant Psychiatrist at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Adult Secure Mental Health- Dr David Fearnley, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at Mersey Care NHS Trust
- CAMHS- Dr Andrew Cotgrove, Consultant in Adolescent Psychiatry at Cheshire and Wirral NHS Foundation Trust
- Perinatal Mental Health- Dr Giles Berrisford, Consultant Psychiatrist at Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust
- Gender Identity Services- Dr John Dean, Clinical Director at Devon Partnership NHS Trust
Trauma
- Rehabilitation & Disability- Colonel Alan Mistlin, Consultant Rheumatology and Rehabilitation at Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre
- Major Trauma & Burns- Professor Chris Moran, Professor of Orthopaedic Trauma Surgery at Nottingham University Hospital
- Spinal Services- Mr Ashley Cole, Consultant Spinal Surgeon at Sheffield Children’s Hospital & Northern General Hospital
- Neurosciences- Professor Adrian Williams, Consultant Neurologist at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
- Adult Critical Care- Dr Jane Eddleston, Consultant in Intensive Care Medicine and Anaesthesia at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Specialised ENT & Ophthalmology- Miss Alison Davis, Clinical Director Moorfields South at Moorfields Eye Hospital
- Specialised Pain- Dr John Hughes, Consultant in Pain Management at South Tees Hospitals NHS Trust
Women and Children
- Medical Genetics- Dr Frances Elmslie, Consultant Clinical Genetics at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Specialised Surgery in Childhood- Mr Oliver Gee, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon at Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Paediatric Medicine- Dr Vinod Diwakar, Medical Director & Consultant in Paediatrics at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust
- Paediatric Neurosciences- Dr Charles Fairhurst, Consultant in Paediatric Neurodisability at Guys and St Thomas' Foundation Trust
- Congenital Heart Services- Dr Trevor Richens, Consultant in Congenital Heart Disease at University Hospital Southampton Foundation Trust
- Metabolic Disorders- Dr Robin Lachmann, Consultant in Metabolic Medicine at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Paediatric Intensive Care- Dr Gale Pearson, Clinical Lead in Paediatric Intensive Care at Birmingham Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
- Neonatal Critical Care- Professor Neil Marlow, Professor of Neonatal Medicine at UCL EGA Institute for Women's Health
- Specialised Women's Services- Professor Sarah Creighton, Consultant Gynaecologist at University College London Hospitals
Blood and infection
- Blood & Marrow Transplantation- Professor John Snowden, Consultant Haematologist at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Specialised Blood Disorders- Dr Gerard Dolan, Consultant Haematologist at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust
- HIV- Dr Ian Williams, Senior lecturer and Hon Consultant Physician at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
- Infectious Diseases- Dr Peter Moss, Consultant in Infectious Diseases at Hull & East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust
- Haemoglobinopathies- Dr Kate Ryan, Consultant Haematologist at Central Manchester University Hospitals
- Specialised Immunology & Allergy- Dr Siraj Misbah, Consultant in Clinical Immunology at Oxford University Hospitals Trust
Medicines Optimisation
- Medicines Optimisation- Professor Liz Kay, Clinical Director, Medicines Management & Pharmacy Services at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust