18 January 2010 / for immediate release
The nine Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) within NHS South Central have pooled their resources to work with Tribal to develop a service to provide the world class information, tools and skills they need to optimise patient care and reduce costs over the next four years.
Tribal will deliver a Commissioning Enablement Service (CES) that will enable South Central PCTs to:
- analyse the quality and effectiveness of clinical services across South Central
- ensure that patients receive treatment in the best possible setting (e.g. at home, in their communities or in hospital)
- manage contracts and financial systems more effectively across the PCTs by avoiding duplicated effort, and
- understand the health profile of people in South Central, predict their future healthcare needs and plan for the resources that might be required.
These improvements will help the PCTs and clinicians to provide better care by identifying the patients who most need care, making sure they receive it at the right time and ensuring that the health service plans for the future. By working in this way, PCTs can make sure they reduce waste and inefficiency at the same time as increasing standards of care. At the heart of the service is the principle that poor quality care wastes money.
For example, the CES will identify which patients might be at risk of developing a condition that will later require a high level of care. PCTs and clinicians can then look at ways to help prevent people becoming ill or manage their condition effectively and plan for the time when they will need a higher level of care.
Tribal will partner with McKesson, a trusted healthcare technology solutions and services provider, Sollis, a market leader in NHS commissioning solutions and John Hopkins University to provide the world class information tools and skills to make the CES a success.
Charles Waddicor, Chief Executive NHS Berkshire West and PCT sponsor for the CES, said,
“This is an exciting step change in the way we commission health services.
“It will really drive our collaborative way of working which is central to improvements in quality of care and efficiency savings which PCTs are tasked with achieving for over four million people.
“Tribal bring a wealth of experience with both tried and tested tools and the vision for innovative application of new emerging solutions to the NHS.”
Matthew Swindells, Managing Director for Health at Tribal, said:
“Tribal is delighted to be working with South Central PCTs and we believe that world class use of information can save lives and money at the same time.
“We look forward to seeing the benefits that the PCTs will be able to bring to the people that use local healthcare services and the greater efficiency that they will be able to demonstrate and hope this will provide a model for the rest of the NHS to follow.”
Ends
For further information please contact Gemma Wilkie, PR & Media Relations Manager at Tribal on 020 7323 7216 or gemma.wilkie@tribalgroup.com
Notes to Editors
About the Commissioning Enablement Service (CES)
The CES comprises three main elements
- CES Analytics - a service providing patient level data to support PCTs with developing strategy, operational planning and performance management.
- CES Procurement Transaction Service (PTS) - providing procurement and commercial support to commissioners to improve services and maximise investment in health care.
- CES Enabling Projects – supporting and managing projects and activities which are best done, or can only be done collaboratively which support improving
CES is a response to the need to improve decision-making in commissioning health care services. CES will help reduce costs, especially in acute care, and drive improvements in quality.
The South Central PCTs all agree on the need for transformational change. We need to improve our commissioning skills and increase the capacity of our workforce to meet our financial challenges.
We believe we have to understand what happens to individual patients about their health care. These details will help us check whether individuals are getting good quality cost effective services and we will be able to reduce costs, improve quality and help meet the financial targets for South Central over the next few years.
About NHS South Central
Improving health and alleviating the causes of poor health for the benefit of patients, the public and taxpayer alike in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
There are 24 NHS organisations across the South Central region that provide healthcare to around four million people.
About Tribal
Tribal is a leading public sector services company.
We provide service delivery, advisory and technology solutions focused on improving the quality and effectiveness of public services in the UK and internationally. Tribal’s core markets are education, health and government.
Our people are sector experts and we work in partnership with a wide range of organisations including schools, colleges, hospitals, local authorities, housing associations and government departments.
Tribal has approximately 2,000 staff and our work spans 40 countries across the world. Our charity, the Tribal Foundation, supports sustainable projects in the UK and developing world and is principally funded by staff donations which are matched by Tribal. Our website is www.tribalgroup.com.
For further information please contact Gemma Wilkie, PR & Media Relations Manager at Tribal on 020 7323 7216 / gemma.wilkie@tribalgroup.com or Epoch PR on 020 7401 8001 / tribal@epochpr.com. Out of hours press line is 07776 495 864.