Month: June 2022

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Increasing referrals to diabetes programme

We engaged with primary care providers to streamline the process for referrals into the National Diabetes Prevention Programme, and we contacted eligible patients directly to motivate a referral into the programme. Both of these activities resulted in a significant increase of referrals within the Black Country and West Birmingham area.

Background

We were commissioned by Black Country and West Birmingham health system to engage with GP practices and directly with patients to increase referrals into the National Diabetes Prevention Programme (NDPP). The NDPP is designed to support adults who are at a high risk of developing type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Participants are referred into a structured educational programme and attend a series of group sessions to empower them to make sustainable lifestyle changes to reduce their risk of developing T2DM.

Action

The collaborative project team between NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU (MLCSU) and the health system provided a coordinated response to help increase referrals from primary care. This involved:

* A dedicated email inbox helpline for NDPP queries from primary care
* Pathway documents to provide practical information to support practice engagement and implementation of NDPP
* Development of clinical systems searches to identify patients eligible for referral to the NDPP.
* Direct discussions with eligible patients by pharmacy to encourage referral to NDPP
* Development of electronic transfer documents (EDT) including approved clinical language for IT systems (SNOMED codes) to inform practices of patient discussions.

An early implementation test with the help of Thornley Street GP Practice was fundamental to the success of the project, refining processes for rolling out to other practices.

Impact

Figures from the NDPP provider (Ingeus) show that referrals from primary care have almost doubled in the period since MLCSU engaged with practices – 799 referrals, compared to 364 in the year before.

Since the programme commenced we have:

* Contacted directly an additional 1930 patients and referred 1144 of these to the NDPP. This is a 59% referral rate for patients that answered the call
* Engaged with 21 GP practices in the Black Country and West Birmingham region
* Worked collaboratively with Ingeus and primary care commissioning leads to maximise GP practice engagement.

Diabetes prevention programmes can significantly reduce the progression to T2DM and lead to reductions in weight and glucose compared to usual care.1

1 A systematic review and meta analysis assessing the effectiveness of pragmatic lifestyle interventions for the prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus in routine practice https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/733053/PHE_Evidence_Review_of_diabetes_prevention_programmes-_FINAL.pdf

“Thank you very much for all your support and assistance. Clearly this exercise has been very useful. I will share the results with our team.“

Ikbir Kaur | Practice Manager, Hilltop Medical Centre

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MLCSU-supported finance team win award

The NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU Finance Team have been supporting the North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust by providing all their financial accounting. At a recent ceremony, the finance function at NSCHT won the West Midlands Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Finance Team of the Year Award.

In recognition of our Finance Team’s excellent work and support in helping the trust develop a finance function which has won the award, NSCHT’s Deputy Director of Finance, Kimberli McKinlay, said:

‘Thanks for all your support and hard work, this is your award too!’

A huge congratulations to everyone involved!

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MLCSU director named HSJ100 wildcard

Andi Orlowski, Director of the Health Economics Unit, part of NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU (MLCSU), has been named as one of the 20 “wildcards” for the 2022 HSJ100.

Andi Orlowski, Director of the Health Economics Unit

The HSJ100 is a list compiled by the Health Service Journal of the 100 most influential people in health. The HSJ100 wildcards are people and organisations with no formal power over the direction of national heath policy but who have ideas that could and should influence it.

The HSJ explains: “to select the final 20, we focused in on those who were well placed to make an impact on the particular challenges of the forthcoming 12 months.”

Andi has been named on the list alongside GPs, journalists and notable staff and directors from other NHS organisations, charities and the private sector.

The HSJ continues:

“Population health management may be a buzzword but it describes an important concept. Understanding the health needs of communities will be crucial for ICSs and will help recovery by ensuring the right services are provided to meet those needs. Mr Orlowski and his team provide the expertise and analytics to make this happen. He is also a strong and informed voice on how data can identify health inequalities and how such gaps can then be addressed.”

Find out more about the Health Economics Unit at https://healtheconomicsunit.nhs.uk/

Find out more about the HSJ100 wildcards at https://www.hsj.co.uk/hsj100-the-wildcards/7032608.article

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Schedule of MLCSU experts at NHS ConfedExpo

This month NHS Confederation is uniting with NHS England and NHS Improvement to deliver one of the most significant events in the health care calendar: NHS ConfedExpo. We are pleased to announce our schedule of experts who will be available at stand E115 to answer all your questions and show you around our services.

Wednesday 15 June

10am to 11am How chatbots can reduce your patient waiting lists
11am to 12pm Innovative medicines management
12pm to 1pm How we help transform your clinical services and collaborate with partner providers
2pm to 3pm Maximise your estate with UBook Room and Desk Booking System
3pm to 4pm Personalised Healthcare Commissioning

Thursday 16 June

9am to 10am Supporting your workforce needs with TalentONE
11am to 12pm Transform and innovate your digital and IT footprint
1pm to 2pm Helping you to deliver inclusive, equitable care and business operations

Visit at these times to meet experts about solutions that might help you.

The conference and exhibition takes place 15-16 June in Liverpool. It brings together senior leaders from the NHS, SMEs, commercial organisations, charities and more to discuss key issues, share successes and explore how we can support each other to improve patient care.

Book your NHS ConfedExpo pass here: https://lnkd.in/guJb8PyB

Click the link below for a pdf version of our schedule, and a map showing how to find us.

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Enabling remote healthcare monitoring

We designed and implemented a programme of transformation to enable remote monitoring across healthcare in the Black Country and West Birmingham health system.

Background

In 2021, NHS England added remote monitoring to the national priorities and operational planning guidance.

Remote monitoring is a golden thread that spans the continuum of care, including inpatients, outpatients and primary care in the community. It also includes Virtual Wards and Hospital at Home.

For Black Country and West Birmingham health system, remote monitoring aligned with another key goal: striving for patient-centred care by digitising and personalising healthcare.

The NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (MLCSU) launched a multi-year digital transformation programme to provide remote monitoring at pace in Black Country and West Birmingham.

Action

A programme of this size required MLCSU to deploy hundreds of remote monitoring solutions, for everything from deterioration of care-home residents for primary care to acute step-down virtual wards in secondary care.

Each deployment required its own set of procedures, which included separate documentation, information governance, clinical models, bespoke care packages, training and testing.

We began by assigning a team of five at the customer organisation to increase capability and capacity. Three areas were key to the success of this project:

Establishing processes

* requirements gathering and specifications documentation
* overarching information governance
* clinical safety documentation, including DCB0160
* pathway and standard operating procedure redesign and input into amendments

Boosting awareness and engagement

* educating clinicians on the remote monitoring solutions available in their respective areas and ensuring they know how to use them

Ensuring follow-up

* establishing a pathway for the reporting and analysis of activities from the practice or trust, all the way to national level
* delivering reviews, top-up training and incremental adjustments to the solutions wherever necessary.

Impact

Our services added the extra capability and capacity that the system needed to meet the priority of remote monitoring.

Early statistics demonstrate a significant reduction in metrics like clinical hours spent, length of stay and the number of A&E / paediatric assessment unit visits. These factors have a substantial ripple effect, since freeing up a bed in a service improves flow throughout the system and releases clinician time.

“Black Country and West Birmingham (BC&WB) CCG called upon MLCSU to assist with the timely delivery of remote monitoring at scale. As we head towards FY22/23 we expect to really capitalise on the benefits of remote monitoring.”

Mike Hastings – Chief Information and Operations Officer, ICS Digital Lead, BC&WB CCG

“We’re incredibly excited on the benefits remote monitoring will deliver for our children, young people, their parents and carers. It feels like we’re scratching the surface of what’s possible.”

Lucy Rozga – Matron, Paediatrics and Neonates, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust

“MLCSU have been able to deliver an effective service at pace. It is great to work with people with such knowledge and expertise.”

Dr Zishan Yousef – GP, Clinical Safety Officer and Remote Monitoring Co-Clinical Lead, BC&WB CCG

“Remote Monitoring is a key enabler for our clinicians in the delivery of quality Out Of Hospital healthcare”

Bal McAdam – Senior Strategic Commissioning Manager, Out of Hospital Services, BC&WB CCG