Monday 12 December 2016

Specialist services Maximising value - the fourth priority

This one is a horror story!

"Maximising value and patient outcomes from specialised commissioning"

In CCG speak:

"Identify opportunities for modifying pathways, standardising thresholds and increasing prevention to reduce spend and increase value"

Well that is a mouthful! Lots of jargon and management speak in that statement.

What do I think?  I think it is all about reducing the cost of providing specialist care. This is the sort of care that is not done in our local hospitals. The sort of specialist treatment I am getting as I write this.  I have to declare an interest here!

There is always opportunities to improve the path us patients take through the system. We need to reduce the number of times we move between different parts of the system. This is a good thing. But it is not new and has been going on for years. But this must be done in partnership with the patients.

The interesting phrase is 'standardising thresholds'. What do they mean? I think it means they want to make it more difficult for GPs to refer us to the specialist centres. At  the moment many treatments are provided after the patient has ticked the boxes. The condition has to be severe enough for the CCG to fund it. Patients have to apply to the CCG for an 'individual funding review' when the CCG will look at each case before making a decision. This could be extended.

I am not sure what they mean by increasing prevention and I assume this is linked to priority 1.

As I said earlier it seems that the emphasis for this priority is on reducing cost.

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