World-class commissioning: January 2010

This letter from Claire Aldiss, acting director of commissioning, Department of Health, reports on the monthly progress of the world class commissioning programme.

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NHS Evidence - commissioning

The commissioning specialist collection (CSC), part of NHS Evidence and managed by The King’s Fund, is an information resource for all those involved in commissioning for health and wellbeing. It endeavours to include the best available evidence, examples of good practice, policy and data to support world class commissioning and is managed by a dedicated information specialist who is contactable via email should you have any feedback, suggestions or queries.

Highlights of the collection include the regularly updated key topics which provide brief summaries and links to information on various commissioning topics, and the CSC is always happy to consider suggestions for new topics. You can also find links to commissioning related events, data sources, journals and toolkits.

You can keep up to date with the latest commissioning publications via various RSS feeds, or follow and interact with the CSC on Twitter.

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Virtual Conference Now Live For the Launch of World Class Commissioning (WCC) Assurance Year 2

The virtual conference for the launch of world class commissioning (WCC) assurance Year 2 is now live. This is a chance to view what happened at the biggest event in the WCC calendar. Watch NHS leaders talk about how WCC is helping them drive forward commissioning in their local areas and get a better understanding of current issues in the commissioning arena.
Watch the keynotes, panel discussion and interactive workshop sessions
Download presentations, podcasts and associated documentation vital for your role
Gather practical support to develop your strategic commissioning skills and capabilities. Click here for more information and to view the virtual conference.

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WCC Progress Report

This letter gives a world class commissioning (WCC) progress report, including the launch of WCC assurance year 2, the PBC national clinical network, new support and development resources including datapacks, and an update on the programme of Integrated Care Pilots.

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Launch of 2nd Year of WCC Assurance

The 16th September 2009 marked the launch of the second year of WCC assurance, the national system that holds PCTs to account whilst providing support for them as they start to become world class commissioners. This guide for PCTs and SHAs explains WCC assurance in detail

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World class commissioning data packs

The WCC Data Packs are produced on behalf of the Department of Health to support PCTs during the World Class Commissioning (WCC) assurance process and in their commissioning activities. The data packs are now available click here to download them and for more information.

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e - Insider Health Information for World Class Commissioning

Click here to view a report from e-insider health on information for World Class Commissioning.

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Building Foundations for World Class Commissioning of Primary Care: QOF

This event being held on 9th October in Manchester will focus on the basics of delivering a robust QOF process, focusing on the QOF indicators, the QOF process and timeline, the QOF visits and pre and post payment verification, including exception reporting. Click here for further information and to book your place.

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Animated account of WCC

A seven minute introductory animation about world class commissioning is available, set as an underwater detective story. Developed for the Innovation Expo, it is specifically aimed at introducing the concepts behind WCC to new audiences.

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World class commissioning (WCC) summer update - July/August 2009

This letter from Gary Belfield gives a progress report on the world class commissioning (WCC) programme for July and August. It includes updates on the launch of assurance year two, the PBC National Clinical Network, a new film showcasing PBC in action, some new support and development resources and an update on the programme of Integrated Care Pilots (ICP).

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Yorkshire & Humber regional WCC event

The Yorkshire and Humber world class commissioning of primary care services regional event will be held on 30 September at Royal Armouries Leeds.
This regional event will enable delegates to focus on the importance of commissioning and performance managing primary and community care provision, especially in relation to patient safety and quality. A number of guides have been produced which aim to support PCTs to realise world class service delivery and it is hoped that a further guide focusing on quality will be launched on 30 September.
A primary care benchmarking application commissioned by the Department of Health's primary care and community services team will also be presented at the event.

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Commissioning teams to get virtual seats at WCC board event

The world-class commissioning assurance process for 2009/10 will be launched at the Brewery, London on 16 September. The day will focus on the refined framework for WCC assurance year two, and the economic climate in which the NHS now needs to operate. Although attendance at the event is limited to SHA and PCT chairs, chief executives and board-level executives, there are plans to allow wider participation of PCT commissioning teams via a live web-cast. Further details will be sent to PCTs shortly. Meanwhile, check out the short video of acting director general of commissioning Gary Belfield setting the scene for WCC 2 on the PCC home page.

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World-class commissioning guide to improving primary eye health services published

The Department of Health published a new world-class commissioning guide to improving primary eye health services at the South West WCC event on 17 July 2009. This guide is intended to build awareness and capability within PCTs. To support world class commissioning, PCTs need to make sure there is appropriate eye care input at board level whenever decisions about commissioning primary eye health services are taken.
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HSJ Information for Improvement - Competency 5

This HSJ supplement is filled with practical advice and ideas for commissioners, specifically around World Class Commissioning competency 5.

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Necessity - not nicety: A new commercial operating model for the NHS and Department of Health

This report sets out why commercial skills are now integral to the NHS at all levels. It describes a new operating model for commercial capability – the way commercial skills will be organised and applied at different levels across the NHS to have maximum impact – drawing heavily on the discussions of the past months. It outlines the benefits for key groups in the NHS and DH and it sets out how the DH are committed to working with a range of delivery partners to bring the new operating model into being quickly – and in doing so make a timely and telling response to the ambitious efficiency challenge laid down in the 2009 Budget.

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Report from the Picker Institute on Patient & Publice engagement - the early impact of WCC

The Picker Institute carried out a survey of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in February 2009 to explore the early impact of the World Class Commissioning framework on patient and public engagement in commissioning. You can read the full findings in this report from the Picker Institute here.

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Integrated Care Pilots (ICP)

The 16 pilots have been doing a great deal of work to ensure everything is in place to enable them to complete the requirements of the national programme. They have been working on project management processes and documentation, and data collection systems to provide for the evaluation requirements.
A number of sites have already taken advantage of the project management support and coaching available to them from site support leads and the central team, with further engagement happening during June.
Site support leads have been appointed from the central team for each of the 16 sites. They will enable ongoing interaction, dialogue and support for the sites as they implement their local integrated care proposals.
The national evaluation team has also agreed on the sites that will participate in a set of ‘deep dive’ studies to further support national evaluation. This investigation will be designed to explore key issues in more detail. The ‘deep dive’ pilot sites are:
Norfolk: a site which has a population-wide focus, with a strong social care element
Principia: has a focus on one major disease area (COPD), and significant third-sector involvement
Cumbria: covers a broad range of interventions
Torbay: has a focus on elderly, with social care and third sector involvement
Nene: focuses on a key disease area (long-term conditions), and includes both ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ integration
Church View: a small pilot but with broad focus and with leadership from the secondary sector (the Foundation Trust).

Practical Guide on The Framework for Procuring External Support for Commissioners

The Department of Health have published a Practical Guide on The Framework for Procuring External Support for Commissioners (FESC) leaflet. Find it on-line here!

Call for Examples of Good Practice

The Department of Health (DH) are working with the NHS Institute to collate a database of good practice on the Institute's PCT Portal. SHAs are collating case studies, so PCTs wishing to contribute should contact their SHA commissioning leads.

WCC - Sharing Good Practice Events

During July, a national series of free ‘Sharing Good Practice’ events for PCT commissioners. These events will demonstrate the steps needed to achieve ‘world class’ in all aspects of commissioning, enabling attendees to hear about excellence in commissioning from high-performing PCTs and take away practical ideas to apply in their local areas.
Spaces are limited and allocated on a first come first served basis, so interested parties are invited to register as soon as possible. Events will be held: 6 July - Leeds Engaging with stakeholders and prioritising investment. 8 July - Bristol Assessing needs and promoting quality and innovation. 15 July - London Managing and developing the market. 16 July - Birmingham
Board ownership, strategy and financial planning. For further information and to book your place click here!