All eyes on investment in health budget as York NHS hits crisis

UPDATE – So not much hope for the NHS in todays budget announcement. There will be a scheme to put a supplementary GP workforce into some A & E departments next winter and there is more for social care. But Councils face a further dramatic reduction in government grants with a likely knock on effect on crisis management by either the NHS or emergency services..

EARLIER: Whether the Chancellor will do anything in today’s budget to help York’s cash strapped NHS services remains to be seen.

A report, being considered by the York Council today, reveals the extent of the problems facing local health services.

Currently cuts of around £45 million are expected placing additional pressures on a service which is already facing a crisis.

NHS York started off with the lowest funding per head of population across the whole region. Cuts are now expected to fall on:

outpatients
continuing healthcare
prescribing
high-cost drugs
elective orthopaedics (e.g. hip, knee replacement)
out of hospital facilities

The local LibDem health spokesperson said, “Cuts in services such as continuing healthcare and out of hospital care are not welcome news”.

“Liberal Democrats will continue to call for the Government to acknowledge the growing pressures on health services and give York a fair funding deal.”

Meanwhile the scale of the centralisation of GP surgery facilities has become clearer. Many are set to become localised mini hospitals with several in Acomb – including the now huge Priory Group which has premises on Cornlands Road – now the largest in the City.

In the Westfield Ward a “Local Area Coordinator” is being appointed by the Council to support people who may “feel vulnerable due to age, frailty, disability or mental health needs”

Interviews are currently taking place and the successful applicant is expected to start work later in the Spring.

Spotlight on York NHS finances as Acomb GP surgery looks to extend

Freedom of Information response confirms no discussions held regarding Priory Surgery move to Lowfields site

With the NHS Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (YCCG), which buys services for people in York, heading for a £24 million overspend this year, the spotlight is being turned on some major investment decisions.

The Estates and Technology Tranformation Fund provides investment for General Practices to improve premises and technology.

Grants can be between 30% and 100% of the capital cost.

Part of the purpose of this programme is to “help practices establish infrastructure which enables sufficient routine appointments at evenings and weekends to meet local demand alongside effective access to out of hours and urgent care services”

All schemes have to be implemented by March 2019.

On 2nd June 2016 a local commissioning committee meeting in York decided which projects to bid for. Some have since been added to the approved national list.

The national improvement list for 2016/17 authorises funding for extension work at the Front St (Copmanthorpe), Posterngate and Priory (Cornlands Road) surgeries. The Cornlands Road scheme could cost around £800,000 and would fund an extension for a “new patient lounge” and facilities to “manage long term conditions”.

Four new build schemes are also listed for York. They are located at Wheldrake, Jorvik/Gillygate South (Terry’s site), Huntington and Priory (Burnholme Health and Well Being campus).

In deciding its priorities, the YCCG had to observe national policies, They are set out here click

The guidance says “It is not anticipated, at this stage, that a further national round of submissions will be offered as it is expected the fund will be fully committed and the pipeline fully populated following this second invitation for schemes”.

The situation at the Priory practice on Cornlands Road came to the fore in the autumn when the York Council agreed to allocate a site at Lowfields for the practice to move into.

Priory had already been working with the Council on providing health facilities at the Burnholme school site on the other side of the City.

Although NHS documents (see below) reveal that the current Cornlands Road premises do require improvement, the local YCCG nodded through the extension scheme in June.

In a response to a Freedom of Information request the YCCG says,

“The CCG and practice have had no meetings about the relocation” of the surgery to Lowfields.

So, it seems that – with the deadline for funding applications now passed – there is little chance of a health centre being built on the reserved site at Lowfields in the foreseeable future.

…. and there is now even less justification for building on the Lowfields playing fields!

York health service bosses now in “financial special measures”

The Vale of York Care commissioning Group (CCG) is now is now subject to “financial special measures”.

Dr Mark Hayes announced this evening he is standing down as the leader and accountable officer of the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

Dr Hayes was the Labour candidate in the Selby constituency at the last General Election.

“The Vale of York CCG will be directed to:

appoint a new Accountable Officer with the involvement of NHS England,
involve NHS England in appointments to its Executive Team and the next tier of management and
act on the issues that have been identified related to capacity, capability, financial governance and financial recovery,

with the implementation of a plan that addresses these within a timescale agreed by NHS England”.

The group is responsible for “buying” healthcare from professional organisations around the area (including GPs and hospitals).

The news comes as the CCG admitted a possible cumulative deficit of £13.4m for this year.

It comes a year after doctors supported a motion of no confidence in the management of the Group.

The 2015-16 ratings for all CCGs in the country were also published today, with 10 rated ‘outstanding’, 82 rated ‘good’, 91 rated ‘requires improvement’ and 26 rated ‘inadequate’.

York was rated as inadequate.

There has been a lack of stability in the local NHS over recent years with most recently a crisis developing in the provision of mental health services.

Nationally five trusts and nine CCGs have been put in the intervention regime, which forms part of a long awaited package of “reset” measures designed to get the NHS’s finances and accident and emergency performance back on track.

CCG performance