Leading the way by encouraging quality through CQUIN payments

 

St Andrew’s Healthcare a long established supplier of mental health inpatient services to the NHS fully supports the CQUIN payment framework which makes a proportion of providers’ income conditional on quality and innovation.

The aim of CQUIN is to support the vision of “High Quality Care for All” in an environment where quality is the organising principle.

But as an important not for profit provider of mental health, learning disability and acquired brain injury services, St Andrew’s would like to encourage more PCTs to follow the lead of the innovative PCTs and SCTs who are setting the pace and are already working hard with them to implement the new payment framework.

Quality and innovation has always been high on St Andrew’s agenda. As a result, the charity has developed many innovative services over the years; including the first Acquired Brain Injury Service and specialist Secure Services for Young People.

The Charity works hard to maintain its close relationship with the NHS, and to provide high quality services that are also cost effective. The charity has invested significantly in recent years bringing its older facilities up to modern standards, whilst also creating new purpose built facilities on its head office campus in Northampton and spreading its services geographically to new facilities in Essex and Birmingham.

 The process of continual innovation within St Andrews continues apace with the opening of two new facilities for men later this year. William Wake House, a 132 bed facility in Northampton will be home to some of St Andrews most specialist services which cover: mental health; learning disabilities; acquired brain injury; learning disabilities; Asperger’s Syndrome; a young adult mental health service and a specialist deaf service.

St Andrew’s Nottinghamshire will extend the services the charity is well known for, to service users in the East Midlands and neighbouring areas. The development adds to the complement of regional centres providing treatment for service users in their local community. The purpose built 70 bed facility will provide services for men with learning disabilities and/or Autistic Spectrum disorders aged 18-65 across medium and low secure levels.

Given the range of St Andrew’s services, embracing the Department of Health’s initiative to introduce a Mental Health and Learning Disability Contract was naturally a priority for the trial year 2009/10, ensuring that the charity was well placed when the CQUIN framework became mandatory in April this year (2010). 

St Andrew’s has made significant investment in improved systems and information gathering to ensure that these drive quality and innovation, and also met the requirements of applications to be part of the NHS network from the April 2010 deadline.

 It is disappointing therefore, that while some PCTs are leading the way on this others are being slower to pick up on the mandatory aspect of the new scheme, particularly in relation to services from independent providers such as St Andrew’s. If this were to persist it could reduce the income of some of the very providers who are striving hardest to raise standards and provide the highest quality care.

St Andrew’s does however remain optimistic and has a firm commitment to embrace the changes in ways which benefit the commissioner as well as the end service. St Andrew’s goal setting focuses on pushing ambition and delivering quality improved care pathways for all of its service users.

Clearly, the intention of the scheme is to raise the quality of care and patient outcomes from all service providers to NHS patients, irrespective of NHS or independent status and this is at one with the approach that St Andrew’s will continue to follow.

The emphasis for the charity will focus on the delivery of quality services and outcomes for all of its patients. With this in mind St Andrew’s will continue to provide CQUIN data to all PCTs and encourage all to embrace the ambition of the CQUIN scheme.

St Andrew’s will contribute to this ambition by continuing to drive quality improvement throughout its range of services for men, women, adolescents and older people and striving to make a real difference to people’s lives in an environment that supports values of innovation, excellence and empowerment.

 

[ENDS]

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