New NHS England Guideline update on Service changes

Getting ready to deliver an Executive Briefing tomorrow, we have today finished our line-by-line look at the new 2015 version of this important Guide – it matters to many of my LinkedIn colleagues and members of the Consultation Institute. Its title is “Planning, assuring and delivering service change for patients” It reinforces the need for CCGs, NHS Trusts and indeed NHS England itself to be meticulous in preparing options that may go to public consultation.

Apart from some minor quibbles and a couple of terminology issues, we think NHS England has done a good job on a most difficult area – bedevilled by politics as much by the economics of healthcare. For us, the biggest challenge is persuading senior clinicians and Managers to involve key stakeholders early enough, and here the small print of the new Guide requires very careful reading. The next step for us is to package our presentation on the impact of/changes to the Guide – and the contextual legal principles into a two-hour briefing that our specialist Associates can deliver to the many CCGs and CSUs who use the Institute services. We also hope that we can invite NHS England to attend our Health Special Interest Group Meeting (SIG) in late January to discuss the document.

Anyone else who is interested in our view of this important publication, please call Jan Warner on 01767 318350 or email janw@consultationinstitute.org.