Commissioning and the Third Sector Health

Network

Skyers-Poorman Research and Consulting

One East Midlands

• Supporting the development of Third Sector organisations across the East Midlands

• Ensuring that there is a consistent collective voice on issues that matter most to the sector

• Working in partnership to improve health and social care services

Purpose of the Health Network

• Providing a mechanism for an ongoing dialogue with a range of statutory partners

• Enabling and supporting a wide range of voices from voluntary infrastructure agencies to speak about health inequalities

The Context For Commissioning

• Best Value to involve – putting communities in control

• World Class Commissioning

• The Operating Framework for 2008-09

Preparing to for the future

• Economic downturn - times are getting hard

• Outcome of the general election

• Lack of investment in strategic relationship

• Survival depends on better understanding of a changing market place

What are the World Class Competencies

• Locally lead the NHS

• Steer the local health agenda

• Brand recognition for quality services in community

• Stimulate discussion and provide credible and timely information

Shared intelligence

C - collect O - onceU - usedN - numerousT - times

Working in Partnership

• What is meaningful engagement and how can we work in partnership?

• Why? Because World Class Commissioners lead continuous and meaningful engagement with the sector to inform strategy, and drive quality, service design, and resource utilisation

Working in Partnership

• Access to critical market intelligence

• Informed business investment decisions that are value for money

• Innovative service improvement approaches

• Joint approaches to needs assessments

Analyse the Market

NHS Nottingham City will gather information and baseline data on the performance of existing Healthcare markets. For the NHS Nottingham City this starts with gathering evidence on:

Quality and Outcomes• Access• Choice• Value for Money• Appropriateness

Characteristics of demand:-• Existing patterns of demand for services/JSNA• Projected changes in demand

Characteristics of supply• Provider landscape• Existing and future capacity.

Is the service, meeting the needs of patients from diverse communities?

Capacity Building

Move away from deficit model to shared learning involving:

• Commissioners

• Communities

• Third sector

Some Challenges

• Are consortia a meaningful way to ensure the sector plays a role in new market – are there other options?

• How to ensure procurement and contracting processes are consistent, transparent and equitable?

Focusing on getting it right

Input from all relevant sources, research, statistics, studies, but especially from:

• Communities• Experts in the Third Sector• Knowing the challenges before designing a

service

Focus on getting it right

• Better understanding of the procurement and contracting process

• Equitable approach to contract compliance and quality assurance systems

• Shared approach to managed risks

How can we recognise success?

• Partnerships

• Transparency and mutual trust

• Utilising existing community networks not duplicating

• Involving the most hard to hear not those who are loudest

• Getting local engagement right

A level playing field

• How can we ensure that the sector has an equal voice on new and existing commissioning priorities?

Learning from good practice

• NHS Nottingham City in partnership with Nottingham CVS

• Capacity building of third sector organisations

• Tender skills

• NHS Nottingham City Procurement Training

Thank you

Sophia Skyers and Janet Poorman sophia@skyers-morris .co.uk