Hinchingbrooke Hospital & Circle Health – Here We Go

The day has finally arrived, Hinchingbrooke Hospital is now in the management hands of Circle Health who now have the task of running the hospital making it the first NHS hospital run by a private company.

Circle have today released a 16 point improvement plan on how they will make Hinchingbrooke one of the top ten district hospitals in the country. Bold and exciting talk. I have put the plan below for you to look at.

This has been a long protracted and drawn out process as the initial process started back under a Labour government and although many local are either against the plans or have reservations I think most will agree that we just need to get on with it now and see if it works or not.

Personally while I am sure that Circle will be able to make improvements in some areas and cut costs generally, I am still uneasy about introducing the profit idea into the NHS. In the end I don't think the two are good hospital bed fellows.

Any thoughts people?

Circle's 16 Point Improvement Plan

1. Fix services thought to be unsafe

2. Stop the line' on life-threatening incidents, and report to hospital chief executive and top medics within an hour

3. Zero harm – stamp out medical errors and infections

4. Compassionate care – patients to get two-thirds of nursing time within 18 months

5. Patient-centred pathways – patients to be seen wherever suits them best, cutting out unnecessary duplicated appointments

6. Patients will be told when their ideas will be implemented or why they would not work

7. Michelin-influenced patient food will be freshly-cooked, nutritious and locally-sourced where possible

8. In-patients to have a new, value-for-money entertainment system within a year

9. War on waste – and some savings have already been delivered

10. Smarter procurement to deliver big savings within two years

11. Hospital of choice – capturing 5,000 patients from within 30 miles

12. Better, simpler design of reception areas, and fairer car parking by April 1

13. Decisions on care to be taken by staff closest to patients, organised into two simple clinical units

14. Support services realigned to serve those units

15. Staff performance to be reviewed by direct reports, peers and self, not just line managers

16. Clinical and front-line leaders to be given the chance to take part in the 'Circle 
Leadership Academy'

Time will tell how this experiment work out, but I am sure locally we will be watching closely.