NUH/SFH Partnership

NUH and Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (SFH) are no longer pursuing a formal merger and will continue to operate as standalone organisations. 

Both Trusts remain committed to working in partnership where it adds value to patient care and results in better ways of working.
 
The main reason for this decision is the requirement for each organisation to focus on operational challenges. For NUH, this is improving 4-hour performance for emergency patients and addressing its financial challenges, whilst SFH will focus on continuing to embed and build on the significant improvements delivered over the past year.
 
NUH and SFH are working together with NHS Improvement (the regulator), to determine how the partnership will progress over the next few months and beyond, ensuring alignment with Nottinghamshire’s Sustainability and Transformation Plan, which describes the 5-year strategy for the health and social care system.

Peter Homa, Louise Scull and Mandie Sunderland have returned exclusively to their NUH Chief Executive, Chair and Chief Nurse posts.

Preparing for winter months

£4.3m has been allocated by commissioners to support Nottinghamshire’s health and social care system this winter. 
 
At NUH, we have opened a new unit to improve the timeliness and expertise of assessment of frail emergency patients and will evaluate its effectiveness after winter. More primary care clinicians are working in our Emergency Department (including evenings and weekends), and in November, 16 more beds will open at City Hospital for respiratory patients.
 
We will proactively reduce our elective (planned) activity in a deliberate and organised way over the Christmas and New Year period, so during these periods, our clinicians can work in our inpatient areas to support the timely discharge of patients. 

Read our Chair’s blog about how NUH is preparing for winter.

Carillion concerns

Concern from our patients, partners and staff regarding cleanliness standards and other aspects of Carillion’s performance continues to be at the forefront of our minds. After implementing several rigorous interventions, serious concerns remain about the cleanliness of our hospitals. 

Enhanced audits completed during October will provide the Trust with an independent assessment of cleanliness standards across our hospitals.

Over the coming week, we will evaluate this independent report and all the available evidence so that the NUH Trust Board can make a decision on the future of our cleaning services and the wider Carillion contract later this month.

Financial challenge

This year NUH (and the wider NHS) faces its toughest ever financial challenge. We have plans to make efficiency savings of £43m in 16/17 and are forecasting a year-end deficit (control total) of £22m. However, this is dependent on NUH receiving £24m national monies which is itself conditional on hitting financial and operational targets (including 4-hour emergency care performance and cancer targets).

Each quarter £6m is at risk if we miss these targets. So far, we have missed the agreed trajectories to September for the 62 day cancer standard and the 4-hour emergency access standard. This equates to a loss of income year-to-date of £1.1m.

After September (month 6) we were £0.5m behind our planned £15.5m deficit. However, we have achieved savings of £16.6m, in line with the target up to the end of September.  We have to deliver a further £26.4m of savings between October ’16 and March ’17 to meet our full-year financial plan.

We spent £5.8m (25%) less on nursing premium and medical locum pay in the first six months of the year (April-September ‘16) compared to the previous 6 months. Our spend on nursing agency staff year-to-date has reduced by 35% compared to the previous half year and we have been below our ‘cap’ for nurse agency spend for six consecutive months. We are further strengthening vacancy controls and scrutinising all premium pay and discretionary spend, such is the requirement to rapidly reduce our spend.

Recognition for NUH in Leadership Awards

NUH has been shortlisted in three categories in the East Midlands NHS Leadership Recognition Awards.

These awards celebrate leaders at all levels and across all professions, especially those who have ultimately improved people's health and the public's experience of the NHS.

The three shortlisted NUH nominees are:

• Peter Homa (Chief Executive) - Inspirational Leader
• Procurement Team - Team Outstanding Achievement - Non clinical
• Shereen Proctor (Supportive Care Specialist Nurse, Respiratory Medicine) - Emerging Leader of the Year

Winners will be announced on 1 December.