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| Hospital staff to get more time with patients after bureaucracy crackdown | Hospital staff to get more time with patients after bureaucracy crackdown |
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| Hospitals are to be relieved of their duty for collecting scores of different sets of data as part of a purge of the NHS's "gargantuan" bureaucracy. The move is designed to free staff to spend more time caring for patients in the wake of the scandal at Mid Staffordshire hospital trust. | Hospitals are to be relieved of their duty for collecting scores of different sets of data as part of a purge of the NHS's "gargantuan" bureaucracy. The move is designed to free staff to spend more time caring for patients in the wake of the scandal at Mid Staffordshire hospital trust. |
| Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, is scrapping the need for hospitals to collate 76 – one in four – of the 305 different types of data they have to send to the Department of Health, health regulators and other bodies, as part of a reduction to the service's bureaucratic burdens. | Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, is scrapping the need for hospitals to collate 76 – one in four – of the 305 different types of data they have to send to the Department of Health, health regulators and other bodies, as part of a reduction to the service's bureaucratic burdens. |
| He will announce the move next Tuesday when he outlines to parliament the government's response to Robert Francis QC's report last month into the Mid Staffordshire hospital trust care scandal, in which multiple failures were found to have led to between 400 and 1,200 deaths. | He will announce the move next Tuesday when he outlines to parliament the government's response to Robert Francis QC's report last month into the Mid Staffordshire hospital trust care scandal, in which multiple failures were found to have led to between 400 and 1,200 deaths. |
| Hunt told the Guardian he has ordered the crackdown on NHS bureaucracy after hearing complaints from frustrated clinical and managerial staff that they have to spend up to three hours a day, every day, collecting and recording different sorts of information, and that some data required by regulatory bodies was irrelevant. | Hunt told the Guardian he has ordered the crackdown on NHS bureaucracy after hearing complaints from frustrated clinical and managerial staff that they have to spend up to three hours a day, every day, collecting and recording different sorts of information, and that some data required by regulatory bodies was irrelevant. |
| Hospitals will no longer have to gather details of the number of their staff who have been involved in conflict resolution training, or data on the number of fire incidents and false alarms, for example. Hunt is also lifting the requirement, brought in as a result of the bird flu outbreak in 2005, for hospitals to be able to tell the DH how many poultry workers have had the influenza vaccine. | Hospitals will no longer have to gather details of the number of their staff who have been involved in conflict resolution training, or data on the number of fire incidents and false alarms, for example. Hunt is also lifting the requirement, brought in as a result of the bird flu outbreak in 2005, for hospitals to be able to tell the DH how many poultry workers have had the influenza vaccine. |
| Hunt sees the move as a way of refocusing the NHS away from what Francis's highly critical report called "the business of the system" and towards the task of providing better patient care. | Hunt sees the move as a way of refocusing the NHS away from what Francis's highly critical report called "the business of the system" and towards the task of providing better patient care. |
| The reduction in data duties will save an estimated 26,000 days of NHS staff time and free up £9.2m for other purposes, Hunt believes. | The reduction in data duties will save an estimated 26,000 days of NHS staff time and free up £9.2m for other purposes, Hunt believes. |
| "Creating a culture of care, not bureaucracy, in the NHS is essential," Hunt said. "Good information about how well services are doing is also essential, but needless paperwork is not. Over the years, the bureaucratic burden on the NHS has grown to gargantuan proportions. Doctors and nurses went into their professions to help patients, not number-crunch. | "Creating a culture of care, not bureaucracy, in the NHS is essential," Hunt said. "Good information about how well services are doing is also essential, but needless paperwork is not. Over the years, the bureaucratic burden on the NHS has grown to gargantuan proportions. Doctors and nurses went into their professions to help patients, not number-crunch. |
| "I have heard myself how doctors, nurses and managers find dealing with paperwork a big and frustrating part of their jobs." | "I have heard myself how doctors, nurses and managers find dealing with paperwork a big and frustrating part of their jobs." |
| He is acting to streamline data collection after early findings from a review of health service bureaucracy, which he ordered after the Francis report. This confirmed the irritation staff feel about having to record so much information to satisfy requests and regulator requirements from between 60 and 70 separate bodies, especially from his own department and regulators such as Monitor and the Care Quality Commission. That review, which will report in full in the autumn, is being undertaken by the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals. | He is acting to streamline data collection after early findings from a review of health service bureaucracy, which he ordered after the Francis report. This confirmed the irritation staff feel about having to record so much information to satisfy requests and regulator requirements from between 60 and 70 separate bodies, especially from his own department and regulators such as Monitor and the Care Quality Commission. That review, which will report in full in the autumn, is being undertaken by the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals. |
| "The NHS has tolerated far more information being demanded than necessarily serves its purposes," said Mike Farrar, the confederation's chief executive, who is leading the work. "This generates frustration among staff, and even the regulatory and supervisory bodies, who have considerable data, struggle to use it effectively. | "The NHS has tolerated far more information being demanded than necessarily serves its purposes," said Mike Farrar, the confederation's chief executive, who is leading the work. "This generates frustration among staff, and even the regulatory and supervisory bodies, who have considerable data, struggle to use it effectively. |
| "Just recently, I received over 500 replies from NHS clinicians, managers, board members and others about busting bureaucracy. Over four in 10 told me they spend between one and three hours of their working day personally collecting and recording information," Farrar said. | "Just recently, I received over 500 replies from NHS clinicians, managers, board members and others about busting bureaucracy. Over four in 10 told me they spend between one and three hours of their working day personally collecting and recording information," Farrar said. |
| In addition, three-quarters of those who contacted him said that some information collected for regulators was irrelevant, he added. | In addition, three-quarters of those who contacted him said that some information collected for regulators was irrelevant, he added. |
| However, Farrar also warned that the government's imminent shake-up of the NHS in England is in danger of making bureaucracy even more cumbersome, as newly created organisations can start demanding information, too. "With a raft of new organisations due to come into force on 1 April, we risk increasing the bureaucratic and regulatory burden even further. We need a smarter system of information use, not a bigger one," he said. These new organisations could include GP-led clinical commissioning groups and local councils' health and wellbeing boards. Different departments of hospitals often do not share information with each other, which can further increase the time needed to respond when they receive a request for data, the confederation's review has found. Hospitals' workload is also increased by different organisations seeking similar, but slightly different, data, which forces them to put together a new data package. | However, Farrar also warned that the government's imminent shake-up of the NHS in England is in danger of making bureaucracy even more cumbersome, as newly created organisations can start demanding information, too. "With a raft of new organisations due to come into force on 1 April, we risk increasing the bureaucratic and regulatory burden even further. We need a smarter system of information use, not a bigger one," he said. These new organisations could include GP-led clinical commissioning groups and local councils' health and wellbeing boards. Different departments of hospitals often do not share information with each other, which can further increase the time needed to respond when they receive a request for data, the confederation's review has found. Hospitals' workload is also increased by different organisations seeking similar, but slightly different, data, which forces them to put together a new data package. |
| Hunt will also announce that he is giving the NHS's Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) a new role as a gateway to information collected by the service, in order to reduce the effort involved in collecting it. Any body that wants to ask NHS organisations for a new sort of data will first have to persuade the HSCIC that such information is "patient-proof" – that is, that the benefits outweigh the work involved in putting it together. | Hunt will also announce that he is giving the NHS's Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) a new role as a gateway to information collected by the service, in order to reduce the effort involved in collecting it. Any body that wants to ask NHS organisations for a new sort of data will first have to persuade the HSCIC that such information is "patient-proof" – that is, that the benefits outweigh the work involved in putting it together. |
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