Implementation of IHW ‘patchy’
pharmafile | November 16, 2012 | News story | Sales and Marketing | CCGs, IHW, NHS
An NHS initative which is supposed to drive public health forward is in danger of having only a limited impact, according to a new report.
The first 11 months of ‘Innovation, health and wealth’ (IHW) have been decidedly mixed, according to MHP Health Mandate’s Step Change? An analysis of early implementation of Innovation, health and wealth in the NHS.
Launched by the government in December last year, the idea of IHW was to support innovation in the NHS and in life sciences more generally.
The report looked at how the top down ‘push’ from the NHS Commissioning Board and Department of Health has been taken up by NHS commissioners on the ground.
“On a range of issues we found a very mixed picture across the NHS in England,” the report says. For example, the IHW programme is behind schedule, with only 9 out of 26 actions due to be completed by September 2012 fully implemented by then.
Communication is also an issue, with only 55% of providers saying they have received word from the DH or the NHS Commissioning Board on implementation since December 2011.
“Many organisations were unable to articulate what their role should be in implementing actions within it,” the report suggested. “Given this, it is not surprising that progress has been patchy.”
Even among those NHS organisations aware of IHW, relatively few (36%) had discussed implementation at board level or developed specific action plans and timelines (25%), with some local bodies clearly waiting for more direction from on high.
“There are areas where there is a worrying disconnect between national rhetoric and commitment and local action and delivery,” the report’s authors warn. “Unless this is addressed, the impact of innovation within the NHS will remain more limited than it could be.”
Given the importance of clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in the restructured NHS, it was ‘concerning’ that few existing commissioners referred to CCGs’ future role in implementing IHW, they added.
The report concedes that national financial incentives have been a useful catalyst for local action but not all NHS organisations view the implementation of IHW as a ‘must do’.
It also sets out 25 recommendations by which matters could be improved.
These include strengthening the just-published NHS Mandate to make IHW a priority and to hold the NHS Commissioning Board accountable for progress.
The Board should also closely monitor the uptake of NICE-approved treatments and identify areas where uptake is below expected levels, the report concludes.
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Adam Hill
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