HM Special Reports

Bromley Healthcare is a community interest company with its eyes set on growth. Chief executive Jonathan Lewis talks to HMn about partnership, opportunity and ambition

Q Can you tell us a bit about your background?

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 (the Act) introduced major changes to the way health and social care services in England are funded, commissioned and administered. These changes included the way NHS services will be regulated through the creation of a provider licence which will impose a range of obligations on providers of NHS services (the Licence). The Licence regime for non-exempt NHS funded services will be overseen by Monitor.

Within its recent policy document Closing the Gap - Priorities for Essential Change in Mental Health, the Department of Health identified 25 priorities for change to improve access to effective treatment.

In an industry as heavily regulated as healthcare, it was remarkable that the excesses and faults of the cosmetic interventions sector were so long ignored. Until, that is, the PIP Implant fraud brought angry women to the door of the former Secretary of State for Health, and he set the talented professional Professor Sir Bruce Keogh (with others) to unearth the truth, which he did in a criticising report last April. He revealed this sector of the healthcare industry to be in professional disarray – characterised by Dr Dan Poulter MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health in his response as murky practices of a cosmetic industry rapidly expanding’. To paraphrase the NHS Medical Director, he told the industry to get professional and do for cosmetic interventions what you do for other medical interventions; the patient must be king, not profit. Tell your patients the truth, and care for them properly. He also called the industry a datafree zone.

The Role of Commissioners in Quality and Safety

Trained nurse and chief executive of Care Plus Lance Gardner talks to HMn about commissioning, collaboration and what it’s like being the only employee in an organisation of 820 staff...

The Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) latest State of Care’ report, which was published in late November, has been welcomed by the Association of Independent Healthcare Organisations (AIHO). AIHO, which represents a range of providers, either into the NHS or directly to patients, has responded positively to the sections of the report concerning independent healthcare.

Despite seemingly being every party’s favourite political football, the great and the good of UK independent healthcare were in attendance on 8 October as LaingBuisson hosted its eighth Independent Healthcare Awards.

GP and public health adviser, Steven Laitner, talks to Healthcare Market News about NHS commissioning and the accountable lead provider model