NHS commissioning and provider groups getting to grips with data thanks to ITbased partnerships

Civica announces 200 NHS commissioners and providers are using its health and social care solutions to process over 35 billion of NHS commissioning activities

15th July 2013, London: Civica, a market leader in specialist systems and business process services that help organisations transform the way they work, has highlighted the continued uptake of its solutions by health and social care organisations looking to get to grips with commissioning data. A total of 200 NHS providers and commissioners, including Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust and North of England Commissioning Support Unit, are using Civica Cost Master PLC and Service Level Agreement Manager (SLAM) to monitor, manage, process and measure over 35 billion of NHS commissioning activities. New commissioning bodies and the provider groups which support them face a challenge to turn vast amounts of data into the business information needed to ensure patients get the best possible care, while reducing cost and risk. All parties in the new NHS supply chain need access to one version of the truth. Giving Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), Commissioning Support Units (CSUs) and providers the tools to make commissioning decisions which meet local demand, while getting the best value for every public pound, is vital. South West London & St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust and North of England CSU are both using Civicas SLAM to plan and monitor their contracts for both Payment by Results (PbR) and non-PbR activity, whilst Dartford & Gravesham NHS Trust is using Cost Master PLC to manage finances at a granular patient level. Civica SLAM is an activity and income contract setting and monitoring tool, which complies completely with NHS PbR methodology. It allows CSUs, CCGs, GPs and provider Trusts to communicate via a commissioning portal, offering direct access to financial reports and performance dashboards via the web. Cost Master PLC is the UKs leading patient level costing system and has been developed specifically to support the NHS requirements for reporting and local cost management. It helps organisations with the financial challenges they face on a day-to-day basis, including reducing income, increasing costs, expected efficiency targets and demand management. Richard McLeod, Head of Data Management, North of England Commissioning Support Unit explain: We offer a range of services to help 13 CCGs in the region provide high quality care for their patients, but used to find ourselves in debates with partners and providers about whose figures were correct when calculating finances against activities. Since implementing we have a reconciled position with providers, everyone is able to focus on the most important part of the job, which is making robust decisions about patients care. Lizo Ngqobongwana, Business Development Director, Civica adds: The last few months have seen the NHS face the biggest changes since its creation over 50 years ago. Old organisations

have been disbanded, new ones founded and GPs given the control to commission vast amounts of patient care. In our experience commissioning works best when CSUs can provide the information to enable CCGs and providers to work together, even when some of their objectives may be different, or even conflicting. Sharing accurate and timely information is critical to making this burgeoning new healthcare system work for the benefit of the public. END
About Civica The Civica Group (www.civica.co.uk) is an international market leader in specialist IT systems and business process services for the public sector. Through experienced people who understand service delivery, the Group applies software, managed services and outsourcing to help customers streamline their activities. Civica supplies more than 2,000 organisations in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA, including more than 90% of the UKs local authorities. Press contacts Sarah Ryan Brands2Life Sarah.ryan@brands2life.com +44 (0)20 7592 1200