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2Service Portfolio

Health and social care systems support

Arden & GEM Service PortfolioHealth and social care systems support

1 NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit

Commissioning Support Services

Clinical Support Services

Business Support Services

2Service Portfolio

Contents03 Introduction

05 At the cutting edge of integrated service solutions

08 Commissioning Support Services

22 Business Support Services

34 Clinical Support Services

45 Why work with us?


IntroductionEngland’s health and care system is faced with unprecedented challenges, pressures and constraints. Working in partnership with clients and colleagues, we have the opportunity to think and act differently, to explore new possibilities and to build future models of care that are both sustainable and patient focused.

• Over 1,200 staff and a diverse network of partners to provide you with a significant breadth and depth of skills and expertise.

• A proven track record in working alongside our clients to deliver high-quality, end-to-end commissioning support services.

• A multidisciplinary team that will work in partnership with you to deliver a blend of both transformation and transactional services.

• An experienced senior leadership team to oversee the delivery of our services.

• Proven ability to engage effectively and collaboratively with both internal and external stakeholders.

• Our commitment to continuously improve our services to deliver greater efficiency and to support the delivery of innovation and transformation in healthcare.

About us NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) is one of the largest commissioning support organisations in the UK.

We act as a valued and trusted partner for commissioners, local authorities and providers to tackle the challenges faced in building integrated, high-quality, cost-effective services that lead to better health outcomes for patients.

With offices throughout the Midlands, North West and South East, we cover a core geographic patch that extends to Greater Manchester in the north and Essex in the south.

Our hub and spoke delivery model provides the flexibility to deliver services across England, as evidenced by our existing work in locations as varied as London, Liverpool, Devon and the Isle of Wight.

We bring you:

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“The Arden & GEM team are great to work with. They build strong relationships across organisations,

which promotes a flexible and responsive service. They often surpass expectations with their ability

to lead the CCG though complex projects.”

Helen McManus, Business Intelligence Manager, Liverpool CCG

Arden & GEM is the onlyCSU to have achieved the

globally recognised ISO 9001:2008 standard for quality management.

Our effective business management system ensures consistent service delivery and a drive for continual

improvement throughout our organisation.

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Benefits:

Did you know?

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We have extensive experience of designing, developing, testing and delivering cost-effective health services, built on a shared commitment to patients and citizens. As an approved supplier on the NHS Lead Provider Framework, we are well placed to support you in delivering on your commissioning intentions.

Our strong background and passion for integrated working across the social care, voluntary, community and health sectors makes us your ideal partner in building Sustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) which focus on prevention, personalised care and new models for the way that health services are provided. We are already working with vanguard sites, taking a whole system approach to enable

commissioners to realise the benefits and efficiency savings of integrated services. Our multi-organisational work to support integration and transformation has received national recognition including the prestigious Patient Experience Network (PEN) Award of ‘Commissioner of the Year’ 2015 and HSJ Value in Healthcare awards for both service redesign and procurement.

This work is inextricably linked with our day-to-day objective to drive value and deliver the efficiencies we know are vital to you. All our work is underpinned by rigorous, industry-leading governance frameworks and quality standards.


At the cutting edge of integrated service solutionsNHS England’s Five Year Forward View, launched in 2014, set the tone for ambitious change, delivered at pace. With that change comes a renewed focus on integrated partnership working to deliver outstanding patient services.

How we can helpNew models of careDelivering new models of care presents exciting opportunities to radically improve patient care and deliver more sustainable services to meet long term demands.

NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit has been working with vanguard sites in supporting the development and critique of their value propositions. Adopting a ‘logic model’ approach, we have combined our extensive knowledge of the NHS and local delivery dynamics with leading academic and private sector expertise. This analysis provides an invaluable assessment of the various elements involved in developing a robust new model of care.

Combining this work with our strong track record in both service redesign and programme management ensures we have the skills, capacity and passion to support innovation in the NHS.

Measuring impactWe have developed a detailed and robust evaluation methodology to directly support clients, including vanguard sites, as they redesign services and implement new models of care. The evaluation framework has been built to assist organisations throughout the cycle of change - from positively influencing the design of a programme, to improving ongoing efficiency and effectiveness, and reporting what has been achieved.

Our ability to operate as change management specialists has been borne out of a combination of detailed NHS experience and partnership working with the private and education sectors. This approach has created fast-track development of best practice.

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Outcomes-Based Commissioning Outcomes-based commissioning provides an opportunity to create robust, incentivised contracting models that transform pathways of care and drive long-term and sustainable change to improve outcomes for your population.

Arden & GEM has brought together the best tools and expertise across commissioning support, including contracting, risk, finance, intelligence and engagement, to provide a bespoke Outcomes Based Commissioning (OBC) service.

Specialised CommissioningFollowing the transfer of responsibility for commissioning specific specialised services to CCGs in April 2015, our team provides a full range of support to enable the co-commissioning of these services with NHS England.

Our approach ensures decision making is aligned, pathway integrity maintained and the transition for patients between specialised and non-specialised services is improved.

We work across the commissioning spectrum to provide you with an end-to-end service that plans and manages services in the most efficient way. Our passion for improving performance and considerable experience in specialised commissioning for NHS England, can help you deliver consistent, high-quality services underpinned by clear national service standards and processes.

Primary Care Co-Commissioning Being able to design the interdependent parts of the health system, including primary care and community services, should improve opportunities to deliver change and improve patient care.

However, one of the challenges for CCGs in taking on full or partial delegated responsibility for primary care is resources, be that funding, time or expertise. Our specialists have the commissioning skills and clinical expertise to support CCGs with these new responsibilities as they take effect.

Sustainability and Transformation PlansSustainability and Transformation Plans (STPs) focus on geographic footprints which transcend CCG areas. This makes joint working integral to the successful delivery of every STP, with clinicians, local authorities and advisers needing to develop a detailed understanding of their area as a whole.

Our service redesign and business intelligence teams have been involved from the outset in supporting the development of STPs. We bring together complex data sets from primary and secondary care, community health, social care and mental health services, which can be interrogated and interpreted in meaningful ways to support the long term integrated planning expected of these health and care systems.

Our approach ensures you have access to a complete picture of demographics, behaviours, interventions, costs and outcomes across your geographic footprint, leaving you well placed to take a holistic view of care needs and provision over the next five years.


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The Five Year Forward View introduces new models of care that require innovation, integration and stronger partnership working. Combined with ongoing budget pressures and an increase in demand for services, the NHS faces complex challenges and there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution.

We can help you meet those challenges and provide sustainable solutions, which are tailor-made to deliver the best outcomes for you and your patients.

Our commissioning support services include:

• Service Redesign and Transformation

• Procurement and Market Management

• Contracts, Performance and Provider Management

• Business Intelligence

• GEMIMA - business intelligence tool

Commissioning Support Services


Service Redesignand Transformation

Our award-winning Service Redesign and Transformation Team has a proven track record of working in partnership with clients to design, develop, implement and evaluate cost effective service transformation projects. We help you to solve problems by delivering new models of care which improve patient outcomes and experience, making services more efficient and sustainable.

Our experience:We worked with the Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership Trust to improve the quality and efficiency of mental health services across the Arden region by bringing mental health patients back to local providers. Benefiting patients, providers and commissioners, this project has delivered over £12 million in cost savings while providing high quality, locally based services to patients. In 2015, this project won the HSJ Value in Healthcare Award for mental health.

Working with the CCG, providers and local authority, we managed and implemented a new integrated model of care, where patients are treated and assessed in a care home setting, instead of an acute hospital. Having demonstrated the potential for real system change and improved outcomes for patients, the innovative Discharge to Access (D2A) service is now well established as part of the wider model for frailty and integrated care in Warwickshire.

“This project has given real hope to those people, many of whom are becoming more independent

and taking on positive roles in their local community.”

Sue Smith, General Manager, Secondary Care Mental

Health Services

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Service Redesignand Transformation

• Knowledge and skills to take on projects at any scale: from changes to particular patient pathways (at specialty or disease level), through service reconfiguration to multi-agency, system-wide integration.

• A holistic approach to transformational change that covers culture and consultation; shared purpose; implementation; and accountability, to deliver change which is affordable, deliverable and effective.

• Extensive experience of working in partnership with local authorities and providers to transform a range of health care services.

• Support to develop sustainable programmes which reduce reliance on acute services, drawing on our experience of delivering diverse redesign projects from telehealth systems to self-management pulmonary rehabilitation programmes.

• Tools and knowledge to deliver new models of care and develop Sustainability and Transformation Plans. This includes our robust logic models and evaluation system which helps CCGs and vanguard sites fully understand the impact of change and quickly identify the effectiveness of individual interventions. Services also include accelerated learning events, options appraisals and business case development.

• Detailed knowledge of community, voluntary and third sector providers, investing in programmes that improve the capacity of these organisations to take on a greater role in delivering commissioning priorities.

• Close working with private sector partners and national bodies to explore service change built on innovative contracting methods such as outcomes-based commissioning and capitated payments.

We bring:

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We bring you a pragmatic, practical approach to help you to move from the ‘what’ through the ‘how’. We don’t just stop at strategy, strategic outline case or business case development, we also provide implementation support, project management office (PMO) and evaluation.

Our service redesign team combines senior level transformation experience, clinical expertise and direct experience of working for acute trusts, commissioning organisations, local authorities and third sector organisations. They are supported by our 300 clinical staff that provide specialist expertise where needed.

As part of the NHS family, we understand the pressures you face in delivering better patient care alongside greater efficiencies. We have unrivalled expertise in the development and delivery of integrated, cost-effective care across regions - incorporating health and social care, community, acute, mental and physical health services.

In addition to our in house expertise, we have an established network of partners with national and international experience to enhance redesign capabilities where needed.

“The Arden & GEM team recognised the need for excellent

communication and remained focussed on solutions and good

outcomes, with an end result of all local transformation plans being

assured and deadlines being met.”

Joanna Yellon, Head of Assurance, Operations & Delivery,

NHS EnglandHealth Services


Procurement andmarket management

From large scale national procurement programmes to bespoke local projects, we can support you at every stage of the procurement process, drawing on our cross-sector procurement expertise from across the health and social care system.

Our experience:We were commissioned to assist in the development of the procurement strategy and implementation for Community Services - a collaborative project consisting of 10 lots and involving six Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and Nottinghamshire County Council. Our work included market engagement events with service providers and users, a two-stage procurement process and contract award. The key outcome objectives have been successfully delivered and efficiency savings of £9 million achieved.

NHS England commissioned Arden & GEM to procure a new solution for the 12 Child Health Information Services operating areas in the West Midlands. By proactively reviewing the required objectives, effectively engaging with the market and undertaking a thorough options appraisal, Arden & GEM was able to procure a new contract from a single supplier which has standardised processes and will deliver financial savings of £4.4 million over the five year contract period. The project won an HSJ Value in Healthcare Award in 2016.

“Our winners clearly demonstrated a really good use of procurement process, from

soft market testing, right the way through to contract award.

An excellent example of collaborative approach and all

CSU’s across the country should be informed of this fabulous work.”

HSJ Value in HealthcareAwards Judging Panel

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Procurement andmarket management

• Comprehensive strategic and transactional services, from pre-procurement advice through to contract award and mobilisation, using existing framework agreements or bespoke tenders.

• A procurement approach which supports cost-effective, patient-focused care and is delivered in line with EU Procurement regulations, statutory processes and Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) requirements.

• Experience of delivering a broad range of established and emerging contracts including Any Qualified Provider (AQP); outcomes-based commissioning (OBC); prime contractor – alliance contracts; as well as complex turnkey solutions.

• Detailed market analysis in partnership with our dedicated data analytics team.

• Risk management and mitigation expertise, combined with robust processes, to support the smooth running of every procurement.

• Access to our unique procurement library and strong network of stakeholders who are all committed to sharing knowledge and driving best practice across the system.

• An award-winning team with the skills and experience to provide specialist procurement advice, training and consultancy services.

We bring:

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Benefits:From working with NHS England to source suppliers for large-scale programmes, to bespoke specialised services for individual CCGs, our team has a strong track record of working collaboratively with clients and potential suppliers to source sustainable solutions for our health and social care system.

Our approach ensures every brief is appropriately tested and refined so that the procurement process delivers the best and most cost effective solution.


Contracts,Performance andProvider Management

Whether you require an end-to-end contracting process, or support for individual projects, we provide a reliable, responsive and structured contract management service to support your commissioning decisions.

Our experience:We provide contract management services for over 20 CCGs as well as delivering contracting projects for NHS England.

We are working with NHS England on the significant sustainability issues in South Region Specialised Commissioning, including the identification and delivery of a QIPP challenge of over £100m.

We are also in the process of modelling our contract portfolio, to include developing services that will support the emerging healthcare market and in particular the revised models of care surrounding Sustainability and Transformation Plans and vanguard sites.

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• Broad contracting expertise across a range of providers and types of service including acute, non-acute, vanguards, Any Qualified Provider (AQP), mental health, care home and new emerging Accountable Care Organisations.

• Strong relationships with commissioners and providers, founded upon a shared commitment to high quality, high performing services that create positive experiences for patients and users.

• Rigorous performance management across the complex NHS system, based on our timely and thorough understanding of what is happening on the front line. We manage risk throughout the process to ensure you remain legally compliant, while supporting patient choice and safety.

• An integrated approach, including establishing multidisciplinary contract teams and co-locating key officers within client offices to provide a seamless service, tailored to individual client needs.

• Robust Contract Development Plans for every contract, listing the key tasks, milestones, planned date of completion, roles and responsibilities. Regular monitoring ensures you are kept abreast of any changes or risks.

• Established processes to ensure contract cost sustainability through a range of tried and tested measures designed to eliminate unexpected cost variation.

• A range of best practice tools to aid best value assessment, together with a clear process for action should poor value or poor performance be identified.

• Clear, detailed and accessible dashboard reporting via our Business Intelligence tool, GEMIMA, to enable proactive provider monitoring and quality management.

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We understand the challenges of a rapidly changing landscape, which requires innovation in contracting to meet the needs of new and innovative models of care. We have significant experience of managing these complexities and our skilled staff will undertake negotiations on your behalf to ensure your contractual objectives are delivered.

Our large geographical footprint and experience of what works well across a range of providers and service types, ensures our clients benefit from a true ‘at scale’ offer. This means you are always assured of the best advice and provided with innovative contracting solutions to support your strategic commissioning decisions.


BusinessIntelligence

We provide Business Intelligence and Data Management services to over 40 CCGs and Data Service for Commissioners Regional Office (DSCRO) support to over 70 CCGs. Our service has been specifically designed to deliver actionable insight to support you in meeting your commissioning objectives.

Our experience:We have developed bespoke Deep Dive packs, which bring together national tools, analysis and insight with local business intelligence to support strategic decision-making and drive service improvement. Already in use by CCGs across England, Deep Dive packs have been developed for a range of areas and services including respiratory disease, diabetes, neurology, mental health and musculoskeletal care. A specific Deep Dive for Hardwick Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) was able to produce a series of initial findings around the respiratory disease pathway, making recommendations that could potentially save more than £1.1 million per year.

Arden & GEM provides a range of data management services, including operating the Data Service for Commissioners Regional Office (DSCRO), to 24 CCGs in the North West and is the first CSU in the country to be directly supporting a regional health and social care partnership board. We provide the secure infrastructure and analytical expertise required for healthcare data processing and data management, including handling patient confidential data for CCGs, NHS England, Public Health England and providers working within the local health economy.

CCG BI teams have faced a number of significant challenges over the last year, from both a governance and operational

perspective. The DSCRO team have proved to be very

approachable, flexible and innovative in supporting us to overcome these challenges.

Rob Rainford, Head of Performance, NHS Wigan

Borough CCG

Arden & GEM CSU has provided an excellent DSCRO / data

management service to our CCG in recent years. The staff have always provided a timely and professional service and supported us through an ever-changing data landscape

for commissioners within the NHS.

Graeme Hancock, Business Intelligence Manager, Wirral

CCG Health Services

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• Effective, seamless business intelligence (BI) services that span the entire commissioning cycle. This includes capacity demand modelling, tariff road-testing and QIPP planning, giving you all the data you need to commission and manage services.

• Nationally recognised data processing capabilities with robust processes in place to manage data access. NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit is an authorised DSCRO and we host data platforms on behalf of CCGs and NHS England, including the temporary National Repository (tNR).

• Flexible and proactive resources to ensure you benefit from both local expertise and best practice. Our hub and spoke delivery model provides embedded analysts within client teams and expert analysts in our local and central intelligence hubs.

• GEMIMA, our unique business information tool which provides essential data to better understand local health requirements, drive efficiencies in your services, and improve outcomes for patients.

• Relevant, user-friendly reports which include regional and national benchmarking data, statutory reporting and contracting analytics, as well as insight, contextual analysis and comparative information to support the interpretation of raw data.

• Automated processes such as risk profiling tools that free up resources to do analysis and engagement work.

• A robust contract performance management system, including early view of monthly performance against provider plans; secondary uses service (SUS) / service level agreement monitoring reconciliation (SLAM), early deep dives and reporting (contract actual performance against plan).

• An experienced team, all of whom are trained in Information Governance including data protection and information security standards.

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We have built a solid reputation as a provider of high-quality business intelligence, based on the efficient stewardship and processing of almost a third of the nations’ health data, and the delivery of information to support crucial business processes such as contract management.

We have the people, skills, processes, technologies and partners necessary to be able to anticipate and respond to the growing and changing demands of the health and social care system. We continue to develop our skills through our ‘analyst network’ and ‘communities of interest’ so we can continuously provide the latest expertise and insightful analysis.

Arden & GEM is a designated DSCRO, Controlled Environment for Finance (CEfF) and Accredited Safe Haven. We have also achieved

Information Governance toolkit Level 2 status.

All appropriate safeguards are in place to manage patient identifiable data and we can therefore support our customers

across every aspect of BI and data management.


GEMIMA - business intelligence tool

Our bespoke, user-friendly business information system, GEMIMA, is one of the most advanced tools available to support, analyse and monitor health and social care commissioning. Created by the NHS for the NHS, GEMIMA brings together disparate national and local data sets, transforming reporting methods and helping you make more informed commissioning decisions.

Our experience:As part of the Avoiding Unplanned Admissions Enhanced Service, we developed a suite of risk stratification tools to enable GPs to proactively manage their top 3% of patients at-risk of avoidable hospital admission or A&E attendance. Using primary and secondary care data, as well as real-time information on admissions, GPs can gain insight into how best to support patients’ needs in the most cost effective way.

We work with private sector specialist partners in Derbyshire and Leicestershire where data is being brought together from hospital, community health, ambulance service and social care providers. This analysis has been used to identify linkages between various events or attendances at different points on the same patient pathway. For example, we identified incidence of falls by older people within three months of attending eye clinics, which has led to the deployment of falls assessments in eye clinics for patients identified to be at risk.

My practice reviewed the list of highest risk stratified patients

against our own list of patients at risk of unplanned admissions. We

found 27 patients who had a risk of 75% or greater of a hospital

admission in the next 6 months who were effectively ‘off our radar’. We have now added these patients

to our proactive care list.

Dr Tony Penney, Lakeside Surgery

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GEMIMA is made up of four main components:

1. The Portal layer, a single point of access, providing role-based data access that provides intuitive and secure access to the data and information you need. 2. The Application and Reporting layer, providing a one-stop solution for all analytical, reporting and data needs, avoiding the need to purchase separate products for risk stratification, contract monitoring and benchmarking.

3. Data Management layer, ensuring the data you need can be trusted and is available in a single version for reporting purposes.

4. Data governance including DSCRO (Data Services for Commissioners Regional Office) and ASH (Accredited Safe Haven), the necessary processes, authorisations and environments which ensure your data is safe and compliant with Information Governance (IG) rules and regulations.


Single version of the truthGEMIMA sits on top of our data management environment. This means that records are cleaned, linked and pseudonymised with local pricing and business rules applied. SUS, SLAM and other sources are processed and reconciled fully to give reliable reporting.

GEMIMAHealthy Insights

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• A suite of fully integrated reports, brought together in an intuitive portal that gives CCGs and GPs access to a wealth of information to drive informed decision-making. Reports are categorised into sections for easy access, including a personalised ‘favourites’ section for regularly used reports.

• A secure and fully compliant tool designed for busy clinicians, NHS and social care professionals. Relevant reports are automatically loaded according to your user profile information.

• Access to a range of customisable reports based on common themes such as QIPP, Primary Care and Performance Management.

• Flexibility which enables users to tailor reports to their individual needs, including benchmarking CCGs or GP practices against national and regional comparators, and tracking the performance of local providers.

• Additional functionality for GPs, including ‘urgent care dashboards’, ‘prospective outpatients’ and ‘patients currently admitted’, all based on real time data.

• Ability for GPs to drill down to identifiable patient level data to monitor individual pathways and support patient liaison to reduce hospital admissions and improve patient care.

• Actionable insights, drawing on best practice analytical approaches alongside the implementation of market leading analytical tool, Tableau.

• Prescribing analysis which triangulates Electronic Prescribing Analysis and Cost (ePACT) data with other datasets such as hospital admissions, QOF and NHS England Medicines Optimisation Dashboard. The resulting analysis identifies variations to help drive changes in prescribing behaviour and improve patient outcomes.

• Contracting reports, including an at-a-glance actual acute year on year variance report, supporting the early identification of local issues.

• Comprehensive support provided by our in-house team, including technical help and training to ensure you gain maximum benefit from GEMIMA.

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We firmly believe that robust control over data management is essential to the delivery of a leading edge Business Intelligence service. We continually invest in the development and improvement of GEMIMA to maintain a best in class service for our clients.

Our data is structured to provide support to meet the needs of a range of potential clients, including Consortia, vanguards and providers as well as CCGs.

We do more than just provide the data. Unlike many other CSUs, we load detailed SUS and SLAM for all providers and fully process and reconcile the information at record level, reducing the amount of time you need to spend on anaylsing and interpreting raw data.

GEMIMA is built on data you can trust. Our system is structured to ensure that the data is the same wherever it is accessed from and that we can trace and verify the source of all information.


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Providing both strategic guidance and operational support, our business support services are integral to assuring the robustness of commissioning and clinical activities.

We work alongside your management teams, providing strategic advice and operational support across corporate activities, organisational development and governance frameworks.

Our services include:

IT services

Finance services

Human Resources and Organisational Development

Engagement, communications and marketing

Corporate governance and risk management

(including equality, inclusion and human rights)

BusinessSupport Services


IT Services

With IT playing an increasing role in the management and delivery of modern healthcare, our highly skilled IT team delivers a comprehensive service, from day to day IT support through to the development of bespoke systems to support clinical priorities.

Our experience:We have supported CCGs in Derbyshire to implement and make the best possible use of ‘NHS Florence’, the NHS developed text messaging service, to benefit both patients and clinicians. With over 230 patients registered and actively using the system at 39 GP practices, the Derbyshire Florence project is already issuing over 3,100 text messages a month.

In Milton Keynes, we developed and implemented a programme to facilitate integrated care which saw 260,000 patient records from every GP practice in the area migrated to a single integrated patient record system. The single record system was expanded to include Primary Care Outpatient Clinics (PCOCs), hospices, multi-disciplinary social care teams and other local clinical services. The project has improved safety, improved patient-centred integrated working and delivered annual cost savings of £400,000.

“It has been great working with the Arden & GEM Clinical Systems team in the

development of the Locality Based MDT Unit. The new unit is delivering a range of benefits

including, streamlining the referral process from Primary Care,

improved communications with GP’s, simplified data collection and easy access

to activity and performance data. The team have been responsive, effective and

provided us with excellent training on the new system.”

Ruth Adam, Programme Manager Whole System Integration,

Milton Keynes CCG and Milton Keynes Council.

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IT Services • Strategic insight and practical experience to design, develop, build and maintain IT infrastructure that supports you to deliver your services.

• Robust development and support to GP practices, making best value of GP Systems of Choice (GPSoC) and ensuring that IT supports the development of federated primary care and wider new models of care.

• Planning and delivery of IT solutions across the care economy and development of new service models, including the implementation of digital roadmaps to paperless care by 2020.

• Detailed understanding of working with all existing clinical systems, enabling us to develop complementary tools to enhance your existing software.

• Safe and robust management and information sharing protocols around the appropriate use of patient and personal confidential data, fully compliant with NHS standards and ISO Security standard 27001.

• A strong track record of developing tailored solutions to enable better information sharing across primary, community and social care teams.

• A complete IT support service, including software, hardware and training underpinned by our IT service desk and field engineers.

• Development, hosting and maintenance of websites, intranets, business intelligence tools and cloud software solutions.

• A full range of ICT infrastructure services including data storage and backup, disaster recovery, server hosting, wireless provisioning and IP telephony services.

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Benefits:We provide flexible, responsive and resilient IT services designed to support CCGs in delivering both their corporate and GP IT objectives.

We have established a dedicated strategic IT programmes service, supported with robust operational delivery to ensure your IT needs are met.

In addition to core IT services, our clinical IT team is playing a growing role in supporting frontline services through the development of innovative tools to improve accuracy and consistency of care.


Finance services

We deliver high quality finance services to our customers which are tailored to individual requirements and underpinned with collaborative working, best practice, governance and quality standards. Working seamlessly with your in-house team, we ensure all your financial targets and duties are met.

Our experience:Our approach to finance services is to work seamlessly with our clients, providing expertise and guidance as part of their extended team.

Just a short note to say thanks to all in finance for a really successful year end. We hit our target and we submitted in advance of deadline so

well done to everyone.

Perhaps more importantly I’m happy that the product and outputs are of

a high quality.

Chief Finance Officer, Derbyshire CCG

I just wanted to pass on the thanks of the Hardwick finance team for the work that the Arden & GEM finance

team have done to support the production of our final accounts. The whole process has gone remarkably

smoothly and we are very grateful for you and your team’s support,

assistance and advice.

Chief Finance Officer, Hardwick CCG

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Finance services • A proven track record of delivering a full suite of finance services to clients: o Financial accounting, including financial control, governance, reporting and risk management. o Financial strategy, including forecasting and strategic planning. o Transactional support such as payroll processing, invoicing and debtor management. o Management accounting.

• A customer-focused approach to financial management, designed to support you throughout the accounting cycle from budget setting through forecasting, reconciliation and the management of external reporting requirements.

• Commitment to the highest standards of financial reporting and corporate governance, as well as operating in accordance with best practice, integrity and ethics.

• Robust and highly accurate financial control processes, all of which are documented and subject to regular review.

• Extensive experience of working with the Oracle system, the Integrated Single Financial Environment and the reporting and coding structures prescribed by NHS England.

• A strong record of working with and managing third party relationships with providers including NHS Shared Business Services, VAT Liaison and our own Counter Fraud development team.

• Accredited Safe Haven status which means we are able to validate invoices that require the handling of patient data.

• A collaborative approach to working with local authorities to ensure the appropriate split of costs where joint packages of care are commissioned.

We bring:

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Benefits:Our team has a wealth of expertise and wide-ranging experience gained from careers within the NHS, private and other public sector organisations (including audit).

In addition, our size and experience has allowed us to develop a high degree of subject matter expertise, alongside formal Continuous Professional Development and qualifications, all of which ensure we provide you with an ideal mix of up to date skills and best practice understanding.

Our team is particularly skilled at navigating the complexities of funding for Continuing Healthcare and Personal Health Budgets.

We are active participants in the Future Focussed Finance Programme and are a key member of the regional Health Finance Management Association.


HR andOrganisationalDevelopment

Our Human Resources and Organisational Development specialists have the skills and experience to ensure you have the right policies, procedures and training in place to attract and retain the best staff. The NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit ‘Hire-to-Retire’ Human Resource, Organisational Development and Payroll Services model combines efficiency and scale with locally embedded experts to meet your changing requirements.

Our experience:We designed and implemented a bespoke values-based performance management system for a CCG to enable them to develop a set of agreed competencies and behaviours across their organisation. The system promotes the effective management of performance, allowing good practice to be identified, as well as highlighting areas where performance needs to improve.

By implementing Standard Operating Procedures we have streamlined recruitment processes. This work has reduced the time taken to fill posts from 56 to 34 days, increasing quality and maximising NHS Jobs 2 technology.

Arden & GEM provide Nottingham City CCG with a comprehensive

transactional HR service, including recruitment, payroll, and workforce

systems (ESR). They provide a timely, responsive and pro-active service that

consistently meets all key performance indicators. I am very impressed with the high level of service we continually receive.

Head of HR andOrganisational Development,

Nottingham City CCG

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• Specialist support across a wide range of HR challenges from strategic advice through to transactional services, delivered by our team of highly qualified professionals with expertise spanning both the public and private sectors.

• Compliance and legislation advice, including guidance and mentoring for managers across a range of HR issues such as absence management, disciplinary and grievance procedures and TUPE regulations.

• Learning and development support including skills audits, organisational and individual development planning and training, as well as access to our bespoke Arden & GEM Academy e-learning portal.

• Organisational development and change management services to help you establish the culture, values, change, strategic planning and communications required to improve performance.

• Performance management programmes, designed and implemented to ensure competence, align individual and organisational goals and support managers in tackling poor performance.

• Workforce planning, including identifying skills gaps and supporting organisations through restructuring.

• Recruitment services from developing your talent management strategy to providing end-to-end recruitment programmes and processes for both internal and external appointments.

• Proven mobilisation experience, covering all HR requirements resulting from new contract awards and/or exit plans.

• A full range of flexible and responsive transactional HR services which can be delivered cost effectively, at scale, including: o Managed payroll o Electronic expenses o Recruitment administration o Analytical data and reporting o Occupational health

• Robust procedures that ensure you meet all your reporting and processing obligations accurately, on time and on budget.

We bring:

28Service Portfolio

Benefits:We work collaboratively to understand your exact requirements and build a cost effective solution to meet your needs, whether that’s dedicated strategic HR expertise for specific projects or an ongoing consultancy service.

Working with a large number of organisations across multiple locations, we have already developed robust processes and systems and can deliver significant cost efficiencies for all our customers. In addition to our in-house delivery, we bring leading expertise from our specialist private sector partners.

28Service PortfolioService Portfolio 28


Engagement, Communicationsand Marketing

From digital marketing and campaign development to media relations and stakeholder consultation, our engagement, communications and marketing team provides a full range of services designed to get your message across.

Our experience:We developed a social marketing campaign with Milton Keynes CCG to engage with those most likely to misuse A&E and encourage greater understanding and use of NHS 111. In just three months, the campaign saw calls to NHS 111 rise by 11%, taking pressure away from local A&E services and ensuring those that needed the service, received the right care at the right time.

To tackle misuse of A&E, we strengthened the impact of NHS England’s winter pressures campaign at a local level by developing an integrated ‘Under the weather?’ regional campaign on behalf of 14 CCGs. The campaign included 36 patient engagement events, resulting in 1,000 mini health-checks and reached an audience of over 10 million via social media. The campaign was shortlisted for two Association for Healthcare Communications and Marketing (AHCM) Awards in 2015.

Increasing the understanding and use of NHS 111 and community pharmacies is critical if we are to alleviate the pressure on our A&E

unit. The approach we’ve taken with NHS Arden & GEM CSU has worked really well and we are delighted with the impact this campaign has had.

Dr Nicola Smith, Clinical Chair, Milton Keynes CCG

Events and campaigns such as this are always beneficial to both patients and our wider health infrastructure. We appreciated the opportunity to obtain patient stories as a result of this activity and thank the CSU for

working across agencies.

Nicola Tallent, Senior Engagement Officer,

HealthwatchLincolnshire

30Service Portfolio

• Dedicated communications support for your organisation, either on an ad hoc or ongoing basis, delivered by our experienced communications and marketing professionals.

• Strategic guidance, communications planning and implementation to ensure your messages reach the right people, at the right time, in the right way.

• Patient and wider stakeholder engagement and consultation expertise, designed to deliver the insight and evidence you need to support your clinical commissioning decisions and service changes.

• A strong track record in social marketing, including engagement campaigns to effect changes in behaviours or attitudes around issues such as access to services or healthier lifestyles.

• Graphic design and digital media capabilities, including in-house development of engaging animation videos, printed literature and social media content to promote public health messages.

• Specialist expertise in planning and delivering internal communications to support change, such as restructuring or the mobilisation of new contracts.

• Media relations expertise including proactive public relations, media training, reactive media handling and horizon scanning.

We bring:

30Service Portfolio

Benefits:Our team combines NHS, local authority and private sector experience across a range of marketing disciplines, giving you access to specialist skills to meet your communications and engagement needs.

Our existing work across multiple geographies and organisations means we are able to share best practice, pool resources and deliver a cost effective, specialist service to all our clients.


CorporateGovernance and Risk Management

We provide a range of governance services to help our clients embed cultures, policies and practices across their organisations to ensure they are responsible, accountable and fully compliant with the latest standards and legislation.

Our experienced and highly qualified teams offer advice and support with information governance; equality, inclusion and human rights; and corporate assurance, incorporating risk management, business continuity and health and safety.

Our experience:We ran a health aware communities event for families, attended by over 300 people. This brought together local residents from different ethnicities, faiths and backgrounds to raise awareness of health issues and provide vital health checks.

Our experience ranges from core IG services for a number of CCGs to providing light touch GP IG support and advice via local area teams contracts. Project work includes rapid mobilisation to provide all the IG support required for the contract across Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country, as well as working with the Arden, Hereford and Worcester Area regional team on the timely submission of their IG toolkit.

We successfully reviewed NHS England’s internal training package, delivering on time with very positive feedback to the team on the delivery content and overall approach.

We work with a number of CCGs to encourage a proactive and positive approach to health and safety, business continuity and risk management. By engaging with staff at all levels and providing training relevant to their situations, we have helped CCGs to develop an organisational culture where everyone takes personal responsibility in these key areas.

Thank you, as always you have done a sterling job and

it is much appreciated.

South Warwickshire CCG Head of Corporate

Services

This event was a perfect stepping stone for the many to become

health conscious and begin to plan how they intend on living a healthier

lifestyle. The precise planning and coordination made it a day full of

fun and joy for people from various communities

Yaseen Ahmedabadi, Muslim Community Leader

32Service Portfolio

Information Governance

• A cost effective Information Governance (IG) service to help you manage your information safely and comply with governance standards and laws, including the Data Protection Act (1998), Freedom of Information Act (2000) and Section 251 compliance.

• Expertise and support to build, review and maintain your IG toolkit compliance, including self- assessments, action planning and progression.

• Caldicott Guardian/Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) support, ensuring training to the ‘master class’ standard, with access to our experts for continued advice and support including reporting requirements for Serious Incidents Requiring Investigation.

Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights

• A dedicated Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights team to help you implement equality and support inclusive cultures throughout teams and across communities, in line with the Equality Act 2010 and related legislation.

• Experience of working with CCGs and providers to audit and implement equalities activities which meet the obligations set by NHS England’s Equality Delivery System (EDS2) and the Workforce Race Equality Standard.

• Preparation of Equality Impact Assessments, toolkits, tailored equalities strategies and training, working in partnership across organisations to ensure that measures to reduce inequalities in healthcare are at the heart of new service development.

Corporate Assurance

• A collaborative risk management service to guide, support and challenge CCGs in identifying, quantifying and managing risk, providing experienced and objective advice alongside robust risk management tools.

• Business continuity support to ensure CCGs have the right processes in place so that critical services and functions can be maintained in the event of a disruptive incident, including Business Continuity impact assessments, policy development and training.

• Supportive and proactive health and safety expertise and a competent person service, including carrying out annual audits and working with CCGs to put action plans in place.

• Specific training to ensure health and safety procedures are fully embedded across your organisation and an established health and safety management system based on the internationally recognised OHSAS 18001 standard.

• Flexible board support including development sessions, legal support and advice with issues such as declarations of interest and hospitality & gifts.

We bring:

32Service Portfolio

Benefits:Our teams have a strong track record in providing robust, efficient and effective governance, assurance and risk services for our clients and have wide experience of working with local authorities and other healthcare providers.

With a full understanding of the deliverables that are required, we work with CCGs across a wide area to identify and continuously improve processes in line with the latest regulation and best practice - with a particular focus on helping you embed the approach across your organisation as a whole.

32Service Portfolio


34Service Portfolio

Thanks to advances in medicines, skills and technology, more people are living longer. This success brings with it new challenges: an ageing population; more people living with complex long term illnesses; and increasing needs for both integrated and specialised care.

Our clinical support services can help you to develop the right solutions for your communities, while keeping patients at the heart of commissioning.

Our services include:

Prescribing and Medicines Optimisation

Quality and Clinical Governance

NHS Continuing Healthcare

Personal Health Budgets

Individual Funding Requests

Clinical Support


Prescribingand MedicinesOptimisation

Our specialists offer both a strategic and operational medicines management service to ensure the use of medicines is optimised throughout the NHS. Our work with local, regional and national organisations enables our clients to get best value for money and comply with latest policy guidance, while patients get the most from their medicines.

Our experience:Our team designed and facilitated a Hospital Admissions Related to Medicines (HARMs) education event and toolkit for primary care clinicians, which led to a review of medicines for 670 high risk patients. Over 11% of the medications needed adjusting. In October 2014, the project won the NHS PrescQIPP Innovation Award for polypharmacy and deprescribing.

By using the HARMs audit as part of the prescribing

incentive scheme, the CCG has raised awareness of the role of

safer prescribing and polypharmacy in reducing hospital admissions.

Dr Lambert, AssistantClinical Chair, NHS South

Warwickshire CCG

We support a wide range of customers, including the West Midlands NHS England (NHSE) Controlled Drugs AccountableOfficer, NHSE specialised services, CCGs, Local Authorities, Community Health Trusts and local health science networks.

36Service Portfolio

Prescribingand MedicinesOptimisation

• Access to a team of experts offering a full range of prescribing and medicines optimisation services across primary care, secondary care and specialised services. We provide support for local decision-making through individual funding requests, Area Prescribing Committees and policy development.

• Specialist software solutions for both primary and secondary care to support cost effective prescribing in line with statutory guidance, alongside strategic advice and analysis to support and improve medicines use.

• Evidence-based prescribing support for GPs and providers including access to a qualified pharmacist and pharmacy technician at all times during the working day.

• Training for GP practice staff from our highly experienced and skilled team, and regular communication with surgeries and providers to ensure advice is accurate and that prescribing safety issues are managed in a timely manner.

• Clinical and non-clinical audits to identify areas where prescribing quality can be improved, together with Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) action planning.

• Support for the management of medicines in care homes in partnership with local authorities.

• A well-established hub and spoke model where a local presence is retained for functions such as practice support and local networking, with services such as data management and drug reviews performed centrally at scale.

We bring:

36Service Portfolio

Benefits:With in-house experts in primary care, secondary care, academic and community pharmacy, as well as project management expertise, our team encompasses a broad skill mix to ensure that your needs are supported now and in the future.

Our varied customer base means we understand the issues and challenges faced within Medicines Optimisation across healthcare economies and we are ideally placed to support CCGs as additional medicines responsibilities are transferred to them from regional and national organisations.


Quality andclinical governance

Our highly experienced and clinically-led team offers a range of services to support commissioners. We ensure that provider contracts are delivered with optimum clinical, quality and safety standards, whilst simultaneously delivering the best possible value for money.

Our experience:

Our experience:To ensure patients across the East Midlands were receiving a high quality, safe transport service, we embedded a dedicated nursing post in the contract monitoring team and implemented a quality monitoring model which combines regular reporting with specialist guidance and training.

Commissioners can now access valuable patient safety and quality information while the nurse-led training and guidance has been welcomed by providers.

I have been extremely impressed by the dedication of the clinical quality team ... I believe that patient and client experience has improved

greatly as a result of the improved visibility of quality

Lynn Wilmott-Shepherd, Commissioning and Delivery

Director, NHS Erewash Clinical Commissioning Group

38Service Portfolio

• Robust systems and processes to effectively manage and monitor the quality and safety of your contracts, drawing on our experience of managing over 500 NHS Continuing Healthcare contracts. All contracts are assessed against factors such as contract value, risk, complaints, serious incidents / safeguarding, multi-agency engagement, location and performance.

• Access to our clinical experts to ensure patient needs are being met. Our senior and specialist nurses are skilled in many areas including tissue viability, infection prevention and control, dementia and challenging behaviour.

• The ‘Bravo’ portal – our bespoke system which encourages effective contract management, facilitates communication with providers and delivers a full audit trail of contract changes, suspension or performance notices.

• An established Service Escalation Panel (SEP), developed in partnership with Local Authorities across our customer base, which risk assesses poor performing providers and imposes the appropriate sanctions.

• Our unique, web-based care homes dashboard (founded upon NHS Standard Contract and CQC Inspection guidance) which enables care homes to report on a range of clinical indicators as well as highlighting bed availability. The dashboard provides vital local intelligence so that commissioning decisions are based on accurate evidence.

• A full complaints and comments handling service to ensure positive and negative feedback from patients and other organisations is appropriately shared and lessons learned.

We bring:

Benefits:Our approach is based on proactive provider management so that any issues are identified and addressed quickly, keeping your patients safe and your service compliant.

Drawing on both our in house clinical expertise and effective use of robust IT systems, we work with you to monitor and manage performance as well as identifying and implementing ways to proactively improve service delivery.

LOWMonitoring provider performance management information, end-user feedback, CQC inspection reports and general compliance

HIGHAs per ‘low/medium level with six monthly or more frequent review meetings

MEDIUMAs per ‘Low level’ with

multi agency engagement and minimum level of performance review meeting per annum


NHS ContinuingHealthcare

Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit provides Continuing Healthcare (CHC) services that deliver the expertise and capacity required to resolve all of your service challenges. Our modular approach provides a fully outsourced CHC service, dedicated CHC expertise for specific projects, or ad hoc support depending on your needs.

Our experience:In addition to providing CHC services to CCGs across a wide geographic footprint, we undertake CHC project work for NHS England, including:Delivery of a national support service to help CCGs complete outstanding Previously Unassessed Periods of Care (PUPoC) cases within a short timescale. Our PUPoC experts provide a range of email, newsletter and teleconference advice, plus dedicated action planning to resolve completion obstacles.

A 12 month pilot project to deliver Continuing Healthcare Assessments for the prison population across the Midlands and East of England. Providing a single point of access for all referrals, reviews and care package brokerage, our dedicated hub allows administrative staff to conduct scheduling, brokerage, invoicing and reporting, with clinical staff attending the various prison establishments on a needs-led basis.

A unique operating modelOur CHC operational model was redesigned in 2016 to optimise service quality, consistency and affordability.

Our central administration hub manages the paperwork and administrative processing for all CHC clients from point of referral to invoicing. Specialist clinical staff are therefore free to focus on delivering care to patients at a local level.

By establishing a consistent process and a more mobile and agile workforce, patients are assessed more quickly and receive the same high quality of care regardless of where they live.

TeamworkWorking closely with our knowledge management has enabled us to improve and speed up the approval of Continuing Healthcare patient care plans. Our IT team designed and implemented an electronic Patient Information Flow (ePIF) support tool, using Office 365 technology which has made the approval process simpler, more effective, and consistent.

This is helping to reduce decision making time and improve patient outcomes.

40Service Portfolio

• Clinically-led CHC services, supported by a Chief Nurse and delivered by a team of expert clinical health and social care managers, who have been at the forefront of providing input into the national CHC assurance framework.

• A flexible and responsive approach. Our modular structure provides both specific project support as well as experienced end-to-end CHC services to help you remain compliant with the national framework and identify financial efficiencies to ensure best value.

• Review and diagnostics services, including diagnostic visits and process reviews, evaluation of case review flow and capacity planning.

• A full suite of CHC delivery services from nurse assessments, issue resolution and change management to quality compliance and back office support.

• Access to Broadcare, the highly effective, proven, specialist software that supports every part of the NHS Continuing Healthcare process. Benefits include hospital referrals that are only accepted with the appropriate paperwork, direct scheduling of appointments and systemised reporting of recommendations to CCGs.

• An established framework of providers offering nursing capacity on a ‘cost per case’ basis to manage or eliminate the growing case backlogs many CCGs face.

• Specialist multi-disciplinary expertise and an established process for managing Personal Health Budgets.

• An experienced team with the skills and expertise to support the procurement and management of providers, as well as implementing cost reduction schemes.

We bring:

40Service Portfolio

Benefits:We already support both Clinical CCGs and CSUs spanning eight counties. Our scale gives you access to an unrivalled range of specialists who have a wealth of knowledge and direct experience of overcoming CHC challenges, with the added benefit of flexible capacity to manage peaks and troughs.

With a strong focus on quality assessments and reviews, we also ensure our highly productive team delivers services efficiently, mindful of your budget.

Working with Arden & GEM gives you peace of mind that you have the expertise and flexibility required to maintain a high quality, efficient and cost effective CHC service, reducing your need for in house staff.


PersonalHealth Budgets

NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit has extensive experience of supporting commissioners to deliver Personal Health Budgets (PHBs), which give individual patients more freedom and control over the health and care services they receive.

Our experience:In partnership with CCGs across Warwickshire, Coventry and Northamptonshire, we took part in a national pilot programme to test the feasibility of Personal Health Budgets. As one of just three CSUs in the country involved in the second wave pilot for PHBs, we gained valuable insight and the practical skills to deliver effective PHB solutions.

We developed a bespoke Personal Health Budgets scheme, on behalf of CCGs in Warwickshire, Coventry and Rugby and Worcestershire. Working with providers, local authorities and other partners, we provide the infrastructure to deliver effective PHB across continuing healthcare, learning disabilities and mental health care. This work included procuring brokerage services, negotiating jointly funded packages, supporting communications and defining and monitoring health outcomes.

Although PHBs are intended to be cost neutral, by delivering PHBs properly, we have seen cost avoidance for one of our CCG clients of 16%, allowing them to reinvest in the service.

The budget definitely has been helping us to be creative, to look at her as a whole person, to look at

her physical, social and psychological needs.

Judy, mother of patient with a personal health budget

42Service Portfolio

• A multi-disciplined team with well-established relationships with local authorities, social care services and the third sector, supporting better engagement, integration and effective delivery of PHBs.

• An efficient service, delivered through our unique hub and spoke operating model.• Consistent, safe and effective processes to deliver a person-centred service which improves quality of life and health outcomes and provides value for money.

• An established seven-step model to develop and manage PHBs, based on national guidance and learning from early adopter sites.

• Extensive experience of all financial aspects of PHBs, from developing indicative budgets to managing direct payments and mitigating risks.

• Strict governance procedures and regular monitoring to help ensure money is spent wisely.

• A range of brokerage services developed in partnership with the third sector, to support service users with their PHBs.

• Commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of our population and support for enhancing the use of PHBs in the provision of future health and social care services.

We bring:

42Service Portfolio

Benefits:We have extensive experience and the practical knowledge to deliver effective PHB solutions which offer greater patient choice, improved care and better value for money.

We help you to develop flexible and responsive services designed around individual needs, transforming the patient experience with the potential to significantly improve individual health and wellbeing outcomes.

Understand the person’s health and wellbeing needs and identified

risks

Making a care

plan, identifying the risks and contingencies

Organising care

and support

Monitoring and review

Consent is obtained

Making contact and getting clear

information

Working out

the amount

of money available


IndividualFunding Requests

Our specialist Individual Funding Requests (IFR) team supports CCGs with the management of IFRs, the Prior Approval Process and the review of clinical commissioning policies. Working with our clients across the country, we provide the expertise and processes needed to aid decision-making, so that CCGs are able to deliver a fast, efficient service.

Our experience:Arden & GEM provides a patient focused IFR service to over 20 CCGs serving a population in excess of six million. Through our extensive experience, we have a systematic approach to the collection and use of data, ensuring the IFR process is robustly followed for all patients, that the service delivers its Key Performance Indicators, and that only approved treatments are undertaken and paid for.

We also analyse trends to inform service improvement and development and provide an evidence base to support CCG prioritisation activities.

44Service Portfolio

• An end-to-end service to manage and administer IFRs, from receipt to decision and notification, as well as case reviews.

• Support with co-ordinating and facilitating IFR panels, including sourcing information, obtaining specialist advice, answering policy questions and gathering evidence from clinicians.

• Careful monitoring to ensure policies and procedures are followed, reducing the CCG’s workload and exposure to risk.

• Comprehensive reporting information.

• Management and administration of the Prior Approval Process, applying the CCG’s policy criteria and ensuring timeframes are adhered to.

• Support with co-ordinating Clinical Commissioning Policy development and the review process, including identifying best practice, liaising with Public Health England, producing and circulating relevant documentation, assisting policy development groups and managing the policy through the CCG.

• Access to Blueteq® software, cutting the administrative burden and reducing paper use. This remotely accessible, secure technology provides a holistic approach to case management, supporting data collection and presentation, audit trails, decision monitoring, reporting and communication with stakeholders throughout.

We bring:

44Service Portfolio

Benefits:Specifically designed to support CCGs, our experienced IFR team operates from five regional hubs that are co-located within customer areas. This offers an ideal combination of consistency across different CCG areas, while allowing sufficient local flexibility to meet individual customer requirements.

Clinically led and underpinned by the latest technology, our IFR service supports transparent and robust decision-making, designed to ensure that decisions are evidence based, equitable, timely and compliant with policy.

InitialReceipt ReconsiderationScreening Triage

IFR Panel / Ratification

Review / Appeal

Day 5 Day 10 Day 15 Day 20 Day 30

• Schedule rolling programme of monthly panels• Identify IFR review dates and request updates from clinicians• Communicate with customers / partners ( Public Health and other special advisors)• Single point of access for queries

• Administration of Blueteq data collection, reporting and presentation• Compliance with Governance arrangements• Feedback / advice to develop CCG IFR process• Training to panels

SUPPORTING ACTIVITY


Why work with NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit?

• We are passionate about working collaboratively with you to deliver integrated, high-quality, cost-effective services that lead to better health outcomes for your citizens.

• As one of the largest CSUs in the country we will ensure you share in best practice from over 60 Clinical Commissioning Groups, NHS England, local authorities and a range of care providers.

• Our hub and spoke delivery model enables us to support you via a combination of central and embedded teams. This maximises value whilst maintaining your access to a broad range of expertise.

46Service Portfolio

• Our broad range and depth of experience - with a team of over 1,200 staff and a range of supply chain partners that includes global experts, we can provide you with access to a range of specialist expertise as well as real insights and learnings from across the country.

• Our benchmarking/BI capability - we have one of the largest information service teams in the country, recognised nationally for our data processing capabilities. We host various data platforms on behalf of CCGs and NHS England, including the temporary National Repository (tNR).

• Learning from others - we share best practice and service innovations from elsewhere, for example after developing and successfully implementing a new Discharge to Assess (D2A) model with Worcestershire CCG, we are now working with Dudley CCG to implement a similar model.

• Centres of Excellence (CoE) - we already have a number of CoEs (including Business Intelligence and Procurement) that co-locate our specific service specialists and get them working in partnership with our customers.

How we add value:

46Service Portfolio


Health and social care systems support

For details about our full range of services, please contact us:

website: www.ardengemcsu.nhs.uktwitter: @ardengememail: [email protected]

If you require this brochure in an alternative format please contact us at www.ardengemcsu.nhs.ukPlease note that there may be a small charge for some formats such as braille and alternative languages.

Copyright © 2016 NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit.

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