PAE Latest News
GPs 'waste' £100m NHS fund set aside for local care, study finds
2008-11-20 08:40:41UK - Family doctors are failing to provide improved services for patients, despite being paid tens of millions of pounds to do so, a report claims.
Cash handed to thousands of GPs to commission services including X-rays, blood tests, eye tests and services for diabetics simply ends up in practice coffers, it was found.
Waiting times for vital tests to be cut to six weeks
2008-11-20 08:33:48UK - Waiting times for key medical tests, including MRI and CT scans, will be cut by a third from next year.
Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon pledged the current nine-week maximum waiting time for diagnostic tests will be cut to six weeks by the end of March 2009.
Her announcement co- incided with the release of a report from financial watchdog Audit Scotland which found significant improvements due to extra government funding and changes to how the NHS manages and delivers the service.
The number of patients waiting for more than nine weeks for diagnostic tests fell from 10,638 in July 2006 to two in July 2008.
Health boards achieved the reductions by using £50million additional funding and making longer-term improvements to how they provide services.
Ms Sturgeon said: "Waiting for a diagnosis can be an anxious time which is why it is crucial that waiting times for diagnostic tests are as short as possible.
"The report confirms that waiting times are coming down.
"This is considerable progress and across the service the efforts taken are continuing. Reducing the waiting time to six weeks will mean improved care for patients."
The Audit Scotland report, Review of NHS Diagnostic Services, focuses on radiology, endoscopy and laboratory services, which provide more than 87million procedures and tests a year at a cost of more than £280million.
It looked at eight key tests - magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), non-obstetric ultrasound, barium enema, upper gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy and cystoscopy.
These cover about 75% of patients on a waiting list for a diagnostic test.
The report found that efficiency of diagnostic services varies across the country and there is scope for health boards to make better use of resources.
It also found that the NHS needs better information to compare the efficiency of services across boards.
Deputy Auditor General for Scotland Caroline Gardner said: "Diagnostic services help patients get an accurate diagnosis and the right treatment. Delays mean patients have symptoms and are anxious for longer, and treatments may be less effective.
"The challenge now is to continue to improve diagnostic services as the NHS faces shorter waiting time targets. A lot of money is spent on diagnostic services and the NHS needs to ensure efficiency of these high-cost services."
Ms Sturgeon said work was going on to improve the collection of data and to drive improvements through the benchmarking of radiology services and other techniques.
Sanctuary unveils new £2.5 million development
2008-11-20 08:31:22UK - Sanctuary North, a subsidiary of leading UK housing provider Sanctuary Group, has unveiled a new £2.5 million development for older persons in Leeds.
The Redmire Grove development in Seacroft is made up a 13 affordable rented bungalows for the elderly, with 12 two-bed properties and a two-bed wheelchair adapted bungalow.
This week guests, including residents, Sanctuary staff and representatives from project partners, attended an opening event at the home of resident Ann Thackray.
Ann was delighted to receive a bouquet of flowers from Sanctuary and a decorative plate to mark the occasion, which was kindly donated by local firm Potterdoodle.
Work on the site, which was previously owned by Leeds City Council before it donated the land to Sanctuary some 15 years ago, started in August 2007 and was completed in September, with all the properties now occupied.
Sanctuary received a grant of £593,000 from the Housing Corporation for the project.
Rob Harbourne, Sanctuary's regional development manager said: "Sanctuary prides itself on providing high quality, affordable accommodation, so we are thrilled to have completed this project to provide much needed homes for local elderly people.
"The residents are delighted with their new homes and I am sure they will be very happy here for years to come."
The partners involved in this project include Leeds City Council, contractors Strategic Team Group, architects West and Machell and employer's agent Faithful+Gould.
Councillor Les Carter, Leeds City Council's executive board member for housing, said:
"We are delighted to have been involved with this project, which is creating the kind of housing for which there is an increasing need in the city - from donating the land to helping Sanctuary apply for grant aid from the Government.
"We wish the new occupants of Redmire Grove all the very best in their new homes."
Charles Tweed, business development director Strategic Team Group said: "The bungalows have been extremely well designed and are energy efficient and complement the surrounding properties in the development."
Pension Corporation seeks £400 million acquisition funds
2008-11-19 16:41:36UK - The Pension Corporation says it plans to raise up to £400m from investors to fund acquisitions, with a long-term aim of servicing around £20bn worth of defined benefit (DB) pensions.
Plans to aquire pensions and annuity transfer specialist Synesis have already been confirmed as part of the firm's fundraising bid, which follows an initial investment from JPMorgan.
It says it also seeking cash from existing investors before marketing its fundraising to new clients in January 2009.
Pension Corporation will use some of the capital to buy the assets of Synesis, along with key members of its team, which it believes will enhance its skills in the pension solutions arena.
Edmund Truell, chief executive of Pension Corporation, says: The extra capital we are raising, led by JPMorgan, will extend our capacity to take market share in areas with the right balance of risk and reward.
"This significantly increases our ability to play a leading role in addressing the historic legacy of defined benefit pension liabilities, which amount to more than twice the size of the UK's national debt and nearly equal the country's total gross domestic product.
"We are ready to provide long-term security for hundreds of thousands more pension fund members across the country."
Truell says he hopes to increase his firm's total share of the UK DB market to around £20bn, approximately 5% of all DB pensions, as part of a long-term strategy.
The acquisition of Synesis's team will also improve Pension Corporation's ability to model market activity and react quickly to minimise downside risks for DB schemes, improving security for members.
Trust signs new 3-year deal for shuttle bus service
2008-11-19 16:24:11UK - A new 3-year contract to continue running the shuttle bus between Montagu Hospital and Doncaster Royal Infirmary has been signed with TransLinc and came into effect on 1 November.
A new 26-seater bus, specially adapted for wheelchair use, has new livery and will continue to carry the Fred & Ann Green Legacy logo. Funded by Fred & Ann Green's Legacy, the free service has proved increasingly popular for patients, visitors, carers and staff in making services at both hospitals more easily accessible and convenient. Over 1000 patients, visitors, carers and staff use the hospital shuttle each week.
Pictured at the launch of the new service is the TransLinc shuttle bus with (from left) Janice Edees, Assistant Hospital Manager, Montagu Hospital; Margaret Serna, Director, TransLinc; Roy Tyson, Director of Facilities & Commercial Development; Mike Rhodes, the Trust's Commercial General Manager; and Noel Wade, Business Development Manager, TransLinc.
The 26-seater Optare bus has a European-regulations compliant diesel engine. Tracking software monitors the vehicle's CO2 emissions and driver behaviour while the bus is in use. It has full wheelchair access and destination software.
TransLinc is providing a dedicated team of drivers, based at its Doncaster depot, who have been specially trained in wheelchair access, passenger safety, driver standards, etc.
The bus features a digital sign that can pass on key messages for the hospitals. All members of TransLinc's Doncaster depot have now signed up as members of Doncaster & Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
The bus will run on a set, non-stop route between DRI and Montagu Hospital in Mexborough. The free shuttle bus service has run between the two hospitals since 2001. After some seven years with the initial contractor, the Trust went out to tender and awarded the contract to TransLinc.
For information on how to use the service and to guarantee a seat on the bus, call the freephone number (below) on Monday and Friday inclusive (excluding Bank Holidays) between 9.30am and 4.30pm. If you know the time you wish to return, staff can book your return journey at the same time.
FREEPHONE: 0800 953 66 33
EasyJet posts 45pc profit fall on oil
2008-11-19 16:18:52UK - The surging price of fuel helped send net profits at British no-frills carrier, EasyJet, 45pc lower to £83.2m in its 2007/2008 financial year.
Pre-tax profits in the year to 30 September fell 45pc to £110m.
The firm said future economic conditions would be "difficult" and it would concentrate on offering passenger value, cutting costs, and saving cash.
Andy Harrison, Easyjet chief executive said: "Easyjet delivered a good trading performance in the financial year ending September 2008."
He said winter bookings for the first quarter of 2009 were slightly ahead of last year, "partly a reflection of the reduction in competitive capacity on our routes and partly our own decision to restrict our growth in seats flown".
Mr Harrison also said there was evidence of a "flight to value" for both business and leisure passengers.