Are local people getting good quality care?

CCGs need to ensure the providers they commission services from are delivering safe, good quality services and compassionate care and that there are processes in place to quickly identify and address any concern.   

Sheffield CCG continues to works closely with providers to monitor a range of quality measures and ensure that any incidents where patients, staff or members of the public may suffer harm are investigated and addressed.  In 2013/14 this has included an external review of ‘never events’ (serious, largely preventable patient safety incidents that should not occur if the available preventative measures have been implemented by healthcare providers)at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, in order to identify how further improvements can be made. 

Additionally, 2013/14 has seen the closure of two care homes as a result of quality issues and the priority that the CCG and Sheffield City Council, working together, place on the quality of such services.

Sheffield is showing excellent scores on the Friends and Family Test which was introduced during 2013 to provide feedback on patient experience of A&E and hospital inpatient care.

Assessment of the CCG’s own performance against key local and national quality measures continue to be reported in the CCG's monthly Quality and Outcomes Report .

Are patient rights under the NHS Constitution being promoted?

Sheffield has performed well throughout the year on the national NHS Constitution rights & pledges which are about how long patients wait to be seen and to receive treatment.    This includes meeting all cancer waiting times measures and working with providers to ensure 95% of patients presenting at A&E are seen and treated within 4 hours, and receive high quality care despite the continued challenge of high levels of demand across all A&E services nationally.

The difficulties nationally around waiting times for patients to be seen and start any necessary treatment have also been seen in Sheffield during 2013/14.  The CCG has worked closely with local providers to improve the situation and continues to work on ensuring that the majority of patients can be seen within 18 weeks from referral

Are health outcomes improving for local people?  

Sheffield is viewed as having a strong overall position on the prevention of hospital acquired infection despite the very challenging national targets.  Action plans agreed with Sheffield providers during 2013/14 to further improve prevention of these infections have resulted in fewer cases being reported towards the end of the year.

Progress in 2013/14 has been good on a number of key national priorities, for example, the numbers of avoidable emergency admissions, improving access to psychological therapies and reducing premature deaths by improving prevention, diagnosis and treatment from conditions such as cardiovascular disease and cancer.    

Work on addressing  health and service inequalities continues to be a priority for Sheffield CCG and includes the drive for ‘Parity of esteem’  between physical and mental health.

Are CCGs delivering services within their financial plans?

Sheffield has ended the year in ‘good financial health’ having successfully managed the financial pressures of delivering improvements in health services and health outcomes within the resources available.

In setting out its first five-year financial plan as a CCG, Sheffield remains committed to strong financial management and delivery of sustainable health services for the people of Sheffield.

Further details of CCG finances and expenditure during 2013/14 are available in our first CCG Annual Report.  

Are conditions of CCG authorisation being addressed and removed (where relevant)?

The CCG completed a successful authorisation process and was fully authorised, without conditions, from April 2013.  Following the completion of a CCG survey, undertaken in December,  improvements have been made to the Governing Body and CCG committees  and recent internal and external audit has provided assurance on the CCG’s governance arrangements.

See feedback to Sheffield CCG from NHS England here: