Working Relationships between the National Health Service and the Independent Sector in the UK - Essay Example

The National Health Service (NHS) and the independent sector in the United Kingdom enjoy a symbiotic relationship. The two have had a handy relationship for a number of decades. The resulting effect is benefits for patients and a significant reduction in cost for NHS (NHS Partners Network 2011; NHS Partners Network 2010). Majority of the people do not mind who offers service so long as it is of high quality and free of charge at the place of delivery. The level of making a choice is high despite the relatively small numbers of patients being given the choice by General Practitioners (GPs). The independent sector has assisted the NHS minimize waiting time and increase capacity (NHS Partners Network 2011; Royal College of Psychiatrists 1999). The introduction of patient choice and the creation of independent sector treatment centres in 2008 lead to minimization of waiting times to as low as the 18 week target. Despite its small share in the market, the independent sector in the UK has had a significant effect on the NHS. For instance, it has helped ensure that NHS preserves the quality while minimizing costs. Debate concerning the independent sector indulgence in NHS regularly gives the image that the sector’s portion of activity in NHS is more crucial in scale than it is in the case (NHS Partners Network 2011). Presently, the independent sector indulgence (excluding mental health, dentistry, and GP practices) remains principally static at approximately 5% of the conventional clinical services. In elective care and diagnostic services, approximately 3.5% of the procedures are done by the independent sector. In the fiscal year 2009/10, the independent sector’s share of supply in the mental health services was approximately £1.33 billion. This is a representation of 9% of all community and mental health hospital services (NHS Partners Network 2011). Independent providers have an important role in the quantity of other specialist areas of care. For instance, the independent hospice movement’s function in the end-of-life care sector. In the community and primary services, the independent sector offers close to 1.5% of the care. The aforementioned figure does not include GP and dentistry practices. It is important to note that GP practices are privately owned small business and they conduct 98% of NHS general practice activities despite regarding themselves as a portion of the NHS. Study conducted recently indicates that there are close to 315 independent GP practices of the total 8,300 practices in England (NHS Partners Network 2011). Within the conventional clinical services, the main type of activity is the elective care. Elective care in this case entails non-emergency and pre-arranged care, which also includes scheduled surgery. As stated before, 3.5% of the procedures are conducted by the independent sector, either by specialist treatments centres or in private hospitals. Despite having a small share of the entire market, impact of the participation of the independent sector for several decades has been considerable, especially in some specialists, for instance, in orthopaedics and ophthalmology. In these two specialists, there are had been far-reaching benefits in terms of patient satisfaction, cost, and quality and the market share have been higher (NHS Partners Network 2011). The Benefits of Working Collaboratively With Other Members of the Multidisciplinary Team With the increased number of people seeking health care, there is a need for the different partners in the health care to collaborate and work in tandem for the achievement of a common objective, that is, the provision of better health care services. According to NHS Partners Network (2011, p6), the independent sectors do have a smaller share in the provision of primary care. Several benefits are associated with the multidisciplinary teams collaborating to provide health care. First, there is the ease to access of health care services. The introduction of health centres that cater for the walk-in as a form of primary care has significantly enhanced the services given to patients who do not enjoy GP practices. This form of primary care according to NHS Partners Network has significantly catered for the needs of the different people with different lifestyle and cultures. The service providers in such a setting never motivated to provide services that they offer, unlike the private sector providers (NHS Partners Network 2011). With the form of services offered by the primary sectors, the independent sectors in turn are able to serve their patients better as there is a reprieve. Another way that was used to achieve the goal was the different sectors collaborating in the provision of health care. There was the partnership with the third sectors providers e.g. Age UK for the end of life care, independent sectors collaborating with GPS and foundation trusts. The partnership between the GP and nursing homes support for instance resulted in the reduction of the bed nursing and the emergency call from 17 to five for the years 2008 and 2009 respectively. The drug budget reduced too (NHS Partners Network). This good integration depends on the good partnership and the working relationship between the providers in the provision of the best care. NHS Partners Network noted that the some sectors for instance the independent sectors, do provide either a service for profit or non-profit community services. A survey conducted on the services offered in people’s homes according to (NHS Partners Network 2011, p7) showed that the NHS would be able to save up to 1.2 billion pounds a year while 66% were satisfied on such a service (NHS Partners Network 2011). Achieving Effective and Safe Practice Through the Problem Solving Approach Evidence-based practice is a form of a problem-solving approach that is used to deliver healthcare. It integrates the best evidence from properly designed researches with respect to the patient’s values and preferences and clinician’s expertise (Grady and Hinshaw 2011). It is crucial to note that an effective culture of safety is one which the employees have the will to share information surrounding adverse-event and near miss situations for constant learning regarding gaps in the healthcare system (Fulton, Goudreau and Lyon 2010). In order for the organization to maintain an effective culture of safety, the health care workers are supposed to work in an environment, which is nonpunitive, that is, to be fully involved in the improvement process (Fulton, Goudreau and Lyon 2010). It is crucial to note that learning to offer quality and safe health care needs technical expertise, clinical judgment, experience, and the capability to think critically. The high-performance anticipation of nurses is reliant on the nurses’ professional accountability, creative problem-solving abilities, interdependent and independent decision-making, and continual learning (Benner, Hughes and Sutphen 2008). References Benner, P., Hughes, R. G. & Sutphen, M. (2008) ‘Clinical reasoning, decision-making, and action: Thinking critically and clinically,’ in Hughes R. G. (ed.) Patient safety and quality: An evidence-based handbook for nurses. Rockville: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, pp. 87-109. Fulton, J. S., Goudreau, K. A., & Lyon, B. L. (2010) Foundations of clinical nurse specialist practice. London: Springer Publishing Company. Grady, P. A., & Hinshaw, A. S. (2011) Shaping health policy through nursing research. London: Springer Publishing Company. Home Office. (2013) About effective practice. Home Office [Online]. Available at: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/crime/partnerships/effective-practice1/about-effective-practice/ (Accessed: 27 February 2013). NHS Partners Network. (2010) Harnessing the benefits of the independent sector: Priorities for the next government. London: The NHS Confederation. NHS Partners Network. (2011) A positive partnership – the independent sector and the NHS. London: The NHS Confederation. Royal College of Psychiatrists. (1999) The interface between the NHS and the independent sector in the care of older people with mental illness. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists. Read More