January 2012 - Sandwell & West Birmingham Hospitals

SWBTB (1/12) 283 (a)
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
Service Line Management Strategy Refresh November 2011
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Service Line Management (SLM) is a method of organising how a trust works in order to
run its business in an effective way. Organisational structures are based on business units
with the capability and authority to make strategic and tactical decisions based on sound
clinical, quality, safety, and financial information, informed by a good understanding of costs
at the patient level. Monitor has recommended that foundation trusts (FT) and those
working towards FT status adopt SLM to ensure that a business management focus is
directed towards how they deliver high quality services to patients.
1.2 More importantly, it is considered that by organising the Trust workforce into distinct
business units led by clinical and management teams, the clinicians will be more responsible
and accountable for patient care by having control of the resources which they use on behalf
of those in their care. Patient care and performance management is driven by quality
outcomes as well as financial performance.
1.3 This Trust is aiming to become an FT in the near future. It is therefore considered that
even more focus should be made on embedding SLM in the organisation.
2.0 Background
2.1 SLM has been gradually introduced over the past three years. There has been
considerable work and progress developing an integrated governance system called the
Quality Management Framework (QMF) which is being devolved to the Divisions. This is
being used as a basis for the performance management of quality, finance, and activity.
2.2 A report was submitted to the Trust Board in January 2010 by the Medical Director,
which outlined the progress of the implementation of SLM and the QMF. It also identified
the governance arrangements around how the work would be progressed and what key
tasks were pivotal in developing SLM. This was overseen by a high level SLM Steering Group.
2.3 A review of progress towards achievement of SLM was carried out in August 2011 using
the Monitor self assessment toolkit. Whilst there has been significant progress in some
areas, such as performance management and organisation structure, information
management, service line reporting and planning were identified as having a greater
distance to travel to contribute to significant implementation of SLM against the Monitor
assessment toolkit.
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