A guide to commissioning cardiac surgical services - NHS ...

A guide to commissioning cardiac surgical services
Foreword
There has been substantial progress in
cardiac surgery over the last ten years.
Surgeons are operating in a more timely
fashion on more people with higher levels
of risk and co-morbidity, yet they are
delivering better outcomes.
The national audit has been a major
driver for success and so has the work of
NHS Improvement where a focus on
systems that deliver high quality care has
been pivotal.
Now we face an even bigger challenge.
Over the last ten years, we have benefited
from higher levels of growth in NHS
expenditure than at any time in its history
and cardiac services have been substantial
beneficiaries. Today, we have to recognise
that it is inevitable that the wider financial
situation is going to impact on each and
every one of us. This challenge, to deliver
continuing high quality care while at the
same time delivering it much more
efficiently, is the biggest challenge that
has faced us in the history of the NHS.
It is a clinical challenge, since it is, in the
end, clinicians that spend the money. So,
every clinician is required to examine their
practice and actively look for ways to
deliver care more efficiently, removing
waste and saving money.
In my last foreword (Improving the patient
experience: Developing solutions to
delivering sustainable pathways in cardiac
surgery, March 2009), I pointed out that
there are still long delays in the nonelective
pathways that lead to heart
surgery. These delays have not gone away
and still need to be addressed. Many of
the issues regarding pre-assessment and
theatre scheduling are other examples
where the priority projects have addressed
the key efficiency measures over the years.
Now, we cannot rest on our laurels, there
remains much to be done.
Professor Roger Boyle CBE
National Director for Heart Disease
and Stroke, Department of Health
Professor Roger Boyle CBE
www.improvement.nhs.uk/heart
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