Continuing NHS pressures, highly efficient service delivery and an incredibly loyal consultant team protects our insourcing and broader elective care operations from any impact from today’s budget. Solving the challenges faced by the NHS requires everyone to pull together and will take a range of measures, including continued access to capacity provided by independent providers.
Jeremy Hunt today announced an increase in the annual pension contribution allowance from £40,000 to £60,000 and a removal for the lifetime allowance. One of the aims of this policy is to stop people, particularly doctors, from reducing hours or retiring early due to tax restrictions.
Pressures on the NHS continue to be significant, with waiting lists at all-time highs. Every effort must continue to be made to see patients in the most efficient, effective and safe manner. On the surface, the changes in pensions tax restrictions may appear to provide the NHS with greater access to consultants to support the reduction of waiting lists in-house, but there are three key reasons why we are confident in the role that Totally has to play in supporting the NHS:
- The NHS is under pressure: Totally’s provide full teams (which include administration, operating theatre staff, nurses, consultants and any other staffing required) which utilise otherwise empty theatres to provide care which is free to the patient at the point of delivery and to national standards mandated by the NHS. The introduction of additional sessions delivered by Trusts themselves, would increase Trust staffing requirements across multiple roles, as well as the need for additional oversight which could in turn, distract essential resources from tackling the challenges that the NHS currently faces. Many NHS Trusts are unable to provide this additional support in-house and therefore work with Totally to increase their capacity requirements.
- Independent providers offer an efficient and streamlined experience for patients and consultants: one of the many benefits which insourcing provides is an efficient approach with a proven model that sees more patients in a given session than is possible in the NHS, and at a cost which is equal to or below the NHS own tariffs. Efficiencies are created by consultants working outside of their NHS roles, without interruption, and would be difficult to replicate within the NHS itself.
- Strong relationships with consultants: Totally’s insourcing business was originally set up by three senior NHS consultants. The consultants built the business upon a set of values which reflect the needs of both the NHS and the consultants they work with. Loyalty within Totally is very high due to the combination of personal relationships, flexibility of work, a positive, patient and staff focused culture and competitive rates of pay.
Wendy Lawrence, Chief Executive Officer of Totally, said:
The challenges faced by the NHS are not going to solved by one thing alone. Totally has seen revenue for insourcing and outsourcing services, which target the reduction of waiting lists, double in the year to date – reflecting the scale of the challenge faced by the NHS and the opportunity available to us to support the recovery of services.
We have fantastic relationships with trusts, an enviable bank of leading consultants, and a strong reputation for helping reducing waiting lists without distracting the NHS from its core focus. We remain confident in the contribution we make to the recovery of services and the opportunity which lies ahead.”
