Treatment Centre rebrands to Circle
Last Thursday saw the rebranding of the Nations Healthcare NHS
Treatment Centre on the Queen's Medical Centre campus, adjacent to
the Nottingham University Hospital, to social enterprise Circle's
logo.
Circle is an employee-owned hospital provider that acquired
Nations Healthcare in 2007, and opened the Nottingham NHS Treatment
Centre under the Nations Healthcare brand in 2008. Since then, the
hospital has treated over 500,000 local NHS patients. 99% have said
they would recommend the hospital to family and friends. This was
achieved at the same time as staff redesigned patient pathways to
deliver average productivity gains of 18% each year since opening,
and clinical outcomes - measured by returns to theatre - eight
times better than the national target.
Third-party commentators have attributed these achievements to the
power of employee ownership, frontline management, clinical
leadership and total quality control - the four planks of Circle's
operating model - to unleash the innovation and creativity of NHS
staff. The day-surgery hospital has received many high profile
visits, including two from Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, in
which he praised the hospital for achieving unprecedented
productivity gains.
In a speech to hospital staff at the event, the Lord Mayor said:
'The Circle Operating System principles of devolved decision making
and clinical leadership seem exactly the right ingredients to get
the best out of our caring professions - freeing those who know
patients best to do what's best for their patients. It's clear to
me that here in Circle's Nottingham hospital you've been given the
trust and the tools to do your best for your patients. For that,
the community in Nottingham is grateful.'
Senior Nottingham GP, Safiy Karim, said: 'As GP commissioners
we're delighted with the standard of service on offer here.
Anything that pleases our patients pleases us, and by that measure
the hospital is doing a fantastic job.'
Circle Chief Executive, Ali Parsa, said: 'Circle was created
around a central social mission that it is possible to deliver a
"great" service to our patients. Great things are done by people
who are passionate about what they do, have control over their
work, and are both responsible and accountable to do their best.
That's why we are a partnership like John Lewis. When we first
started Circle, many cynics thought us too idealistic. Today, our
Nottingham hospital's track record speaks for itself.'
For further information contact Christina Lineen on
07972192845.
Notes to editors
• Circle was founded in 2004 as an employee-owned social
enterprise. Circle now forms the largest partnership of clinicians
and healthcare professionals in Europe - over 2000.
• All Circle facilities are led and managed by clinicians. Circle
currently operate four facilities that provide NHS and private
treatments. Circle is co-owned and managed by the doctors, nurses
and all staff who work in Circle's hospitals, treatment centres and
clinics.
• Circle is the preferred bidder to run Hinchingbrooke Healthcare
NHS Trust, the first NHS Trust to be tendered for management by an
independent organisation.
Third-party comment on Circle's Nottingham day-surgery
hospital:
• Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of leading health think-tank,
the Nuffield Trust, has commented: 'Visiting Circle's large
independent sector treatment centre (ISTC) in Nottingham last
month, I was struck by the engagement of the doctors and nurses
in
managing their services, as well as their use of cost and activity
data. Clinicians were not alienated from management and seemed to
solve problems from the bottom up. This did not seem to be down to
good commissioning, or competition, or for that matter integrated
care, but fresh thinking about management and customer service from
a new entrant to the NHS.' (
http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/blog/lets-move)
• The IPA - an independent think-tank who co-authored the
influential McLeod report on employee engagement - recently wrote
an independent report on employee engagement at Circle. The
executive summary states: 'Circle's approach to involvement and
engagement is a significant innovation in UK healthcare. The
approach is not distinctive because of its methodology, but because
of the extent to which it is integral to the model of healthcare
Circle delivers. The breadth and dept of engagement at Circle is
considerable, and has impacted on performance, productivity,
innovation and patient care across the sites.'
• Health Service Journal editor, Alastair McLellan, commented in
his magazine column: 'It is the ethos which flows from Circle's
ownership model which is behind the improvement in the performance
of the independent treatment centres it has run for the past three
years. Should staff become advocates for the Circle approach over
the next few years, then the cultural impact on the NHS will be
profound.' Health Service Journal, 1 December 2010
• Director of Strategy at NHS Midlands and East of England, Dr.
Stephen Dunn: 'We are impressed by the way Circle devolve
decision-making to those closest to patients, and empower doctors,
nurses and all staff to innovate. They've got a lot to contribute
to the delivery of NHS services. The coalition government's vision
is clear that we should be buying healthcare from the most
innovative providers. Source: Director of Strategy at NHS Midlands
and East of England, Dr. Stephen Dunn, 2 December 2010.'