PATHOLOGY CLINICAL REFERENCE GROUP
TERMS OF REFERENCE
This document forms the Terms of Reference for the Pathology Clinical Reference
Group.
Context
The Pathology Clinical Reference Group will support the commissioning and
provision of high quality, affordable services which are accessible and consistent
across NHS South Central.
The focus will be to provide advice and support to inform the delivery of the best
affordable laboratory services for patients across the South Central area. This will
address the criteria of: effectiveness; access; efficiency; equity and acceptability.
Commitment
Members of the Clinical Reference Group will draw on a wider network of
pathologists, scientists, other clinicians and GPs within their own organisation/health
economy.
Members will demonstrate a commitment to consult this wider network on the work of
the group, to attend meetings and complete allocated work within the agreed
timescales. If members are unable to attend, they will ensure that they are
represented by an individual with the authority to make decisions on the member’s
behalf.
The Role of Clinical Reference Group
1. Develop, implement and report on a work programme which delivers the
responsibilities itemised below and influences the appropriate use of
scarce resources through collaboration. This may necessitate close
involvement with the following agencies and emerging bodies:
 Health Protection Agency
 Blood Transfusion Service
 County Councils
 PCT Commissioners/GP Commissioners
 Skills Networks
 Other diagnostic services
 Connecting for Health/NPfIT programme in South Central
 DH
2. Clinical Standards: set, secure and provide service improvement to match
and raise the standards. Support the implementation & assurance of national
policy. Develop strategies for the development of shared education
programmes in order to support workforce development.
3. Pathology as an integral part of the patient pathway: adopt a patient
pathway perspective ensuring that pathology services enable seamless
patient care along those pathways, promote new ways of working using
evidence based pathways.
4. Commissioning advice - provide advice which is clinically based and
reached via consensus and use of high quality data. This will be either to
commissioners individually, to PCTs or GP Commissioners and will be
consistent with plans to reconfigure services. The advice should include:
 Priorities for service improvement, redesign & transformation
 The quality & performance of current services, issues & risks
 Attainment of QIPP targets
5. Clinical engagement - Maintain strong clinical engagement to enable
improvements in practice and co-operation between providers. Oversee
clinical quality improvement work across services (e.g. Lean) and support
work groups and professional groups. Seek advice from sub-specialty experts
when required.
6. Promotion of good practice - Support the development of professional
subgroups for sharing best practice and project groups to deliver the
network’s work programme priorities. The group will also act as a “programme
board” for the South Central-wide projects which aim to spread good practice
across NHS South Central
7. Provider advice - where appropriate, advise provider organisations on
innovation, service redesign & improvement, brokering agreements for
service improvement input & supporting change, provide knowledge &
expertise to inform workforce planning
The group should develop a stakeholder engagement/communication plan which
ensures that customer, patient and public are involved in the development of the
work programme.
Accountability
The Clinical Advisory Group will be responsible for delivering and monitoring its own
work programme.
The managed clinical networks in South Central all report to a clinical programme.
The Clinical Reference Group will report to the Planned Care Clinical Programme
which is currently hosted by SHA (the Cancer Network also reports to Planned Care).
This differentiates the Clinical Reference Group from the Pathology Modernisation
Reconfiguration Projects which are accountable to the Regional Enablement Group,
which acts as a Programme Board.
There will be two clinical leads, linking in with the North and the South of the patch.
Chair
Deputy Chair
Anne Eden, Buckinghamshire Health Care, REG CEO lead
Christopher James (South), Siraj Misbah (North)
Membership: The Clinical Reference Group has representation (Clinical Leads and
Pathology Managers) from all Trusts who provide pathology services in NHS South
Central. Each Trust will nominate one member and one deputy (pathology clinical
lead + scientist/pathology manager) to ensure a mixture of clinicians, scientists and
service managers.
There should be representation from all PCT commissioners (one of which should be
a PCT Chief Executive), from the SHA and from special interests (see below). All of
the PCT clusters should be represented.
GP commissioners should be made aware of the existence of the group so that they
can raise issues via their local representative. N.B. It is envisaged that local consortia
will make links with GPs, so although they are welcome to attend the clinical
reference group, it was felt more important that they input into the reconfiguration
discussions.
The Lead Scientist and the Modernising Scientific Careers Lead should also be
invited to attend. Representatives from the Health Protection Agency and Blood
Transfusion services within South Central should be invited to attend.
Expenses:
Members host organisation to pay travel and to allow time
Quorum:
The Group is quorate when x Trusts are represented. There
must be at least one clinical lead and one scientist/pathology
manager present.
Meetings:
Bi-monthly at Rivergate House, Newbury
Co-opt as required:
GP commissioners
Other clinicians
Others:
SHA & REG Pathology Lead
REG Lead
ISC Lead
Associate Director Planned Care
Debbie Kennedy
Bronwen Vearncombe
Paul Durrands
Rachel Wakefield
PPI:
To be determined
Date: 17/05/2011
Author: Debbie Kennedy
Review: December 2011