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Chairman's opening address and Friday evening workshop led by Dr Roger Greenwood
Gordon
Nicholas
NKF Chairman
On Saturday morning the conference was opened by the Mayor of Blackpool, Councilor Mrs Lily Henderson, who welcomed the NKF to Blackpool and said she had great sympathy with our aims. Chairman Gordon Nicholas asked for a short silence to remember patients who had died during the year, in particular Freda Nelson, of St James KPA.
The group (pictured above right) of NKF executive members who had organised the conference (left to right) Ian Cundell, chair of the group, Ray Mackey, Bob Smith and Gary Lloyd.
WANTED patients to become involved in commissioning - Friday evening workshop led by Dr Roger Greenwood
The Friday evening before the main part of the conference Dr Roger Greenwood, Clinical Director at Lister Hospital, Stevenage, and chair of the Kidney Alliance, held a workshop on the commissioning of renal services, attended by around 60 people.
The outcome of the workshop was that patients interested in joining commissioning groups should get in touch with the National Kidney Federation.
Dr Greenwood pulled no punches in his assessment of the UK renal service. "The UKs renal service is one of the worst in Europe", he said.
And on commissioning services, he said we were probably in a worse state than ever before.
Commissioning is now in the hands of the Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), following a brief period from 1998 when the Regional Specialist
Commissioning Groups were in control with ring fenced money.
The idea was for around 12 PCTs to get together and for one PCT to be the lead on renal services, answering to the Strategic Health Authorities. But each PCT might only have three or four kidney patients, and renal commissioning was extremely complex.
Renal commissioning was now on the back burner because of the expected National Service Framework. But Mr Greenwood was pessimistic about the effects of the NSF.
"I don t think the NSF will have many teeth and won't change anything", he said.
He described the likely form of commissioning groups, probably with only one patient among many professionals.
"I'd like to see patients more involved in this process," he said.
The Kidney Alliance had six months to tour the country and find out what was happening.
"The NKF has got to take the lead in organising a patient group," said NKF chief executive Tim Statham.
"There are around 60 -70 people at this workshop who are interested in commissioning. We will get a list of patients interested and give them some form of training."
Dr Greenwood had begun his talk with a brief summing-up of the rather fraught history of the NHS. On a positive note he highlighted the positive achievements of the NHS. These included the tradition of primary care, the disappearance of the consultant knows best mentality, multidisciplinary working and the empowerment of nurses and Professions Allied to Medicine, the Commission for Health Improvement and the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
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