The output of the process should be an agreed report that will be considered formal advice by NHS England as part of the assurance process for service change proposals. The assumption should be that clinical senate reports will be placed in the public domain at the conclusion of the NHS England assurance process. Support for Clinical Senates in undertaking reviews Clinical senates’ credibility will be reinforced by offering consistently high quality advice, presented in independent clinical review reports and supported by clear references to the appropriate evidence base, adding value for all organisations involved in the service change process. To support clinical senates to achieve these aims it is proposed to develop common supporting documents including guidance on undertaking the clinical review process (to include: business standards; how and when clinical senates might offer advice to the assurance process; draft terms of reference for an independent clinical review team and principles for managing real or perceived conflicts of interest) and a suggested structure for an independent clinical review report. These products are intended to help ensure consistency between clinical senates whilst remaining flexible enough to be tailored for local use. NHS England’s area and regional teams sharing information on anticipated future service changes will help clinical senates to determine the likely demand for independent clinical reviews of proposals. NHS England’s Regional Team service change leads can ensure these relationships are established and maintained. Resources Additional resources will not be available above and beyond existing clinical senate budgets. The level of managerial support and budget for clinical senates far exceeds that of the National Clinical Advisory Team, although it is recognised that clinical senates undertake a wider range of roles. Further consideration should be to the practicalities of how clinical senates might collaborate to discharge their functions relating to service change, this may reduce duplication of effort and offer resource savings through economies of scale. The national network of Associate Directors of SCNs and Senates and Senate Managers has suggested they would be willing to undertake further work to examine the potential for shared working arrangements across clinical senate boundaries. The scope of this work should consider (but not be limited to) the potential for each of the following: shared lists of appropriately skilled and willing experts to participate in independent reviews; a common repository for clinical evidence for clinical senates and review teams to call upon; shared administration for the organisation and coordination of reviews and report writing; and host arrangement to coordinate reviews across clinical senate boundaries or support arrangements between clinical senates. Transition from NCAT to Clinical Senates
The output of the process should be an agreed report that will be considered formal advice by NHS England as part of the assurance process for service change proposals. The assumption should be that clinical senate reports will be placed in the public domain at the conclusion of the NHS England assurance process. Support for Clinical Senates in undertaking reviews Clinical senates’ credibility will be reinforced by offering consistently high quality advice, presented in independent clinical review reports and supported by clear references to the appropriate evidence base, adding value for all organisations involved in the service change process. To support clinical senates to achieve these aims it is proposed to develop common supporting documents including guidance on undertaking the clinical review process (to include: business standards; how and when clinical senates might offer advice to the assurance process; draft terms of reference for an independent clinical review team and principles for managing real or perceived conflicts of interest) and a suggested structure for an independent clinical review report. These products are intended to help ensure consistency between clinical senates whilst remaining flexible enough to be tailored for local use. NHS England’s area and regional teams sharing information on anticipated future service changes will help clinical senates to determine the likely demand for independent clinical reviews of proposals. NHS England’s Regional Team service change leads can ensure these relationships are established and maintained. Resources Additional resources will not be available above and beyond existing clinical senate budgets. The level of managerial support and budget for clinical senates far exceeds that of the National Clinical Advisory Team, although it is recognised that clinical senates undertake a wider range of roles. Further consideration should be to the practicalities of how clinical senates might collaborate to discharge their functions relating to service change, this may reduce duplication of effort and offer resource savings through economies of scale. The national network of Associate Directors of SCNs and Senates and Senate Managers has suggested they would be willing to undertake further work to examine the potential for shared working arrangements across clinical senate boundaries. The scope of this work should consider (but not be limited to) the potential for each of the following: shared lists of appropriately skilled and willing experts to participate in independent reviews; a common repository for clinical evidence for clinical senates and review teams to call upon; shared administration for the organisation and coordination of reviews and report writing; and host arrangement to coordinate reviews across clinical senate boundaries or support arrangements between clinical senates. Transition from NCAT to Clinical Senates
Senates_and_service_change_paper_v3_1_FINAL.DOCX