These pages are written for commissioners of long term conditions, particularly those who may not have a detailed knowledge of respiratory  disease, and also service providers who wish to understand more about the commissioning process. The IMPRESS documents that they introduce include sufficient detail to commission a respiratory service from a low knowledge base, but also "stretch" elements for those commissioners that want more.

The elements of commissioning from needs assessment to procurement are covered in this section. Please also refer to the relevant IMPRESS publications, webcasts and good practice.

One of the themes that IMPRESS is developing is value - what is the best value that can be gained from the respiratory programme budget in terms of improving patient outcomes? 

The IMPRESS guide to the Relative Value of COPD interventions was published on 26 July 2012, facilitated by the London School of Economics and Political Science School of Management.  The Impressions Blog introduces the themes which are summarised in the Executive Summary. The fully referenced full report explains the process and assumptions.

An introduction to value

UCLPartners and the Greater London Authority hosted a meeting on value: outcomes achieved for patients per pound spent.  The programme included an introduction to value-based health care delivery (VBHCD) from Prof Michael Porter (Harvard), and examples of applying VBHCD: In a large provider organisation with Prof Tom Lee (Partners Community Healthcare, Inc, Boston.); and Across the stroke pathway in London with Dr Charlie Davie (UCLPartners). To download their slides go here.

For more information on value go here.

Core Policy documents from Department of Health England and NICE

 Go here

For those interested in generic clinical commissioning support:

NHS Networks Commissioning Zone: http://www.networks.nhs.uk/commissioning

DH: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/tag/clinical-commissioning-groups/

RCGP: http://commissioning.rcgp.org.uk/tag/clinical-commissioning-groups-ccgs/

NHS Alliance: http://www.nhsalliance.org.uk/commissioning/

NAPC: http://www.napc.co.uk