The NHS in Sheffield is expected to agree a step-up in investment in community services and a new risk sharing deal as part of a citywide programme aimed at reforming urgent care.

The Right First Time programme aims to address problems which have seen the city struggle to meet financial and accident and emergency waiting times requirements in recent years.

It is the subject of an HSJ Local Briefing analysis published this week.

The programme has been in development for about two years and is led by chairs and chief executives of all NHS commissioners and providers, and city councillors.

However, earmarked investment has been limited to around £2m.

HSJ understands this is likely to step up by a large margin in 2013-14. The figure had yet to be finalised as HSJ went to press.

Sheffield Clinical Commissioning Group is also likely to settle on a contract with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, which runs community as well as acute services, which incentivises it to reduce hospital admissions and lengths of stay. This will mean agreeing changes to the payment by results episodic tariff. The changes are expected to be agreed imminently.

Sheffield Health and Social Care Foundation Trust chief executive Kevan Taylor, who has also been appointed director of the Right First Time Programme, said of its aims: “This is primarily about getting the right services for people at the right time in the right place.

“We want to increase capacity in community services and support people who we know to be at high risk of hospitalisation.”

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