Medical Services Contract (Hansard, 22 May 2002)

§ Mr. Nicholas Brown

The Department reviewed the performance of SchlumbergerSema against a series of performance targets and other contractual obligations to be met by 31 March 2002 and has confirmed the contract extension to August 2005.

The agreement with SchlumbergerSema contained a total of 45 key performance targets. These targets, in each of the three contract packages, covered the following areas:

IB examinations
DLA primary target for examinations
IISB primary and secondary examination targets
Customers turned away unseen
Customer waiting time
Customer satisfaction levels
Percentage of unacceptable (C grade medical reports)
Compliance with medical scrutiny guidelines
Complaint turnaround time and quality levels [5 targets]
Rework accuracy.

SchlumbergerSema met 43 out of the 45 targets set by 31 March and met the remaining 2 targets during April 2002.

In addition to the key performance targets, the contract contains a number of other performance measures, the vast majority of which are now being achieved. Performance is formally monitored on a monthly basis. If performance falls below agreed targets remedial action is taken, including the application of financial remedies where appropriate.

During 2000 (prior to the Department setting targets relating to contract extension) the Department set four challenging targets where tangible improvement in medical quality was required. These were:

Within six months to reduce by 10 per cent. the proportion of "C grade" medical reports which fail to meet the Department's standards; and within one year to reduce the proportion of "C grade" reports across all benefits to less than 5 per cent.

Within one year to demonstrate improvement in compliance with the agreed medical scrutiny guidelines for Incapacity Benefit claims so that the proportion of non-compliant reports is less than 5 per cent.

Within one year to deliver training to all doctors covering: the assessment of people with mental health problems; behaviours, attitudes and sensitivities for dealing with people with disabilities; and distress-avoiding techniques for the examination of people with musculo-skeletal conditions.

Within two years to improve customer satisfaction rates to at least 90 per cent.

These service targets have all been met. The agreement to extend the Contract contains a further set of quality improvement measures, including even more challenging 375W measures relating to the quality of medical reports, together with new a doctor capability measure and a new complaints target.

Additionally, the agreement commits SchlumbergerSema to a programme of doctor recruitment and requires them to deliver a number of other important initiatives. These include:

National implementation of the "Did Not Attend" initiative which will reduce the number of claimants who are given an appointment but fail to attend. Results from the pilot undertaken show significant reductions and this new process will be rolled out across all Medical Service Centres by the end of June 2002.

National implementation of "Evidence Based Medicine" which aims to secure more consistency in conducting medical examinations and to improve the quality of medical reports by using fully researched medical protocols for examination supported by an IT application.

Piloting a new approach to evidence gathering where Doctors advising on Incapacity Benefit claims will have access to relevant medical information from the claimant's General Practitioner case notes.

Contractual milestones for the remaining life of the extended contract have been agreed for each of the key improvement projects underway, supported by financial remedies for failure to deliver against key milestones. The Department, through joint Project and Programme Boards, will continue to monitor closely the progress of each project.

The Department has also secured a range of other contractual improvements including greater cost transparency to underpin future commercial negotiations.