The NHS will receive an immediate cash injection of up to £100m to support local community-based services during the winter months.

The additional ‘frontline commissioning funding’, which has been allocated to the emerging Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), must be committed for specific purposes by mid-February or returned to the DH.

The money, amounting to £2 per patient, is to be spent on developing local care services and reducing unnecessary hospital admissions; as such, its remit may include prescribing.

While it may soften the immediate frontline impact of cuts in NHS spending, the new cash injection is only 2% of the £5bn ‘efficiency savings’ required of the NHS in 2012.

Consistent with the DH policy of shifting the focus of healthcare from acute to community-based services, the funding could (for example) be spent on improving patient access to GP services, improving services provided to nursing homes, or developing home-based services.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “I am pleased to be able to give the NHS up to £100 million in extra funding to spend directly on local frontline care for their patients during the winter months.”

He emphasised that giving a cash boost to the new CCGs would strengthen the role of local clinicians and thereby ensure that patients “receive the right care according to their individual needs”.

The money must be signed off by the PCT clusters for specific service improvement purposes: it cannot be used to help cover the cost of existing services.

This is the first time that the DH has specifically identified funding to be allocated to the new CCGs, though PCTs already delegate commissioning funds to support the CCGs in providing services.

CCGs will need to inform their PCT clusters how the funding will be utilised by mid-February 2012; each PCT cluster will similarly need to inform the relevant SHA cluster by the end of February 2012, and money not allocated will be returned to the DH.

This funding window provides an added incentive for pharmaceutical companies to demonstrate the value of their solutions for community-based healthcare.

Royal Philips Electronics is developing a new range of healing environments at a new dedicated research facility at its Research Laboratories in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

Adding to Philips’ portfolio of solutions for hospital care, the healing environments use technology to reduce patient stress, accelerate recovery and improve treatment outcomes.

The new project reflects the emergence of a generation of patients who are well-informed about their condition and exercise their power of choice in finding the hospital that best meets their needs.

One of the concepts under development is a PE-CT uptake room (pictured) that uses calming lighting, video images and sounds to reduce the stress levels of patients awaiting an oncology scan.

Other well-advanced projects include environments focused on preventing delirium in intensive care units.

The new healing environment solutions will be trialled in the facility’s Hospital Area, which simulates the conditions of real hospitals.

“There is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that patient-friendly comforting environments not only reduce anxiety levels but also promote the healing process itself,” said Henk van Houten, General Manager of Philips Research.

“The opening of the Hospital Area is a clear expression of our commitment to this important new area of healthcare research, which leverages Philips’ unique expertise in healthcare, lighting and consumer lifestyle.”

Philips’s existing products in the healing environments field include the Ambient Experience solution for medical imaging and A&E departments, which uses lighting, sound and images to reduce the stress levels of children undergoing a scan.

Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands is a diversified healthcare company specialising in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare.

A new CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) device from Philips Respironics could enable people with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) to manage their own condition more effectively.

The new REMstar Pro (pictured) with AutoIQ is able to track the patient’s sleep breathing over several nights, establish or readjust to a set airway pressure, and check back periodically to adjust the pressure as needed – without clinician intervention.

The first phase of the AutoIQ mode, Auto-Trial, uses an algorithm for a total of 30 days to establish the patient’s treatment needs. At the end of the phase, the device analyses the data to identify and deliver the best airway pressure for the patient.

Following that, Auto-Check checks back every 30 hours to see how the patient is progressing and to automatically adjust the pressure if needed.

Auto-Trial days can be saved to reassess therapy at a later date if the patient’s physical condition or sleeping environment changes.

Throughout the process, AutoIQ keeps the care team informed of the patient’s sleep breathing performance and CPAP compliance.

“REMstar Pro with AutoIQ demonstrates our ongoing pledge to providers and their patients to be their ally in better sleep and breathing,” said John Frank, General Manager for Sleep and Respiratory Care, Philips Home Healthcare Solutions.

“By providing intelligent solutions and advancements in technology, we are shaping the future of sleep therapy.”

Philips Respironics is a unit of Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands, a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare.