4 February 2009

NHS

Launch of the Cooperation and Competition Panel (28th January 2009)
The Cooperation and Competition Panel will be operational at the end of January. The Secretary of State is establishing the Panel to compliment the role of SHAs and provide advice as to compliance with the overarching rules in individual cases.
Information and website

Personal health budgets: first steps (28th January 2009)
Lord Darzi announced in High Quality Care for All that the Department will launch a pilot of personal health budgets in 2009, as a way of giving people greater control over the services they use and who provides them. Personal Health Budgets: First Steps sets out the principles of personal health budgets, reports on early lessons and invites expressions of interest in the pilot programme.
Guidance and other information

NHS Pay Modernisation in England: Agenda for Change (29th January 2009)
According to a National Audit Office report, the NHS has successfully transferred 1.1 million NHS employees on to a new simplified pay system. Given the scale of the NHS this was a substantial task which the NHS, in partnership with the trade unions, achieved in a short timescale. There are some examples of NHS trusts using Agenda for Change to help introduce new roles. But the Department of Health did not put enough emphasis on getting trusts to develop these new ways of working to secure the full benefits from the new pay system, so the programme is not yet achieving the intended value for money.

A key element of Agenda for Change, the Knowledge and Skills Framework and effective use of the Framework is fundamental to achieving the full benefits of Agenda for Change.
Report
Executive Summary
Census of NHS Trusts

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