STATISTICS

Smokefree Legislation Compliance Data - November 2007 (3rd January 2008)
Click here for the Report
Click here for the Technical annex

NHS Inpatient and Outpatient waiting times figures – November 2007 (4th January 2008)

POVERTY

Working Out of Poverty: A study of the low-paid and the 'working poor' (3rd January 2008)

The rights to work and earn a decent living are timeless demands of the labour movement and basic characteristics of a fair society. However, almost six in ten poor households in the UK (57 per cent) have someone at work, up ten percentage points on a decade ago, according to new analysis presented in this report. For too many families, moving into work has not meant moving out of poverty. This report presents the findings of the Institute for Public Policy Research analysis into the extent and nature of both low pay and working poverty, and set out recommendations for tackling them.
Click here for the Report

PATIENT AND PUBLIC INFORMATION

Social Care – Choosing the right service for you (2nd January 2008)
The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) updated advice booklet encourages people to ask the right questions, find out as much as possible about their options and then make informed choices about their care.
Click here for the Booklet

PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS

Communities and Local Government Committee – Communities and Local Government: Departmental Annual Report 2007 – Second Report of Session 2007- 08 (3rd January 2008)

Joint Committee on Human Rights – Legislative Scrutiny: 1) Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill; 2) Other Bills – Third Report of Session 2007 – 08 (3rd January 2008)

NICE

NICE 2007 Presentations (December 2007)
The presentations from the NICE 2007 Annual Conference and Exhibition "Evidence into Practice" that was held 5-6 December at Manchester Central Convention Complex are now available for download.
Click here for the Presentations

Sleep Apnoea – Continuous Positive Airways Pressure (CPAP): Final Appraisal Determination 2 (January 2008)
After considering the feedback from consultation, the Appraisal Committee has prepared a Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) on Continuous positive airways pressure (CPAP) for the treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea/hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) and submitted it to the Institute. The FAD has been sent to the formal consultees for this appraisal who have 15 working days to consider whether they wish to appeal against it. Subject to any appeal by consultees, the FAD may be used as the basis for the Institute's guidance on the use of the appraised technology in the NHS in England and Wales. Please note that the appeal period for this appraisal will close at 5pm on 16th January 2008.
Click here for the Final Appraisal Determination
Click here for the Responses

Latest Implementation tools (January 2008)
IPG247 Thoracoscopic excision of mediastinal parathyroid tumours
Click here for the Audit Criteria

IPG243 Thoracoscopic aortopexy for severe primary tracheomalacia
Click here for the Audit Criteria

PSG001 Technical patient safety solutions for medicines reconciliation on admission of adults to hospital
Click here for the Audit Tool
Click here for the Costing Tool
Click here for the Slide Set

NHS

Hearing Aids Waiting Times (31st December 2007)
Some people in England are facing waits of nearly two-and-a-half years for an NHS hearing aid, the RNID charity says. Among 99 primary care trusts, it found 10 were not treating people within a year, with the longest wait of 125 weeks in Kingston-upon-Thames, London. The average wait for treatment was 22 weeks and the shortest four weeks. The RNID urged the government to do more to meet a pledge of 18-week maximum waits.
Click here for the Press Release
Click here for the Survey

Organ Donation Taskforce (4th January 2008)
The UK-wide Organ Donation Taskforce, chaired by Elisabeth Buggins, was established in 2006 to identify barriers to organ donation and recommend actions needed to increase organ donation and procurement within the current legal framework. The Taskforce's report is currently being considered by Ministers and the Secretary of State for Health has now asked the Taskforce to examine the potential impact on organ donation of introducing an "opt-out" or presumed consent system across the UK. This work is just starting; these pages about the work the Organ Donation Taskforce will be undertaking, along with other related information, will be updated regularly over the coming months.
Click here for the Report

Our NHS, Our Future – staff/stakeholder questionnaire (7th January 2008)
The Our NHS, Our Future team has launched the first of two online questionnaires to help more people play a part in the Review. The staff/stakeholder questionnaire is designed to enable Lord Darzi and his team to access the opinions of the people uniquely placed to give advice, those who work at the front line of the NHS. Staff will be able to use their experience and expertise to make informed contributions on issues within the scope of the national working groups. The questions are largely open-ended to allow staff the space to contribute their ideas and provide detail. Staff should not feel that they have to answer all the questions, but just answer those on issues they feel most strongly about or that touch areas where they have particular expertise. A paper version of the questionnaire is also available to download. Please note that the staff/stakeholder questionnaire will only be available until 15 February 2008. A questionnaire aimed at the public will be launched on 14 January and will be available until 25 February.
Click here for the Questionnaire (online version)
Click here for the Questionnaire (paper version)

INFORMATION

Two new information publications available (3rd January 2007)
Two new publications are now available from Information Standards Board for Health and Social Care (ISB H&SC). The first updates and revises the purpose and operations of ISB H&SC. The second informs dataset developers of best practice for specifying individual data elements.
Click here for the Overview
Click here for the Best Practice

INFECTIONS

Clean, safe care: reducing infections and saving lives (9th January 2008)
This document draws together recent initiatives to tackle healthcare associated infections and improve cleanliness and details new areas where the NHS should consider investing to ensure that patients receive clean and safe treatment whenever and wherever they are treated by the NHS.
Click here for the Document

HEALTH PROTECTION

General Public Awareness and Branding Research (December 2007)
In September 2007, the Health Protection Agency asked two samples of over 1,500 adults aged over 15 years across England what they knew and understood about health protection issues and the Agency. The results have now been published and show that: 1 in 3 people are aware of the HPA and 9 out of 10 would be likely or certain to take our advice in a future health emergency; The vast majority of people think that the role of the HPA in providing the following services is important: Providing advice on environmental hazards; Assisting health services to prepare for and respond to emergencies like chemical or nuclear threats; Protecting people from new diseases; Age is a factor as to whether you are concerned about a public health issue. Older people are more concerned than younger people; and The top three public health issues that concern people are health care acquired infections like MRSA, air pollution and infectious diseases like TB and flu. The Agency want the public to help them develop their services and are looking for volunteers to be a part of their discussion groups.
Click here for the Report

Click here for the Leaflet

Click here for the Online Form

HEALTH

ARTICLE – Combined Impact of Health Behaviours and Mortality in Men and Women: The EPIC-Norfolk Prospective Population Study (8th January 2008)
Taking exercise, not drinking too much alcohol, eating enough fruit and vegetables and not smoking can add up to 14 years to your life, a study says. Research involving 20,000 people over a decade found those who failed on all criteria were four times more likely to have died than those who succeeded. The findings held true regardless of how overweight or poor they were.
Click here for the Article

GUIDANCE/GUIDELINES

Carers Grant 2008-2011 (7th January 2008)
This good practice guidance is issued every year along with monies to enable councils to support carers. Precisely how they do this is monitored by the Commission for Social care Inspection.
Click here for the Guidance

Support, Time and Recovery (STR) Workers – Learning from the national implementation programme (9th January 2008)
The STR handbook reports on the successful progress of the STR implementation programme and updates the original 2003 policy implementation guide.
Click here for the Handbook
Click here for the original 2003 Guide

ELDERLY/OLDER PEOPLE

The Future of Care Funding – Time for a Change (7th January 2008)
The UK needs a new system to pay for long-term care for older people, which combines a clear-cut entitlement to care and support with a sharing of costs between individuals and the state. This was the conclusion, published today (The Future of Care Funding: Time for a change), of a nine-month consultation initiative involving over 700 people with experience of the long term care system as users, carers, providers or researchers. The Caring Choices initiative was run by a coalition of 15 organisations with an interest in the long-term care system, led by the King’s Fund, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Help the Aged and Age Concern.
Click here for the Report

EDUCATION/SCHOOLS

Open Access for UK Schools – what Britain can learn from Swedish Education Reform (December 2007)

Inspired by Sweden's experience, the report calls for the UK to implement a universal open access scheme, which would allow parents to send their children to any school of their choice – whether state, private or religious – and make these schools eligible for government funding on a per–pupil basis. Two conditions must be met: the schools must not charge additional fees, and must accept pupils on a first-come-first-served basis.
Click here for the Report

BULLETINS/NEWSLETTERS

CSIP Telecare eNewsletter – January 2008 (7th January 2008)

Health Protection Report Vol. 2 No. 1 (4th January 2008)