Violence in the workplace – The experience of doctors in Great Britain (10th January 2008)
One in three doctors in Great Britain has been a victim of physical or verbal attack in the past year, but most do not report it, research by the BMA indicates today. Around 600 doctors from across Great Britain responded to a BMA survey on their experiences of violence in the workplace in the past year. A third had experienced some form of violence – including threats and verbal abuse – and one in ten had been physically attacked, including being stabbed, kicked, punched, bitten and spat at. Of these, one in three received minor injuries, and one in 20 was seriously injured.
Click here for the Report
Radiation Protection Research Programme (15th January 2008)DH funds a programme of research into the health effects of exposure to ionising radiation and to electromagnetic fields. This is known as the Radiation Protection Research programme. The purpose of the programme is to help guide Government policy in the field of radiation protection. The overall research strategy, and information on the projects including duration, costs, the research teams involved and project summaries are given.
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Stroke – draft consultation (10th January 2008)A clinical practice guideline on Stroke: The diagnosis and acute management of stroke and transient ischaemic attacks is being developed for use in the NHS in England and Wales. Registered stakeholders for this guideline are invited to comment on the provisional recommendations via this website. Closing date for comments is 6th March 2008.
Click here for Full version and appendices
Click here for Algorithm 1 – TIA Pathway
Click here for Algorithm 2 – Stroke Pathway
Click here for the Evidence Tables
Click here for the NICE version
Click here for the Comments FormNocturnal enuresis: scope consultation (9th January 2008)NICE have been asked to develop a clinical practice guideline on nocturnal enuresis for use in the NHS in England and Wales. The draft scope defines what aspects of care the guideline will cover and to whom it will apply. Registered stakeholders for the nocturnal enuresis guideline are invited to submit comments on the scope and may suggest clinical questions that could be answered in the guideline. Closing date for comments is 6th February 2008.
Click here for the Draft scope
Click here for the Comments proformaFollicular lymphoma – rituximab: final appraisal determination (10th January 2008)After considering the feedback from consultation, the Appraisal Committee has prepared a Final Appraisal Determination (FAD) on Rituximab for the treatment of relapsed or refractory stage III or IV follicular non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (review of technology appraisal guidance 37) 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 24th January 2008.
Click here for Final Appraisal Determination
Click here for the Response to comments
Click here for Consultee and Commentator comments
Click here for Expert comments on the ACDAsthma (in adults) – corticosteroids (10th January 2008)The Institute has received one appeal against the Final Appraisal Determination and Guidance on this technology. In this case, the Chairman of the Appeal Committee has decided that the nature of the appeal is such that it can be determined on the basis of written submissions. The Institute will not, therefore, be holding a public appeal hearing and appellants will not be required to attend to answer questions from the Panel. An appeal panel meet on 9th January 2008 to consider an appeal lodged against the above appraisal. The Institute awaits the decision of the appeal panel.
Click here for Appeals received
Click here for Initial Scrutiny Letter
Click here for Response to Scrutiny Letter
Click here for TEVA Response to NICEDiabetes (type 2) – newer agents: scope consultation (14th January 2008)NICE have been asked to develop a clinical practice guideline on Diabetes (type 2) - newer agents for blood glucose control for use in the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The draft scope defines what aspects of care the guideline will cover and to whom it will apply. Registered stakeholders for the Diabetes (type 2) - newer agents for blood glucose control guideline are invited to submit comments on the scope and may suggest clinical questions that could be answered in the guideline. Closing date for comments is 11th February 2008.
Click here for Draft scope
Click here for Comments proformaPrevention of ventilator-associate pneumonia in adults – consultation documents (15th January 2008)Following the resolution process on the Patient Safety Guidance on Prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia in adults, further assessment is being carried out on the intervention selective decontamination of the digestive tract (SDD). NICE are now consulting for a two week period on the speciation for this further analysis, and the protocol that will be used by the Review Body to prepare the analysis. Closing date for comments is 29th January 2008.
Click here for Specification for further analysis
Click here for the Protocol consultation document
Aspiring to excellence: final report of the independent inquiry into modernising medical careers (8th January 2008)The Consultation on the Interim Report into Modernising Medical Careers has generated strong support for the 45 Recommendations, with 87% of respondents signalling agreement. The Interim Report identified eight areas in which corrective action was necessary. The proposed corrective action was largely endorsed.
Click here for the ReportThe Standard NHS Contract for acute hospital services and supporting guidance (December 2007)These documents represent Annex E to the NHS operating framework for 2008-09 and should be read in conjunction with Annex D: Principles and Rules of Co-operation and Competition. The NHS contract for acute hospital services will cover agreements between PCTs and providers for the delivery of acute hospital based care. Commissioners and providers should now use these finalised documents rather than previous versions. A helpdesk for PCT and SHA staff is available from 2nd January 2008 to 30th April 2008, to support the implementation of the new contract.
Click here for the Standard NHS contract for acute services (revised 17th December 2007)
Click here for the Guidance on the Standard NHS Contract
Click here for the Contract activity profile 2008-09
Click here for the Guidance on the routine collection of Patient Reported Outcome Measures
Click here for the Consortium agreement
Click here for the Consortium agreement legal guidance
Click here for the PCC HelpdeskEnhancing the Healing Environment Programme (EHE) (10th January 2008)A new programme to improve environments for care at end of life. This Department of Health funded initiative follows the success of the King’s Fund’s award winning Enhancing the Healing Environment programme in England. Actions: NHS chief executives interested in applying for the 20 available places can access further information and the application form at the link. The closing date for applications is the 22 February 2008.
Click here for InformationOrgans for transplants: a report from the Organ Donation Taskforce (16th January 2008)A report from the Organ Donation Taskforce, making recommendations on action to take to increase the number of organs available for transplantation. The supplement report seeks to: provide the wider evidence behind the work of the Taskforce; and explain the benefits, both qualitative and quantitative, behind each of the recommendations and to explore some of the wider implications.
Click here for the Report
Click here for the Supplementary ReportInspiring Design Excellence and Achievements (IDEAs) (15th January 2008)Inspiring Design Excellence and Achievements (IDEAs) is a tool to assist in the generation of design briefs, proposals and schemes. Working with the latest research evidence collected by the University of Sheffield, IDEAs starts the design of healthcare places with people – patients, staff and visitors – and responds to the emotional and functional requirements of healthcare delivery. IDEAs deals with activities rather than individual spaces or rooms. Examples of activities that occur in healthcare places include: arrival; bathing; bed rest; circulating; consulting; shopping; sanctuary; socialising; and waiting. IDEAs can be used either as a standalone tool within a workshop context or as a web-enabled integrated tool by individuals.
Click here for the ToolA Staff and Patient Environment Calibration Tool (ASPECT) (15th January 2008)ASPECT stands for A Staff and Patient Environment Calibration Tool. It is based on a database of over 600 pieces of research. That research deals with the way the healthcare environment can impact on the levels of satisfaction shown by staff and patients and on the health outcomes of patients and the performance of staff. The ASPECT toolkit addresses eight key headings: Privacy, company and dignity; Views; Nature and outdoors; Comfort and control; Legibility of place; Interior appearance; Facilities; and Staff. ASPECT can be used as a stand-alone tool, or it can be used to support AEDET Evolution to provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the design of healthcare environments.
Click here for the Summary (January 2008)
Click here for the Documentation (January 2008)
Click here for the Toolkit (December 2007)
Click here for the AEDET and ASPECT evidence layer (December 2007)
Community Order and the Mental Health Treatment Requirement (9th January 2008)It is estimated that half of people on community orders have at least one mental health problem, yet fewer than one per cent of community orders issued in 2006 contained a requirement for mental health treatment. The report looks at the mental health treatment requirement and examines barriers to its use for offenders in the community. This marks the beginning of the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health's research into the Community Order and the mental health treatment requirement as part of our criminal justice programme.
Click here for the Report
Long-term conditions compendium of information 'Adding years to life and life to years' (14th January 2008)This document, launched in December 2007 updates the first compendium of information on LTCs, published in May 2004. It will further inform all those who are involved in both commissioning and providing care and support services for people with LTCs. It focuses on the outcomes that people with LTCs said that they wanted from services and describes how more effective management of LTCs in a number of local communities is delivering high-quality and personalised care. Finally, it summarises the key systems and levers that are crucial to driving forward further improvements in care for people with LTCs.
Click here for the Covering letter
Click here for the Document
Focusing on citizens, users and diverse communities – learning from comprehensive performance assessment and inspection 2006/07 (16th January 2008)This report draws upon the findings from Comprehensive Performance Assessment, inspections, performance information and national surveys of local services published by September 2007. It summarises what the Commission has learnt about how well councils understand, engage with and focus on their communities and identifies what progress councils are making to address issues of equality and diversity.
Click here for the ReportLong-term Evaluation of the Beacon Scheme: Organizational Learning, Knowledge and Capacity: A systematic literature review for policy-makers, managers and academics (15th January 2008)This report presents the full findings of a systematic literature review on how learning takes place between organizations and how institutional learning and knowledge transfer can be fostered. Based on existing academic and policy literature, the report outlines key implications for policy and practice, and the Beacon Scheme in particular. Overall the report will enable the Beacon Scheme evaluation to learn from research findings from other fields that have addressed learning, knowledge and capacity in organizations.
Click here for the Report
Click here for the SummaryGetting better all the time? An independent assessment of local government improvement and its future prospects (15th January 2008)In the summer of 2007, the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) commissioned an authoritative statement of current knowledge of local government improvement. This was based both on the available literature and current practice. 'Getting better all the time?' explicitly addresses what is unique about local government and its developing role. Particular attention has been paid to the political dimension, partnership working and community leadership.
Click here for the Published version
Click here for the Extended version
MRSA: Separating Fact from Fiction – the role of treatment within MRSA management (January 2008)The MRSA working group was formed in September 2007, and is a multidisciplinary group of experts, who have each brought a different area of expertise to the development of the report. In collaboration with National Concern for Healthcare Infections (NCHI) the report has been developed with the aim of giving Patients and the General Public a clearer idea of the issues surrounding MRSA treatment and control, from both a Patient and a Professional perspective.
Click here fore the ReportThe Health Act 2006: Code of practice for the prevention and control of healthcare associated infections (11th January 2008)The code of practice will help NHS bodies to plan and implement how they can prevent and control healthcare associated infections. It sets out criteria by which managers of NHS organisations are to ensure that patients are cared for in a clean environment and where the risk of health care associated infections is kept as low as possible.
Click here for the Code of PracticeCleanyourhands Campaign (January 2008)Following the success of the cleanyourhands campaign in changing many aspects of hand hygiene behaviour among healthcare workers in acute trusts, the campaign is being extended to other NHS organisations. The campaign has already been successfully piloted by nineteen 'pioneer' organisations which were selected to represent the mix of different healthcare settings and test the campaign prior to wider roll-out.
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Initial Consultation – Confidentiality: Protecting and providing information (14th January 2008)The GMC is holding an initial consultation on its guidance to doctors on confidentiality. This consultation is the first step in a review of the GMC’s current guidance, ‘Confidentiality: Protecting and providing information’, which was published in 2004. The guidance consists of a booklet of high level principles of good practice and a supplementary booklet of Frequently Asked Questions. A working group, chaired by Dr Henrietta Campbell, the former Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland, has been established to oversee a thorough review of the guidance. This working group is issuing a call for individuals and groups, whether professional, public or patient oriented, as well as employers and others with an interest, to answer a set of questions to clarify views about the existing guidance and to identify (by way of examples) where the biggest challenges exist for doctors in balancing respect for patients against the benefits of information sharing. Closing date for comments is 29th February 2008.
Click here for the Consultation
Informal Adult Learning: Shaping the way ahead (15th January 2008)
This consultation seeks views on informal adult learning. It considers the role of Government, the involvement of new technologies, the role of the voluntary sector, the engagement of families and access for older people. Closing date for comments is 15th May 2008.
Click here for the ConsultationHome Access to Technology (9th January 2008)This consultation seeks views on the proposed Home Access programme, which would ensure that every family with 5 to 19-year-old learners in England has access to learning where and when they need it through access to information and communications technology resources and support at home. Closing date for comments is 2nd April 2008.
Click here for the Consultation
Commissioning framework for health and well-being – response to consultation (11th January 2008)The Commissioning framework for health and well-being sets out the eight steps that health and social care should take in partnership to commission more effectively. It is aimed at commissioners and providers of services in health, social care and local authorities. It is part of the White Paper Our health our care our say implementation. Following a consultation on the framework the following joint ministerial statement and summary of the responses represents the Department of Health response.
Click here for the Ministerial statement
Click here for the Summary of responses
Click here for the Respondents
Commissioning NHS primary care dental services: meeting the NHS operating framework objectives (15th January 2008)High level guidance launched by Ann Keen, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health Services, on 16 January 2008 setting out: the Government's commitment to maintaining and expanding NHS dental services and the expectations on the NHS to deliver year on year increases in access, as set out in the NHS Operating Framework 2008/09; and more detail on what this means for commissioners and providers in developing dental services locally, including managing the 2009 transition.
Click here for the Guidance
Safe. Sensible. Social. Alcohol strategy local implementation toolkit (9th January 2008)This toolkit is a resource to help local teams develop strategies to address alcohol-related crime, ill health and other harm in line with Safe, Sensible, Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy. It has been written specifically to help alcohol leads and others within local authorities, primary care trust (PCTs), children's services and delivery partnerships such as Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) and Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAATs) - the people most likely to be responsible for developing and delivering alcohol strategies locally. It will also be useful to individual agencies tackling alcohol misuse.
Click here for the Toolkit
