This bulletin highlights recently produced documents that have appeared on websites. The aim is to trawl the web and produce a fortnightly review of what is found (coverage may not be comprehensive). If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this Bulletin, please send an email to library.pct@sthk.nhs.uk. All links are correct at time of publishing. Some documents are large and may take time to open so please be patient when waiting for links to open. If a link is incorrect please email me and I will correct the link and send you the document.For those that are receiving this through an email or through a third party you can view the original Bulletin at http://www.newdocumentsbulletin.blogspot.com/ and also sign up to receive the Bulletin by RSS.
Untold Damage. Children's accounts of living with harmful parental drinking (9th November 2009)New research, carried out by Childline and Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP) highlights children's accounts of the severe negative impacts of harmful parental drinking on their lives including emotional stress, physical abuse and neglect.
Report Alcohol Insight Number 65. The Orientation and Integration of Local and National Alcohol Policy in England and Wales (27th October 2009)The study, from the Alcohol Education and Research Council (AERC), was multi-dimensional and employed qualitative documentary analysis and semi-structured interview methods to explore the roles, responsibilities and viewpoints of a range of stakeholders operating at the national or local level.
Report ARTICLE - A randomized controlled trial of an internet-based intervention for alcohol abusers (9th November 2009)This study looked at an internet-based intervention, with research evidence supporting its efficacy to reduce alcohol consumption. The conclusion was that the internet could increase the range of help-seeking options available because it takes treatment to the problem drinker rather than making the problem drinker come to the internet.
Article
National Bowel Cancer Audit 2009 (October 2009)The information Centre has published the National Bowel Cancer Audit which presents findings on data collected for both the 2006/07 and 2007/08 reporting periods, and includes patients with a diagnosis date from 1 April 2006 to 31 July 2008. Among the recommendations are:
- Trusts should establish mechanisms for reviewing their audit data and ensure maximum data completeness of the essential dataset
- All bowel cancer patients should be seen by a clinical nurse specialist
- Trusts and Networks should review their 30 day post operative mortality rates and explore significant variance from Network and national figures
- Trust Service Improvement or Clinical Governance teams should utilise the draft National Bowel Cancer Audit local action plan in support of their service improvement, clinical governance and cancer peer review activity
- Networks and Cancer Service Commissioners should use the findings of this report and its recommendations to support monitoring, review and contracting activity in relation to bowel cancer services.
Executive Summary
Report National Mastectomy and Breast Reconstruction Audit 2009 (October 2009)Figures from this audit reveal that just under half of women (48%) are being offered immediate breast reconstructive surgery when they have a mastectomy. 21% of women having a mastectomy as part of their treatment for breast choose to have the procedure.
Audit Reviewing the Lung Cancer Plan: Are we emerging from the shadow of lung cancer>? (2nd November 2009)The NHS is still failing lung cancer patients, according to the results of the first national review of lung cancer services, published today (2 November 2009) by the UK Lung Cancer Coalition. Despite headway in UK lung cancer prevention, disease awareness and screening, key areas such as diagnosis, treatment rates and access to specialists are still ‘woefully inadequate’ say the UK’s leading lung cancer experts.
Report
Getting ready for registration (9th November 2009)Legislation introducing a new registration system for all regulated health and adult social care services in England has now been laid before Parliament. To help care providers get ready for registration, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have published three short guides:
- A guide to the new system of registration
- The scope of registration
- NHS Trusts: how to apply for registration overview
Guides
Dignity in care: input assessment - DH interventions (10th November 2009)In May 2009, Opinion Leader were commissioned to undertake an independent review of the Dignity in Care Campaign.
The review aims to answer whether or not the campaign is making a difference to the way services are being provided and commissioned across health, social care, local authorities and the independent sector and the way people experience care.
One of the key objectives set out in the tender specification for the review, was to understand and describe from the viewpoints of a range of stakeholders, which specific interventions or activities at national or local level have worked or not worked well in the campaign and why.
This report sets out the range of interventions employed by DH in taking forward the Dignity in Care Campaign to support Opinion Leader’s analysis of interventions at a national level.
Report The real cost of quality care and support (9th November 2009)The research report, The real cost of quality care and support, is published by the National Care Forum and Counsel and Care as a response to the green paper on the future funding of care. The two organisations say that more resources are needed to fund better quality care.
The report found that care services with high star ratings spend up to 20% more on staff and their training, development and management, as well as putting service users at the centre of everything they do. Not-for-profit providers consistently get better quality ratings.
Report
ARTICLE - Pediatric Gastroesophageal Reflux Clinical Practice Guidelines: Joint Recommendations of the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN) and the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) (October 2009)This document provides evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis and management of gastoesophageal reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease in children. These guidelines were developed based on the Delphi principle.
Guidelines Management of Attention Deficit and Hyperkinetic Disorders in Children and Young People. Sign Guideline 112 (October 2009)Children with ADHD/HKD and their families require a comprehensive package of care, involving education services as well as health.
The guideline aims to provide a framework for evidence based assessment and management of ADHD/HKD which can be applied within a local multidisciplinary and multiagency approach.
Guideline
Joint Guidance on Development of Local Protocols between Drug and Alcohol Treatment Services and Local Safeguarding and Family Services (3rd November 2009)This guidance is intended to help commissioners and providers meet existing commitments by providing the latest information and highlighting good practice.
Guidance Evaluation: Top Tips for Commissioners and Practitioners (October 2009)This paper, from Greater Manchester Public Health Practice Unit, aims to give commissioners and service providers a framework to enable a more efficient method of carrying out evaluation. It explains the purpose of evaluation, types of evaluation with examples, and discusses service user involvement and engagement
Document Outline Service Specification: Personalised Care Planning for People with Long Term Conditions (3rd November 2009)This Outline Service Specification (OSS) has been developed to assist NHS commissioners to put in place appropriate arrangements to ensure people with long-term conditions have informed choice of, and access to, services that best enable them to manage their condition.
Document Meeting the health needs of children and young people a guide for commissioners (3rd November 2009)Healthcare for London has published new NHS guidance on improving healthcare for children and young people in London.
The guide recommends:
- establishing paediatric assessment units in all hospitals that have an A&E department to ensure children get the right care as quickly as possible
- healthcare be delivered in the home where appropriate or as close to home as possible reducing unnecessary visits to hospital
- creating multidisciplinary teams of health professionals to deliver care more locally and making best use of specialist skills in the right setting.
Guide
NHS Constitution: a consultation on new patient rights (10th November 2009)The NHS Constitution brought together in one place what the NHS does, what it stands for and the commitments it should live up to. It describes and renews our commitment to the values and enduring principles of the NHS. It is also a living document that needs to reflect what matters and is relevant to the needs of patients, the public and staff in the 21st century.
This consultation proposes new patient rights to:
- treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from a GP referral and to be seen by a cancer specialist within 2 weeks from a GP referral, or where this is not possible, for the NHS to take reasonable steps to offer a range of alternative providers; and
- NHS Health Checks for those aged 40 to 74 to assess their risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease
Closing date for comments is 5th February 2010.
Consultation Regulatory fees - have your say. Fees for National Health Service providers that are registered under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 from April 2010 (2nd November 2009)From April 2010, NHS providers must pay fees for their registration with Care Quality Commission (CQC) under the Health and Social Care Act 2008. This consultation document sets out the (CQC) proposals for an interim scheme of fees for NHS providers, while the registration system is being phased in during 2010-2011.
Closing date for comments is 26th January 2010.
Consultation
Personal, social, health and economic education: Curriculum reform consultation report (November 2009)This report is the outcome of the consultation that was held on between 30 April and 24 July 2009. The consultation examined concerns raised by making personal, social, health and economic education statutory. The concerns include pressures on the curriculum, the role of governing bodies and the parental right of withdrawal from sex and relationships education.
Report The Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator Regulations 2009: consultation response (2nd November 2009)Response to the consultation on the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Commencement no 11) Order 2009 and the Office of the Health Professions Adjudicator Regulations 2009.
Consultation Response
Response to the consultation on draft regulations for the framework for the registration of health and adult social care providers (29th October 2009)
This document provides the response to the consultation on draft Regulations launched in the Response to consultation on the framework for the registration of health and adult social care providers and consultation on draft Regulations.
The draft Regulations set out who will need to register with the Care Quality Commission (scope of registration) and what they will need to do to register and remain registered (registration requirements).
Consultation Response
Oral Health Inequalities (30th October 2009)The British Dental Associations (BDA’s) Oral Health Inequalities policy sets out measures designed to tackle the unacceptable and growing inequalities in the nation’s oral health. Those living in the most deprived areas of the UK suffer the highest levels of oral disease.
The paper emphasises oral health education and preventive approaches to disease. It identifies the dental team as ideally placed to inform and advise patients about matters affecting their oral and general health, including nutrition, tobacco and alcohol. Strategies are set out to address the special requirements of vulnerable sections of society, including children, older people, prisoners and those with disabilities.
Policy
Care recommendation: aspiring treatment in diabetes (22nd October 2009)The use of antiplatelet agents such as aspirin has been shown to reduce the chance of future cardiovascular events in people who have both diabetes and established cardiovascular disease (includes heart disease, stroke/TIA and peripheral vascular disease). This guidance recommends that people with diabetes who have established cardiovascular disease should be offered aspirin treatment, in addition to following a healthy lifestyle.
Guidance
The Primary Medical Services (Directed Enhanced Services - Pandemic Influenza (H1N1 Vaccination Scheme) and Statement of Financial Entitlements (Amendment) (No. 6) Directions 2009 (29th October 2009)These Directions come into force from 30 October and require PCTs to offer to enter into a Directed Enhanced Service with their existing primary medical care contractors who hold a list of registered patients, by 13 November, to deliver the H1N1 vaccine to patients in the priority groups identified in the CMO letter of 13 August 2009. The attached brief note provides further contextual details. Guidance will be available on the NHS Employers website.
Directions
Wave 1 Action and Learning Sites 2008-09 Final report (3rd November 2009)This report sets out the work and progress made by the 12 user-led organisation (ULO) action and learning sites (ALS) funded as Wave 1 for the period April 2008 - March 2009.
Report Our family, our future (3rd November 2009)This new report, from Contact a Family, finds that families with disabled children have the same hopes and dreams as other families but often face bureaucracy and prejudice trying to achieve them. The report features the stories of 30 UK families whose children are affected by a range of disabilities and rare conditions.
Report
Good Medical Practice - pandemic influenza (2nd November 2009)The General Medical Council (GMC) has updated its guidance for doctors working in a pandemic.
Adjustments include:
- an allowance for doctors to work outside their normal field of practice so long as they are able to do so safely, for example an orthopaedic surgeon may be asked to support A&E admissions or administer vaccines.
- no formal duty to report concerns about resources, equipment or insufficient patient services, other than in exceptional circumstances - because managers will already be aware of the pressures involved working in a pandemic.
- additional guidance on making decisions about which patients receive treatment where resources are scarce. Patient care prioritisation will be based on clinical need and on the patients likely capacity to benefit. For example, young people should not be given automatic priority over adults.
- doctors running research programmes are asked to consider whether to interrupt them during a pandemic.
Guidance
Injection Drug Use and Related Risk Behaviors (29th October 2009)Combined 2006 to 2008 data, from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, indicate that an annual average of 425,000 persons aged 12 or older (0.17 percent) used a needle to inject heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, or other stimulants during the past year. 13.0 percent of past year injection drug users had used a needle that they knew or suspected someone else had used before them the last time they used a needle to inject drugs, and less than one third (29.0 percent) of them cleaned the needle with bleach prior to their last injection. More than one half (52.8 percent) of past year injection drug users purchased the last needle they used from a pharmacy, and 12.4 percent obtained the needle through a needle exchange program.
Report Estimating drug harms: a risky business? (October 2009)Taking a drug is not currently illegal in the UK, and while there have been attempts to make it so, the most reasoned arguments suggest this is not a particularly useful way of reducing harm.
In this edited transcript of the 2009 Eve Saville lecture Professor Nutt discusses drug regulation and control, drugs politics and suggests a way forward on the drugs debate.
Publication 2009 Annual report: the state of the drugs problem in Europe (November 2009)The report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe presents the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addictions (EMCDDA's) yearly overview of the drug phenomenon. This is an essential reference book for policymakers, specialists and practitioners in the drugs field or indeed anyone seeking the latest findings on drugs in Europe. Published every autumn, the report contains non-confidential data supported by an extensive range of figures.
Report
Customer Voice Research - Sex and Relationships Education (November 2009)This research was commissioned to investigate parents’ views on sex and relationships education (SRE); including whether parents should have the option to withdraw their children from SRE and, if so, at what age parents feel it would be appropriate to remove the option for parents to withdraw children and young people from SRE.
Report
Space for Health - new website (27th October 2009)This new website is intended to help healthcare premises professionals plan, design and manage healthcare premises. Although the full site won't be launched until April 2010, this site previews the work in progress.
Website
Means to an end. Joint financing across health and social care (29th October 2009)This report reviews the joint financing and integrated care arrangements between NHS bodies and councils with adult social care responsibilities. It builds on our previous publication, Clarifying joint financing arrangements, that explained the practical implications and legislative framework for joint financing.
It considers how these arrangements are used, focusing on learning disability, mental health and older people - areas where service users most often need health and social care.
The report's recommendations and examples of notable practice aim to help national and local bodies better understand the options available, how to use them and to achieve better outcomes for service users.
Report
Call for evidence - review of restrictions on private patient income: the NHS foundation trust private patient income cap (5th November 2009)The Department of Health has launched a call for written evidence to inform a review of the 'private patient income cap' for NHS Foundation Trusts. The call for evidence invites submissions until Thursday 31 December 2009.
Document
At Your Service. Navigating the future market in health and social care (28th October 2009)Personal budgets in health and social care are giving disabled and older people unprecedented control over the services they use. Within the next five years, 1.5 million people could be using personal budgets to commission and manage their own support, drastically changing health and social care provision. This means great uncertainty for both local authorities and service providers, which will need to respond to unfamiliar demands.
This pamphlet looks at how personal budgets will impact the social and health care market, what prospective budget holders know and think about personal budgets, how they would spend it and what difficulties they envisage. It sets out the likely challenges facing local authorities and service providers in delivering the personalisation agenda and contains recommendations about how to make the transition successfully.
Publication
An accommodation self assessment toolkit for the Socially Excluded Adults Public Service Agreement (2nd November 2009)This self assessment toolkit is designed to assist local housing authorities to deliver improved accommodation outcomes for the four client groups in PSA 16, in partnership with probation, children's services, adult social care, primary care trusts and other local partners including voluntary sector and registered social landlords.
It forms part of an authority's role in mainstream homelessness prevention, involving early intervention, support, advice and information. Although covered in much less detail, the toolkit also gives an opportunity to assess the associated commitment to deliver improved employment outcomes for the four groups.
The findings and recommendations in this report are those of the consultant authors and do not necessarily represent the views or proposed policies of Communities and Local Government.
Toolkit
Max4Health hand hygiene evaluation report (23rd October 2009)This report sets out the results of an evaluation of the Max4Health hand hygiene campaign undertaken at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust over a nine week period between February and April 2009.
Report
Pathways to success: a self improvement toolkit - focus on normal birth and reducing caesarean section rates (October 2009)This toolkit, from NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, is designed to help maternity services review and assess their current practice in promoting normal birth and reducing caesarean section rates. The toolkit also provide practical techniques to support sustainable changes in maternity services.
Please note you will need to login/register to obtain the toolkit.
Toolkit
Report from the Ministerial Summit on Dementia Research (5th November 2009)One of the commitments made in the National Dementia Strategy was to hold a Ministerial Summit on Dementia Research. This took place on 21 July 2009. The independent report of the event is now available.
Report
A civilised society: Mental health provision for refugees and asylum seekers in England and Wales (5th November 2009)Every year thousands of people arrive in the UK seeking sanctuary, fleeing conflict, political upheaval and persecution. Once here their problems are often far from over. They face the uphill battle of gaining leave to stay, racism, isolation, separation from friends and family, and, for many, poverty and destitution.
The combined impact of these experiences on the mental health and wellbeing of refugees and asylum-seekers can be devastating. Mind spent a year talking to 150 refugee community groups in England and with service providers across England and Wales to find out the mental health needs of refugees and asylum seekers. They asked how services are helping or failing them and how they can surmount the cultural and language barriers that prevent them from seeking or receiving effective support.
ReportImproving mental health support for refugee communities - an advocacy approach (5th November 2009)The Refugee and asylum-seeker mental health advocacy project was developed to build a better understanding of the mental health concerns of refugees and asylum-seekers in England and to use these data to improve their ability to find pathways to appropriate mental health support.
The core approach was to work with advocates from refugee community organisations to develop a robust form of mental health advocacy. This form of advocacy includes not only focused support for individuals, but also advocacy for the community as a whole.
In the community function the aim was to create a dialogue with the community on issues of mental health (including stigma) and to engage with primary care trusts and other provider agencies to develop community-focused services.
Report
Comprehensive Area Assessment. A guide for the NHS (31 October 2009)Comprehensive Area Assessment, or CAA, is a new way of assessing local public services in England. It examines how well councils and other public bodies work together to meet the needs of the people they serve.
GuideDelivering Same-Sex Accommodation (DSSA): principles (28th October 2009)Seventeen principles have been developed to ensure each organisation delivers the highest standards of privacy and dignity within all areas of a hospital, other trusts and providers. The principles support existing DSSA policy and guidance and aim to further clarify DSSA clinical definitions amongst leaders and staff within the NHS. It is intended for the principles to be used in conjunction with other guidance to drive forward improvement and ensure sustainability within each organisation.
Guidance Deaths in Acute Hospitals: Caring to the End? (5th November 2009)This report, from National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD) highlights the process of care of patients who died in acute hospitals within four days of admission. It takes a critical look at areas where the care of patients might have been improved. Remediable factors have been identified in the clinical and the organisational care of these patients.
Report The Human Factor (4th November 2009)The National Health Service (NHS) needs to save £15 billion to £20 billion over the next few years. This paper argues that these savings could be achieved through radical patient-centred service redesign and more effective approaches to public behaviour change. However, these approaches are difficult to develop within the existing health service.
Paper
Nurses employment and morale: Scotland 2009. Employment Survey (30th October 2009)This report describes the findings for Scotland from the 22nd Royal College of Nursing (RCN) employment survey of a sample of RCN members. This year, as in 2007, 9,000 nurses from across the UK were surveyed (including 1400 identified as living in Scotland). The RCN membership is broadly representative of the nursing workforce as a whole, thus the results of this survey of members in Scotland can be taken to broadly reflect the UK and Scotland nursing populations more generally. This report seeks to describe the employment characteristics of nurses in 2009, and identify changes in the employment behaviour and morale of the nursing workforce in Scotland.
ReportNurses' employment and morale: Wales 2009. Employment Survey (6th November 2009)This report describes the findings for Wales from the 22nd RCN employment survey of a sample of RCN members. This year, as in 2007, 9,000 nurses from across the UK were surveyed. The RCN membership is broadly representative of the nursing workforce as a whole, thus the results of this survey of members in Wales can be taken to broadly reflect the UK and Wales nursing populations more generally. This report seeks to describe the employment characteristics of nurses in 2009, and identify changes in the employment behaviour and morale of the nursing workforce in Wales.
ReportLegal advice on using the internet (9th November 2009)Information technology, and the internet in particular, is now an integral part of our daily lives, and almost everyone will have access to a computer at work, and very often at home as well. However, employers and professional bodies are becoming increasingly alert to the potential abuse of the internet. The growing popularity of social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Bebo and Twitter has raised the risks of a health care worker experiencing potentially serious legal and professional repercussions through the inappropriate use (if only inadvertently) of this recent technology. This guide gives a list of do’s and don’ts for using the internet – and information on the risks and repercussions if used inappropriately.
GuideNursing and the economic downturn a roundtable discussion (10th November 2009)This is a summary of the roundtable discussion on Nursing and the economic downturn which was held on 25 August 2009 at RCN headquarters in London.
Summary
Swine flu vaccination programme: information to support the vaccination of pregnant women (2nd November 2009)Letter to GPs and practice nurses introducing a questions and answers document and other information materials.
Letter Pandemic H1N1 2009 influenza: clinical management guidelines for pregnancy (30th October 2009)This document updates provisional guidance for the clinical management of pregnant women with symptoms of influenza–like illness, severe influenza and complications, provided in 2007 by the British Infection Society, British Thoracic Society and Health Protection Agency in collaboration with the Department of Health.
GuidancePandemic H1N1 2009 influenza: clinical management guidelines for adults and children (30th October 2009)This document updates provisional guidance for the clinical management of adults and children with symptoms of influenza–like illness, severe influenza and complications, provided in 2007 by the British Infection Society, British Thoracic Society and Health Protection Agency in collaboration with the Department of Health.
Guidance Clinical professionals brief on swine flu vaccination (28th October 2009)Information for clinicians about swine flu vaccination from Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director.
Guidance Health and social care workers and pandemic influenza: information for staff who are pregnant or in other at-risk groups (28th October 2009)Some individuals are at increased risk of severe or complicated illness if they suffer from influenza. This guidance gives advice on protecting healthcare employees who are pregnant or in one of the other at risk groups identified for (H1N1) 2009 flu (swine flu).
Guidance Pandemic flu templates (26th October 2009)Templates to support Primary Care Trusts in planning and responding to capacity challenges in the management of pandemic flu are now available from the NHS Primary Care Commissioning website.
Please note you will need to be registered with a subscribing organisation to access them.
Templates
The Pregnancy Book 2009 (29th October 2009)A key Department of Health publication, Birth to Five has been revised and will be given free to all parents in England. A key Department of Health publication, The Pregnancy Book has been revised and will be given free to expectant mothers and parents in England. The book is extremely popular and a trusted authority on all aspects of maternity. By providing in-depth support, useful contact information and advice on rights and benefits, the book is an excellent addition to the support provided by maternity teams. The book’s content has been updated to reflect new policies, changing social trends and advice and guidance. The design has been modernised to reflect a more contemporary style. The Pregnancy Book is a complete guide to:
- a healthy pregnancy
- labour and childbirth
- the first weeks with a new baby
Publication Birth to Five (2009 edition) (29th October 2009)The book is extremely popular and a trusted authority on all aspects of early years. By providing in-depth support, useful contact information and advice on rights and benefits, the book is an excellent addition to the support provided by the health visiting team. The book’s content has been updated to reflect new policies, changing social trends and advice and guidance. The design has been modernised to reflect a more contemporary style. Birth to Five gives parents information on:
- becoming a parent
- taking care of yourself and your child
- finding practical help and support
Publication
Choice at the point of referral. Early results of a patient survey (4th November 2009)England to ask them about their experience of referral and choosing a hospital for treatment.
This report summarises survey findings on:
- whether patients were offered a choice
- patients’ opinions on choice and awareness
- which patients travel away from their local hospital for treatment
- the information and support used by patients to help them choose
- factors that influenced patients choices.
Report
Nothing but the truth? A discussion paper (5th November 2009)The high-profile failure of public authorities to both safeguard Baby Peter in Haringey, and prevent the high number of deaths in Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, has directed attention to the accuracy and reliability of the data underpinning local service delivery.
This paper sets out important issues as the basis for discussion on how to ensure data about local public services is fit for purpose. It asks if citizens, along with frontline staff, managers, politicians, central government and local public service regulators, can have confidence in the data they rely on. And if not, what needs to be done about it?
Paper
Response to the report and recommendations of the review of the conduct function of the General Social Care Council (4th November 2009)This document sets out the Government's response to the report and recommendations of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence's (CHRE) review of the General Social Care Council's (GSCC) conduct function. The review was commissioned following the discovery of a backlog of conduct cases at the GSCC.
Document 10 questions to ask if you are scrutinising the transformation of adult social care (3rd November 2009)This publication was commissioned from the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS) by the Improvement Development Agency (IDeA). The guide identifies key elements in the transformation programme that will allow scrutiny committees to assess the extent to which their local authority is planning, commissioning and delivering better social care.
Publication
Toolkit for high quality neonatal services (4th November 2009)The Department of Health has published new guidance to help the NHS improve the care provided for premature and sick babies during their first days.
The Toolkit includes a set of eight principles for quality neonatal services and a framework to assist commissioners. The principles aim to establish the following standards in neonatal care:
- Organisation of neonatal services
- Staffing of neonatal services
- Care of the baby and family experience
- Transfers
- Professional competence, education and training
- Surgical services
- Clinical governance
- Data requirements
Toolkit
Women and health: today's evidence tomorrow's agenda (9th November 2009)Despite considerable progress in the past decades, societies continue to fail to meet the health care needs of women at key moments of their lives, particularly in their adolescent years and in older age. These are the key findings of the World Health Organization (WHO) report Women and health: today's evidence tomorrow's agenda.
Report
Improving staff engagement: a practical toolkit (3rd November 2009)NHS Employers has teamed up with the international staff engagement specialists O C Tanner to produce Improving staff engagement – a practical toolkit. The briefing looks at the benefits engaged staff bring in terms of improved patient care and better value for money. This is particularly critical at a time of increasing financial pressures.
This briefing provides pointers on how to get staff engagement rights and offers tips that have high impact at low cost. In addition it also looks at the key roles managers have to play in ensuring staff are clear on what is expected of them as identifying where employees know what is expected dramatically improves performance and engagement levels.
Toolkit Pension Choice? Career and retirement options for the NHS (2nd November 2009)This briefing is for boards and human resource directors in NHS organisations in England. It covers the strategic issues and potential risks for boards in relation to the NHS Pension Choice exercise. The NHS Pension Choice exercise begins in January 2010, giving members of the 1995 section of the NHS Pension Scheme the opportunity to move to the new 2008 section. As part of the exercise, every employer will need to engage with staff of all ages about career and retirement planning. This briefing outlines how good employment practice during the Choice exercise will help organisations to support staff, retain skills and prepare for the future.
Briefing Talent for tough times: how to identify, attract and retain the talent you need (4th November 2009)It is more important than ever that the NHS is attracting, retaining and developing talented people who are adaptable and up to the challenges ahead. This practical briefing outlines what good talent management looks like, discusses why it will be so important as the NHS faces the lean years ahead and sets out how trusts can get started.
Briefing
