ABOUT THIS BLOG

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.

ALCOHOL

Alcohol: Minimum Pricing and Licensing Powers. Expected outcomes and recommended local actions for Merseyside (2nd March 2010)

Following the Liverpool Shadow Safer Healthier Communities Board meeting on 28th October 2009, the Board requested information on alcohol minimum pricing and utilising licensing powers, drawing upon national and regional learning. This paper details the information used for the summary paper sent to the Board. It focuses on specified recommended local actions and measurable expected outcomes, such as lives saved and reductions in hospital admissions. The paper has incorporated learning from Greater Manchester, Blackpool, Scotland, Our Life and Drink Wise NW.
Paper

BEHAVIOUR CHANGE

MINDSPACE: Influencing behaviour through public policy (2nd March 2010)

MINDSPACE: Influencing behaviour through public policy was a joint commission by the Cabinet Office and the Institute for Government. It shows how the latest insights from the science of behaviour change can be used to generate new and cost-effective solutions to some of the current major policy challenges, such as reducing crime, tackling obesity and climate change.

Document

BULLETINS/NEWSLETTERS

Health Protection Report Vol. 4 No. 7 (19th February 2010)

Health Protection Report Vol. 4 No. 8 (26th February 2010)

Telecare LIN eNewsletter February 2010 (2nd March 2010)

The month: issue 30, February 2010 (1st March 2010)

CNO Bulletin, Issue 85, February 2010 (24th February 2010)

Medical directors bulletin, Issue 101, February 2010 (2nd March 2010)

CARE QUALITY COMMISSION

Review of health care in care homes (22nd February 2010)
The Care Quality Commission's review of health care in care homes has now commenced.
This review will look at whether adults of all ages living in care homes have:

• choice and control over their health care;
• equal access to NHS services;
• good quality health care provided by the care home when needed

Information

Results of Outpatient department survey 2009 show significant improvements have been made (25th February 2010)
Patients’ experiences of outpatient care and treatment are improving, according to results published today from the Outpatients department survey 2009.

The survey, conducted between July and October 2009 had a response of over 72,000 adult outpatients from 163 acute and specialist NHS trusts in England. It’s the third survey of its kind with previous national surveys conducted in 2003 and 2004.
Report

CARE/CARERS

At a glance 21. Personalisation briefing. Implications for people with autistic spectrum conditions and their family carers (February 2010)

This "At a Glance" briefing examines the implications of the personalisation agenda for people with autistic spectrum conditions.

Briefing

COMMISSIONING

Primary Care Service Framework: Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (February 2010)

This new framework has been prepared to assist commissioners in implementing NICE guideline 71, identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia.

Framework

CONSULTATIONS

Review of access to the NHS by foreign nationals (26th February 2010)
This consultation provides the public and others with the opportunity to comment on proposed changes to the charging Regulations for overseas visitors requiring hospital treatment and the recovery of any charges, and also initial thinking around possible future introduction of health insurance for some visitors. This may also be of interest to UK nationals/residents.

Closing date for comments is 30th June 2010
Consultation

Consultation on a Strategy for Services for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in England (23rd February 2010)
Since 2005 the Department of Health (DH), the NHS, patients, clinicians and other key stakeholders have been working together to identify the best ways to improve care and outcomes for those with COPD and to reduce the overall prevalence of the disease.

The DH aim to produce a strategy that will:

• ensure that everyone diagnosed with COPD receives equitable, responsive, high quality and effective provision of health and social care services from the right person, at the right time, in the right place, that are cost effective and provide good value for money for taxpayers.
• advise how local communities can prevent people getting COPD, understand the risks of having poor lung health, secure improvements to the diagnosis and care of people with the disease, and reduce health inequalities.
• support people with COPD and their carers by offering practical advice and education on managing their disease.

Closing date for comments is 6th April 2010.
Consultation

Teenage Pregnancy Strategy: Beyond 2010 (25th February 2010)
The Teenage Pregnancy Strategy: Beyond 2010 document sets out how the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) want to build on the existing Teenage Pregnancy Strategy to strengthen its delivery in all local areas and make further progress towards halving the under 18 conception rate and improving outcomes for teenage parents and their children. The Strategy aims to give young people the knowledge and skills they need to delay early sex until they are ready, to ensure they are able and confident to access and use effective contraception when they do become sexually active, and to provide effective support for teenage parents. Success depends on the contribution from a range of agencies. The DCSF welcome your views to help inform the next phase of the Strategy.

Closing date for comments is 20th May 2010.
Consultation

Adult Social Care. A consultation paper (24th February 2010)

This consultation, published by the Law Commission, contains their detailed proposals for law reform.

Provisional proposals include:

• establishing a core set of overarching principles to guide social care decisions;
• introducing a single and explicit duty to assess individuals’ needs;
• a duty on local authorities to provide community services for all those eligible;
• the introduction of a single duty to assess the needs of any carer;
• a statutory duty on local authorities to investigate when they suspect that vulnerable adults are being abused or neglected.

Closing date for comments is 1st July 2010.
Consultation

Revalidation: the way ahead (1st March 2010)
The General Medical Council (GMC) has launched a major consultation on proposals for a new process of medical regulation to assure patients, employers and other healthcare practitioners that licensed doctors are up to date and fit to practise. The process is called revalidation. In future, all licensed doctors will need to revalidate on a regular basis if they wish to keep their licence to practise.

Closind date for comments is 4th June 2010.
Consultation

Your choice of GP practice: a consultation on how to enable to register with the GP practice of their choice (4th March 2010)

This consultation is seeking views from the public, from healthcare professionals and from other staff working in the NHS on new proposals that give patients a much greater choice of GP practice.

The consultation sets out the different options for organising healthcare for patients, and the potential implications of their choices if the current system of GP practice boundaries is removed.

It has been developed following a period of initial engagement with NHS colleagues, GPs, practice managers, and professional and patient groups.

Closing date for comments is 28th May 2010.

Consultation

CONSULTATION RESPONSES

Consultation on proposed tobacco control regulations for England (under the Health Act 2009): Summary of consultation responses (26th February 2010)
On 26 February the Department of Health (DH) published "Consultation on proposed tobacco control regulations for England (under the Health Act 2009): Summary of consultation responses" the Government’s response to the consultation that was carried out between 12 October 2009 and 4 January 2010 on four sets of proposed tobacco control regulations:

• displays of tobacco products
• regulating tobacco product prices lists and labels
• specialist tobacconists
• prohibiting tobacco sales from vending machines

This report is a summary of the 544 consultation responses received from a wide range of stakeholders, the views they expressed and the DH responses to the points raised.

Consultation Response

NHS waiting times statistics publications produced by the Department of Health. Response to consultation on proposals to discontinue current data collections on inpatient and outpatient waiting times (24th February 2010)
This document is a response to a recent consultation on the future of the publication of inpatient and outpatient waiting times statistics.
Consultation Response

DIET/NUTRITION

Government response to the Nutrition Action Plan Delivery Board end of year progress report (25th February 2010)
The Government's response to the Nutrition Action Plan Delivery Board's end of year report on implementation of the Nutrition Action Plan, published in 2007.
Document

European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) opinion on health claims published (25th February 2010)
The EFSA has published its second batch of opinions on a wide variety of health claims submitted by food businesses from across the UK and other EU member states.
Report

FSA E-news Issue 1 February 2010 (22nd February 2010)
Anyone interested in nutrition and healthy eating can get the 'buzz' of the latest news as it is published, following the launch of a new electronic newsletter from the Food Standards Agency.

FSA News, the Agency’s monthly newsletter, which has been going since 2001, has been re-launched as an electronic publication, FSA e-News. This means that readers will be able to get the news emailed direct to their computers as soon as it has been published.
Newsletter

DISABILITIES

Fulfilling and rewarding lives: the strategy for adults with autism in England (3rd March 2010)

The first autism strategy for England will kick-start fundamental change in public services helping adults with autism to live independent lives and find work.

Autism is a lifelong developmental disability and although some people can live relatively independently, others will have high dependency needs requiring a lifetime of specialist care. There are approximately 400,000 adults with ASC in England, around half of whom have a learning disability.

Published on 3 March 2010, the strategy sets a clear framework for all mainstream services across the public sector to work together for adults with autism.

Strategy

DRUGS

UK Drug Situation: UK Focal Point on Drugs. 2009 Edition (2nd March 2010)
The structure and content of this annual report are pre-determined by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) to facilitate comparison with similar reports produced by the other European Focal Points. Ten chapters cover the same subjects each year, and three further chapters, giving in-depth information on selected issues, change from year to year.
Report

Powder cocaine: how the treatment system is responding to a growing problem (1st March 2010)

One in 10 drug users entering treatment in England are seeking help for addiction to powder cocaine, a rise of four per cent in four years, according to new research for the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA).

More than a third of them are aged 18-24, and they are much more likely to come from a broad range of social backgrounds than the typical heroin users who traditionally form the majority of those in treatment.
Press Release
Report

EDUCATION/SCHOOLS

Change in Wellbeing from Childhood to Adolescene: Risk and Resilience (February 2010)

The wellbeing of children in the UK is currently of major public and Government interest. In 2003, the Government’s vision for childhood wellbeing was articulated in Every Child Matters (ECM), a national agenda to build services around the needs of children and young people. The ECM framework identified five outcomes as important for child wellbeing: being healthy; staying safe; enjoying and achieving; making a positive contribution and achieving economic wellbeing.

This report uses secondary data analysis to examine changes in wellbeing within the framework of risk and resilience. It focuses on children’s psychosocial wellbeing, looking at four different aspects: emotional, behavioural, social and subjective school wellbeing,

Report

FOUNDATION TRUSTS

Northern Governors Events 2010 (23rd February 2010)
The Audit Commission have announced two free seminars in the North of England for foundation trust and aspiring foundation trust governors. The dates are:

• 14th April 2010 - Newcastle
• 27th April 2010 - Warrington

Information

Quality accounts 2 (25th February 2010)

The Foundation Trust Network has launched a publication on the practical elements of producing quality accounts, including engagement and assurance.

Publication

GOVERNMENT

Putting health in the policy picture: review of how health impact assessment is carried out by Government departments (25th February 2010)
Putting Health in the Policy Picture is a summary of an in-depth study of how Health Impact Assessments are carried out across government departments.
Report

GUIDANCE/GUIDELINES

Clinical practice guidelines for the assessment of young women aged 20-24 with abnormal vaginal bleeding (3rd March 2010)

Following a review of the cervical screening age by the Advisory Committee on Cervical Screening (ACCS) in May 2009 (at which members unanimously agreed that the screening start age should remain at age 25), the committee has produced new guidance for primary care on the management of young women who present with gynaecological symptoms.

The guidance was produced by a multi-disciplinary group, including professionals, patients and the voluntary sector.

Guidance

HEALTH RECORDS

Guidance for access to health records requests (22nd February 2010)
DH guidance on access to health records for both living and deceased individuals.
Guidance

HEALTHCARE

Revision of professional roles and quality improvement. A review of the evidence (26th February 2010)
This report, from the Health Foundation, considers the impact of professional role revision on quality of care and outcomes. It focuses on two types of changes to professional roles:

• Substitution – exchanging one type of professional for another.
• Supplementation – extending the range of service provision within one health delivery system.

This report focuses on the revision of roles between doctors and:

• advanced practice nurses such as nurse practitioners, specialist nurses, clinical nurses and practice nurses
• physician assistants pharmacists
• allied healthcare professionals such as physical therapists (referred to as physiotherapists in this review), speech and language therapists, dietitians and paramedics.

The report finds that there is no detrimental effect of revising or extending the roles of non-medical professionals, and in some cases there is a positive effect on the quality of patient care.
Report

LOCAL AUTHORITY/GOVERNMENT

Under Pressure. Tackling the financial challenge for councils of an ageing population (18th February 2010)
Councils face the challenge of an ageing population as public spending reduces. This report, from the Audit Commission, says most councils do not know enough about the costs of their ageing population. They may also miss the savings that could flow from preventive services and better work with other organisations.
Report

The social determinants of health and the role of local government (3rd March 2010)

This collection of articles assesses what local government can do to tackle the social conditions that lead to health inequalities. Written by distinguished practitioners and academics, the publication builds on the recent Marmot Review report, 'Fair Society, Healthy Lives'.

Some of the articles are deliberately challenging and provocative. Some of them present a picture of what is already happening in local government. Some look to what more local authorities could do, either with additional powers or by using their existing powers and remit. All will challenge and extend your current thinking.

Documents

MANAGEMENT

Report of the Advisory Group on assuring the quality of senior NHS managers (24th February 2010)
Following publication of the Next Stage Review report, the Department of Health asked Ian Dalton, Chief Executive of North East Strategic Health Authority, to chair an Advisory Group on Assuring the Quality of Senior NHS Managers.

The Advisory Group’s work to develop proposals to further raise the standards of senior NHS managers was supported by research undertaken by PricewaterhouseCoopers. This was commissioned, following a tendering exercise, to provide an independent evidence base to inform the group’s work.
Report

MENTAL HEALTH

Relational security (1st March 2010)
The Department of Health has developed a suite of materials to assist people who work in secure mental health services to understand the concept of relational security. In February 2010 following ten regional training events (see presentation below), these materials were introduced to all medium secure services in England. An evaluation of the impact of these materials at service level will be complete in April 2010 informing any further rollout of this and related material across the wider secure system.
Documents

Realising the benefits: IAPT at full roll-out (25th February 2010)
Realising the Benefits details the next steps in the move towards the full roll out of Improving Access to Psychological Therapy (IAPT) services. The guidance provides support for established and developing services, focusing on quality standards and analysing the progress that has been made in rolling out services to date.
Guidance

ARTICLE: 'I want to be bipolar'...a new phenomenon (March 2010)
Writing in the March 2010 edition of The Psychiatrist, London based psychiatrists Dr Diana Chan and Dr Lester Sireling have identified a new and unusual phenomenon – people diagnosing themselves with bipolar disorder.

They believe the trend is linked to increased public awareness of the disorder, as well as the willingness of celebrities such as Stephen Fry, Robbie Williams and Carrie Fisher to talk about their personal experiences of mood disorders.
Article

NHS

Robert Francis Inquiry report into Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust (24th February 2010)
Robert Francis QC has today published his Inquiry report into Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. His Inquiry followed concerns about standards of care at the Trust, and an investigation and report published by the Healthcare Commission in March 2009. Robert Francis has heard evidence from patients, their relatives and staff to inform his report and the 18 recommendations he makes. The Department of Health and the Trust Board has accepted the recommendations of the Inquiry in full.
Report and other related documents

Working it out: employment for people with a mental health condition (3rd March 2010)
The link between employment and positive mental health is an issue of great importance for the NHS, both in terms of supporting service users to recover from mental health conditions and for improving staff productivity. Between 10 per cent and 16 per cent of people with a mental health condition, excluding depression, are in employment. However, between 86 and 90 per cent of this group want to work. Meaningful work is integral to recovery.


Employers who take steps to improve the management of mental health at work can help to improve staff productivity and save money. As the NHS enters a challenging period for future funding, reducing the costs of staff sickness absence and driving up productivity are critical. This Briefing outlines the key themes from recently launched government policies in this field and sets out actions for the NHS, as both an employer and service provider.
Briefing

The Heart of the Matter: patient and public engagement in today's NHS (22nd February 2010)

This report says that patient and public engagement (PPE) must become integral to the operation of every NHS organisation.

The heart of the matter: patient and public engagement in today's NHS asks questions about the future of PPE in an ever-changing NHS and sets out:

what good engagement looks like

the legal framework for PPE

the importance of having a culture of engagement

where the NHS has got to on PPE

how Local Involvement Networks (LINKs), membership schemes and working with local government contribute to PPE.

Report

Protecting and Improving the NHS. (22nd February 2010)

This paper sets out the Liberal Democrats commitments to the NHS in three main areas:

• Protecting and improving the NHS
• More control over healthcare
• Quality care for all patients

Paper

Information

The impact of the NHS market. An overview of the literature (1st March 2010)

NHS ‘internal’ or ‘quasi’ market policies in England have aimed to promote competition among providers in the hope of replicating the benefits markets have been known to bring about in the private sector: decreases in cost, and increases in efficiency, quality, innovation, and provider responsiveness. This briefing, from CIVITAS, presents the results of a large-scale literature search on the effectiveness of these policies over the past 20 years.

Document

Free web seminar - Demand and Capacity (3rd March 2010)

Expert on Call is a monthly online seminar which is open to all NHS staff, provided by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, where leading thinkers in the NHS Institute and beyond share their insights from research or product development via Webex.

The next Expert on Call electronic seminar Mike Davidge, will talk about why variation in both the demand for services and their supply can cause havoc and outline some practical ways of dealing with this, and will be of interest to anyone at any level who is interested or engaged in quality improvement or wants to develop new ways of working which are effective and sustainable.

The seminar will take place on Thursday 18th March 2010.

Information

NICE

Consultation documents (19th February 2010 - 3rd March 2010)

NICE are now consulting on the following:

Photodynamic therapy for Barrett's oesophagus: Interventional Procedures Consultation Document - closing date 23rd March 2010

Transperineal temlate biopsy of the prostate: Interventional Procedures Consultation Document - closing date 23rd March 2010

Percutaneous occlusion of the left atrial appendage in non-valvular atrial fibrillation for the prevention of thromboembolism: Interventional Procedures Consultation Document - closing date 23rd March 2010

Extracranial to intracranial bypass for intracranial atherosclerosis: Interventional Procedures Consultation Document - closing date 23rd March 2010

Stapled transanal rectal resection for obstructed defaecation syndrome: Interventional Procedures Consultation Document - closing date 23rd March 2010

Motor neurone disease - non-invasive ventilation: draft guideline for consultation - closing date 23rd March 2010

Caesarean section (update): scope consultation - closing date 24th March 2010

PSHE: consultation on the evidence - closing date 24th March 2010

Rheumatoid arthritis - drugs for treatment after failure of a TNF inhibitor: appraisal consultation document - closing date 24th March 2010

Rheumatoid arthritis - tocilizumab: appraisal consultation 3 - closing date 25th March 2010

Leukaemia (chronic lymphocytic, relapsed) - rituximab: final appraisal determination - closing date 18th March 2010

Myelodysplastic syndromes - azacitidine: final appraisal determination - closing date 18th March 2010

Crohn's disease - infliximab (review) and adalimumab: final appraisal determination - closing date 18th March 2010

Interventional Procedures Guidance IPG333. Therapeutic endoscopic division of epidural adhesions (24th February 2010)
Endoscopic epidural procedures are used to treat lower back pain, particularly when radiculopathy is present. The epidural space is examined with an endoscope and further interventions may then be performed, such as mobilising spinal adhesions or administering drugs to inflamed tissue.
Guidance

Interventional Procedures Guidance IPG332. Surgical correction of hallux valgus using minimal access techniques (24th February 2010)

Hallux valgus is a deformity of the big toe. The big toe tilts outwards, crowding the smaller toes, and a bony lump (called a bunion) appears on the inside of the foot.

Under local or general anaesthesia, one or more small cuts are made to insert bone-cutting instruments. These are used to remove the bunion and to divide one or more of the bones of the front of the foot. The divided bones may need to be stabilised with wires, screws or plates. The aim is to correct the tilting of the big toe. The operation is monitored by X-rays or an endoscope (a telescope for looking inside the body). Compared with standard (open) surgery, this procedure uses smaller cuts to the foot and X-rays or endoscopy to see inside the foot.
Guidance

Interventional Procedure Guidance IPG331. Cytoreduction surgery followed by heyperthrmic introperative peritoneal chemotherapy for peritoneal carcinomatosis (24th February 2010)

Peritoneal metastases commonly result from the regional spread of gastrointestinal, gynaecological and other malignancies. Peritoneal carcinomatosis is an advanced form of cancer associated with short survival and poor quality of life, which may lead to bowel obstruction, ascites and pain.

This procedure was developed by Paul Sugarbaker at the Washington Cancer Institute. A laparotomy is performed under general anaesthesia and all gross tumour is removed along with the involved organs, peritoneum and tissue. The surgery includes:

• removal of the right hemicolon, spleen, gall bladder, parts of the stomach, greater omentum and lesser omentum
• stripping of the peritoneum from the pelvis and diaphragm
• stripping of tumour from the surface of the liver
• removal of the uterus and ovaries in women
• removal of the rectum in some cases.

Guidance

Technology Appraisal Guidance TA185. Trabectedin for the treatment of advanced soft tissue sarcoma (24th February 2010)

Trabectedin is recommended as a possible treatment for people with advanced soft tissue sarcoma if:

• treatment with anthracyclines and ifosfamide has failed, or
• they cannot tolerate anthracyclines and ifosfamide, or
• anthracyclines and ifosfamide are unsuitable.

The manufacturer of trabectedin has agreed to a 'patient access scheme', which means that when a person needs more than five trabectedin treatments, it provides the sixth and any further trabectedin treatments to the NHS free of charge.
Guidance

Technology Appraisal Guidance TA186. Certolizumab pegol for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (24th February 2010)

Certolizumab pegol is recommended as a possible treatment for people with rheumatoid arthritis who:

• have already tried methotrexate and another disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD), usually for at least 6 months,and
• have severe 'active' rheumatoid arthritis, as assessed by arheumatologist on two separate occasions

People who are treated with certolizumab pegol should normally also be given methotrexate. If methotrexate does not suit them, they may be given certolizumab pegol on its own.
Guidance

Clinical Guidelines CG93. Donor breast milk banks: the operation of donor breast milk bank services (24th February 2010)

The advice in the NICE guideline covers:

• How milk banks should recruit, screen and support women who donate breast milk
• How milk banks should handle and process the breast milk they receive from donors.

It does not specifically look at:

• How donated breast milk is used after it leaves the milk bank
• The care and treatment of babies who receive donated breast milk
• How mothers should handle and store breast milk for their own babies.

Guidelines

Public Health Guidance PG23. School-based interventions to prevent the uptake of smoking among children (24th February 2010)

This guidance is for all those responsible for preventing the uptake of smoking by children and young people aged under 19. This includes those working in the NHS, local authorities, education and the wider public, private, voluntary and community sectors. It may also be of interest to children and young people, their parents or carers and other members of the public.

The five recommendations include the following advice:

• The smoking policy should support both prevention and stop smoking activities and should apply to everyone using the premises (including the grounds).
• Information on smoking should be integrated into the curriculum. For example, classroom discussions could be relevant when teaching biology, chemistry, citizenship and maths.
• Anti-smoking activities should be delivered as part of personal, social, health and economic (PHSE) and other activities related to Healthy Schools or Healthy Further Education status.
• Anti-smoking activities should aim to develop decision-making skills and include strategies for enhancing self-esteem. Parents and carers should be encouraged to get involved and students could be trained to lead some of these programmes.
• All staff involved in smoking prevention should be trained to do so.
• Educational establishments should work in partnership with outside agencies to design, deliver, monitor and evaluate smoking prevention activities.

Guidance

NURSING

The Nursing Roadmap for Quality: a signposting map for nursing (3rd March 2010)

The Nursing Roadmap for Quality has been designed help nurses and their teams understand the elements of the quality framework that relate to nursing practice.

The purpose of the document is to:

• inform nurses and their teams of their role in supporting quality improvements against the seven elements of the quality framework
• provide a ‘one-stop shop’ for key resources, which nursing teams can use to further demonstrate their added contribution to quality
• reinforce the need for nurses to identify ways to reduce waste and repetition, by contributing to the quality and productivity challenge.

Document

NURSING AND MIDWIFERY

Front line care: Report by the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England (2nd March 2010)

The Commission was established in March 2009 to explore how the nursing and midwifery professions could take a central role in the design and delivery of 21st century services in England. It built on Lord Darzi’s 2008 report of the NHS Next Stage Review, High Quality Care for All, and considered all branches of nursing as well as midwifery, in all settings, services and sectors within and outside the NHS. This report endorses important existing directions of travel and identifies new ones, and where necessary proposes to accelerate the pace of change. It adds new thinking about how best nursing and midwifery can support service users, families and local communities.
Report

PARENTING

Food Standards Agency (FSA) reminds parents of advice on making up infant formula (25th February 2010)
The Agency is reminding parents and childcarers who use powdered infant formula to use hot water to make up a feed. Formula powder isn’t sterile, so occasionally it could contain harmful bacteria, which could make babies ill. Using water that is 70°C, or higher, will kill any harmful bacteria in the powder.

Recent research funded by the Agency has confirmed the importance of using hot water to make up powdered formula. But some parents aren’t aware of this advice and may use cold water, or boiled water that has been cooled for longer than half an hour.
Information

PARLIAMENTARY PUBLICATIONS

Science and Technology Committee - Evidence Check 2: Homeopathy - Fourth Report of Session 2009-10 (22nd February 2010)

Joint Committee on Human Rights - Children's Rights: Government Response to the Committee's Twenty-fifth Report of Session 2008-09 - Tenth Report of Session 2009-10 (3rd March 2010)

Joint Committee on Human Rights - Legislative Scrutiny: Crime and Security Bill; Personal Care at Home Bill; Children, Schools and Families Bill - Twelfth Report of Session 2009-10 (2nd March 2010)

Joint Committee on Human Rights - Legislative Scrutiny: Children, Schools and Families Bill; other Bills - Eighth Report of Session 2009-10 (19th February 2010)

Committee of Public Accounts - Services for people with rheumatoid arthritis - Tenth Report of Session 2009-10 (23rd February 2010)

PAYMENT BY RESULTS

Confirmation of Payment by Results (PbR) arrangements for 2010-11 (22nd February 2010)
The road-testing of the 2010-11 tariff and draft guidance concluded on 22 January 2010. No changes have been made to mandatory tariff prices or trim points following road-test. Details of changes have been made to some other elements of the tariff information spreadsheet.

The 2010-11 PbR guidance has been clarified in a number of areas, in response to feedback received at road-test.
Guidance

Code of conduct for Payment by Results: from 1 April 2010 (22nd February 2010)
This Code of Conduct (the Code) is aimed at all commissioners and providers, including those from the independent sector - and other bodies with regulatory and/or performance management responsibilities - operating within the PbR system, but without prejudice to any future Government decision on extending the scope of PbR. Its purpose is to establish the principles that should govern organisational behaviour under PbR and set expectations as to how the system should operate. In this way, the Code of Conduct should minimise as well as guide the resolution of disputes under PbR.
Guidance

PHARMACY

Pharmaceutical industry competitiveness and performance indicators (25th February 2010)
Series of indicators of the competitiveness of the UK as a location for research-based pharmaceutical companies to do business; and of the performance of the UK-based industry in taking advantage of the opportunities open to them.
Documents

Exporting medicines for profit (25th February 2010)
David Nicholson has written to highlight that exporting medicines for profit jeopardises both patient care, and the terms of NHS contracts for medicines. Trusts holding a wholesale dealer's licence are also bound by Regulations relating to the supply of medicinal products. The Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, Keith Ridge, is writing in parallel to hospital chief pharmacists.
Letter

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Active Travel Strategy (22nd February 2010)
The Department of Health and Department for Transport have jointly published a new Active Travel Strategy. The strategy highlights plans to put walking and cycling at the heart of local transport and public health strategies over the next decade. The guiding principles for the strategy are that walking and cycling should be everyday ways of getting around – not just for their own sake but also because of what they can do to improve public health, tackle congestion, reduce carbon emissions and improve the local environment.
Strategy

PRIMARY CARE TRUSTS

Easements to quality and outcomes framework (QOF): patient experience indicators 7 and 8 (24th February 2010)
Dear colleague letter which provides advice for PCTs on calculating the easements to the thresholds for Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) indicators PE7 and PE8 contained in the Directions on the swine flu (H1N1) vaccination agreement for clinical priority groups.
Letter

Monitoring use of money to implement End of Life Care Strategy - PCTs (25th February 2010)

Templates to monitor how the additional money provided to help implement the End of Life Care Strategy in 2009/10 is being invested have been issued to SHA and PCT Directors of Finance.

Templates

PROVIDERS

Piloting Quality Accounts for primary care and community services providers (22nd February 2010)
NHS North East and NHS East Midlands are working with a range of providers across general practice, dentistry, community Healthcare services provision, out of hours and urgent care provision and community pharmacy to pilot Quality Accounts in 2010.

This pilot aims to explore how Quality Accounts for these providers could best develop. An evaluation of these reports will help inform the direction of any requirements relating to the production of Quality Accounts by primary care and community services providers.

The framework for the testing has been developed in discussion with those involved. The document is aimed at those undertaking the pilots, but may also be of interest to others.
Publications

PUBLIC SERVICES

Oneplace National Overview Report (24th February 2010)
This report looks at the findings from the first year of Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA). It is published by the six inspectorates responsible for assessing local public services in England - the Audit Commission, Care Quality Commission, Her Majesty’s Inspectorates of Constabulary, Prisons and Probation, and Ofsted.

The report concludes that local public bodies need to learn from each other and work more closely together if they are to improve services and increase value for money.
Report

SOCIAL CARE

Priotising need in the context of Putting People First: a whole system approach to eligibility for social care - guidance on eligibility criteria for adult social care, England 2010 (25th February 2010)
This guidance is issued under section 7(1) of the Local Authority Social Services Act 1970 and replaces Fair access to care services - guidance on eligibility criteria for adult social care which was issued in 2003. This guidance will need to be applied from April 2010.
Guidance

The role of culture and sport in supporting adult social care to deliver better outcomes (1st March 2010)

This publication, produced in partnership with the National Culture Forum, is designed to enable better understanding of, and engagement with, the social care sector. It is intended to help improve the lives of older and vulnerable people by engaging with the right partnerships and with strategic commissioning processes, and explaining better the contribution the sector can make.

It is also intended to introduce adult social care providers – particularly commissioners – to the opportunities and benefits of the culture and sport sector.

Publication

STATISTICS

NHS cancer waiting times figures, October to December 2009 (26th February 2010)

NHS inpatient and outpatient waiting times figures, January 2010 (26th February 2010)

NHS inpatient and outpatient waiting: elective admission events occurring during the quarter ending December 2009 (26th February 2010)

Mandatory surveillance of MRSA Bacteraemia and Clostridium difficile - January 2009 to January 2010 (3rd March 2010)


GP Earnings and Expenses Final Report 2007/08 (3rd March 2010)


Diabetes Inpatient Activity, England - Length of Stay, Day-cases & Readmissions by Healthcare Resource Group (HRG) chapter 2007-08 (2nd March 2010)


Congenital Anomaly Statistics, England and Wales (Series MB3) - No. 23, 2008 (2nd March 2010)

Critical care beds - England, January 2010 (25th February 2010)


Patient experience PSA scored updated to include results from the 2009 outpatient survey (25th February 2010)


Genito-Urinary Medicine Access Monthly Monitoring - December 2009 (25th February 2010)


Attribution dataset GP registered populations 2009 (24th February 2010)


Health Statistics Quarterly - No 45 Spring 2010 (24th February 2010)


Health Expectancies at birth and age 65 in the United Kingdom - 2005-2007 (24th February 2010)


NHS Dental Statistics for England - Quarter 2: 30 September 2009 (23rd February 2010)

STRATEGIC HEALTH AUTHORITY

Monitoring use of money to implement End of Life Strategy - SHA's (25th February 2010)

Templates to monitor how the additional money provided to help implement the End of Life Care Strategy in 2009/10 is being invested have been issued to SHA and PCT Directors of Finance.

Templates

Priority review of long term conditions care planning and PSA target (4th March 2010)

Letter to Strategic Health Authorities on information needed to report to the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit on progress against the commitment, made in High Quality Care for All, to offer everyone with a long term condition a personalised care plan.

Information

WORKFORCE/WORKPLACE

NHS Job Evaluation Handbook 3rd edition (22nd February 2010)

Produced by the NHS Staff Council Job Evaluation Group, this is the comprehensive guide on job evaluation (JE) for organisations, including mainstreaming JE, resolving issues on blocked matching and evaluating jobs, weighting and scoring, band ranges and how to use job profiles.

Document