Simplification plan: year four 2009 (14th December 2009)This is the fourth annual Simplification Plan. It describes the Department of Healths continuing efforts to deliver the Government's 25 per cent target for reducing the administrative burden of compliance with regulations affecting the private sector. Work also continues to reform the regulatory framework for health and adult social care over the next year. The new regulator, the Care Quality Commission, created on 1 April 2009, replacing three previous regulatory bodies, has the ambition to be a truly world class regulator that acts in a proportionate, targeted, consistent, transparent and accountable way to ensure the effective protection of patients, clients and the public.
Report Department of Health autumn performance report 2009 (10th December 2009)The 2009 Autumn Performance Report - an annual HM Treasury requirement - details progress made on the 44 indicators measuring the Department's Departmental Strategic Objectives and two Public Service Agreements, agreed for the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR07). It also reports on progress made against the CSR07 Value for Money target from the work on the Operational Efficiency Programme, Public Value Programme and QIPP.
Report
Aiming high for disabled children: improving data (15th December 2009)York Health Economics Consortium were commissioned by the Department of Health to explore how data on disabled children is collected, managed and used at a local level. The focus of the research was fieldwork across eight health economies in England, underpinned by a review of peer-reviewed literature. The report of the research project sets out key findings on:
- the definitions of disability used by different agencies and services
- the information about disabled children that is captured.
- how such information is collected and stored.
- how such information is shared.
Report
Hepatitis C in the UK: 2009 Report (11th December 2009)According to latest figures released by the Health Protection Agency, more than 8,000 people were diagnosed with hepatitis C last year in England.
Figures from the agency's yearly report on Hepatitis C for 2009 show that laboratory reporting of newly diagnosed hepatitis C infections in England increased in 2008 by 6% compared to 2007, with 8,196 new cases reported in 2008.
Report
Project Argus - Health (9th December 2009)This is a letter from Richard Hampton, Head of NHS Security Management Service; Chris Phillips Head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office and Andy Cobb, CONTEST and CNI Lead, Emergency Preparedness Division, Department of Health. It highlights the launch of Project Argus – Health: a multimedia presentation which explores the possible consequences for the health sector in the aftermath of a terrorist attack and the risks it itself may face.
Letter
Fracture prevention services: an economic evaluation (15th December 2009)This economic evaluation models the costs and benefits from establishing a fracture liaison service, to reduce the risk of secondary fractures.
Report
HPV Vaccination programme: update (18th December 2009)Final update regarding the death of the young girl from Coventry who died after receiving an HPV vaccine.
Letter
The Health and Social Care Act 2008: Code of Practice for health and adult social care on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance (16th December 1998)The Code of Practice, which comes into force on 1 April 2010 for the NHS and October 2010 for all other registered providers, sets out the criteria against which a registered provider will be assessed by the Care Quality Commission. It also provides guidance on how the provider can meet the registration requirement relating to healthcare associated infections set out in the regulations.
Guidance MRSA objective for 2010-11 (11th December 2009)Following a recommendation from the National Quality Board, from April 2010, NHS organisations will be set an objective for reducing MRSA infections, relative to the median, with the best-performers setting their objectives locally.
The MRSA objective reflects a zero tolerance approach to preventable infections and the aim of reducing variation in performance on MRSA bloodstream infections.
Publication
Informatics Planning 2010/11 (17th December 2009)The operating framework 2010/11 confirms that informatics will be included in operational plans and this document provides guidance on the informatics components of these plans. National expectations for the NHS for delivery of national and local objectives are set out, building on existing investments to strengthen local information and data management.
Framework
Use of Resources Good Practice and Case Studies (17th December 2009)To help auditors and audited bodies identify good practice, the Audit Commission have published some case studies from the 2008/09 auditors' use of resources work.
Case Studies Leading Together Better (29th December 2009)During the summer of 2009, the IDeA’s Healthy Communities programme sponsored a research project by Shared Intelligence. This explored the nature of partnership working between directors of public health, adults’ services and children’s services. The project arose after the first joint conference between the Association of Directors of Public Health (ADPH), Association of Directors of Adults Social Services (ADASS) and Association of Directors of Children’s Services (ADCS). The conference report reveals well-established partnership relationships between all three directors.
The IDeA has distributed the report to local authorities and primary care trusts (PCTs). It hopes that this will stimulate local discussion on the nature of partnership working for health and wellbeing and how it can be improved.
Document
The second year of the Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy Service: 2008/09 (23rd December 2009)The Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy Service was created under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It started in 2007 and this is the annual report of its second year in operation.
Report
Directions to NHS bodies concerning the cost of telephone calls 2009 (22nd December 2009)These Directions came into force on 21st December 2009.
Directions The NHS operating framework for England for 2010/11 (16th December 2009)The operating framework for the NHS for 2010/11 sets out the priorities for the NHS for the year ahead to enable them to begin their planning.
For the third year in a row, the national priorities in the operating framework remain the same, providing important stability. The five priorities continue to be:
- improving cleanliness and reducing healthcare associated infections;
- improving access through achievement of the 18-week referral to treatment pledge and improving access (including at evenings and weekends) to GP services;
- keeping adults and children well, improving their health and reducing health inequalities;
- improving patient experience, staff satisfaction, and engagement; and
- preparing to respond in a state of emergency such as an outbreak of pandemic flu, learning from our experience of swine flu.
Framework NHS 2010-2015: from good to great. Preventative, people-centred, productive (10th December 2009)Secretary of State Andy Burnham introduces a five-year plan to reshape the NHS to meet the challenge of delivering high quality health care in a tough financial environment. The report describes practical measures to meet the demands of an aging population and the increased prevalence of lifestyle diseases. The vision is for an NHS that is organised around patients whether at home, in a community setting or in hospital. There will be a renewed focus on prevention with the ambition of delivering cost-effective high quality care across the service.
Command Paper The Human Factor (November 2009)The National Health Service 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 Conservative Draft Manifesto 2010. Chapter One: Our reform plan for the NHS (4th January 2009)The Conservative party have set out their plans for healthcare if they win the election. Some of the main points are:
- NHS providers to become Foundation Trusts
- Patients to be in charge of own health records with ability to choose which providers they share them with
- GPs' to hold patients' budgets and commission are on their behalf
- Link GPs' pay to quality of results they deliver
- Create an independent NHS board to allocate resources to different parts of the country
- Turn the Department of Health into a Department of Public Health
- Provide separate public health funding to local authorities
Document
Interventional Procedures Guidance IPG322. Negative pressure wound therapy for the abdomen (16th December 2009)Emergency surgery for trauma or severe infection may lead to a wound being left open on the trunk. Such wounds may take many months to heal. Negative pressure wound therapy uses a dressing inserted against the bowel, tubing and suction a small vacuum unit to apply suction to the wound, with the aims of reducing healing time and simplifying wound management. The dressing may be left in place for days or weeks.
GuidanceInterventional Procedures Guidance IPG323. Balloon catheter insertion for Bartholin's cyst or abscess (16th December 2009)The Bartholin’s glands are at the entrance of the vagina. A cyst or abscess can form in the Bartholin’s duct (which drains the glands) if it becomes blocked or infected. Cysts are usually treated either by ‘incision and drainage’ or ‘marsupialisation’, which involves cutting into the cyst and placing stitches to make a permanent opening so that the gland can drain freely. Insertion of a balloon catheter is a non-surgical alternative to incision and drainage or marsupialisation.
GuidanceInterventional Procedures Guidance IPG324. Electrocautery cutting balloon treatment for pelviureteric junction obstruction (16th December 2009)Pelviureteric junction obstruction is a condition caused by a narrowing of the funnel-shaped part of the kidney (known as the renal pelvis) where urine collects before being carried to the bladder by tubes called ureters. The obstruction may cause episodes of loin pain and/or nausea and vomiting, urinary infections and kidney stones. In some patients the condition could also affect the normal function of the kidney.
This procedure (electrocautery cutting balloon treatment) aims to widen the renal pelvis by inserting a catheter with a balloon and wire into the urinary tract. The wire is used to cut away the tissue that is causing the obstruction.
GuidanceInterventional Procedures Guidance IPG325. Endopyelotomy for pelviureteric junction obstruction (16th December 2009)Pelviureteric junction obstruction is a condition caused by a narrowing of the funnel-shaped part of the kidney (known as the renal pelvis) where urine collects before being carried to the bladder by tubes called ureters. The obstruction may cause episodes of loin pain and/or nausea and vomiting, urinary infections and kidney stones. In some patients the condition could also affect the normal function of the kidney.
This procedure (endopyelotomy) aims to widen the renal pelvis by inserting small instruments either up through the urinary tract or down through the skin and into the kidney. The instruments are used to remove the tissue that is causing the obstruction by cutting or burning it away or by applying laser.
GuidanceInterventional Procedures Guidance IPG326. Laparoscopic augentation cystoplasty (including clam cystoplasty) (16th December 2009)An ‘overactive bladder’ or detrusor hyper-reflexia causes symptoms of urgent need to urinate, urge incontinence, frequent urination and waking at night to urinate. One of the causes is bladder muscle (detrusor) overactivity, in which the detrusor contracts unexpectedly during bladder filling. Laparoscopic augmentation cystoplasty (including clam cystoplasty) is reconstructive surgery to increase the size of the bladder and is done via small incisions. The procedure involves sewing or stapling a tissue graft from a section of the small intestine (ileum), colon or other substitutes to the urinary bladder.
GuidanceInterventional Procedures Guidance IPG327. Radiofrequency ablation for the treatment of colorectal liver metastases (16th December 2009)Colorectal cancer is a type of cancer that develops in the bowel (including the colon and rectum). In some patients, cancer cells could spread from the bowel to other parts of the body to form one or more ‘secondary tumours’, also known as ‘metastases’. For bowel cancer, most commonly secondary tumours occur in the liver.
Radiofrequency ablation uses heat to destroy cancer cells in the liver. It involves placing one or more electrodes into the tumour. The electrodes are used to heat the tumour with the aim of destroying it. Radiofrequency ablation can be applied through the skin or during surgery.
GuidanceInterventional Procedure Guidance IPG328. Suction diathermy adenoidectomy (16th December 2009)Adenoids are small lumps of lymphoid tissue at the back of the nose, which are part of the immune system. They are largest in young children and usually disappear by adulthood. An adenoidectomy is an operation to remove the adenoids if they become enlarged and are thought to be causing health problems such as ‘glue ear’. Suction diathermy adenoidectomy is a type of surgery to remove the adenoids using heat and suction.
GuidanceInterventional Procedures Guidance IPG329. Total prosthetic replacement of the temporomandibular joint (16th December 2009)The temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is formed by the temporal bone of the cranium (skull) and the lower jaw or mandible. Symptoms of degenerative disease in this joint include dysfunction or pain in the head, face, jaws, neck and shoulders. TMJ replacement involves substituting a prosthesis, usually metal-on-metal or metal-on-acrylic, for the TMJ. The procedure takes 2–3 hours and the patient is usually in hospital for a few days afterwards.
GuidanceInterventional Procedures Guidance IPG330. Vagus nerve stimulation for treatment - resistant depression (16th December 2009)Depression is associated with feelings of sadness, despair, helplessness, hopelessness and lack of interest in life. People with severe depression may be unable to eat or sleep or to take part in social activities, and they may become completely withdrawn. Vagus nerve stimulation aims to improve mood regulation and reduce depression by stimulating the nerve in the neck that carries signals to the brain areas involved. A generator implanted under the skin in the chest area is used to provide electrical stimulation to the nerve.
Guidance
A(H1N1) Swine Influenza: SocCon - end to national collection (18th December 2009)Letter from Roy Taylor regarding the national collection of SocCon data.
Letter A(H1N1) swine flu influenza: phase two of the vaccination programme; children over 6 months and under 5 years: dosage schedule update (December 2009)On 8 December, Health Secretary Andy Burnham announced that the swine flu vaccination programme would be extended to children between the ages of six months and five years. This age group was identified as the next priority group for the vaccine because they are more likely to be hospitalised if they fall ill with swine flu. The licence has been amended to allow a one dose schedule in children.
Letter
Swine flu vaccination: information for parents of children over six months and under five years old (15th December 2009)All children over six months and under five years of age are now being offered the swine flu vaccine. This leaflet has been developed to provide parents and carers with information about the vaccination.
Leaflet
Safer lithium therapy (7th December 2009)The National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) has published new guidance for NHS and independent healthcare organisations to improve the safety of lithium therapy.
The Patient Safety Alert calls on frontline services to ensure that patients who are prescribed lithium are monitored in accordance with the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines.
In addition, the Patient Safety Alert is calling on healthcare providers to ensure that:
There are reliable systems in place to make sure that the results of blood tests are communicated between laboratories and prescribers;
- At the start of lithium therapy, and throughout their treatment, patients receive appropriate ongoing verbal and written information and a record book to track lithium blood levels and relevant clinical tests;
- Prescribers and pharmacists check that blood tests are being monitored regularly and that it is safe to issue a repeat prescription or dispense the prescribed lithium;
- Systems are in place to identify and deal with medicines that might adversely interact with lithium therapy.
Press Release
Patient Information Pack
Payment by Results 2010-11 road test package (17th December 2009)The road test exercise provides an opportunity for the service to get used to the new tariff, and supports the planning process. The main focus of the road test this year is to gather comments on the draft guidance, which has been substantially revised and expanded.
Documents
Primary Care: Current Innovations (1st December 2009)A new report presents an overview of international developments in Primary Care at both country wide and service level. It describes some of the aims of the health policies of a range of countries in the developed world and provides examples of service shifts that have been implemented in order to meet the specific requirements and contextual factors of the country or service involved.
Report
Use of Resources Good Practice and Case Studies (17th December 2009)To help auditors and audited bodies identify good practice, the Audit Commission have published some case studies from the 2008/09 auditors' use of resources work.
Case Studies An overview of the new arrangements under Park IX of the Drug Tariff for the provision of stoma and urology appliances, and related services in primary care (22nd December 2009)The Department of Health have published guidance on the new arrangements, as announced in April 2009 following the Part IX Review for the NHS supply of certain appliances in primary care require changes to the NHS Pharmaceutical Service Regulations, Directions and amendments to the Drug Tariff.
The new regulations will come into effect on 1st April 2010 and a transitional period of nine months from 1 April 2010 gives pharmacies and appliance contractors sufficient time to ensure they are able to comply with the new terms of service by 31 December 2010.
Guidance Out of hours training for GP registrars (17th December 2009)Letter to PCTs Chief Executives regarding their responsibility to commission increased GP Out of Hours training.
Letter
PALS in prison: a toolkit and good practice guidance for implementing Patient Advice and Liaison Services in a secure setting (23rd December 2009)Toolkit and good practice guidance covering the implementation of the Patient Advice and Liaison Service in a secure setting. Designed to be read by commissioners and providers of healthcare in the criminal or youth justice sectors.
Toolkit Get out of jail BBV free! (18th December 2009)Leaflet on bloodborne viruses for use in prisons.
Leaflet
