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 The main focus of the road test this year is to gather comments on the draft guidance, which has been substantially revised and expanded.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
Transfer of commissioning and funding of social care for adults with learning disabilities from the NHS to local Government: final returns for 2009/10 by 15 January 2010 (17th December 2009)From April 2009, funding and commissioning of social care for adults with learning disabilities transferred from the NHS to local authorities. The Department of Health have produced two letters, one for commissioners in primary care trusts and local authorities and one for strategic health authorities and deputy regional directors of social care, which gives further guidance.
Letters
The Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group (TPIAG): Sixth Annual Report 2008/09 (15th December 2009)The Teenage Pregnancy Independent Advisory Group (TPIAG) monitors the implementation of the Government’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy and advises ministers.
This is TPIAG’s sixth annual report. It contains recommendations to accelerate and progress the Teenage Pregnancy
Strategy which has two strands:
- To halve the number of under-18 conceptions by 2010 (and to establish a firm downward trend in the rate of under-16 conceptions)
- To increase the participation of young mothers aged 16-19 in education, employment and training to reduce the risk of long-term social exclusion, with a target of 60% participation by 2010.
Report
Developing psychosocial resilience: how to cope in a crisis (16th December 2009)This guidance provides a stepped model of care for staff that is sensitive and responsive to their needs before, during and after emergencies. It will ensure that staff are prepared to cope with long-sustained demand.
Guidance A guide to the implications of the European Working Time Directive for doctors in training (15th December 2009)This document provides clarity on the European Working Time Directive (EWTD) by giving guidance using the views of experts who have already considered most issues arising from the EWTD, implemented in the UK as the Working Time Directive Regulations 1998/the Working Time Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1998 and subsequent amendments. Where a definition already exists by statute or regulation, this is noted; but in other situations a consensus view is given.
Document
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.
Personal Care at Home Bill 2009-10 (25th November 2009)This Bill was presented to Parliament today. The Bill will provide for those with the greatest care needs to be offered free personal care at home.
Bill
The Hospital Guide 2009 (29th November 2009)The Hospital Guide highlights some dramatic improvements in the NHS but also serious concern about the variations between hospitals. This year’s Hospital guide focuses on safety and previews Dr Foster quality accounts.
Publication
Understanding college students' alcohol-related social norms in Sefton: Interim Findings (30th November 2009)This report builds on previous research conducted in schools in Sefton into social drinking norms in young people.
The survey results showed that 97.3% of respondents had consumed alcohol. Their motivations to drink alcohol were:
- pressure from friends (12.4%)
- celebrate special occasions (95%)
- it was fun (79%)
- to get drunk (62%)
- to cheer themselves up (49%)
- to feel more confident (44%)
- to forget their worries (30%)
Report Lancashire: Brief Intervention Online Training Evaluation - Final Report (30th November 2009)This report, by Centre for Public Health, evaluates the online training programme that NHS Central Lancashire commissioned DeltaNet International Limited to construct, on the theory and practice of delivering brief interventions (BIs) that aimed to reach a wide audience.
The two central recommendations are:
Commissioners and/or DeltaNet International Limited should examine the IT systems used to house the program and make recommendations to the participants regarding the technical specifications of equipment and basic computing skills required.
Commissioners should examine whether the profile of the participants who took part matched the intended target audience as many participants found the material basic.
ReportImpact of Alcohol in Greater Manchester, quarter one: September 2009/10 (30th November 2009)This report identifies available alcohol intelligence from across Greater Manchester. The data are separated into six categories:
consumption
health related impacts of alcohol
crime
young people, and
examples of interventions to tackle excessive alcohol consumption
Report Why do people drink at home? An exploration of the perceptions of adult home consumption practice (November 2009)The first Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England (The Prime Ministers Strategy Unit 2004) made no mention of the challenges posed by drinking away from licensed premises. However the most recent strategy (Home Office 2007) recognises that home drinkers do present a significant health burden.
This report uses a qualitative methodology to examine some of the reasons put forward by male and female participants age range 15-75 for drinking away from licensed premises. The authors are defining an adult as 16 and above. This is the age when it is legal to drink alcohol accompanied by a meal.
Final Report
Related Insight No. 68
DH International annual report 2008-09 (3rd December 2009)DH International is the specialist team supporting health initiatives overseas, working in partnership with all major stakeholders. DH International sits within the Department of Health's International Division, which has overall responsibility for the strategic direction of the Department's global and EU business.
Annual Report Cancer reform strategy: achieving local implementation - second annual report (1st December 2009)In the second annual report of the Cancer Reform Strategy, Professor Mike Richards, the National Cancer Director, sets out the progress made in implementing the strategy since its publication in December 2007. As with the first annual report, this report covers a wide range of actions that were set out in the strategy, highlighting areas of particular progress and setting out a range of priorities for the future. This report also provides detailed information on meeting local progress, especially regarding standards which should now have been met.
Annual Report
Emergency planning: development of an integrated plan for the management of blood shortages (25th November 2009)This paper updates the integrated plan for blood shortages released in 2004 and the NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) external document ESD/PCS/HL/001/012 released in January 2005. The original plan was prepared by the Chief Medical Officers National Blood Transfusion Committees (NBTC) subgroup on contingency planning, and lists actions to be taken by both NHSBT, then the National Blood Service, and hospitals in the event of a potential or actual red cell shortage.
Paper
Performance judgements for adult social services (3rd December 2009)The Care Quality Commission has praised improvements in adult social care but called for a renewed effort to eliminate poor quality services.
The main findings are:
- 95% of local authorities are performing either excellently or well in their commissioning of adult social care (compared to 87% in the previous year).
- One quarter of councils are rated only adequate in terms of giving people choice and control over their care.
- A third of councils must do more to care for people with dignity and respect.
- 77% of care homes, home care agencies, nursing agencies and shared lives schemes are rated excellent or good (compared to 69% in 2008).
- Around 400 regulated adult social care services are rated as poor and 3,500 as adequate.
- In care homes for older people, a fifth fail to meet the standard on social contact and activities.
Reports Guidance on meeting new essential standards of quality and safety (8th December 2009)The Care Quality Commission is today launching guidance for all health and adult social care providers on meeting new essential standards of quality and safety that will apply across the care sector.
Providers must show they are meeting essential standards as part of a new registration system which focuses on people rather than policies, on outcomes rather than systems.
Guidance
Oneplace for an independent overview of local public services (9th December 2009)A new website for Comprehensive Area Assessment has been launched. Oneplace is for those who pay for local services, those who provide them and those who use them.
Resource
