Analysis from the Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation looks at patterns of A&E activity, the nature of the increased demand and what has driven waiting times upwards.

Podcast on the importance of being “absurdly selective” in how we use our time.

Stretch goals are ones which seem impossible at the time. This article explains vertical their pros and cons and practical tips on implementing within a team.

This article looks at how to keep the team happy and effective, by determining they have the appropriate support to do their job. It considers questions to ask, provision of managerial and emotional support, health and safety and equipment requirements.

This considers how the experience of making progress of work is something which is personally meaningful. It looks at how as a leader you can use this to better understand what motivates and drives an individual. With this information you can use coaching techniques such as deep listening and asking the correct questions to create and sustain a developmental alliance, move forward positively and create accountability.

Looks at how to create more innovation within large organisations. It offers a four steps to help manage entrepreneurs within large organisations to help assess desire and how much you are willing to commit. Then help to identifies how to work out who to ‘bring along’ and how act on the action.

Blog post by Steve Fairman, Managing Director of NHS Improving Quality

Today’s NHS is facing almost unprecedented challenges. Demand for services continues to grow while resources are under greater pressure than ever. It is clear that we can only square this circle by changing the way we do things. And that is exactly what NHS Improving Quality’s new White Paper offers.

Health Foundation directors were asked to write about what they think the key issues are facing the health service over the coming months and years. The result? A collection of blog posts discussing the challenges to achieving health care quality against a backdrop of constrained budgets and rising demand. But it’s not all doom and gloom: they also give their views on what can be done by those in health care practice and policy to maintain and improve quality for patients across the UK.

This guidance is designed to help ensure safe and efficient nurse staffing levels on hospital wards that provide overnight care for adult patients in England and is in response to concerns about standards of patient care following the Mid-Staffs inquiry. The guidance committee concluded that when each registered nurse is caring for more than 8 patients this is a signal to check that patients are not at risk of harm. At this point senior management and nursing managers should closely monitor red flag events, analyse safe nursing indicator data and take action if required. No action may be required if patient needs are being adequately met.

Finds enhanced recovery programmes have been adopted with some enthusiasm by the NHS as a means to achieving productivity gains and cost-savings. The evidence base to support such widespread implementation is limited, but does suggest possible benefits in terms of reducing length of hospital stay by 0.5–3.5 days compared with conventional care, without compromising postoperative complications, readmissions or patient outcomes. Enhanced recovery programmes are complex interventions and the most effective combination of elements requires further clarification.