News Bulletin for Thursday 27th February
NICE guidance – February 2014
- Arthritis of the hip (end stage) – hip replacement (total) and resurfacing arthroplasty – Technology Appraisal (TA304)
- Macular oedema (central retinal vein occlusion) – aflibercept solution for injection – Technology Appraisal (TA305)
- Lymphoma (non Hodgkin’s, relapsed, refractory) – pixantrone monotherapy – Technology Appraisal (TA306)
- Domestic violence and abuse – how services can respond effectively – Public Health Guidance (PH50)
- Electrochemotherapy for primary basal cell carcinoma and primary squamous cell carcinoma – Interventional Procedure (IPG478)
- Subcutaneous implantation of a battery-powered catheter drainage system for managing refractory and recurrent ascites – Interventional Procedure (IPG479)
- Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy for primary facial blushing – Interventional Procedure (IPG480)
- Optical coherence tomography to guide percutaneous coronary intervention – Interventional Procedure (IPG481)
Performance of the Foundation Trust sector
Monitor’s latest quarterly reportfor October to December 2013 shows foundation trusts are coping with winter pressures, as fewer missed the four hour A&E waiting time target than at the same period last year (28 compared to 32). Foundation trusts have also met performance standards for all three elective waiting time targets. However more trusts breached the targets than both last quarter and the same period last year. There has also been an increase in the number of trusts breaching the target for cancer patients to start treatment within 62 days of referral by a GP.
Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Special Administration
The Secretary of State for Health has set out his decision with regard to the recommendations for Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. In his statement, he supports the actions recommended by the Trust Special Administrators (TSAs); that Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust is dissolved, and that Stafford and Cannock Chase Hospitals are operated by other local providers. The TSAs have proposed a clinical model for the services currently provided by the trust. This will allow the majority of patient visits, approximately 90%, to continue to take place at Stafford and Cannock hospitals. The TSA’s recommendations will mean moving a small number of services away from Stafford hospital.
Commissioning the conditions for safer surgery
This report makes a series of recommendations for new standards and systems to further improve the safety of surgery in English hospitals. The main recommendations of the report cover three themes: standardise, educate and harmonise. In response, NHS England has committed to identifying practical ways to take forward the report’s recommendations to eradicate never events from surgical procedures.
New steps towards eradicating never events
A new report sets out a number of recommendations on how ‘never events’ can be eliminated from NHS surgery. To summarise the report, the recommendations focus on three themes:
- Standardise – The development of national standards of operating department practice that will support all providers of NHS funded care to develop and maintain their own, more detailed, standardised local procedures. The report also recommends the establishment of an Independent Surgical Investigation Panel to externally review selected serious incidents;
- Educate – Consistency in training and education of all staff in operating theatres, development of a range of multimedia tools to support implementation of standards and support for surgical safety training including human factors; and
- Harmonise – Consistency in reporting and publishing of data on serious incidents, dissemination of learning from serious incidents and concordance with local and national standards taken into account through regulation.
UK Strategy for Rare Diseases
The UK Strategy for Rare Diseases was published by the Department of Health in November 2013, and all four devolved nations are due to respond with their plans for implementation, ahead of Rare Diseases Day on 28th February 2014. NHS England has published details setting out how it will play its part in delivering commitments set out in the Strategy.
Open consultation: Ill-treatment or willful neglect in health and social care
As part of the response to the Francis Report, the government accepted the recommendation of the National Advisory Group on the Safety of Patients in England to develop a new criminal offence of ill-treatment or willful neglect. This consultation outlines the recommendation and the government’s current position, and sets out our proposals for the details of the offence.
Mitochondrial donation consultation launched
The Government today launched a consultation on draft regulations for the use of new techniques to prevent mothers passing on serious mitochondrial diseases to their children.