News Bulletin for Friday 14th March
ESR to host Disclosure and Barring Service webinar
The Electronic Staff Record (ESR) NHS Central Team will be hosting a Disclosure and Barring Service familiarisation & implementation webinar on 3 April 2014.
NHS England has developed some bite-size guides to support patient and public participation in the NHS. These guides are linked to the Transforming participation in Health and Social Care guidance (published September 2013). The guides have been developed with partners and by reviewing good practice in each area. They aim to support Clinical Commissioning Groups and others to plan and deliver good patient and public participation. You can access the guides via the following links:
- Bite-size guide 1 – Principles for Participation in Commissioning
- Bite-size guide 2 – Governance for Participation
- Bite-size guide 3 – Planning for Participation
- Bite-size guide 4 – Budgeting for Participation
Adult social care in England: an overview
This report highlights the main risks and challenges as the adult social care system changes radically. It argues that the government does not know if the limits of the capacity of the care system to continue to absorb pressures are being approached and warns that major changes to the system to improve outcomes and reduce costs will be challenging to achieve.
Next steps for the NHS Constitution: recommendations by the Expert Advisory Group to the NHS constitution
The Expert Advisory Group to the NHS Constitution has made 10 recommendations to the department and national and local organisations in the health system to increase the impact of the NHS Constitution. The report recommends several ways to bring the NHS Constitution to life and ensure it is a practical tool for patients.
Joint report on commissioning obesity services published from NHS England
A report recommending greater clarity around how obesity care in England is commissioned in the future has been published – Report of the working group into: Joined up clinical pathways for obesity.
Guidance aims to promote health and reduce inequalities Public Health England has welcomed the Department for Communities and Local Government’s newly published National Planning Practice Guidance which recognises the importance of local infrastructure planning in the development of healthy communities. This guidance sets out the government’s planning policies for England and how these are expected to be applied by local authorities. A significant development in the guidance is the recognition of the important role the planning system can play in facilitating social interaction and creating healthy, inclusive communities.
Unit costs of health and social care The Department of Health and the Personal Social Services Research Unit have published the details of unit costs for a wide range of health and social care services in England for the period 2013. The report is based in economic theory (long run marginal opportunity cost) and includes detailed references, relevant short articles and commentaries.
Eyes on Evidence March’s edition of Eyes on Evidence has been published by NICE. It includes the following items: Blood oxygen levels in preterm infants Premature mortality in people with epilepsy Oral contraceptive pills in preventing ovarian cancer Tamsulosin for benign prostatic hyperplasia and risk of severe hypotension Socioeconomic disadvantage and onset of disabling chronic conditions in childhood Evidence updates
Nutrition and Hydration Week NHS England is supporting a national campaign to raise awareness of the importance of good nutrition and hydration in all health and social care settings. Nutrition and Hydration Week, which starts on Monday 17 March, is a week of action to improve awareness and understanding of the significance of good nutrition and hydration in health and social care environments.
Health and Wellbeing System Improvement Programme The Local Government Association has published The health and wellbeing system improvement programme and partnership prospectus. The programme provides a single support and improvement offer for health and wellbeing boards (HWBs) and their partners. Funded by the Department of Health, it complements the work of a host of key partners in the sector.
Health Statistics Quarterly Epidemiological Commentary – Mandatory MRSA, MSSA and Escherichia coli bacteraemia and Clostridium difficile infection data up to October – December 2013 Provisional Monthly Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in England – April 2012 to March 2013 – March 2014 Release Provisional Monthly Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in England – April 2013 to October 2013
Perspectives on context: successful quality improvement
The Health Foundation has published Perspectives on context: a selection of essays considering the role of context in successful quality improvement. The essays discuss the following questions: how do you define and frame context?; what do you see as the key conceptual and empirical literature in the field?; and how would you identify the main unanswered questions about context and improvement?