NICE evidence summaries: new medicines
NICE has published two new medicines evidence summaries providing a summary of the published evidence for selected new medicines, or for existing medicines with new indications or formulations, that are considered to be of significance to the NHS.  The strengths and weaknesses of the relevant evidence are critically reviewed within the summary, but the summaries are not formal NICE guidance.  The two summaries are:

• Hyperphosphataemia in adults with chronic kidney disease on dialysis: sucroferric oxyhydroxide (ESNM51)
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: umeclidinium inhaler (Incruse) (ESNM52)

NICE Bites: Pneumonia
The January 2015 NICE Bites bulletin from the North West Medicines Information Service covers Pneumonia NICE CG191: 2014. It covers the diagnosis and management of community- and hospital-acquired pneumonia in adults.

NHS consortium challenges NHS England £80m contract decision – Health Service Journal
A consortium of NHS trusts have lodged a formal challenge against NHS England following its decision to hand a 10 year, £80m contract for PET CT scanning to independent company Alliance Medical.

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Walk-in centres reduce demand on A&Es, research suggests – Health Service Journal 
Walk-in centres could reduce attendances to accident and emergency departments by up to a fifth, according to new research by an academic at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

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Better Training Better Care evaluation reports published – NHS Employers 
Health Education England has published two evaluation reports of Better Training Better Care.

NHS England to probe costs of seven day services – Health Service Journal
Financial consultancy firm Deloitte has been commissioned by NHS England to examine the cost implications of expanding NHS services across seven days, HSJ has learned.

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Information: to share or not to share – Department of Health
This is the first annual report of the Independent Information Governance Oversight Panel, chaired by Dame Fiona Caldicott and set up by the Secretary of State for Health in November 2013. It looks at whether health and social care organisations are sharing information wisely and preventing improper disclosure of personal data. It shows evidence of pockets of exemplary practice but the overall picture is of a need for improvement. It concludes that a basic condition for building public trust is a commitment to more transparency about how data is collected, stored and used.

The invisible patients: revealing the state of neurology services – The Neurological Alliance
This report brings together the findings of the Neurological Alliance’s inaugural quality of commissioning audit and neurological patient experience survey and identifies significant variation in the quality of the commissioning of neurological services among CCGs. In response, it sets out a number of recommendations.

Developing musculoskeletal networks
The NHS Confederation and the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance have jointly published a musculoskeletal (MSK) resource pack.  Developing MSK Networks provides commissioners of MSK services with a framework for planning and developing a local MSK network, and signposts to a wider range of additional materials which may be useful as they undertake this task.  The pack is in a pilot phase until March 2015 and comments on the pack are welcomed.

Ambulance call handling pilots
Two new pilots which aim to reduce wasted ambulance journeys and improve the quality of care for all patients contacting 999 have been announced.  Clinical experts believe extending the call handling time by 120 second for non-life threatening calls will reduce the number of double dispatches, freeing up more ambulances to respond to more patients, and will also allow the 999 response to be more accurately targeted to patient need, improving the service as a whole.  The two pilots are proposed as London and South Western Ambulance Service.  It is anticipated the first pilot will start in February.

What’s going on in A&E?
The King’s Fund has added a page to their website providing answers to key questions relating to What’s going on in A&E?   Questions include: have A&E waiting times risen dramatically; has the number of people going to A&E increased;  do more patients needed to be admitted to a hospital bed from A&E; and is the increase in A&E attendances mainly a result of people going to A&E when they should go somewhere else?

Mental Health Act 1983: code of practice
The Department of Health has published Mental Health Act 1983: code of practice.   This revised code shows professionals how to carry out their responsibilities under the Mental Health Act 1983 and guides patients, their families and carers on their rights.   Following a consultation, the code was revised to take account of stakeholders’ views, and reflects changes in legislation, case law, policy and professional practice since its last revision in 2008. The code of practice will come into force on 1 April 2015, subject to Parliamentary approval.

NICE consultations

Accident and emergency settings consultation; guidelines consultations.  Closing date for comments: 12 February 2015.  Additional link: NICE press release
Occupational therapy and physical activity interventions to promote the mental wellbeing of older people in primary care and residential care: Review 2 – January 2015.  Closing date for comments: 2 February 2015.
Increasing the updated of HIV testing among people at higher risk of exposure: scope consultation.  Closing date for comments: 10 February 2015.
Bacterial meningitis and meningococcal septicaemia: surveillance review proposal.  Closing date for comments: 23 January 2015.