Supporting The Role Of The Chief Operating Officer – Monitor
Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority surveyed COOs in the NHS to find out more about what the role entails. This report provides a summary of the survey findings. The main aim of the survey was to gain insight into: characteristics of today’s COOs, including their motivations for taking on the role; challenges they face; and support they have and additional support they would find helpful.

Health Care Providers Need a Value Management Office – Harvard Business Review
Many health care organizations today are striving to deliver better patient outcomes at lower cost and to be rewarded for accomplishing both. Most have begun this journey with pilot projects to obtain valid measures of outcomes and cost for one or two medical conditions. They implement process improvement and standardize care pathways from a patient’s initial office visit through all aspects of treating the condition, and then explore offering new value-based payment models, including bundled payments, for those conditions. To accelerate the dissemination and adoption of this value agenda for many more medical conditions, leaders should now consider establishing a new central office to oversee the creation of all the capabilities and information for such initiatives.

RCN responds to report on patient satisfaction and non-UK educated nurses – Royal College of Nursing
RCN response to a new report suggesting a link between lower patient satisfaction and non-UK educated nurses.

Push for private sector to tackle endoscopy backlog delayed – Health Service Journal
NHS providers’ attempts to deal with an endoscopy backlog by putting work out to the independent sector have been hampered by accreditation issues.  NHS England papers, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, show that some of the private providers the NHS would like to transfer procedures to have not been fully approved by the Joint Advisory Group for Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. The group is responsible for setting and maintaining professional standards for endoscopy and is hosted by the Royal College of Physicians.

• Accreditation issues slow the take-up of independent sector endoscopy services
• Mobile private capacity could be used in areas where there is no existing capacity
• Five trusts responsible for four-fifths of long waiters, latest quarterly data shows

Contact the Library & Knowledge Service to request this article in full or Phn. 01704 704202

Sentinel Stroke National Audit
The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme has published two reports: 

• Is stroke care improving? the second SSNAP annual report– highlights that despite steady progress in stroke care, further work needs to be done to ensure that patients have access to key interventions and assessments when they are admitted to hospital
• Post acute organisational audit– presents the findings on the organisation of care for stroke survivors once they leave hospital.  The audit highlights the number and location of post-acute stroke services across the UK and outlines what a patient might expect in accessing these services.

NICE guidance: type 2 diabetes management
NICE has published Type 2 diabetes in adults: management (NG28). This guideline covers the care and management of type 2 diabetes in adults (aged 18 and over). It focuses on patient education, dietary advice, managing cardiovascular risk, managing blood glucose levels, and identifying and managing long-term complications.

NICE advice
Evidence summary: new medicine:

• Diabetes mellitus type 1 and type 2: insulin glargine biosimilar (Abasaglar)  (ESNM64)
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus in adults: high-strength insulin glargine 300 units/ml (Toujeo) (ESNM65)

Impact of different diagnostic technologies for MRSA admission screening in hospitals – a decision tree analysis – Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control
Background: Hospital infections with multiresistant bacteria, e.g., Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), cause heavy financial burden worldwide. Rapid and precise identification of MRSA carriage in combination with targeted hygienic management are proven to be effective but incur relevant extra costs. Therefore, health care providers have to decide which MRSA screening strategy and which diagnostic technology should be applied according to economic criteria.AimThe aim of this study was to determine which MRSA admission screening and infection control management strategy causes the lowest expected cost for a hospital. Focus was set on the Point-of-Care Testing (PoC). Methods: A decision tree analytic cost model was developed, primarily based on data from peer-reviewed literature. In addition, univariate sensitivity analyses of the different input parameters were conducted to study the robustness of the results.FindingsIn the basic analysis, risk-based PoC screening showed the highest mean cost savings with 14.98 € per admission in comparison to no screening. Rapid universal screening methods became favorable at high MRSA prevalence, while in situations with low MRSA transmission rates omission of screening may be favorable. Conclusion: Early detection of MRSA by rapid PoC or PCR technologies and consistent implementation of appropriate hygienic measures lead to high economic efficiency of MRSA management. Whether general or targeted screening is more efficient depends mainly on epidemiological and infrastructural parameters.

IDoOD bulletin – NHS Employers
This month’s edition of the iDoOD bulletin rounds up all the latest news about OD in the NHS, blogs from practitioners in the field and opportunities to get involved and shape the development of OD in the NHS.

• Read John Hovell’s blog on a new culture of OD and knowledge management. John discusses the similarities between knowledge management and OD and their opportunity to partner for success.
• Find out how you can get involved in the pilot of Think Club, our new virtual book club.
• We celebrate one year of the Culture Change Tool and App and ask you how we can develop it for further.
• Jamie Parker, from NHS Blood and Transplant, is our superstar of the month and tells us what inspires him and his top reads for OD practitioners.
• The NHS Leadership Academy announce their Elizabeth Garrett Anderson graduation results.
• Don’t miss out on your chance to attend our OD evaluation event

The Edge website launch – NHS Employers
A place for fresh thought and innovation. A place for shared knowledge. A place for shared learning. A place for shared experience. A place for new connections. A hub for a new community. It’s more than a platform for better health and care. It’s a platform for change.