Evaluation of an intervention to prevent falls – RAND Corporation
This report, commissioned by the US Government, evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention designed to prevent falls in the elderly, with a particular focus on fall-related injuries and on health care costs. The researchers concluded that the intervention did not have a substantial effect on health care costs. Although they did not find evidence that the intervention reduced A&E visits for fall-related injuries, they cautioned that the study was underpowered for this outcome and that a clinically meaningful effect could have gone undetected.

Doctors low morale ‘puts patients at risk’
The General Medical Council (GMC) has published The state of medical education and practice in the UK report: 2016. The report sets out an overview of issues that feature prominently in healthcare, after a prolonged period of upheaval in the sector, with growing service and financial pressures. Many doctors are feeling the pressure, a need to be supported at all levels, and this has an impact on professional standards and their own well-being. The level of dissatisfaction among doctors seems to be higher than ever before.

Consent: supported decision-making: a guide to good practice – Royal College of Surgeons
Traditionally clinical practice in the NHS has considered that it is up to doctors to decide what risks to communicate to patients. Recent case law has changed and doctors are now obliged to ensure that patients are aware of any and all risks that an individual patient might consider significant. This guidance is aimed at doctors and surgeons to help them understand this shift in the law, as well as giving them the tools to assist in improving their practice.

UNISON evidence to NHS Pay Review Body 2017-18 – UNISON
This submission of evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body outlines the findings of UNISON’s annual pay survey which seeks the views, experiences and strength of feeling on pay across NHS staff in the UK. This year’s survey received over 21,000 responses and the results highlighted the increased pressures on personal finances with 67 per cent of respondents reporting that they have had to seek financial help from friends and family or make substantial changes to their living standards within the past year.

Towards improved decision support in the assessment and management of pain for people with dementia in hospital: a systematic meta-review and observational study –  National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
Pain and dementia are common in older people, and impaired cognitive abilities make it difficult for them to communicate their pain. Accurate pain assessment in this vulnerable group is challenging for hospital staff, but essential for appropriate management. This study reviews the literature and explores staff and carer views to identify robust methods for identifying, assessing and managing pain.

Patient-level information and costing systems (PLICSs): a mixed-methods study of current practice and future potential for the NHS health economy –  National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
Traditionally, the cost object in health care has been either a service line (e.g. orthopaedics) or a clinical intervention (e.g. hip replacement). In the mid-2000s, the Department of Health recommended that in the future the patient should be the cost object, to enable a better analysis of cost drivers in health care, resulting in PLICSs. Monitor proposes that PLICS data will now form the basis for mandatory prices for health-care services across all care settings. This study aimed to explore the current use of PLICSs and the potential for future use of PLICSs in commissioning.

Child screening for inherited premature cardiovascular disease
In an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, a team from Queen Mary University of London suggest toddlers should be screened for an inherited form of heart diseasewhen they have their routine jabs. The team checked 10,000 one-year-olds for familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH). FH is the main cause of early heart disease. If people with it do not take statins to lower their cholesterol, they have a 10-fold increased risk of a heart attack before the age of 40.

NICE guidance quality and productivity case study
NICE has published Community triage for lower limb vascular concerns: reducing the burden on hospitals. This is a case study from Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust. Previously patients were referred to the hospital vascular surgery team, but 80% did not need surgery and were subsequently referred to community exercise schemes. GPs now refer patients with symptoms of severe limb ischaemia straight to hospital, rather than to the community triage service.

Prevalence of conditions across England
NHS Digital has published Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) – Prevalence, Achievements and Exceptions Report, England 2015-16. The report provides information on the prevalence of 21 conditions, including heart disease, hypertension, dementia, diabetes, and depression. It also identifies how the prevalence of these conditions has changed since the previous year. Prevalence data on these conditions can be broken down sub-nationally to regional and general practice level.

Benefits of a refer a friend scheme
NHS Employers has published Strategic Reward and Recruitment – things to consider when designing a refer a friend scheme. Refer a friend schemes can be a useful tool to help meet workforce challenges, such as recruiting to hard to fill posts, increasing staff retention and reducing recruitment times and costs.

HSJ roundup: (contact the library for further details on any of these HSJ articles)

• New capital funding regime for STPs
  NHS organisations that sell surplus land may be able to retain the capital receipts generated to invest in new services, rather than surrender them to central government.
• Simon Stevens hits back at ‘NHS first’ criticism
  NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has hit back at local government criticism that the 44 sustainability and transformation plans have been forced to take an “NHS first” approach.
• New plan for troubled trust assumes £37m financial improvement
  An NHS trust in financial special measures is now planning to deliver £37m of financial improvements by the end of the financial year.
• New CCG ratings: 75 per cent failing on maternity care
  Almost 75 per cent of clinical commissioning groups are failing to provide the expected standards of maternity care in England, new NHS England ratings show.
• More than half of CCGs ‘need to improve mental health services’
  More than half the country’s clinical commissioning groups need to improve local mental health services according to new ratings released by NHS England today.
• Minister criticises regulator for ‘encouraging’ local trust takeover
  A government minister has claimed his local hospital trust is about to be taken over, and accused NHS Improvement of arranging the deal without properly consulting patients or staff.
• Deficit forecast quadruples at financial special measures trust
  A leading teaching hospital is forecasting a £60m deficit this financial year – nearly four times its control total.
• Survey: Doctors worried over ability to provide safe care
  Anaesthetists working in hospitals across the NHS have said a lack of qualified staff, inadequate facilities and equipment, and poor morale is affecting their ability to provide safe patient care.
• New pay cap for interim managers revealed
  NHS trusts will have to obtain formal approval from NHS Improvement to employ interim managers on rates of more than £750 a day, under new rules set out by regulators.