January flu fighter competition open for entries 
Flu fighter are looking for the trust who best used communication in their flu fighting campaign

Safe, sustainable and productive staffing: an improvement resource for adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals – NHS Improvement
This guidance aims to help standardise staffing decisions in adult inpatient wards in acute hospitals. This resource is based on the National Quality Board’s expectations opens in a new window that to ensure safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care, trusts will employ the right staff with the right skills in the right place and at the right time. The closing date for comments on the draft guidance is 3 February 2017.

Suicide among health-care workers: time to act – The Lancet Editorial
In the UK, physician burnout—typified by emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and a sense of reduced personal accomplishment—has reached epidemic proportions, according to an article published in The Lancet in September, 2016. Implications of burnout are serious, not only for patients as preventable medical errors become increasingly inevitable, but also for the mental wellbeing of the individuals providing care with increases in burnout associated with suicidal ideation. The rate of depressive disorders among health-care workers compared with the general population is alarming and is an issue that spans the medical profession.

Commissioning for Value packs: STP footprint areas
NHS Right Care has now published the Commissioning for Value packs at Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) footprint level.  Commissioning for Value: where to look packs include aggregate data at STP level for all the CCGs that make up an STP footprint. These STP packs contain newer data than the published CCG packs for some areas where updated data has been made available since publication.

CCGs paying millions to firms that delay GP referrals – NHE
CCGs are paying millions to private organisations that can stop patients being referred to hospital by their GPs, an investigation has found. ‘Referral management centres’ are being used by some CCGs to scrutinise GP referrals of patients to hospitals, with some criticising that they risk delays in diagnosis.

Research and analysis: Winter health watch summary: 5 January 2017 – Public Health England 
Summary for the week including 5 January 2017.

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

• Outperforming trusts could get ‘preferential access’ to capital 
  Regulators are seeking to give “preferential access” to capital funding to NHS trusts able to better their financial targets in 2016-17, HSJ has learned.
• Bidders sought for £190m NHS procurement services  
  Ten national contracts for the provision of procurement services have been advertised by the Department of Health.
• National maternity lead aims to double midwife-led births share by 2020  
  The national lead for maternity has said her local health system will look to more than double its rate of midwife led births by 2020 but suggested it would see a decrease in standalone unit births.
• CCGs secure block contracts worth £1.5bn  
  Commissioners in Merseyside have agreed block contracts with six NHS trusts over the next two years, which will be worth a combined total of £1.5bn.
• New ‘bridging’ role could follow nursing associates  
  Another new role that combines nursing and therapy skills could be explored by Health Education England, once nursing associates are fully established, its chief executive has said.
• Trusts in mix for millions in digital funding
  Fourteen mental health trusts are vying to secure up to £5m of central funding as part of the digital exemplars programme, HSJ understands.
• Chief of new patient safety body calls for more powers  
  The head of the NHS’s new patient safety watchdog has said it needs statutory independence and extra powers to demand that NHS organisations respond to its warnings.
• NHS England withdraws funding for lifesaving transplants  
  Patients with blood cancers are being denied lifesaving transplants under new NHS England funding rules, despite these surgeries being “routinely” funded prior to 2013.
• NHS has ‘nothing to fear’ from new investigation body, says chief  
  The head of the NHS’s new patient safety watchdog has said it needs statutory independence and extra powers to demand that NHS organisations respond to its warnings.