Accountability in STPs
The Nuffield Trust has published A two-way street: what can CCGs teach us about accountability in STPs?   This report explores the accountability and performance management arrangements for CCGs and looks at the implications of these for STPs and accountable care systems.  It is based on 13 interviews with senior CCG leaders and NHS England policy makers which took place in September 2016.

Does hospital competition improve efficiency?
The Centre for Health Economics has published Does hospital competition improve efficiency? The effect of the patient choice reform in England.  This report examines whether the introduction of patient choice of hospital has resulted in greater efficiency by stimulating hospital competition.  The results show that competition has had mixed effects on efficiency.  Greater competition encourages hospitals to increase efficiency by increasing admissions per bed and proportion of day cases, and by reducing the proportion of untouched meals.  However, hospitals appear less efficient in terms of cancelled elective operations.

NIHR Signals
The National Institute for Health Research has published new Signals containing summaries of published research for health and social care decision makers:

• Aspirin reduces a woman’s chance of developing pre-eclampsia in pregnancy
• Pilocarpine improves dry mouth caused by radiotherapy
• A commonly used treatment does not improve chronic low back pain
• Being overweight or obese is linked with heart disease even without other metabolic risk factors
• Breathing exercises improve asthma and can be learned by DVD
• Checklists are no substitute for experience in spotting patients who are deteriorating
• Uncertain benefit of adding amisulpiride to clozapine for treatment-resistant schizophrenia
• Using a ‘telephone first’ approach may increase the total time GPs spend consulting

Mergers and acquisitions
The Healthcare Financial Management Association has published Combining NHS bodies – a practical checklist for mergers and acquisitions.  This checklist is intended to be used once the decision has been made for a reorganisation even if finer details have still to be agreed.  It includes corporate governance, internal control, financial management, staffing, information and communications and reorganisation costs.

Funding for contraception services
The Advisory Group on Contraception has published Cuts, closers and contraception: an audit of local contraceptive services.  This report presents the results from a Freedom of Information request to all upper and unitary tier local authorities.  It shows local authority contraception budgets are being cut and contraceptive care services have closed or are under threat in more than one third of English local councils since 2015.

NICE guidance

Evidence Summary

 Diagnostics guidance

 Medtech Innovation Briefings

 Technology Appraisal Guidance

EU doctor survey 2017
The British Medical Association has published the results of the EU doctor survey 2017.  The results show that nearly half of all EU doctors working in the UK are considering leaving the UK, with almost one in five having solid plans to relocate elsewhere.  The BMA has also published a briefing Workforce and future immigration policy which calls on the government to implement a flexible immigration system.

Experts by Experience procurement
The Care Quality Commission has launched a consultation Experts by Experience procurement.  They are gathering views on the future role of their Experts by Experience programme which is due to be competitively re-tendered for delivery from 2019.  Experts by Experience are people who have personal experience of the services the CQC regulates, either directly or as carers.

Statistics

• Out of area placements in mental health services – September 2017
• Mixed sex accommodation breaches – October 2017
• NHS Outcomes Framework Indicators – November 2017
• Direct access audiology waiting times – September 2017
• Mental health services monthly statistics – Final August, Provision September 2017
• HIV testing in England – 2017 report
• Towards elimination of HIV transmission, AIDS and HIV-related deaths in the UK – 2017 report
• NHS screening programmes: KPI reports – Q1 April to June 2017
• Sickness absence in the NHS – April to June 2017
• NHS cancer waiting times – July to September 2017
• Safeguarding adults annual report, England – 2016-2017
• Patient Safety Alert compliance data – November 2017

HSJ Roundup (contact the Library for further details)

• Trust awards £300m orthopaedics contract to US firm 
  A Shelford Group trust has awarded a £310m contract to an American company as part of a ‘ground breaking partnership’ for orthopaedic work.
• Mental health chief executive to take over at acute trust 
  A mental health trust chief executive will lead a neighbouring acute trust as part of a hospital chain, HSJ understands.
• Trust defies CQC order to change weapons search policy 
  A large mental health trust is resisting a requirement from the Care Quality Commission to drop blanket patient searches as it would put people at risk from knife crime.
• Trust seeks £15m for naming rights of new building 
  A specialist hospital is looking for £15m for the naming rights of a new treatment and research centre.
• Newcastle Hospitals appoints NHS England non-exec as chairman 
  One of the country’s largest teaching hospitals has appointed an NHS England non-executive director and clinical genetics professor as its new chairman.
• Exclusive: Multiple CCGs consider minimum waiting times 
  An increasing number of clinical commissioning groups are considering the introduction of controversial minimum waiting times for “non urgent” NHS procedures, despite clinical and legal concerns, HSJ has learned.
• NHS provider sector deficit forecast sinks by more than £150m 
  The year-end deficit projection for the NHS provider sector has worsened by more than a quarter, NHS Improvement’s latest figures reveal.
• No funding cuts this year for missing DTOC targets 
  Councils that failed to meet nationally imposed targets for reducing delayed transfers of care by September will not face any financial sanctions in 2017-18, but could see an impact on their funding next year, NHS England has confirmed.
• BMA stance on whistleblower protection ‘misguided’, claims charity 
  Whistleblowing charity Public Concern at Work has raised fears over the level of whistleblowing protection for junior doctors.
• Exclusive: Trusts urged to review ‘advanced practice’ staff 
  NHS organisations should review staff who have been given the title ‘advanced’ as part of their role and guard against ‘unconscious incompetence’, new guidance says.
• STPs to buy consultancy and tech from ‘one stop shop’ 
  NHS England is developing a new “one stop shop” framework for local health systems to buy products and services ranging from workforce advice to IT systems.