Training environments 2017: key findings from the national training surveys – General Medical Council (GMC)
This report outlines the findings of an annual survey of doctors in training and trainers on the quality of UK medical training and training environments. The report warns that medical education and training is too reliant on the goodwill and sacrifices made by senior colleagues who act as trainers. The report also highlights the challenges faced by trainees who report that heavy workloads threaten the time that they have for training.

Demystifying NHS Finance, an aid for clinicians – Future Focused Finance 
A poster and YouTube animation from Future Focused Finance aimed at clinicians outlining the flow of money through the NHS.

Some assembly required: implementing new models of care: Lessons from the new care models programme – Health Foundation
Based on first-hand accounts from clinicians and managers who developed and implemented new care models, this report describes an approach to change that emphasises local co-creation and testing of care models as an alternative to the traditional top-down structural approach to change in the NHS.

Fifteen Steps Challenge: quality from a patient’s perspective
NHS England has published The Fifteen Steps Challenge: quality from a patient’s perspective: a guide for commissioners. This guide describes how commissioners can apply the 15 Steps Challenge to the services that they commission, resulting in higher quality care and effective patient engagement in the commissioning process.  There are also versions of this guide for acute inpatient settings, mental health settings, community settings, outpatients units, and children and young people’s inpatient units.

A two-way street What can CCGs teach us about accountability in STPs? – Nuffield Trust 
Analysis and insights from interviews by senior CCG leaders and NHS England policy-makers, and discussions at learning networks on the current processes to hold both providers and commissioners of NHS services to account, and considers the implications of this learning for the future development of STPs, accountable care organisations and accountable care systems.

Antimicrobial resistance
The Department of Health has published UK 5 Year Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Strategy 2013-2018: annual progress report 2016.  This annual report describes the achievements in the third year of implementation of the antimicrobial resistance strategy.  It notes that for the remaining two years, the programme will focus on halving certain types of infection and the inappropriate use of antibiotics.

NICE bites – Sinusitis (acute): antimicrobial prescribing
The November 2017 NICE Bites bulletin from the North West Medicines Information Service covers Sinusitis (acute): antimicrobial prescribing.  This publication aims to provide healthcare professionals with a summary of key prescribing points taken from the NICE guidance, NG79.

Communications during cyber incidents
After a successful pilot, NHS Digital has established an additional secure system to deliver essential cyber security updates during major security incidents. CareCERT bulletins and updates can now be sent out using short message service (SMS) alerts. Contacts in Acute, Ambulance and Mental Health Trusts, Clinical Commissioning Groups and Commissioning Support Units can receive the alerts which will be used to highlight a high severity security incident.

Carers
The House of Commons Library has published Carers.  This briefing paper provides information about the number of carers in the UK and the issues they face. It also explains the rights, benefits and support available to carers as well as previous Government policy on caring.

Statistics

• Births by parents’ characteristics in England and Wales – 2016
• Childbearing for women born in different years, England and Wales – 2016
• Seasonal flu vaccine uptake in healthcare workers – 1 September 2017 to 31 October 2017
• Staff Friends and Family Test (FFT) Data – Quarter 2 2017-18
• Critical care bed capacity and urgent cancelled operations: monthly situation reports October 2017
• Quarterly hospital activity data: Q2 2017/18

Bulletin

• Drug Safety Update – November 2017 (pdf)

HSJ Roundup (contact the Library for further details)

• Reconfiguration experts reject review of controversial maternity plans 
  Independent experts have rejected local councillors’ request for a full review into controversial maternity reconfiguration plans in a troubled health economy.
• National investigators to take over trust reviews of baby deaths 
  The health secretary is to hand control for investigating hundreds of avoidable baby deaths from trusts to the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch.
• Special measures FT to buddy with outstanding trust 
  A struggling foundation trust that was put back into special measures less than a year after exiting them has been assigned an outstanding rated buddy trust.
• Commissioners settle with Virgin following contract dispute 
  A legal dispute between Virgin Care and six Surrey clinical commissioning groups has been resolved – with an apparent payment by the NHS to the company.
• Housing developer offers to build new hospital for struggling health economy 
  A new hospital offering centralised emergency and specialist services for the struggling east Kent health economy is under serious consideration, it has emerged today.
• Exclusive: Hunt orders inquiry into NHS ‘never events’ 
  Jeremy Hunt has ordered a review into preventable “never events” in NHS hospitals amid concern that the numbers of serious mistakes are not reducing.
• Revealed: Lack of Treasury funding delays consultant contract to 2019 
  A new contract for senior doctors in England will be delayed until 2019 due to a lack of transition funding from the Treasury, HSJ has learned.

Our Fabulous NHS – Academy of Fabulous Stuff
***Get involved*** –  share your fab stuff!

• Promoting the role of occupational therapy in the acute hospital Here at the Royal United Hospital, Bath we are championing the role of Occupational Therapy in the acute hospital setting. We are encouraging all staff to use the full title occupational therapist rather than OT and promoting an MDT understanding of how engagement in occupation impacts on health and well being. We are reinforcing our […]
• Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust cuts appointment letters by 40% with digital portal A Yorkshire hospital trust has launched a new digital portal that could save hundreds of thousands of pounds by allowing patients to receive and respond to appointment letters digitally. Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has reduced by 40% the number of outpatient letters it sends, from 200,000 to 120,000 – using a new Patient Portal […]
• Hull Royal Infirmary We found that patients often asked our phlebotomists about the blood tests they were having, so we designed a straight forward leaflet that could be given to the patients when they asked about their blood tests. It educates the patients and makes the phlebotomists feel part of the Pathology Team  […]