Maternity services survey 2018 – Care Quality Commission (CQC) 
Findings from a national survey of more than 17,600 women who gave birth in February 2018 shows that many women are positive about maternity care in England. However, the findings show that there has been limited improvement in patient experience between 2017 and 2018.

Just another day: 24 hours in the NHS – compromised care, staff shortages and serious stress – UNISON
Almost half of NHS workers on the front line of patient care say there are not enough staff on their shift to ensure patients are treated safely and with compassion, according to the results of a snapshot survey of NHS staff. The report calls for an increase in NHS funding and mandatory safe-staffing levels in England and Northern Ireland.

NHS App rollout
The NHS App is now being rolled out across England.  GP practices will need to review some of their system settings before they can go live and enable all the functions of the NHS App.  When the GP practice is connected patients will be able to use it to book and manage appointments at their GP practice; order repeat prescriptions; view their GP medical record; check symptoms using NHS 111 online and the health A-Z on the NHS website; register as an organ donor; and choose whether the NHS uses their data for research and planning.  Until the GP practice is online patients will be able to use the NHS App to check their symptoms.

CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework
NHS England has published Patient and Community Engagement Indicator: 2018/19 CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework: Guidance for CCGs.  This document presents guidance to support CCGs to identify and compile evidence, and to complete the evidence template for the Patient and Community Engagement Indicator in the CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework (CCG IAF) 2018/19.

National Tariff Payment System 2019/20
NHS Improvement and NHS England have launched a consultation on National Tariff Payment System 2019/20.  They are consulting on all aspects of the proposed 2019/20 national tariff.  There is a main document containing policy proposals and the draft tariff and a number of supporting documents.

HPV-MSM vaccination
NHS England has published frequently asked questions relating to the HPV-MSM (human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination for men who have sex with men (MSM)).  The documents, one for health professionals and one for the general public, cover NHS England’s response and FAQs, to the DHSC announcement to introduce a nationwide HPV vaccination programme for men who have sex with men aged 45 or younger attending level 3 specialist sexual health services/genitourinary medicine and HIV clinics in England.

NIHR Signals

• Reviewing inhaler technique for older people with COPD can improve disease control
• Lifestyle changes may be more important than drugs for mild hypertension
• Premature babies have fewer complications if a lower platelet count is accepted
• Radiotherapy benefits some men whose prostate cancer has spread to their bones
• Antibiotics may be an alternative first-line treatment for uncomplicated appendicitis
• Aerobic exercise is an effective treatment for depression

Asthma care in the UK
Asthma UK has published The reality of asthma care in the UK: annual asthma survey 2018 report. This report presents the findings from a survey of 10,064 people with asthma across the UK. The findings include: three out of five people still don’t receive basic asthma care; young people receive the worst level of basic care; there is variation in asthma care across the UK; people may be suffering from ore asthma attacks than previously estimated; and crucial follow-up after emergency care is still being missed.

State of child health
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has published State of Child Health: two years on. This report sets out progress made against the policy recommendation in the RCPCH State of Child Health 2017 report. It reveals achievements in key areas and a more positive picture for infants, children and young people, however cuts to public health, services and political uncertainty pose substantial threats to progress.

Alcohol consumption in pregnancy
Healthcare Improvement Scotland and SIGN have published SIGN156: Children and young people exposed prenatally to alcohol. This document provides recommendations based on best available evidence and consensus for the assessment and diagnosis of children and young people affected by prenatal alcohol exposure. It includes evidence-based recommendations on measurement of alcohol consumption in pregnancy and consensus-based recommendations.

Supporting people with a learning disability and/or autism
The Strategy Unit has published reports presenting findings to date from an evaluation of the Building the Right Support plan published in 2015. Building the Right Support is a national plan to provide better support to people with a learning disability or autism. The research is intended to find out what is working, what is not working and what can be done better to support people. The research is due to be completed in summer 2019 after which the final results will be published.

Improving the safety of ambulance transfers
The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch has published Transfer of critically ill adults: healthcare safety investigation. This report shows that a lack of national guidance and standard practice for ambulance transfers could be putting patients at risk. It puts forward key recommendations aimed at making ambulance transfers safer for adults that are critically ill.

NICE consultations

• Medicines optimisation: the safe and effective use of medicines to enable the best possible outcomes: surveillance consultation. Closing date for comments: 5 February 2019.
• Medicines adherence: involving patients in decisions about prescribed medicines and supporting adherence: surveillance consultation. Closing date for comments: 5 February 2019.
• Depression in children and young people: identification and management: draft guidance consultation. Closing date for comments: 20 February 2019.  Additional link: NICE press release
• Bronchoscopic thermal vapour ablation for upper-lobe emphysema: interventional procedure consultation. Closing date for comments: 21 February 2019.
• Percutaneous insertion of a cerebral protection device to prevent cerebral embolism during TAVI: interventional procedure consultation. Closing date for comments: 21 February 2019.
• Percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy for acute deep vein thrombosis of the leg: interventional procedure consultation. Closing date for comments: 21 February 2019.

Tackling antimicrobial resistance
The Department of Health and Social Care has published a 20-year vision and a 5-year national action plan for containing and controlling antimicrobial resistance (AMR):

• Contained and controlled: the UK’s 20-year vision for antimicrobial resistance explores how the UK will contribute to containing and controlling AMR by 2040.
• Tackling antimicrobial resistance 2019 to 2024: the UK’s 5-year national action plan sets out the ambitions and actions for the next 5 years for AMR.

Public health workforce
Public Health England has published Fit for the future: public health people progress report 2016 to 2018. This document reports on progress, to date, against the recommendations in the original ‘Fit for the Future: public health people’ and details the activities that have been carried out across the public health system by stakeholder organisations.

Improving staff engagement
NHS Employers has published A quick guide to approaches to improving staff engagement in the NHS. This guide examines a range of approaches that organisations can take to sustain staff engagement. It contains inks to resources and case studies looking at how NHS organisations have put ideas into practice.

Atlas of Shared Learning
NHS England has added the following case studies to the Atlas of Shared Learning:

• Quality improvement using the principles of the Leading Change, Adding Value framework – London
• Introducing a ‘practice frailty nurse’ into the community setting – Newcastle Gateshead CCG
• Introducing a carers resource pack at South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust – London
• Specialist children’s short break services – North Staffordshire
• Introducing group consultations for cancer care reviews – Lancaster
• ‘When a child dies’; the development of a collaborative education programme to enhance care and support – Great Ormond Street Hospital

Differences in child obesity by ethnic group
Public Health England has published Differences in child obesity by ethnic group. This ad hoc statistical publication presents analyses of National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) data collected in the 2016 to 2017 school year. It shows how child obesity prevalence varies by ethnicity, after adjustment for other explanatory variables.

Statistics

• Deaths registered monthly in England and Wales – December 2018
• Practice Level Prescribing – November 2018
• Health and Care of People with Learning Disabilities, Experimental Statistics: 2017 to 2018
• Cancer survival in England – national estimates for patients followed up to 2017
• Diagnostic imaging dataset – September 2018
• NHS Workforce Statistics – October 2018
• NHS Vacancy Statistics England – February 2015 – September 2018, Provisional Experimental Statistics
• NHS Sickness Absence Rates – July 2018 to September 2018
• Fit Notes Issued by GP Practices, England – September 2018

Bulletins

• NHS Improvement Provider Bulletin – 23 January 2019
• Mental Health Foundation Talkback – Winter/Spring 2019
• NHS Workforce Bulletin – 21 January 2019

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

• The benefits to staff and patients of EPR video
• Find out more about East of England Neonatal ODN Clinical Guideline: Neonatal Alert, Trigger & Track tool…
• Read about the introduction of ‘Diabetes Monitoring Download Transmitter’ at Velocity Clinics