WELSH NEWS
New glaucoma treatment to be piloted
New ways of diagnosing and treating patients with glaucoma will be piloted in two areas in Wales. The ophthalmic diagnostic centre pilot will evaluate the feasibility of diagnosing and monitoring of glaucoma by optometrists working in the community, supported by hospital consultants. Subject to the outcome of the pilot, plans will be developed to roll it out across Wales
NHS Wales leading the way with broadband network
The majority of NHS Wales organisations and all GP practices are now benefiting from being on the public sector broadband network, which allows faster online services and more efficient electronic communication. The network makes it easier to exchange information, allowing closer working between health and the social services sector, and gives opportunities for cost and efficiency savings
Auditor General calls for strategy to tackle problems in maternity services
Most women are satisfied with maternity care in Wales with services generally meeting an appropriate standard, says a report published today by the Auditor General. But the report also highlights some specific problems including the way that labour is managed in some trusts and dissatisfaction with support for infant feeding
What should intermediate care look like in Wales?
A discussion paper based on the multidisciplinary and multiagency debate undertaken at the National Intermediate Care Community of Practice. For more information email Matt.Wyatt@nliah.wales.nhs.uk
HD video links
Informing Healthcare has announced that clinicians in Wales with HD-ready video equipment can now conduct video-link meetings in high definition (HD). The new service is particularly useful where a degree of medical diagnosis is involved in a session
Full of Care
The Children's Commissioner for Wales has published a report about, and written by, young carers in Wales
Health informatics careers framework
A new version of the Health Informatics Careers Framework (HICF) containing double the content and over 100 job titles was launched at Informing Healthcare's health informatics HI-ProfILE conference in Cardiff on 16 June. It has been developed in collaboration with Connecting for Health and Skills for Health
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Hospital NHS Trust wins award
Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Hospital NHS Trust has won the best use of wireless healthcare category in BT's e-Health Insider Awards
Plans to improve sexual health services and cut infections
Proposals to improve people's sexual health and sexual health services have been published for consultation. The consultation ends on 5 October 2009
Regulations changed to allow failed asylum seekers access to free healthcare
Amended Regulations to enable failed asylum seekers access to free healthcare will come into force on 15 July
Assembly opens up debate on dementia
New plans to improve the support and care for individuals and their families living with dementia are out for consultation. The plan draws together current policies and strategies and proposes a series of actions for Wales to meet the challenges of planning and delivering better services for people with dementia
Expert group to review pharmacy services in Wales
An expert group has been set up to review pharmacy services across Wales as part of the Assembly Government's commitment to develop community pharmacy services and pharmacy-based drop-in centres
Welsh patients to get refund for prescription costs at English hospitals
Welsh patients who are charged for prescriptions at hospitals in England will be able to get a refund. In addition, the legislation will be amended to reflect the change in England that entitles cancer sufferers access to free prescriptions
Measles cases in Wales
The NPHS continues to investigate an outbreak of measles that, as of 30 June, was affecting 17 of the 22 counties of Wales and had resulted in 329 cases including 40 patients being hospitalised. Updates are published on the NPHS website every weekday
Confined cases of swine flu in Wales
As of 30 June, there were 26 confirmed cases of swine flu in Wales and five clinically presumed cases. The NPHS continues to publish daily updates on the swine flu situation on its website
Issues in Wales: a research review
A report for the equal rights watchdog reviewed research and statistics relating specifically to Wales by race, gender, disability, age, sexual orientation, and religion. It focused on poverty and social exclusion, the economy and labour market, health and social care, education, housing, and public and political life
Sustainable travel plans for NHS Trusts
Sustrans have provided web pages for NHS Trusts within Wales to support the development and implementation of sustainable travel plans
UK NEWS
Removing unnecessary bureaucracy in regulation
This report calls on the Department of Health and regulators to simplify providers' process of reporting and calls for a reduction in unnecessary form-filling by improving how regulators collect and share information
Reviews in 2009/10
The Care Quality Commission has published this report detailing how it plans to assess the provision and commissioning of health and adult social care in its first year as it moves towards a single registration system for providers of care in both sectors in 2010
Dealing with the downturn: the challenge for the NHS
This paper explores the financial situation facing the NHS and suggests how NHS leaders should respond to the severe contraction in finances they are likely to face
The use of management consultants by the NHS
In December 2008, an evidence session was held with senior Department of Health officials to question them about the information contained in the PEQ. This report follows the evidence session and focuses on the use of management consultants by the NHS and the Department of Health
What the EU competition rules mean for the NHS
The recent establishment of the NHS Co-operation and Competition Panel has drawn attention to the application of EU competition law to the NHS and whether the Panel will have any competence in this area. The aim of this briefing is to explain what EU competition law is and the NHS Confederation's understanding of what it means for the NHS
Health Bill: second reading
The King's Fund has produced this briefing ahead of the second reading of the Health Bill in the House of Commons. The briefing examines the measures outlined in the Bill to introduce a Constitution for the NHS; pilot direct payments for patients; require providers of NHS-funded care to produce annual quality accounts; and make further provisions on tobacco control
A new objective for MRSA
This stakeholder engagement activity on a new MRSA objective is being overseen by the National Quality Board to continue to drive improvements in the NHS. The engagement document sets out proposals for a MRSA objective and how it would apply to different organisations. The closing date for comments is 24 July 2009
Reducing healthcare associated infections in hospitals in England
This report examines the extent and impact of healthcare associated infections; the effectiveness, sustainability and cost of the Department of Health's approach; and the effectiveness of action taken in hospitals to prevent and control infections. It also looks at the barriers to improvement and recommends the steps that the NHS should take to sustain and make further progress
NHS pay modernisation in England: agenda for change
This is a report from the Public Accounts Committee. They took evidence from the NHS and the Department of Health on the benefits resulting from Agenda for Change, and on the implementation of the KSF across the NHS
Women and medicine: the future
This report was commissioned following heightened interest in the increasing number of women entering the medical profession at undergraduate level. The aim of the report and its recommendations is to guide the profession and policy makers towards the development of a high quality workforce
Better, safer doctors: implementing medical revalidation
From autumn 2009 all doctors who wish to practise medicine in the UK will require a Licence to Practise. This is the first step in introducing a system for regularly checking and assuring every doctor's continued fitness to practise, known as revalidation. This briefing explains the key elements of the process, sets out the various roles and responsibilities, and discusses the areas that remain to be resolved as revalidation gets underway
Consultation about the future of nursing and midwifery
The Prime Minister launched the Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in March 2009 to ensure that frontline nurses and midwives have the support, skills, and competencies they need to design and deliver quality services. The Commission is due to report by March 2010 and are running this consultation in order to get views from interested parties. Comments must be submitted by 10 August 2009
Nursing competence: what are we assessing and how should it be measured?
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is developing new pre-registration competencies to meet changing healthcare priorities. This Policy+ highlights challenges for nursing practice, education and management
The role of the nurse
This discussion paper aims to give employers a summary of the emerging issues and to provoke thought and discussion about proposals to modernise the nursing workforce
Core competences and principles for working with adults at the end of life
The National End of Life Care Programme has worked with Skills for Health and Skills for Care to outline the core skills and knowledge that aims to help staff across health and social care to respond with confidence when caring for people at the end of their lives. The guidance outlines the principles that underpin quality end of life care and groups skills into four sections: communications; assessment and care planning; symptom management and maintaining comfort; and advance care planning
Emergency services review
This review aims to provide focus and support to local health communities to improve the effectiveness of emergency care, enhance patient safety and achieve national emergency care standards
Quality markers and measures for end of life care
The End of Life Care Strategy was published in July 2008 and included a commitment to publish quality markers for end of life care. During its development, the SHA End of Life Care Pathway Chairs identified that commissioners and providers needed support in delivering improvements in care. The resultant quality markers contained in this document are intended to meet this need
Developing good cancer care services
This document supports the Cancer Reform Strategy commitment to developing world class commissioning of cancer services across the NHS. There will be a transition from central direction towards more locally driven improvement in cancer services and development of effective tools to support practice based commissioners in providing world class commissioning
Joint commissioning framework for dementia
This document provides best practice guidance for commissioning dementia services. It includes a Joint Strategic Needs Assessment template, summary of NICE and SCIE evidence for dementia services, commissioning levers against each of the strategy's objectives and a summary of South East Coastal SHA dementia metrics
Prepared to care: challenging the dementia skills gap
The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Dementia has examined the readiness of the social care workforce to deliver personalised care to people with dementia. They found a large variation in the dementia skills of the social care workforce. This report sets out the challenge in training the caring professions in dementia
Same sex accommodation: your privacy, our responsibility
This briefing provides a background to the Department of Health's 'Same-sex accommodation: your privacy, our responsibility initiative', launched in January 2009, to provide clearer guidance and support for hospitals
NHS number notice update
The Safer Practice Notice on the use of the NHS number in England and Wales has been revised
Perinatal mortality 2007
The latest report from the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH) shows an improvement in the stillbirth and neonatal death rates in the UK. Maternal age was noted to be a significant risk factor for stillbirths, perinatal and neonatal death and the figures also show an increasing trend of later motherhood
Review of patient safety for children and young people
This review highlights some of the patient safety issues for children, young people and their families, outlines current National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) partnership work streams, and identifies key actions for stakeholders
Appropriate environments and services for mental health patients aged under 18
This briefing has been written to support commissioners of both adult mental health services and child and adolescent mental health services to prepare to meet the requirements of a new duty within the Mental Health Act 2007 to admit and treat patients aged under 18 into an environment in hospital which is suitable having regard to their age
Moving on up
This report from the Mental Health Foundation reveals the barriers that are preventing patients with mild or moderate depression from accessing exercise on prescription. They include funding constraints within local government and PCTs, and that many GPs are not aware that exercise schemes are available in their area
Measuring what matters in mental health
Mental health and employment services should report regularly how well they help people to get and keep paid work. This report presents a set of key indicators that can be used routinely so that service users and their families can see how well services are performing
Supporting people with autism through adulthood
This report examines the range of services for adults with autism and their carers in England, including health and social care, education, benefits and employment support. The report explores the possible impacts of providing specialised health, social care and employment support for adults with high-functioning autism
Learning disabilities directed enhanced services (DES) - worked examples
This paper provides four examples using different possible scenarios of how payments for the learning disabilities directed enhanced service should be calculated
Review of NHS dental services in England
A Review of NHS Dental Services has been published. The review has been running since December 2008 when the previous Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, appointed the review team to help the Government to ensure that every person who wants to access an NHS dentist can do so and that NHS dentists deliver high quality care and offer preventative work
Pandemic influenza guidance for commissioners and social care providers
This guidance provides local authorities and other social care organisations with the tools and resources needed to plan for pandemic flu. It has been produced primarily for commissioners and providers of social care services, but may also be relevant to those supplying and supporting the social care sector
The Flu Pandemic game: a training resource
The Flu Pandemic Game was originally developed as a training resource by Camden PCT using NHS resources in partnership with Camden Council. The Department of Health has adapted the game and there are two versions available, one specifically for use in GP practices and the other for use by healthcare and other related organisations
NHS Connecting for Health: reviews of the National Programme for IT
The Office of Government Commerce and the Department of Health have decided to make public a number of reviews of the National Programme for IT. These relate to issues which were examined through the Gateway Process at key decision points in order to provide assurance that they should progress to the next stage
Prison health IT programme: national roll-out
This letter from Offender Health and the National Offender Management Service announces that the roll-out of the first national clinical IT system for prisons across England will now commence across the country in June 2009
Whole systems demonstrators: an overview of telecare and telehealth
This leaflet provides an overview of the Whole System Demonstrator (WSD) programme, a two year research project funded by the Department of Health to find out how technology can help people manage their own health while maintaining their independence. The WSD programme is believed to be the largest randomised control trial of telecare and telehealth in the world to date. The WSD Action Network (WSDAN) has been established to disseminate the lessons learned on the three sites and a source for worldwide evidence on the effectiveness of Telehealth and Telecare
Expectations and aspirations: public attitudes towards social care
In advance of the publication of a government Green Paper on social care, the Institute for Public Policy Research and Pricewaterhouse Coopers commissioned research to explore public levels of awareness and understanding of social care provision. The findings expose a lack of awareness about social care, confusion about how services are funded and a widespread lack of preparation or planning for future care needs
Community services quality framework: guidance for community services
This guidance sets out how the seven elements of the Quality Framework apply in community services. It includes a set of proposed indicators of quality that will be developed and assured for publication. The Department of Health will be seeking views from interested stakeholders on these indicators. In addition. six best practice guides have been launched to support the transformation of services locally and to help local staff to lead on modernising community services
Personalisation briefing for commissioners
The Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE), in partnership with ADASS and the Putting People First team, has published this briefing on the implications of personalisation for commissioners. This is the first in a series of briefings on personalisation for different groups of professionals including housing providers, domiciliary care providers and personal assistants
Practice-based commissioning guide for GPs
The guidance provides access to advice, practical examples and details of where to find further support. Although primarily designed for those just starting out with PBC, it also contains information and useful tips of interest to those that have already made progress but are looking to expand their activity further
Eye health information
A new leaflet published by the Eye Health Alliance gives clear advice on the eligibility for sight tests and voucher entitlements on the NHS, and on how to access domiciliary services. For copies, please contact sarahlapham@aop.org.uk
Freedom of information in the NHS
This NHS Confederation briefing aims to help NHS organisations fulfil the spirit of the freedom of information legislation in the most timely and efficient way. It includes a checklist to provide guidance to trusts on what the best procedures are and where they are entitled to turn down requests
The Marmot Review - strategic review of health inequalities
An interim report on the evidence and emerging themes of the independent strategic review of health inequalities post 2010, led by Professor Sir Michael Marmot, has been published for consultation. Comments must be submitted by 5 August 2009
Commissioning to reduce inequalities
This report challenges primary care trust boards to ask difficult questions about their understanding of health inequalities and offers solutions about how boards might answer them. It aims to revisit the principles and approach first set out in 'The intelligent board' and to apply them to the challenge of commissioning to tackle inequalities. The report is also supported by a website
Health profiles 2009
Health profiles provides a snapshot of health for each local council in England using key health indicators, enabling comparison locally, regionally and over time. They are designed to help local councils and the NHS decide where to target resources and tackle health inequalities in their local area. The 2009 version has now been published
AND FINALLY............
We welcome your comments and suggestions. If you have any information that you would like to share with others please let me know and I will be happy to circulate it in the next newsletter: news@healthcarealliances.co.uk
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Terry Dennis
Healthcare Alliances
Britannia House, 11 High Street, Cowbridge, CF71 7AD
Tel: 01446 774864
Mob: 07977 49 29 26