Health Management and Policy Alert

20/10/06 Department of Health publishes review of the social care workforce

In July 2005, the Government announced a review of the social care workforce in England to be led jointly by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and the Department of Health (DH). This report,  Options for Excellence: Building the social care workforce of the future ,draws together the different strands of work that have been developed as part of the review, including consultations with service users, carers and frontline workers. 

[DH publications]

20/10/06 - Making change happen in the NHS: clinical and management tasks

This briefing paper is for people with managerial responsibilities in primary care teams, primary care trusts and hospital trusts, as well as practitioners and service users who are interested in the management of change during service improvement within the NHS. It is based on a research study commissioned by the NHS Service Delivery and Organisation (SDO) Research and Development Programme and led by Professor Louise Fitzgerald, De Montfort University. The study examined the ways in which managers interpreted and carried out their roles in the process of implementing service improvements, as well as the other factors that influenced the effectiveness of such a process. It focused on the management of change in cancer, maternity and diabetes care.
(SDO - briefing papers)

19/10/06 Consultation process begun on new procedures for the selection, evaluation and appointment of private sector bidders in Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes in the NHS

This draft Guidance, 'The private finance initiative: How to conduct a competitive dialogue procedure' is now open for consultation. The deadline for submitting comments is 14 November 2006.  All comments are welcome and should be provided in writing via e-mail to Lynne Lewin  [email protected].

Due to the specialist and specific nature of this guidance it has been developed in conjunction with the Treasury, private sector contractors and managers at NHS bodies engaged in or with practical experience of taking forward PFI schemes. This draft is now the subject of a final and formal consultation with these key stakeholders.  Following the end of the consultation exercise, the Department will then finalise the Guidance with Treasury, with the intention of publishing the final version before Christmas 2006.

[DH Consultations]

19/10/06 Publication of review of current state of wheelchair provision

19/10/06  Publication of review of current state of wheelchair provision

The Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) and the Department of Health have published this overview of the current state of wheelchair provision, Out and about - Wheelchairs as part of a whole systems approach to independence . It makes recommendations on how the NHS, working with partners, can improve outcomes for wheelchairs users. It outlines how timely and appropriate provision can contribute to health, well-being, independence, and inclusion.

[DH Press Release]

18/10/06 NHS continuing healthcare - transitional arrangements published

18/10/06  NHS continuing healthcare - transitional arrangements published

The purpose of this guidance,'NHS continuing healthcare: transitional arrangements following NHS reorganisation and pending national framework implementation' is to: ensure that the NHS and local authorities are aware of their ongoing responsibilities in relation to continuing care; consolidate guidance ‘NHS Continuing Healthcare: Action Following the Grogan Judgment’, published on 3 March 2006; and provide information to the NHS and local authorities on the transitional arrangements for local continuing care policy in the light of the organisational changes in NHS structure taking place between July and October 2006.

[DH publications]

18/10/06 - Department of Health publishes progress report on 'Our health, our care, our say'

Our health, our care, our say: Making it happen  provides an update on progress on implementation of the White Paper and sets out the next stages. It includes a road map to implementation and is a resource to support key actions for local implementation.

Health Minister Rosie Winterton announced that people with long term conditions or social care needs will receive "information prescriptions", which will tell them how to find out more about their condition. This commitment was also set out in the white paper and by 2008 it is expected that everyone with a long-term condition will routinely receive information about how to deal with their condition and where to go for support.

In addition to the care closer to home pilots and information prescriptions, progress has also been made in the following areas:

• In July £750million was announced to invest in modernising and developing a new generation of community hospitals.
• Extension of the Partnerships for Older People Projects (POPP), which are aimed at implementing local schemes to improve the health and wellbeing of vulnerable older people.
• The expansion of the Expert Patients' Programme from 12,000 courses a year to 100,000. To deliver this, England's first national Community Interest Company (CIC) has been established.

During the next six to 12 months patients and users will see further progress on the following commitments:

• Provision of short-term home based respite care for carers in crisis or emergency situations.
• Nationally-led, locally tailored procurement to provide equitable access to GP services across the country.
• Development of pilots to evaluate NHS 'Life Checks' for people at key stages of their lives.

(DH Press Release )

16/10/06 Cabinet Office publishes introductory advice on planning for an influenza epidemic

The Cabinet Office have published Introductory advice for staff on planning for influenza , both to raise awareness, and to assist businesses and other organisations in preparing for a potential epidemic of pandemic flu.   Further information is available from the UK resilience website. 

[UK resilience publications]

16/10/06 - Announcement of demonstration projects for 'Care closer to Home'

Health Minister Lord Warner announced a nationwide wave of demonstration projects that could pave the way for the NHS to carry out millions more operations and tests at the doctor's surgery instead of in hospitals.

The 30 pilots are testing how teams of consultants, GPs and nurses can safely and effectively provide minor operations and will investigate shifting care from large hospitals to more convenient community settings in six specialty areas - urology, ear, nose and throat, dermatology, orthopaedics, gynaecology and general surgery..   The pilots follow the commitment made in the white paper, 'Our Health, Our Care, Our Say', to work with associations, including the Royal Colleges, to define the appropriate models of care. The Department is working with the pilots to identify the best approaches that can be rolled-out across the NHS.

In developing these new models of care, the NHS is aiming to help deliver a maximum 18 week pathway from referral to treatment by 2008.

(Department of Health Press Release)

16/10/06 - NHS Employers launches campaign to tackle bullying in the NHS

Campaign packs are being sent to every NHS trust in England containing awareness posters, leaflets and wristbands. Staff will be given information to help them recognise bullying both in others and in themselves, and given advice on what action they should take to deal with it.  Further information from NHS Employers on Bullying and Harassment is available here.

The launch coincides with the publication of a joint report on bullying by NHS Employers and information firm Consult Gee.  Tackling Bullying in the NHS: Is it on your agenda? [linked from press release] gives the results of a survey of HR managers carried out at the HR in the NHS 2006 conference in April.

NHS Employers will be supporting National 'Ban Bullying at Work' day on the 7th November. 

(Press Release)

16/10/06 - Health Management Specialist Library - New Briefing

Delayed transfer of care