Health Management and Policy Alert

30/04/07 Inquiry into the safety of maternity services

The King’s Fund has  issued a call for evidence to an independent inquiry into the safety of maternity services in England. The year-long, wide-ranging investigation invites professionals across the field of maternity services to help identify obstacles to the delivery of improvements in the safety of maternity services and to propose strategies to overcome them. Evidence will be taken in writing from professional bodies, and people working in maternity services also have an opportunity to respond personally, online at www.kingsfund.org.uk/maternity. Later in the year, a series of oral evidence sessions will be held. (King's Fund press release)

30/04/07 - The NHS: 10 years on

In four new reports launched at a special King's Fund event attended by the Prime Minister, Tony Blair and the Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt, leading clinical experts have set out the progress made for patients in key areas of NHS service over the past decade. The reports focus on coronary heart disease, emergency care, cancer and mental health services. To accompany the reports the King's Fund has published supporting material on the state of the health service after ten years of Labour government. (DH - press release) [BBC News - health]

30/04/07 - Healthcare professionals’ views on clinician engagement in quality improvement

It is widely accepted that the active involvement of staff is an essential requirement for quality improvement, yet such initiatives in the NHS have not generally secured the full engagement of clinicians. The Health Foundation is planning to commission new research into the opinions of UK healthcare professionals on clinicians’ engagement in quality and quality improvement. To inform this research they have conducted a literature review which seeks to clarify what is already known about the views of UK healthcare professionals in this area. (Health Foundation - publications)

27/04/07 - Practice based commissioning (PBC) implementation monitoring

The DH is publishing information that it collects from strategic health authorities to monitor progress towards universal coverage and practice take-up of incentive payments. This data is collected on a monthly basis. The figures at 31 March 2007 have now been published. (DH - PBC)

27/04/07 - The Intelligent Mental Health Board

Dr Foster Intelligence has published its final report in the Intelligent Board series. The report addresses the lack of standardised data collection in mental healthcare organisations by creating a framework of minimum information requirements for trust boards. Key recommendations from the report are that trust boards need to:

- Focus on strategic issues;
- Work towards achieving a structured, explicit set of goals;
- Use information that shows trends and forecasts in order to anticipate future performance;
- Analyse information that shows the appropriate level of detail in as near to real time as possible.

(Dr. Foster Intelligence - news)

New/updated Health Management briefings/hot topics

New hot topics:

Regulation: changes in regulation of healthcare professionals;
Gender Equality Duty ;
Reconfiguring cancer services;

Updated hot topics:

Financial balance in the NHS

27/04/07 R&D annual reports 2007 guidance

The Department of Health has published R and D annual reports 2007: Guidance for annual reports on the performance management and future planning of R&D activity within NHS organisations to assist those organisations in receipt of NHS R&D funding in writing their annual report and improve the data returned in reports. Reports should be completed by 2 July 2007. (DH publications)

26/04/07 Senior Managers’ Guide Drugs Bill

The Information Centre has published a document which provides a summary of available sources of information on prescribing activity. It also provides details of the current position with regard to the cost to the NHS of medicines in 2005/2006 and national activity on drug pricing and reimbursement. (DH publications)

26/04/07 2006 NHS workforce census

Figures released by the Information Centre in its annual NHS workforce census shows an increase in full time equivalent (FTE) capacity for doctors and nurses and a fall in managers, with an overall reduction in the NHS headcount of 17,000 since September 2005. The census shows that although the headcount of the NHS has reduced slightly overall, clinical capacity continues to increase as FTEs go up. For example, there is a strong continued growth in the medical workforce with an increase in headcount of 3,267 since 2005 - 4,844 FTEs. For the first time since 1995, there has been a reduction in headcount amongst managers of 2,564, FTE of 2,508. Managers account for less than 3% of the total workforce - compared with nurses who make up more than a quarter. (DH press release)

26/04/07 New scheme to improve quality and convenience of care closer to home

Health Minister Andy Burnham has published new guidance - Implementing care closer to home: convenient quality care for patients - to help health bodies and practitioners deliver high quality convenient care closer to people's homes. Under government plans, GPs and Pharmacists with special interests will need to go through a new rigorous and fair form of accreditation to ensure they have the necessary skills to deliver efficient and effective patient care in the community that was traditionally only available in hospitals. (DH press release)