Health Management and Policy Alert

Independent mental health advocacy: guidance for commissioners

The Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) service commissioning guide has been prepared for the introduction of IMHA services on 1 April 2009. The guide outlines the statutory IMHA role, discusses good practice for IMHA services and outlines the commissioning process required to ensure high quality IMHA services are provided for qualifying patients under the Mental Health Act 1983.

(National Institute for Mental Health in England - publications)

Guidance for strategic health authorities, primary care trusts and GP practices: the new expanded GP patient survey 2008/09

This survey has been developed with Ipsos MORI and academics from the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre and the Peninsular Medical School. Around five and a half million registered patients in England will be invited to take part during January to March 2009. Their responses will provide information for PCTs, GP practices and other patients about patients' experiences when they access local services.

(Department of Health - publications)

Health and social care studies consultation

This consultation covers the Audit Commission's proposed programme of health and social care studies for 2009/10. It seeks views on its usefulness and appropriateness, the scope and timing of individual studies and the potential for overlap and collaboration with others. The closing date for comments is 12 February 2009.

(Audit Commission - consultations)

Work programme and scales of fees 2009/10 and indicative fee proposals for 2010/11 and 2011/12: health

This document sets out the scales of audit and inspection fees for the work that the Audit Commission plans to undertake in the health sector during 2009/10.

(Audit Commission - publications)

Central government's management of service contracts

In 2007/8 central government spent over £12 billion on service contracts primarily in the areas of information and communications technology, facilities management and business process outsourcing. This report examines how well central government organisations are managing their service contracts, assessed against the good practice framework for contract management. An executive summary is also available.

(National Audit Office - publications)

Benchmarking Network sets out to chart primary care landscape

The NHS Benchmarking Network is to launch a review of primary care medical services. The project will provide a baseline for primary medical care by producing key information on primary care infrastructure, strengths and weaknesses of service provision, patient experience and contract values and monitoring. The resulting data will allow PCTs to compare themselves to the rest of the NHS at national and regional level.

(NHS Primary Care Contracting - press releases)

Summary of responses to the Department of Health's consultation on a statutory scheme to control the prices of branded NHS medicines

In June 2008, the Government published the 'Consultation on a statutory scheme to control the prices of branded NHS medicines'. The consultation was in two stages: a consultation on the introduction of statutory controls on the prices of branded medicines, including a temporary price freeze and a consultation on the introduction of a price cut that would be implemented in January 2009. This document sets out the summary of responses to the consultation.

(Department of Health - publications)

Mental Health Act 2007

This briefing focuses on the 2007 Mental Health Act in relation to England. Most of the provisions of the 2007 Act came into effect in November 2008. Especially notable are extended powers of compulsion in the community - Supervised Community Treatment - and a widening of the professional groups that can apply to fulfil new roles that exercise power under the Act. (The King's Fund - publications)

MRSA bloodstream infections continue to fall

The latest figures released by the Healthcare Protection Agency's mandatory surveillance of MRSA bloodstream infections show that there were 725 cases reported in England during July to September quarter of 2008. This represents a 13% decrease on the previous quarter (April to June 2008) when 837 reports were received and a 33% reduction in the corresponding quarter of 2007 (July to September) when 1,082 reports were received. (Healthcare Protection Agency - press releases) [BBC Health - news]

NICE technology appraisals

This briefing looks at how the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) appraises new and existing drugs through clinical and economic evidence and looks at the impact of those appraisals, including difficulties with implementation of the recommendations. The report also assesses recent policy proposals to address the system's perceived shortcomings, including speeding up appraisals, setting a suitable threshold for cost-effectiveness and overcoming the problem of 'postcode prescribing', where there are significant geographical disparities in the availability of individual drugs not covered by NICE guidance. (The King's Fund - publications)