Health Management and Policy Alert

Draft head of terms agreement on consultant contract reform

NHS Employers -
This document sets out a framework for future detailed negotiations on amendments to the current consultant contract in England and Northern Ireland and to the Clinical Excellence Awards scheme.

• Draft guidance
• NHS Employers - news

Supporting medical students with mental health conditions

Medical Schools Council -
This guidance provides advice to medical schools on all aspects of supporting medical students with mental health conditions. It includes suggesting preventative measures that may help to reduce mental health problems in their students, the use of occupational health and how to handle students with mental health conditions in relation to fitness to practise.

• Guidance
• Medical Schools Council - news

Summary report of qualitative research into public attitudes to personal data and linking personal data

Wellcome Trust -
This report is the result of focus group research which examined public attitudes towards sharing personal data with researchers for public good. The focus groups had a generally positive attitude to the potential benefits of sharing data, for patients themselves and for society. And their doubts were more sophisticated than merely worrying about information falling into malicious hands, or supposedly anonymous information being linked back to identifiable individuals. Some of the worries expressed by the focus groups linked to wider worries about the changing role of the NHS.

• Report
• Wellcome Trust - blog

Health and homelessness: understanding the costs and role of primary care services for homeless people

St Mungo's -
This report argues that better knowledge about how homeless people use primary healthcare services is needed to ensure they receive the best treatment possible and valuable NHS resources are used to best effect. It calls for more research into how homeless people use GPs and other community health services and urges NHS England to play a key role in ensuring this happens.

• Report
• St Mungo's - news

Using social media in your recruitment process: the essential guide for HR directors and managers

NHS Employers -
This briefing is aimed at HR directors and managers and looks at how NHS organisations can utilise social media platforms to increase the number of job applications; and also how a permissive approach to social media can improve an organisation's recruitment success.

• Guidance
• NHS Employers - publications

Supporting influence on health and wellbeing boards

Regional Voices -
This survey aims to find out about the voluntary sector's engagement with health and wellbeing boards: what is working well; what could be working better; and what support would help. It is aimed at voluntary sector representatives on health and wellbeing boards; Healthwatch representatives on health and wellbeing boards; and the wider voluntary sector. The closing date for this survey is 26th September 2013.

• Survey
• Regional Voices - news

LASSL(DH)(2013)2: implementation of the zero-based review of national adult social care data collections

Department of Health -
This local authority social services update sets out details of financial support to local authorities in England towards additional expenditure incurred (or to be incurred by them) following changes to data collections for adult social care. It also includes details of individual local authority allocations, the applied funding formula and the purpose of the grant funding.

• Letter
• Department of Health - news

A minimum price for alcohol?

House of Commons library -
This briefing note has been updated following the government response to the consultation on minimum unit pricing. It outlines the background to the debate and consultation and the government's response to the consultation.

• Briefing note
• House of Commons Library - publications

Excess winter deaths and illnessess: call for evidence

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) -
This call for evidence aims to support the development of public health guidance on Excess winter deaths and morbidity and the health risks associated with cold homes. NICE are particularly interested in any relevant unpublished, commercial or other information which would be difficult to identify via database searches such as: reports about local systems or strategies to identify risk and vulnerability; material about the uptake, acceptability, delivery and implementation of interventions and approaches in this area; or local policy approaches to deal with ill health related to cold weather. The closing date for submissions is 27th August 2013.Further information and details

Health report: review of the balance of competences

Department of Health -
This report covers the overall application of EU competence in health, and gives some idea of the views of stakeholders who responded to the call for evidence.

• Responses to consultation
• Original call for evidence
• Submitted evidence
• Department of Health - news