Health Management and Policy Alert

Introducing fundamental standards - consultation on proposals to change CQC registration regulations

Department of Health -
This consultation asks for views on changes to CQC registration requirements, in order to introduce fundamental standards of safety and quality for care. The deadline for responding to the consultation is 4th April 2014.

• Consultation
• Impact assessment
• Department of Health - publications

Supervision in community pharmacy: final report to Pharmacy Research UK

Manchester Pharmacy School -
This research investigates current arrangements for supervision, role delegation and skill mix in community pharmacy and aimed to seek stakeholders’ perceived risk levels associated with different types of pharmacy activities and services, and views on potential changes to supervision requirements. It identified those activities that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians agreed can be undertaken during the pharmacist’s absence.

• Full report
• Executive summary
• Pharmacy Research UK - press release

Routes to diagnosis: cancer of unknown primary

National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) -
This research shows that more than half (57%) of newly diagnosed cases of cancer of unknown primary - around 25,000 in England between 2006 and 2010 - were presented as an emergency compared to 23% for all cancers.

• Research briefing
• NCIN - publications
• Public Health England - press release

NHS waiting times for elective care in England

National Audit Office (NAO) -
This report highlights the increasing challenge to the NHS of sustaining the 18-week waiting time standard for elective care and the importance for trusts of having reliable performance information and shared good practice. It concludes that value for money is being undermined by the problems with the completeness, consistency and accuracy of patient waiting time data; and by inconsistencies in the way that patient referrals to hospitals are managed.

• Report
• NAO - press release

London mental health: the invisible costs of mental ill health

Greater London Authority -
The report investigates the scope and scale of mental ill health in London, to highlight the wider impacts beyond those to health and social care. These wider impacts result in around £26 billion each year in total economic and social costs to London and impact every facet of the community.

• Report
• Greater London Authority - mental health topic page 
• Greater London Authority - press release

Engaging patients through social media

IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics -
This report reviews the impact of social media on the use of medicines, including the role that pharmaceutical manufacturers are playing in leveraging social media platforms as part of their business model.

• Report request form
• Infographic
• IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics - publications

2013 accountability hearing with the Care Quality Commission (CQC): sixth report of session 2013-14

House of Commons Health Committee -
This report details the purpose of the CQC, regulatory reforms and their role within the new regulatory model. The report following the 2012 accountability hearing found that CQC had failed to establish its core purpose or describe what it intended to achieve through its regulatory activity. This report finds that the CQC has now set out its objectives in clear terms which has helped to provide clarity to a regulatory landscape.

• Report
• House of Commons Health Committee - publications

Financial care products: industry-led review

Department of Health -
The Department of Health invited representatives of the financial services industry to conduct a review of the market of products to fund care. These reports have identified opportunities for development of financial care products and the problems they might face.

• Key messages
• Department of Health - publications

Social care funding: statement of intent

Department of Health -
This statement is a public commitment from Department of Health and the financial services industry to work together to help people plan and prepare for the costs of their long term care.

• Statement
• Department of Health - publications

Preventing chronic conditions among ethnic minorities and improving access to services

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) -
This briefing recommends lowering BMI thresholds as a trigger for intervening to prevent ill health among adults from minority ethnicities. Further examples of recommendations include developing an integrated regional and local plan, and promoting early intervention. It also suggests that by reconfiguring services to meet the health needs of their local populations, local authorities can reduce health inequalities and address the costs associated with ill health.

• Briefing paper
• NICE - news