Health Management and Policy Alert

Stopping movement of staff between care settings: response to consultation

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - 

The DHSC hosted a public consultation on plans to minimise the risk of coronavirus (Covid-19) infections by making residential and nursing care home providers restrict the movement of care staff. More than 1,300 responses were received and this document summarises these responses and sets out the government’s response to the issues raised.

• Consultation outcome
• More detail

Hub and Spoke dispensing+

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC) - 

Proposed legislative changes in the next twelve months or so, if introduced, will enable hub and spoke dispensing between different contractors (different legal entities) and ​will make hub and spoke dispensing available to all community pharmacies. This briefing includes background information, potential impact, likely regulatory issues, and some of the views of PSNC and others on hub and spoke dispensing.

• Briefing
• More detail

Preoperative assessment and optimisation for adult surgery including consideration of Covid-19 and its implications

Royal College of Surgeons of England - 

This guidance, produced by a leading group of professional healthcare organisations including the Centre for Perioperative Care the and the Royal College of General Practitioners, supports clinicians to help patients to get ready for their surgery and improve their health. Embedding shared decision making into perioperative care pathways, as described in NICE guidance on shared decision-making, is recommended as an important step to ensure patients get the right care for them, every time.

• Guidelines
• Press release

Student mental health and wellbeing: insights from higher education providers and sector experts

Department of Education - 

This research uses survey data and interviews to explore: approaches to supporting students’ wellbeing and mental health[; the range of services available to students; data collected on the prevalence of mental health difficulties and levels of wellbeing; and evidence gaps.

• Report
• More detail

Higher education and mental health: analyses of the LSYPE cohorts

Department for Education - 

This research project sought to improve understanding of common mental health problems in young people who attend higher education, compared with those who do not. It comprised of a quantitative analysis of the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England (LSYPE) cohorts 1 and 2 investigating differences in symptoms of common mental disorder using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ12) measure.

• Report
• More detail

Summary of funding for Covid-19 related costs incurred by community pharmacy contractors

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee - 

This briefing describes the arrangements agreed between PSNC and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to reimburse community pharmacy contractors for the extra costs they have incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic between 1st March 2020 and 31st March 2021 for the delivery of NHS pharmaceutical services.

• Briefing
• More detail

Rheumatology workforce: a crisis in numbers

British Society for Rheumatology - 

This report presents a detailed analysis of the entire adult, paediatric and adolescent rheumatology workforce, including comprehensive UK-wide workforce data. The findings provide robust evidence in areas that have traditionally relied on anecdote, such as chronic understaffing, persistent regional and national vacancies and lack of exposure to the specialty throughout training and early career. The report's recommendations include: investment in the rheumatology workforce to secure long-term sustainability; enhanced roles for allied health professionals and increasing numbers of pharmacists and nurses to ease the current crisis and increasing exposure to rheumatology in training.

• Report
• Press release

Unseen, unequal and unfair: chronic pain in England

Versus Arthritis - 

5.5 million people in England (twelve per cent of the population) have high-impact chronic pain, the most disabling form which means a person struggles to take part in daily activities. This report sets out how chronic pain affects England as a nation and what needs to be done about the unseen and unequal burden.

• Report
• Press release

Working well? How the pandemic change work for people with health conditions

Centre for Ageing Better - 

This research, produced together with the Institute for Employment Studies, highlights the challenges faced by employees with long-term health conditions and warns that more support is needed to help people manage their conditions in the workplace if the state pension is to rise further.

• Report
• Press release

Test and trace in England: progress update

National Audit Office -
According to this report, the NHS Test and Trace Service (NHST&T) has expanded its testing capacity, tracing activities and distribution of rapid tests, but has further to go in reducing the overall time taken for reaching all cases and their contacts. It finds that NHST&T does not have targets for how quickly the contacts of those testing positive should be reached for other types of PCR tests, such as home-based tests.

• Report
• National Audit Office - press release