Health Management and Policy Alert

Gambling-related harms evidence review

Public Health England -
This evidence review aims to improve the understanding of the prevalence, determinants and harms associated with gambling, and the social and economic burden of gambling-related harms. The review consists of six technical reports and a summary document that provides an overview of each report’s main findings.

• Summary report
• Public Health England - related documents and data

Free personal protective equipment (PPE) scheme

Department of Health and Social Care -
The purpose of the scheme is to ensure that health and social care providers have reliable access to the PPE needed for good infection control, limiting the spread of Covid-19. The scheme has been extended to 31 March 2022.

• Policy paper
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Whistleblowing disclosures report 2021: healthcare professional regulators

Nursing & Midwifery Council -
The Nursing & Midwifery Council received 192 whistleblowing disclosures in 2020–2021, compared to 107 disclosures the previous year. The rise in disclosures is largely due to Covid-19. Around a third of disclosures made during this year were related to the pandemic. The report highlights the collaborative efforts of eight regulators (General Chiropractic Council, General Dental Council, General Medical Council, General Optical Council, General Osteopathic Council, General Pharmaceutical Council, The Health and Care Professions Council and the Nursing & Midwifery Council) to address serious issues that health and care professionals have raised in UK workplaces.

• Report
• Nursing & Midwifery Council - news

Guidance on the Community Pharmacy Hypertension Case-Finding Advanced Service

Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee -
This briefing provides guidance for community pharmacy contractors and their teams on the Community Pharmacy Hypertension Case-Finding Advanced Service. It gives an introduction to the service, advice on preparing to provide the service and detail on training and competency requirements.

• Briefing
• Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee - news

Equality in Public Health England: how we met the Public Sector Equality Duty in 2020

Public Health England (PHE) -
The equality duty is supported by two specific duties which require public bodies such as PHE to: publish information to show their compliance with the equality duty; and set and publish equality objectives at least every four years. These reports set out how PHE responded to meeting these two specific duties.

• Report
• Public Health England - publications

A vision of social care: the economic and wider value of adult social care

All Party Parliamentary Group for Adult Social Care -
This report identifies a number of key areas around which the reform of social care will achieve the sustainable and meaningful impact for people who access care and support. It sets out the scale and breadth of the social care system and provides a number of case studies to further illustrate the impact it makes on the economic and community well being in areas across the country. It finds that investment in social care leads to tangible benefits in the spending power of local communities, supporting direct and associated employment and prosperity at the same time.

• Report
• All Party Parliamentary Group for Adult Social Care - news

Annual review of adult social care complaints 2020-21

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman -
This annual review of social care complaints – covering both councils and independent care providers across England – shows the service found fault in 72 per cent of the complaints it investigated last year. The report discovers that the faults found during investigations are often not due to one-off errors caused by staff working under pressure, but are increasingly caused by the measures employed by councils and care providers to mitigate the squeeze on their resources.

• Report
• Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman - press release

Mental health in prisons

House of Commons Justice Committee -
This report finds that a disjointed and incoherent approach to care has left many prisoners suffering from mental health issues undiagnosed and unable to access care. It calls on the NHS, Ministry of Justice and the Prison and Probation Service to implement a system of integrated care, that improves identification of mental health issues, provides seamless care while in prison and supports transition to care in community settings on release.

• Report
• House of Commons Justice Committee - press release

Sexually transmitted infections: promoting the sexual health and wellbeing of people from a Black Caribbean background

Public Health England -
This resource aims to provide information to support commissioners, providers and third-sector organisations in developing interventions for improved sexual health and wellbeing in people from a Black Caribbean background.

• Guidance
• Public Health England - publications

Sexually transmitted infections: promoting the sexual health and wellbeing of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men

Public Health England -
This resource aims to provide information to support commissioners, providers and voluntary and community sector organisations in developing interventions for improved sexual health and wellbeing among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.

• Guidance
• Public Health England - publications