Health Management and Policy Alert

Review of risk of modern slavery and human trafficking in the NHS supply chain

Department of Health and Social Care -
This review considered over 1,300 suppliers, representing 600,000 NHS products, to identify modern slavery risks and build a more ethical and reliable UK health system. In delivering the recommendations of the review, DHSC will work in partnership with NHS England and NHS Supply Chain to: lay new regulations; develop a cross-government response to map supply chains to improve knowledge and identify where action must be taken; and enable NHS staff to better understand and address modern slavery risks.

• Report
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

2024 voluntary scheme for branded medicines pricing, access and growth

Department of Health and Social Care -
The scheme is a voluntary agreement between the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry. The voluntary scheme aims to: promote better patient outcomes and a healthier population; support UK economic growth; and contribute to a financially sustainable NHS.

• Report
• Department of Health and Social Care - publications

Understanding the rise in 0-4-year-old Emergency Department (ED) attendances and changing health visiting practice

Institute of Health Visiting -
This report finds that the under ones are the largest group of people by far who attend A&E across the country. It reveals that a large proportion of these attendances are for non-urgent conditions and suggests that they could be managed and supported by other means, including health visitors in the community.

• Report
• Institute of Health Visiting - news

NHS vaccination strategy

NHS England -
This NHS strategy brings together all vaccination programmes. It is for people and organisations involved in the commissioning, planning and delivery of NHS vaccination services in England. It aims to help shape the future delivery of NHS vaccination and immunisation services.

• Strategy
• NHS England - publications

Health effects of climate change (HECC) in the UK: state of the evidence 2023

UK Health Security Agency -
In 2018, the latest long-range climate projections for the UK were published to inform the UK’s third Climate Change Risk Assessment, required by the Climate Change Act (2008), covering all sectors across society. This report outlines the threats posed by climate change to health and how these issues will inform further research and public health practice and policy decisions going forward.

• Report
• UK Health Security Agency - press release

Meeting the needs of autistic adults in mental health services

NHS England - 

This guidance is for integrated care boards, health organisations and wider system partners and provides advice on how to improve the quality, accessibility and acceptability of care and support for autistic adults to meet their mental health needs, both in the community and in inpatient settings. It outlines ten principles for implementation and provides practical examples of how these principles may be applied

• Guidance
• More detail

 

 

Smarter data, better care: empowering care homes to use data to transform quality of care

British Geriatrics Society - 

This report report makes key recommendations for the effective use of a national minimum dataset to deliver the best possible care in UK care homes and domiciliary care. The report sets out the barriers to and opportunities for collecting standardised care data. It contains insights from the National Institute of Health Research DACHA study and from interRAI as well as from other national and international studies using social care data. It summarises the accumulated experience of several research and data teams and reflects on the “state of the art” in minimum datasets.

• Report
• Press release

Maternity triage

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - 

This document highlights the challenges in maternity triage departments and defines their role as emergency portals into maternity units for unscheduled attendances. The paper is directed at stakeholders responsible for developing and improving maternity services. It presents the recommendations for the operational structure and pathways within maternity triage to improve safety and experience for both women and staff, through prompt standardised initial assessment and the use of symptom-specific algorithms to determine urgency, and outlines the key requirements for successful implementation.

• Paper
• Press release

 

The Care Act 2014 and unpaid carers: a handy summary

Local Government Association - 

This summary is designed to support councils to prepare for Care Quality Commission (CQC) assessment as it relates to unpaid carers. CQC assessments will focus on how well councils are carrying out their statutory duties under the act, in line with new powers set out in Health and Care Act 2022 regulations.

• Summary

Rapid evaluation of the 2022 to 2023 discharge funds

Department of Health and Social Care - 

During 2022, there was a rising number of patients who were still in hospital when they did not clinically meet the criteria to reside. To improve flow through hospitals and free up hospital beds over the winter, the government announced two additional funding streams: the £500 million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund, in September 2022, for 2022 to 2023 (‘£500 million discharge fund’); and the £200 million step down fund for integrated care boards in January 2023 (‘£200 million discharge fund’). This rapid evaluation of the discharge funding explores how much of the funds were spent; changes in discharge metrics over this period until June 2023; and an analysis of the impact of the funding.

• Evaluation
• More detail