Health Management and Policy Alert

Operational guidance to implement a lifetime cap on care costs

Department of Health and Social Care -
In September 2021 the Prime Minister announced that, from October 2023, the government will introduce a new £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England will need to spend on their personal care over their lifetime. This consultation seeks views on the statutory guidance which sets out how a cap on care costs would operate in practice, as well as to inform how government can support local authorities in their preparations for its implementation from October 2023. The closing date for comments is 1 April 2022.

• Consultation
• Department of Health and Social Care - consultations

Revoking vaccination as a condition of deployment across all health and social care: consultation response

Department of Health and Social Care -
The government conducted a public consultation from 9 to 16 February 2022 on whether to revoke provisions which require Covid-19 vaccination as a condition of deployment in health and social care settings. This is the formal government response to that consultation. The government’s response confirms that they intend to proceed with bringing forward regulations to revoke vaccination as a condition of deployment.

• Consultation response
• Department of Health and Social Care - consultations

10-year cancer plan: call for evidence

Department of Health and Social Care -
The NHS Long Term Plan, published in 2019, set an ambition to save thousands more lives each year by improving how we diagnose and treat cancer. The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking the views of individuals, professionals and organisations to understand whether and how progress can be made against this ambition, and to build on lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. The closing date for comments is 1 April 2022.

• Online response form
• NHS Long Term Plan
• Department of Health and Social Care - consultations

Draft standards consultation: specialist community public health nursing, community specialist practice qualifications, and associated programme standards - consultation findings

Nursing & Midwifery Council -
The consultation sought views on three sets of draft standards: those for specialist community public health nursing, those for community nursing specialist practice qualification and the associated programme standards. A large majority of the 2,363 respondents welcomed the three sets of standards, agreeing they were largely fit for purpose.

• Report
• Original consultation
• Nursing & Midwifery Council - news

Draft NHS Standard Contract 2022/23: a consultation - proposed changes to the NHS Standard Contract for 2022/23

NHS England -
The NHS Standard Contract is published by NHS England for use by NHS commissioners to contract for all health care services other than primary care services. This consultation document describes the main, material changes being proposed to the NHS Standard Contract. The closing date for comments is 28 January 2022.

• Consultation
• NHS England - publications

The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: consultation response

Department of Health and Social Care -
On 15 July 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care published a consultation paper to seek views on the government’s intention to extend the expiry date of the 2014 Regulations by a further three years to 31 March 2025. This would ensure that providers who carry on regulated activities continue to be required to register with the CQC and comply with the fundamental standards. The consultation closed on 2 September 2021. The summary of consultation responses notifies respondents of the department’s decision to seek Parliamentary approval to extend the expiry date of the 2014 Regulations.

• Consultation response
• Department of Health and Social Care - consultations

NHS Pension Scheme: proposed changes to member contributions

Department of Health and Social Care -
This consultation seeks views from interested parties on a new member contribution structure which makes changes to recognise that all members of the NHS Pension Scheme will be building up career-average benefits from 1 April 2022. The proposal includes basing members’ contribution rates on their actual annual salaries and reduces the cross-subsidy between higher and lower earners. The consultation closes on 7 January 2022.

• Online response form
• Department of Health and Social Care - consultations

Extending free personal protective equipment (PPE) to the health and care sector

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) -
In response to coronavirus, the DHSC created a parallel PPE supply chain in the UK to meet the unexpected challenges caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and to ensure much-needed PPE was delivered to the frontline. DHSC is committed to providing this central, free provision of Covid-19 PPE until 31 March 2022. This consultation is seeking views on whether it should extend the provision of free PPE to the health and care sector after this date. The closing date for comments is 31 October 2021.

• Consultation
• DHSC - consultations

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

Making vaccination a condition of deployment in older adult care homes

Department of Health and Social Care -
To increase vaccine take up among staff working in care homes, the government is considering amending the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. This would mean older adult care home providers could only use those staff who have received the Covid-19 vaccination (or those with a legitimate medical exemption) in line with government guidance. The deadline for responding to the consultation is 21 May 2021.

• Consultation
• Department of Health and Social Care - consultations