Health Management and Policy Alert

Technical specifications for personal protective equipment (PPE)

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) - 

These documents provide the technical and regulatory standards for examination gloves, gowns, surgical face masks, respirator masks and eye protection. They have been published so that new suppliers and manufacturers understand DHSC requirements.

• Guidance

Each baby counts: 2019 progress report

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists -
This report recommends new measures to reduce stillbirths, baby deaths and brain injuries. It finds that the number of parents being involved in investigations, and the quality of reviews is increasing, and therefore improving understanding of how to prevent future deaths and injuries. Recommendations include how maternity care can be improved, and how to support maternity teams to escalate critical situations.

• Report
• Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - news

Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in pregnancy: information for healthcare professionals

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - 

The guidance covers the most up-to-date advice on how coronavirus affects pregnant women and their unborn babies, how labour and birth should be managed in women with suspected or confirmed coronavirus, as well as information on neonatal care and infant feeding. It has been jointly published with the Royal College of Midwives, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Public Health England and Health Protection Scotland. It may be updated
if or when new information becomes available.

• Guidance
• Press release

NHS Staff Council statement on Covid-19

NHS Staff Council - 

The NHS Staff Council has jointly agreed a statement on good partnership working and issues to consider when developing local plans to combat coronavirus (Covid-19). The aim of the guidance is to support partnership working between employers, trade unions and staff in implementing plans to ensure that appropriate precautions are taken to maintain the safety of patients, staff and the public they serve. 

• Statement
• More detail

Lack of timely monitoring of patients with glaucoma

Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch - 

This national investigation identified that there is inadequate hospital eye services capacity to meet demand for glaucoma services, and that better, smarter ways of working should be implemented to maximise the current capacity. The report highlights that there are innovative measures implemented by some trusts that have reduced the risk, but this good practice is yet to be implemented more widely.

• Report
• Press release

Fifth patient report of the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA): December 2017 to November 2018

Royal College of Anaesthetists - 

Commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership as part of the National Clinical Audit Programme, this report analyses the care received by close to 25,000 emergency bowel surgery patients treated in NHS hospitals in England and Wales between December 2017 and November 2018. Amongst the findings is that time to antibiotics in patients with sepsis remains poor with 80.6 per cent not receiving antibiotics within one hour. The report is the fifth report of NELA and offers a series of recommendations to reduce variation in the care of patients undergoing emergency bowel surgery.

• Report
• More detail

Implementing the recommendations of the Neonatal Critical Care Transformation Review

NHS England and NHS Improvement - 

This action plan to implement the recommendations of the Neonatal Critical Care Transformation Review sets out how the NHS will further improve neonatal care with the support of funding set out in the NHS Long Term Plan. The recommendations are grouped under the following themes: aligning capacity; developing the expert neonatal workforce; enhancing the experience of families; and making it happen. For each theme, the report summarises the evidence for the change, who needs to do what by when to inform regional commissioning planning processes and decision making and what support is available.

• Action plan
• More detail

A competency framework for designated prescribing practitioners

Royal Pharmaceutical Society - 

This framework supports individuals across all independent prescribing professions, training providers and universities to understand what competencies must be met to provide safe and effective prescribing supervision to independent prescribers. Regulatory changes in 2019 mean that experienced non-medical prescribers of any professional background can become responsible for a trainee prescriber's period of learning in practice.

• Framework
• More detail

Standing up for patient and public safety

Royal College of Nursing - 

This report describes the lack of clear roles, responsibilities and accountability for workforce planning and supply in England. In reality, this means that the health and care workforce is not growing in line with increasing population need for health and care services, and there are large numbers of vacant posts throughout the system. This impacts upon patient safety and outcomes, and leads to a challenging working environment for staff. To resolve this, the RCN makes the case for this to be resolved through legislation, alongside additional investment in the nursing workforce and a national health and care workforce strategy for England.

• Report
• Press release

Caring, supportive, collaborative: doctors’ vision for change in the NHS

British Medical Association (BMA) -
This report draws on the experience and expertise of BMA members across all branches of medical practice in the UK. It outlines where the BMA believe changes are needed to ensure patient care is safe, makes the NHS a great place to work and transforms services for the better.

• Report
• BMA - publications