Solving the NHS care and cash crisis
This report, authored by the former Minister for Health Reform Lord Warner, argues that NHS funding from general taxation should rise only with inflation and proposes a NHS membership scheme for UK residents. It also argues that the creation of a national health and care service is central to tackling the care crisis and integration of health and social care.

Combating inflation – guidance
This guidance has been produced in order to enable the NHS to take a consistent approach to resisting inflationary pressures as part of a wider programme of initiatives to stabilise non-pay spend.

• Guidance
• Further information and supporting documents

Making sense of evidence in management decisions: the role of research-based knowledge on innovation adoption and implementation in health care
Health-care managers’ use of evidence when considering change in hospitals is not well understood. We systematically looked at decisions about technologies available to help fight infections in hospitals.

HSJ Top Chief Executives 2014
Operating in one of the toughest environments for a long time – these chief executives have been recognised for the hard work and commitment they have contributed to the NHS. The chief executives on the list were nominated by their peers, and a panel of distinguished judges selected the most outstanding nominees for the final top 50 list.

Guidance: NHS: resisting cost inflation pressures
NHS providers are being advised by the Department of Health to resist blanket inflationary price increases from suppliers. These documents provide guidance to enable the NHS to take a consistent approach to resisting inflationary pressures as part of a wider programme of initiatives to stabilise non-pay spend. The guidance document sets out a process for NHS healthcare provider organisations to follow, in order to engage and work with suppliers to find ways of avoiding inflationary costs. Templates for letters and spreadsheets that can be used throughout the process are provided. The guidance is supported by both Monitor and the Trust Development Authority.

Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust’s bid for foundation status has been further delayed, following a Care Quality Commission inspection which found the trust “required improvement”.
Following an inspection of acute services at the trust’s Treliske Hospital in Truro, the CQC said that the trust’s safety, quality of its surgical treatment and organisational responsiveness needed improvement. Trust’s FT bid delayed by CQC findings

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The chief executives of some of England’s most powerful hospital trusts have warned that the organisational independence of other providers should not be a barrier to them being taken over.
A conference organised by Reform, the right-wing think tank, and the Shelford Group, which represents England’s 10 most influential hospital providers, saw Central Manchester University Hospitals Foundation Trust chief executive Mike Deegan tell delegates: “Organisational sovereignty is a barrier to change.” Big FT chiefs: Trust independence should not prevent takeover

• Contact the Library & Knowledge Service to request this HSJ article or Phn. 01704 704202

Issues arising from the Pre-Accounts Planning Conferences 2014 (updated as at 19
March 2013)
Three pre accounts planning conferences were held on 28 January, 4 and 5 February. This paper highlights the common issues raised/discussed. Some of the issues raised in this paper had not yet been resolved; this paper has now been updated to reflect the additional guidance which has been issued.

Improving corporate accountability in health and social care consultation outcome
The Department of Health has published strengthening corporate accountability in health and social care: consultation response. This consultation asked for views on proposals to hold providers of health and social care to account where there are serious failures in care, and that all directors of providers registered with the Care Quality Commission, NHS hospitals, private hospitals and care homes must meet a new fit and proper person test. The majority of the 54 responses to the consultation supported the overall principle of introducing the fit and proper person requirement for director level posts. Many respondents wanted more information about how the test would work.

Accountable care organisations in the United States and England
The Kings Fund has published Accountable care organisations in the United States and England: Testing, evaluating and learning what works. This briefing paper describes the different types of accountable care organisations emerging in the United States, and presents some early evidence on their performance, assesses the future for ACOs; and discusses the implication of these developments for integrated care initiatives in England.

Halving avoidable harm
The Department of Health has announced details of a new scheme to reduce avoidable harm in the NHS by half over the next three years, cut costs and aim to save up to 6,000 lives. Each NHS organisation will be invited to ‘Sign up to Safety’ and set out publicly their plans for reducing avoidable harm, such as medication errors, blood clots and bed sores over the next three years. The NHS Litigation Authority has agreed to review the plans and, when approved, reduce the premiums paid by all hospitals successfully implementing them. The government will also introduce a Duty of Candour, making openness and honesty the norm across all health and social care organisations. It will mean providers must notify the patient about incidents where ‘significant harm’ has occurred and provide an apology.

Managing patients with complex needs
The Centre for Mental Health has published Managing patients with complex needs. This report reviews an innovative service that helps GPs in Hackney support people who fall through the gaps in existing service provision. It finds that it improves health at the same time as reducing costs in both primary and secondary care services.

Learning from Health and Wellbeing Boards
Lessons learned during the first full year’s operation of Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs) have been distilled into multi-media resources for sharing across the Health and Wellbeing community, so that HWB members across England can learn how their peers overcame challenges to progress system-wide strategic leadership

NHS and social care public perceptions
The Department of Health has released the results of its Winter and Spring 2013 ‘tracker’ survey to explore public attitudes towards, and perceptions of, the NHS and social care services. The survey captures the views of a representative cross-section of the public. There are a core set of questions that have been repeated in other waves, which allows changes to be tracked in these views over time. The spring 2013 wave brought in new questions on whether people are treated with compassion when they use NHS and social care services and whether it is easy to give feedback on NHS services.

Technical Guide to CCG and Area Team allocations 2014-15 and 2015-16
The Technical Guide to 2014-15 and 2015-16 CCG allocations and primary care allocations to Area Teams has now been published. The technical guide sets out the methodology and actual calculation of the allocations. This documentation covers both the target allocations determined by the formulae and pace of change policy.

NICE Guidance
NICE has issued the following guidance:
Contraceptive services with a focus on young people up to the age of 25 (PH51) Public Health guidance
Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for acute heart failure in adults (IPG482) Interventional procedures
Faecal microbiota transplant for recurrent clostridium difficile infection (IPG485) Interventional procedures
The Debrisoft monofilament debridement pad for use in acute or chronic wounds (MTG17) Medical technologies guidance
Transoral carbon dioxide laser surgery for primary treatment of oropharyngeal malignancy (IPG484) Interventional procedures
Vasculitis (anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody-associated) – rituximab (with glucocorticoids) (TA308) Technology appraisals

Bulletins
NHS Workforce Bulletin issue 409