NICE annual review 2013/14

The NICE Annual Review 2013/14 has been published providing a snapshot of work undertaken during the past 12 months.  The report reflects on a year, in which the main challenge has been to maintain and build on the relationships created with the NHS and local government in clinical and public health programmes, at the same time reaching out to the social care communities. It also looks back at major landmarks as NICE celebrates its 15th anniversary.

NHS England funds the evaluation of specialist surgery for more than 100 children a year with cerebral palsy – NHS England 

NHS England has today (17 July) announced it will commission specialist surgery for a number of children with cerebral palsy who have difficulty walking, which could improve their mobility and level of independence. Around 120 children a year could benefit from a procedure called Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) as part of NHS England’s innovative Commissioning through Evaluation (CtE) programme .

Move all non-emergency NHS work into primary care, say health groups – GP Online 

All non-emergency NHS treatment should be moved out of hospitals and into primary care, according to a report by leading health organisations.

How is the NHS performing? July 2014 – Quarterly Monitoring Report

The twelfth Quarterly Monitoring Report features survey results from finance directors and interactive charts on selected NHS performance data.

More hospital nurses won’t solve the NHS’s long term problems – HSJ Article

Recruiting more hospital nurses could ease pressure on acute trusts in the short term, but what the NHS really needs is balanced investment in staff across all settings.

NHS finances stretched to the limit as nursing workforce reaches record high – The King’s Fund

The latest quarterly monitoring report from The King’s Fund once again illustrates the huge pressures on NHS finances, with a quarter of NHS trust finance directors surveyed for the report expecting to overspend their budgets this year. Analysis of the data collected for the report shows that the nursing workforce increased by almost 9,000 over the past six months to nearly 315,000 – the highest on record. This underlines the difficult choice facing hospitals: whether to balance the books or maintain quality of services, with many choosing to recruit more nurses despite their budgets being stretched to the limit.

We are primary care – Pharmacy Voice 

This cross-sector report urges the public and policy makers to look beyond general practice as the only alternative to hospital care. It highlights the political drive to address the extreme demand and fiscal pressure on the NHS by taking care out of hospital and into the community, but argues that this can only be successful if people have a clear understanding that GPs are not always the most appropriate first contact. It further argues that reducing demand is an imperative and that high street health specialists have a key role to play in tackling public health challenges like smoking and obesity.

Health Statistics

Quarterly Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Dataset Reports – Final Q4 2013/14 IAPT summary statistics and related information, England, Experimental Statistics
Mixed Sex Accommodation Breaches – June 2014
Direct Access Audiology Waiting Times – May 201