New Patient Engagement Programme – TLAP News
Partner organisation National Voices is launching a new programme which will build the capacity of voluntary sector organisations to support patients and people who use services.

Testing the bed-blocking hypothesis: does higher supply of nursing and care homes reduce delayed hospital discharges? – Centre for Health Economics (CHE)
Hospital bed blocking occurs when hospital patients are ready to be discharged to a nursing home but no place is available, so that hospital care acts as a more costly substitute for long-term care. This paper investigates the extent to which higher supply of nursing home beds or lower prices can reduce hospital bed blocking. It uses new local authority level administrative data from England on hospital delayed discharges in 2010-13. The results suggest that delayed discharges do respond to the availability of care-home beds but the effect is modest: an increase in care-homes bed by 10% (250 additional beds per local authority) would reduce delayed discharges by about 4%-7%. It also finds strong evidence of spillover effects across local authorities: higher availability of care-homes or fewer patients aged over 65 in nearby local authorities are associated with fewer delayed discharges.

Guidance: Ionising radiation from medical imaging examinations: safety advice – HM Government
This document covers

• the risks associated with medical imaging examinations that use
• ionising radiation doses of ionising radiation from medical exposures
• cumulative doses of ionising radiation from medical exposures

Maternity pathway payment system guidance

Monitor and the Department of Health have published the maternity pathway payment system: supplementary guidance. This guidance outlines which services are included in the maternity pathway payment and explains how to implement the payment system. The guidance supplements Annex 4A of the National tariff payment system 2014/15.

Staff Friends and Family Test early experiences – NHS Employers

A new briefing document has been created following discussions with HR Directors who shared their ideas and emerging lessons about the Staff Friends and Family Test.