Strategic commissioning of long-term care: can we get more for less?  Laing & Buisson
This white paper seeks to analyse the state of the UK market in care services for older people, to identify the market failures (and achievements) and to ask if there are any ways to correct the failures – especially the key issue which dogs providers of care services working for a publicly funded clientele, which is the mismatch between public sector commissioners’ need to contain costs in an extended period of austerity, and providers’ need to earn an adequate return in order to sustain existing services and develop the new ones.

Due north: report of the Inquiry on Health Equity for the North – Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES)
This report from an inquiry, commissioned by Public Health England, details evidence on trends in health inequalities and flowing from this provides a set of recommendations – based on the root causes of health inequalities – for policies that can address social inequalities in health within the North and between the rest of England.

Annual review 2013-14: a year of putting patients first – NHS England
This review takes a look at some of NHS England’s highlights over the last year and includes real life case studies which show how patients have been put first.

Smart governance for health and well-being: the evidence – World Health Organization Europe 
This study tracks recent innovations to address the priority determinants of health and categorizes them into five strategic approaches to smart governance for health. It relates the emergence of joint action by the health and non-health sectors, public and private actors and citizens.

Experiencing trustworthy leadership – Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Finds that followers experience those leaders as trustworthy who they perceived primarily as human, personal and relational. These findings present challenges for both aspiring and current senior leaders as well as those charged within the HR profession for selecting and developing such people in the future. In order to build trust relations with their followers, leaders need to operate in a space of trust, essentially the environment where trust between leaders and followers can flourish.

Ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage – NICE quality standards [QS69]
Service providers (secondary care services) 
Ensure that a system is in place to enable women referred to early pregnancy assessment services to be seen by the service at least within 24 hours of referral.Ensure that protocols and equipment are in place for transvaginal ultrasound scans to be offered to women with a suspected ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage to identify the location and viability of the pregnancy.Ensure that procedures and protocols are in place for women with a suspected miscarriage who have had an initial transvaginal ultrasound scan to be offered a second assessment to confirm the diagnosis.

Drug allergy: diagnosis and management of drug allergy in adults, children and young people – NICE guidelines [CG183]
This clinical guideline offers evidence-based advice on the diagnosis and management of drug allergy in adults, children and young people.

Dyspepsia and gastro‑oesophageal reflux disease: Investigation and management of dyspepsia, symptoms suggestive of gastro‑oesophageal reflux disease, or both – NICE guidelines [CG184]
This guideline updates and replaces NICE clinical guideline 17 (published August 2004). It offers evidence-based advice on the care and treatment of adults (aged 18 and over) with symptoms of dyspepsia, symptoms suggestive of gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD), or both. New recommendations have been added about investigation and referral, Helicobacter pylori eradication therapy, specialist management, and surveillance of Barrett’s oesophagus in people with dyspepsia.

Long-acting reversible contraception (update) – NICE guidelines [CG30] 
This guideline offers the best-practice advice on the provision of information and care for women who are considering or using long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC). Treatment and care should take into account women’s individual needs and references. Recommendations on progestogen-only subdermal implants in section 1.5 have been updated and replaced. The addendum to NICE clinical guideline 30 contains details of the methods and evidence used to update these recommendations.

Acute coronary syndromes (including myocardial infarction) – NICE quality standards [QS68]
This quality standard covers the diagnosis and management of acute coronary syndromes (including myocardial infarction) in adults aged 18 years and over.  It does not cover the secondary prevention of myocardial infarction, including rehabilitation; this will be covered by a separate quality standard.

NHS to plan for ‘transition’ year in 2015-16 – Health Service Journal – Acute care news
The coming financial year will be a ‘transition’ period with few new national requirements so the NHS ‘can focus on core aspects’ such as financial sustainability and waiting time targets, NHS England has indicated.

Comparing lean and quality improvement – Institute for Health Improvement (IHI)
This white paper discusses the relationship between quality improvement and lean and how either or both could best be utilised to improve care systems.

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Priorities for the next government – The King’s Fund 
The general election will come at a pivotal time for health and social care. An unprecedented funding squeeze has left the NHS on the brink of financial crisis, while reductions in local government funding have led to significant cuts in social care services. The next government must ensure that the focus on improving quality of care established in the wake of the Francis report is sustained. It will also need to set in train a transformation of services to meet the needs of patients more effectively. Looking further ahead, the big question is how to provide adequate funding to meet future demand for health and social care.

Improved survival rates in joint ops
NHS England has released the findings from two independent reports that show death rates following a joint replacement or hip fracture have fallen over the last ten years. The National Joint Register annual report shows that patients undergoing hip and knee replacements are more likely to survive, as mortality rates have halved over the past decade. This is despite a record number of operations, with the number of patients undergoing hip, knee, ankle, elbow or shoulder replacements increasing by almost five per cent over the last year. Improvements in care and higher quality joint replacements also mean that the risk of patients having to have their implant replaced within ten years is less than five per cent. There have also been advances in care for patients following a hip fracture. The National Hip Fracture Database audit shows that hip fracture patients were getting faster transfers to surgery and more access to specialist consultants.

Transparency in care
The Department of Health has published an open consultation document Display of Performance Assessments Placing a legal requirement on registered providers to display the rating published by the Care Quality Commission. The Care Act 2014 will give the Care Quality Commission the power to assess health and social care providers’ performance and give each a rating. The purpose of this consultation is to seek views on the proposal to make it a legal requirement for providers to display the performance rating given to them by the commission.