Investing in specialised services: consultation
NHS England is consulting on a proposed set of principles which will underpin the future decision making process for investment in specialised services.   Investing in Specialised Services sets out how NHS England will prioritise which specialised services and treatments to invest in.  It directly commissions around 145 specialised services. In order to ensure the maximum number of patients benefit from new innovative treatments coming on stream, choices need to be made about which of these to fund.  The consultation runs until 27 April 2015.

Standards for medical education and training
The General Medical Council has launched a consultation Standards for medical education and training.  The new standards will, for the first time, create a single set of standards for organisations delivering medical education and training across the UK.  The standards aim to bring together the medical education and training received by all doctors and are designed to make sure that fairness and patients’ safety, experience and quality of care lie at the core of teaching and training.  The consultation period closes on the 24 March 2015.

Hospital objections scupper controversial 2015-16 pricing plans- Health Service Journal
The NHS will go into what is expected to be its toughest financial year yet with no nationally agreed set of prices for services, after controversial 2015-16 tariff proposals were resoundingly rejected by the dominant providers.

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Labour’s 10-year plan for health and caref – Your Britain 
This document sets out the Labour Party’s plan for health and care for the next ten years. It aims not just to protect the NHS but to improve it for years to come by making sure that the health service can meet the challenges of the 21st century and remain sustainable for the future

The code: professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives – Nursing & Midwifery Council
This revised code of practice places public expectations at the heart of good nursing and midwifery practice. It has been written with the input of many patients, carers, nurses and midwives. It is shaped around four statements, which state that good nurses and midwives will prioritise people, practice effectively, preserve safety, and promote professionalism and trust.

Winterbourne view: transforming care two years on – Department of Health
The government committed in Transforming care: a national response to Winterbourne View Hospital to produce a report two years later setting out the progress that had been made to ensure what happened at Winterbourne View is not repeated. The update report is a collective account from partners across the health and care system, which describes the work that has taken place. It provides an update against the actions in the original report and shows that not as much progress has been made as was intended.

Regulation of health and social care professionals: response – HM Government
The response covers:

• the structure of reform
• the make-up of a regulatory body
• registers and registration
• education, standards and practice
• fitness to practise
• the role of the Professional Standards Authority

The response sets out the government’s approach to public protection and how this can be supported by professional regulation. – The King’s Fund 
This report details the results and satisfaction trends relating to the NHS and health care issues from the British Social Attitudes survey 2014. It finds that overall public satisfaction with the NHS increased to 65 per cent in 2014 – the second highest level since the British Social Attitudes survey began in 1983. Dissatisfaction with the service fell to an all-time low of 15 per cent.

Fines for breaching A&E target could rise by over a third – Health Service Journal
Fines levied on hospitals for missing the accident and emergency waiting target could increase by more than 35 per cent under new rules proposed for the coming financial year, HSJ analysis has found.

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