Nurse staffing matters: now what? – BMJ Quality & Safety current issue
Brooks Carthon and colleagues assess the relationship between the quality of hospital work environments for registered nurses and ‘missed care’ reported by nurses. Similar to other authors, they define missed care as care that nurses regarded as necessary but left undone due to a lack of time. Brooks Carthon and colleagues1 also explore the relationship between both of these variables and hospital readmissions for heart failure. Their analysis represents an important step in moving beyond the literature describing relationships between nurse staffing and patient outcomes.

The future of measuring patient safety: prospective clinical surveillance – BMJ Quality & Safety current issue. Thomas, E. J. 
Prospective clinical surveillance (PCS) is a safety measurement approach that fulfills many of the goals and principles of the latest thinking on measuring and improving safety. Compared with many current measurement practices, it may be more valid and reliable, with potential to facilitate learning and improvement and empower and draw upon the experience of front-line providers. It also has implications for external oversight of healthcare organisations.

Evidence Update – Fertility
NICE has published a new evidence update Fertility (Evidence Update 75). It provides a summary of selected new evidence relevant to NICE clinical guideline 156 ‘Assessment and treatment for people with fertility problems’ (2013).
To access this document, follow the link above and scroll down to the ‘Gynaecology, pregnancy and birth’ section.  The update is at the top of the list in this section.

European Union procurement and competition rules
The King’s Fund has published Procurement and competition rules: can the NHS be exempted?  This briefing examines whether a new government could extract the NHS from European Union procurement and competition rules. The briefing assesses what policy changes would be required should a new government wish to insulate the NHS from the application of the rules. The report includes: an introduction to the debate over the rules; discussion of EU and UK procurement law, including how planned changes will affect procurement from 201; and discussion of EU and UK competition law, including the extent to which competition rules really affect providers.

Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust: Public Accounts Committee report
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee Forty-Sixth Report  An update on Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trusthas reported it findings into the operation of the Trust by Circle who took operational control of Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS Trust, and so became the first private company to run an NHS hospital.  The report makes a number of recommendations for implementation.

Regulations for service providers and managers
The Care Quality Commission has published guidance for providers and managers on how to meet quality and safety regulations, including the so-called “fundamental standards” or minimum standards for care. This document covers two groups of regulations: Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 and Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 (Part 4). It applies from 1 April 2015, and will replace the previous guidance.

Proposals for pharmacists to work in GP surgeries
The Royal College of General Practitioners and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society are proposing plans for pharmacists to work in GP surgeries in a bid to ease current pressures in general practice and address the severe shortage of GPs.  The proposals would see pharmacists working as part of the general practice team, much in the same way as practice nurses. They say that the move will improve patient safety and care and, crucially, reduce waiting times for GP appointments.

Work And Well-being In The NHS: Why Staff Health Matters To Patient Care – Royal College of Physicians
This report shows that staff health and wellbeing in the NHS is often seen as an optional extra – as less than two thirds of trusts have a staff health and wellbeing plan in place. It says that high quality patient care relies on skilled staff who are not only physically and mentally well enough to do their jobs, but also feel valued, supported and engaged. It also states that good staff health, wellbeing and engagement can reap significant benefits for patient safety including reduced MRSA infection rates and lower patient mortality rates.

CCG Board Members: Links To Private Healthcare – Unite
This report finds that one in four governing members of CCGs have links to a private company involved in healthcare, leading the authors to express concern about potential conflicts of interest