Knowledge @lert for Tuesday 11th August

August 11, 2015 CCG Daily News

Monitor puts leadership condition on Wirral FT’s licence – Health Service Journal
Monitor has taken enforcement action at Wirral University Teaching Hospital Foundation Trust, following a deterioration in its finances. The regulator said there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect the trust breached its licence to provide health services. It has told the FT it must develop robust plans to improve its position. A condition has also been added to its licence, which warns there could be leadership change if the board’s performance does not improve.

Top tips for NHS people managers
NHS Employers has published Top tips for people managers in the NHS.  This guidance for line managers will help managers to focus on what behaviours are important for people management.  It aims to support managers to focus on the things that they can do, that are within their sphere of control.

People management in the NHS
NHS Employers has published a briefing People management in the NHS.  This report is based on the experiences of 90 line managers in six trusts in England: four acute, one mental health and one mental health and community.  A small number of ‘research bites’ are also included to illustrate some of the issues raised by the line managers.

BMA outlines ‘three major issues’ over contract changes – Health Service Journal 
The British Medical Association has set out its main concerns over the proposed changes to medical contracts being sought by the government and NHS Employers. In a message to BMA members at the weekend, seen by HSJ, the doctors’ union said there were “three major issues” with the contract proposals for medical consultants.

Dalton: Carter review will only take the NHS so far – Health Service Journal 
Sir David Dalton has said the Carter review’s efficiency recommendations for providers will only take the sector ‘so far’. Providers should form groups in some areas to reduce variation in quality.

Exploring the needs of early career nurses and midwives
Birmingham and Solihull Local Education and Training Council has published Mind the gap: exploring the needs of early career nurses and midwives in the workplace.  It explores staff retention among newly qualified health professionals, and will be of interest to anyone considering workforce supply in the NHS. The report was initiated in response to regional concerns from employers about the recruitment and retention of nurses and midwives, and in particular concerns over a high turnover rate for band five nurses.

NICE Bites: Diabetes in pregnancy
The July 2015 NICE Bites bulletin from the North West Medicines Information Service covers Diabetes in pregnancy (NG3).   The aim of this publication is to provide healthcare professionals with a clear and succinct summary of key prescribing points taken from the NICE guidance, NG3.  This guideline covers the management of diabetes and its complications in women who are planning pregnancy and those already pregnant.

Strategic issues likely to impact on the public sector
The Good Governance Institute earlier in the year invited a range of senior health, social care and education leaders to attend an inaugural event at Leeds Castle in Kent to discuss strategic issues likely to impact on the public sector in general and the NHS in particular, in the wake of the 2015 General Election. This report captures and builds on the key topics of discussion and learning from this event, presenting recommendations for boards and executive teams in the coming year.

Mobile app for doctors’ professional development
The General Medical Council has launched a mobile app to help doctors manage their continuous professional development.  GMC MY CPD allows doctors to record their learning activities on the go, at the click of a button. It enables doctors to store learning points and allows them to set a reminder so the app will ask them at a later date if changes to their practice have been effective.

2016/17 national tariff proposals
Monitor and NHS England are seeking feedback to help shape the final proposals for the 2016/17 national tariff statutory consultation.  Additional documentation relating to the 2016/17 national tariff proposals consultation will be published over the next few weeks.  The feedback will be important to shape the final proposals that will be subject to statutory consultation.

New study into impact of staffing levels on patient care – Health Service Journal
UK researchers are to begin a new study investigating how the provision of nurses in hospitals affects the care and safety of patients.

First wedge of £200m transformation funding allocated to vanguards – Health Service Journal 
The first vanguard sites to receive transformation funding have been revealed this morning, as part of a wider package of support for sites working to establish new models of care.

Vanguard support package launched – NHS England
The NHS Five Year Forward View partners have today (31 July 2015) published an initial support package for the new models of care vanguards which were launched in March 2015.

 

The RTT waiting time target is not well understood or collected correctly – Health Service Journal 
At least 10 per cent of referral to treatment pathway data is incorrect because there is an inherent lack of understanding of the target. Providers have an uphill struggle trying to address the situation. From our experience of working with over 70 acute trusts, we have seen that on average at least 10 per cent of pathway data held on patient administration systems is incorrect.

Establishing a baseline of the seven day services clinical standards in acute care
As part of taking forward the seven day services agenda, acute trusts have been asked to establish a robust baseline showing the extent to which the four priority clinical standards are being met nationally. This will be done by completing the sections of the NHS Improving Quality Seven Day Service Self-Assessment Tool (7DSAT) by Friday 4th September 2015.

NICE shared learning: sentinel lymph node biopsy service for malignant melanoma
NICE has added a case study to its shared learning database Setting up an effective and efficient sentinel lymph node biopsy service for malignant melanoma within the NHS. Published by Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Foundation Trusts, it describes how the sentinel node biopsy practice for malignant melanoma was established, early experience, and the implications for other units considering setting up the service within the NHS.

Safer management of controlled drugs
 The Care Quality Commission has published The safer management of controlled drugs 2014: annual report 2014.  This eighth annual report sets out findings for the period January to December 2014. It makes six recommendations to further strengthen these national governance arrangements and these will be reviewed in the ninth report. The recommendations in this year’s review highlight the need for a consistent approach when organisations report controlled drug concerns, the importance of sharing learning to reduce controlled drug-related incidents and the need for greater engagement between local intelligence networks and social care organisations.

Screening for risk of sudden cardiac death not recommended
The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) has upheld a recommendation against screening for risk of sudden cardiac death. The committee considered the evidence behind several proposed ways of screening people aged 12 to 39, including electrocardiography (ECG), personal or family history, physical examination and a combination of these approaches. However, an updated evidence review suggested that the available tests were not accurate enough to correctly identify conditions which could lead to sudden cardiac death without wrongly identifying many people with healthy hearts

NICE consultations

Bulletins

Statistics

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