Brexit and junior doctors’ contracts: the real threats to the NHS – The Lancet (Editorial)
On July 6, junior doctors in England’s National Health Service (NHS) voted 58% to 42% to reject the final contract offer from the UK Government. The rejection follows 3 years of negotiation and the first all-out strike for English doctors in 40 years. Some have expressed surprise at the result given that the British Medical Association supported accepting the latest offer. Although many junior doctors acknowledged that they may not receive an improved offer, a situation confirmed by Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt’s decision to impose the contract, they were unwilling to vote in favour of what they say is an attempt to stretch existing staff over 7 days without increasing spending.

The role of innovation to prevent never events – NHS Academy of Fabulous Stuff
Even doctors can make mistakes. It is part of human nature to be ridden with errors. Safe design solutions can defend against human error and therefore improve patient safety. We have engineered out two never events by considering human factors and using forcing functions that make the mistakes impossible, therefore transferring any blame to an institution that hasn’t employed the system, rather than the individual that has made the mistake.

MCP plan poses ‘significant risks to trust’s future’, says chief executive – Health Service Journal
The chief executive of Dudley Group Foundation Trust has said Dudley Clinical Commissioning Group’s plans for a new multispecialty community provider contract “pose significant risks” to its future.

People performance management toolkit – NHS Employers ‏@nhsemployers
People performance management matters and how well we do it can make a big difference to how staff feel about their job and impact on the quality of patient care.
This People Performance Management Toolkit encourages NHS managers to make time to talk about performance with staff.
It provides practical support and aims to increase managers’ knowledge about what good performance management is, and give them confidence to deal with some of the key management challenges, such as:

• How do you review performance on an ongoing basis?
• What to do if a member of your team is underperforming?
• How do you give constructive feedback?
• How can you support staff to achieve their best?

NHS regions will shift funding to primary care, Simon Stevens tells MPs – GP Online
Sustainability and transformation plans (STPs) being finalised by local NHS leaders will definitely see funding and activity shifted into primary care, NHS England’s chief executive has told MPs.

CQC says regulation must not be ‘barrier’ to new care models – Health Service Journal
The Care Quality Commission has set out plans to ensure regulation is not an “unnecessary barrier to innovation” in the development of new care models.

Healthcare innovators have two weeks left to apply for the 2016 NHS Innovation Accelerator – NHS England
National and international healthcare innovators have two weeks left to apply for the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA), with the deadline for applications at 5pm on Monday 1 August 2016. The NIA, now in its second year, is seeking evidence-based innovations which improve health outcomes and give patients access to the latest products, services and technology […]

Help celebrate the contribution of NHS European staff – NHS Employers
Nomination are open for the Health Service Journal (HSJ) new EU award category.

‘No benefits’ from junior doctors’ contract imposition, says head of Royal College – NHE
Jeremy Hunt has been urged not to impose the new contract on junior doctors in an impassioned appeal from Professor Neena Modi, head of the Royal College of Paediatrics. Hunt, who kept his post as health secretary in the recent Cabinet reshuffle, says the new contract is necessary to ensure adequate staffing levels to deliver a seven-day…

NHSI to scrutinise patient waiting times at Royal United Hospitals Bath – NHE
NHS Improvement (NHSI) is looking at how Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS FT can reduce patient waiting times for A&E and planned procedures. When Royal United Hospitals Bath was authorised as an FT in October 2014, actions were agreed to reduce waiting times for its A&E. However, NHSI said that the FT is still facing…

Learning from mistakes
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has published Learning from mistakes: an investigation report by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman into how the NHS failed to properly investigate the death of a three-year old child. This case which ombudsman service investigated, found that the local NHS investigation processes were not fit for purpose, and not sufficiently independent, inquisitive, open or transparent, properly focused on learning, or able to span organisational and hierarchical barriers, and they excluded the family and junior staff in the process.  The report provides a series of recommendations for NHS organisations.

Working collaboratively in larger-scale organisations
The Nuffield Trust has published Is bigger better? Lessons for large-scale general practice. Published following 15-month study of large-scale general practice organisations in England this report examined the factors affecting their evolution and their impact on quality, staff and patient experience, the wider health economy and the quality of care. The study combined national surveys with an in-depth mixed-methods evaluation of contrasting, large-scale general practice organisations.

A quality strategy for the NHS in England
The Health Foundation has published A clear road ahead: creating a coherent quality strategy for the English NHS. This report recommends creation of a single, coherent and compelling quality strategy for the NHS in England. It sets actions for policymakers to safeguard and improve care within current priorities, as well as supporting the development of the NHS for years to come. The recommendations in the report are informed by an assessment of the organisations, initiatives and approaches to improving NHS quality in England and an analysis of the impact of selected national initiatives over the last two decades.

Spending review on health and social care
The House of Commons Health Committee has published Impact of the Spending Review on health and social care First Report of Session 2016–17. The Committee was concerned in the shift in resources, especially from public health, health education, transformation and capital budgets, making it far more difficult to achieve the ambitions set out in the Forward View.  The Committee also examined the likely impact of the spending review on social care services and the government’s commitment to achieve parity of esteem for mental health.

Vanguard CCG to take on alliance contract from 2017 – Health Service Journal
COMMISSIONING: The lead commissioner for a multispecialty community provider in Yorkshire has said it will work create an alliance contract from next year before going on to establish a “single big entity”.