Two leading GPs explain what it means to be a Multispecialty Community Provider (MCP) – NHS England Blog
The national new care models programme brings together local health and care systems as vanguards to radically redesign care for the populations they serve. As part of this work, NHS England has set out details of the multispecialty community provider (MCP) care model and emerging voluntary contract framework to support local providers to deliver greater, more joined […]

Children’s bed occupancy increases by 9.7% in one year – NHE
Bed occupancy rates and cancelled operations are both higher than they were this time last year as the NHS continues to struggle to cope with high rates of demand. The latest monthly figures from the NHS show that the biggest increase in bed occupancy rates was in paediatric critical care, where bed occupancy was at 84.0% in June 2016, a…

Use of private sector for NHS hip surgery has reduced NHS provision, study finds – BMJ
The use of private sector providers may also have contributed to a rise in age related and socioeconomic treatment inequalities for patients needing hip surgery in Scotland, the research found. The study, by Queen Mary University of London and published in the Journal of Public Health, examined the effects of the 2003 Scottish policy to allow patients to choose to have their NHS funded treatment from a private provider or an NHS provider, to increase capacity and reduce waiting times.

Southend University Hospital FT rated requires improvement over staffing concerns – NHE
Southend University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has received a requires improvement rating from the CQC after the regulator found the hospital lacked safe staffing levels and was cancelling operations. A CQC inspection in January this year found that the trust lacked sufficient and appropriate staffing levels in some areas…

‘Unprecedented’ staff shortage forces trust to restrict services – Health Service Journal
WORKFORCE: Unprecedented staff shortages have forced a North West community health trust to bring in a series of contingency plans to keep services at its hospitals safe.

Whistleblowing manager given £240k payout in wake of bullying claims – Health Service Journal
WORKFORCE: A senior manager who made accusations of bullying by the chief executive at a Yorkshire acute trust was given a £240,000 exit package two years after being placed on “special leave”, figures in the trust’s board papers reveal.

Cash-strapped council plans funding cuts to joint NHS discharge project – Health Service Journal
A county council struggling to make £60m of savings in 2016-17 is planning to scrap funding for a joint discharge project with local NHS hospitals, it has emerged.

NHS Improvement accused of ‘dangerously short’ pathology shake-up timetable – Health Service Journal
NHS Improvement has been accused of imposing a “dangerously short timescale” on trusts to come up with plans for restructuring their pathology services.

Records management
The Information Governance Alliance has published Records Management Code of Practice for Health and Social Care 2016. The publication sets out standards required for the management of records for organisations who work within, or under contract to the NHS in England.  The standards also apply to public health functions in local authorities and adult social care where joint care is provided within the NHS.

NHS providers must now make information accessible for disabled people – NHE
Information at all organisations providing health and social care must be made accessible to disabled people under the new Accessible Information Standard, which comes into force today. Under the Accessible Information Standard, which the NHS has been developing for two years, NHS organisations, including trusts and GP practices, must ask…

NHS incorporating UnitingCare lessons into new contracting framework – NHE
The NHS is developing a framework to avoid future contracting failures such as the collapse of the £800m UnitingCare deal, Lord Prior has said. The UnitingCare partnership, an NHS consortium, signed a five-year contract with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG to provide old people’s services, but it collapsed after just eight…

NIHR evaluations, trials and studies
The National Institute for Health Research Health has published the results of the following research during July:

• NHS guidance leads to reduction of repeat hip fractures
• Routine monitoring of neovascular age-related macular degeneration effective in the community
• Diagnosis of urinary tract infection in young children
• Behavioural activation versus cognitive behaviour therapy for depression
• Clinical and cost-effectiveness of treatments for prostate cancer
• Positive Online Weight Reduction (online intervention for weight loss)

NICE Shared Learning
NICE has added the following items to its local practice collection:

• Implementation of NICE’s IBS guidance – Somerset (Quality and Productivity Case study)

Bulletins

• NICE News: July 2016