Elective care: model access policy
The purpose of this policy is to ensure all patients requiring access to outpatient appointments, diagnostics and elective inpatient or day-case treatment are managed in line with national waiting time standards and the NHS Constitution.
The policy:

• is designed to ensure the management of elective patient access to services
• is transparent, fair, equitable and managed according to clinical priorities
  sets out the principles and rules for managing patients through their elective care pathway
• applies to all clinical and administrative staff, and services relating to elective patient access at the trust

The rise of delayed transfers of care – NHS Providers
Analysis of where the increases in delayed transfers of care are occurring and what is happening on the ground. Includes an analysis of DTOC rate by sector, which indicates that community providers are significantly affected.

Focus on physicians: Census of consultant physicians and higher specialty trainees 2016–17 – Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and the Royal College of Physicians of London
This report outlines the findings of a wellbeing survey and it finds that only one in four substantive consultant physicians in the UK feel valued by the hospital in which they work. Respondents also reported a desire for more time for teaching, research and patient care in their workload.

The role of technology in improving patient flow
The Nuffield Trust has published a ‘long read’ article Managing patient flow and improving efficiencies: the role of technology.  This article looks at how technology to track beds, equipment, staff and patients in the USA has made a difference to flow and operational management in two health care organisations.

Behind Closed Doors: Can we expect NHS staff to be the shock absorbers of a system under pressure? – Point of Care Foundation 
This briefing highlights the latest evidence on NHS staff, their experience at work, the pressures they face and the consequences for patients. The Point of Care Foundation believes that it’s critically important that NHS employers to pay attention to staff and their experience at work because when staff feel positive and engaged with work it has a positive impact on patient experience.  Behind Closed Doors therefore recommends that staff experience should be given equal priority with patient experience at all levels of the healthcare system.

Plans to improve NHS Continuing Healthcare assessment processes – NHS England 
Outlines revised guidance in relation to NHS Continuing Healthcare assessments in order to promote a reduction in delayed transfers of care. CCGs will be required to review current assessment processes and ensure that the current procedures do not contribute to delays in transfer of care.

NHS Health Check 40-64 Dementia Pilot: Research Findings: Summary Research Report – Alzheimer’s Society  
Alzheimer’s Society report that summarises the findings from a pilot project into the effectiveness of dementia risk reduction messaging in NHS Health Checks. It found that the pilot project showed promise in shifting public awareness and understanding of dementia risk with 75 per cent of the 164 participants recalling the advice on dementia risk and 80 per cent reporting that the advice would impact on their behaviour.

Progress Through Partnership: Involvement of People With Lived Experience of Mental Illness in CCG Commissioning – Rethink Mental Illness 
Little is known about the extent to which CCGs are involving people with experience of mental illness in the commissioning of mental health services.  This despite recommendations set out over a year ago in the Five year forward view for mental health.  It also finds a lack of planning for co-production on the part of CCGs due to pressure on resources and workload.

Joint statement from the Chief Executives of statutory regulators of health and care professionals: Conflicts of Interest – Health and Care Professions Council 
Sets out expectations on how health and care professionals are expected to manage conflicts of interest.   In doing so it supports the standards or code for each profession and any additional guidance they may have. These professional standards, codes and additional guidance should be the over-riding consideration for professionals.

HSJ Roundup (contact the Library for further details)

• Brexit: Government must pay for impact on NHS, alliance warns 
  The government must pay for any financial impact of Brexit on the NHS, a former top civil servant has said, warning of risks to the UK economy if costs spiral without extra funding.
• Executive ‘excluded’ from struggling trust after culture review 
  An executive medical director has been excluded from work after a review of the culture at a troubled acute trust in the North West.
• Exclusive: Flagship primary care hubs unable to measure impact 
  Areas developing a “scale” primary care model, previously praised by Simon Stevens, lack the resources to fully evaluate their models and have yet to work out how they will meet desired outcomes, new research has found.
• ‘Sobering’ CQC report exposes multiple failings at hospital trust 
  Inspectors have highlighted a string of failings at Portsmouth Hospitals Trust, including two patients who should have been placed on specialist wards dying after staff failed to recognise their needs.
• Trust chief executive appointed to lead large STP 
  A new leader for the Cheshire and Merseyside sustainability and transformation partnership has been appointed by NHS England.

Our Fabulous NHS – Academy of Fabulous Stuff
***Get involved*** –  share your fab stuff!

• Always Events® and Fab Change Week NHS England Experience of Care Team are pleased to support Fab Change Week. Fab Change Week is the ideal opportunity for trusts to pledge to find out more about how they can improve the experience of care their patients and service users receive using the Always Events® methodology. Support is available from the Experience of […]
• Meet our Marvellous Roald Dahl Nurse! We are delighted to introduce Emily Bell, our new Roald Dahl Paediatric Epilepsy/Neurology Specialist Nurse. Emily is the first Roald Dahl nurse in Kent, and the first to work with one of NHS England’s 50 Vanguard sites – The Foundation Healthcare Group. She joined the paediatric team at Darent Valley Hospital on 3 July following […]
• Game of Stools – the Clostridium difficile themed educational board game My name is Gareth and I work as an Infection Prevention & Control Nurse for the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) in North Wales and I wondered if you might be interested to hear about the Clostridium difficile themed educational board game that I have developed? Two years ago I had the idea of […]