Public sector pay: still time for restraint? – Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
The government is considering easing the current restraint on the pay of public sector workers. It had previously announced in 2015 that public sector pay scales would only increase by an average of one per cent per year up to and including 2019–20. This briefing note describes the trade-offs faced by the government when deciding how to set public sector pay.

The state of pre and post-graduate medical recruitment in England, September 2017 – British Medical Association
This briefing examines the current state of medical recruitment in England, with additional UK-wide data for the foundation programme. Looking at data from 2013 onward, it identifies some of the ongoing issues facing medical recruitment, and recommends how some of these key concerns can be addressed.

Joint replacement annual report
The National Joint Registry has published 14^th annual report 2017: National Joint Registry for England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man: surgical data to 31 December 2016.   This report presents outcome data in relation to hip, knee, shoulder, elbow and ankle replacements.  More than 240,000 joint replacement operations were carried out in 2016/17.

National Neonatal Audit 2016
The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has published National Neonatal Audit Programme (NNAP) 2017 annual report on 2016 data.  This report highlights key findings and recommendations form the NNAP analysis of neonatal care data for over 95,000 babies during 2016.  The report is accompanied by case studies and a guide to the audit for parents and carers. 

STPs and accountable care
NHS Providers is launching a work programme Supporting providers: STPs and accountable care, The programme aims to ensure there is the right support and a strong advocate making the case for NHS trusts as they move to accountable care structures that deliver more integrated care for the public.

Statistics

• CCG Outcomes Indicator Set – September 2017 release
• NHS Sickness Absence Rates:- May 2017, Provisional Statistics
• NHS Staff Earnings Estimates – to June 2017, Provisional statistics
• NHS Workforce Statistics – June 2017, Provisional Statistics
• Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) – Deaths associated with hospitalisation, England – April 2016 – March 2017
• Mixed sex accommodation breaches – August 2017
• Direct access audiology waiting times – July 2017
• Diagnostic imaging dataset – May 2017
• Quarterly mortality report, England – Quarter 2 (April to June) 2017

HSJ Roundup (contact the Library for further details)

• Trust pursuing foreign government in court over unpaid debt 
  Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children Foundation Trust is taking legal action against the Libyan government over unpaid debt, HSJ can reveal.
• Variation in children’s mental health spend ‘seems unjustifiable’ 
  A potentially “unjustifiable” variation in spending on children and young people’s mental health services has raised concerns that cash pledged for these services is not reaching the front line.
• CCGs in legal directions lose commissioning responsibilities 
  Five clinical commissioning groups have been given legal directions by NHS England this month – two of which have been ordered to stop commissioning all acute services.
• ‘Outstanding’ CCG chief appointed to turn around struggling neighbour 
  The chief officer of an outstanding rated clinical commissioning group has been appointed turnaround director of a neighbouring CCG given legal directions.
• Trust facing £75m deficit needs extra millions for fire safety improvements 
  A trust forecasting a £75m deficit this year has warned capital projects, including bolstering cybersecurity, could be delayed by a £5.1m shortfall in its fire safety funding.