NHS hospital bed numbers: past, present, future – The King’s Fund
This briefing aims to place the debate about hospital beds in a wider context by:

• presenting data on hospital beds for England over a 30-year period and, where possible,
• data on other categories of beds used in health care
• comparing the NHS’s bed supply with other EU-15 countries
• exploring the drivers underpinning changes observed in hospital bed numbers
• considering whether STPs’ proposed bed reductions are realistic.

Supporting junior doctors in safe prescribing – RCP
The aim of this guidance is to give postgraduate medical education leads and those responsible for quality and safety within trusts a framework to address these issues.

Never Events 1 April – 31 August  – NHS Improvement
A provisional summary of Never Events that have been reported as occurring between 1 April and 31 August 2017.

Agreement of balances guidance for 2017/18, 28 September 2017 – NHS Improvement
NHS providers should refer to this page for the latest updates on financial accounting and reporting.

Reducing falls can help trusts improve patient experience and reduce costs – NHS Improvement
This report from NHS Improvement provides a picture of the scale of inpatient falls and the benefits to the NHS if the rate in hospitals was reduced. It followed the successful completion of their collaboration between 19 trusts to adopt improvement methodologies and creating a learning community to discuss changes. Results include the observation that older patients represent 77% of total falls, but 87% of total costs – reducing this group by around 25-30% could result in annual savings of up to £170m.

NIHR Signals
The National Institute for Health Research has published new Signals containing summaries of published research for health and social care decision makers:

• Heel casts do not improve heel ulcers in diabetes
• Self-guided therapy for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder did not improve symptoms
• Intensive lifestyle interventions can help obese young people lose weight
• Initial treatment with high-pressure oxygen reduces deaths in severe flare-ups of COPD
• Local nerve blocks can improve outcomes for people with hip fracture

NICE guidance

Medtech innovation briefing

Bulletins & Newsletters

• Drug Safety Update – September 2017
• Vaccine update – September 2017
• Provider bulletin – 27 September 2017
• Costing newsletter – September 2017

HSJ Roundup (contact the Library for further details)

• NHS Improvement to introduce ‘maximum’ caps on agency rates 
  Hospitals struggling to recruit medical locums to tackle staff shortages will need to limit the amount they can spend even when safety is a factor, HSJ can reveal.
• CCGs find no link between GP hours and A&E attendance 
  Two Nottinghamshire clinical commissioning groups, which also lead a national vanguard, have found there is no direct link between extended GP opening hours and accident and emergency attendances.
• National leaders warned over lack of services for personality disorders 
  A coroner has warned national health leaders about a lack of commissioned services to support patients with borderline personality disorder.
• Stevens: NHS will be forced to open extra beds if DTOCs aren’t cut 
  The NHS will have to open more beds – but would struggle to staff them – if there are not sufficient reductions in delayed transfers of care ahead of winter, Simon Stevens has said.
• Trust warned by regulator over ‘oppressive’ culture 
  A trust in the West Midlands has been issued with enforcement action by the Care Quality Commission following concerns about an “oppressive” culture in its maternity department.
• New scrutiny body to be ‘voice of clinicians’ in NHS procurement 
  Products bought for NHS trusts are set to be subject to greater scrutiny for clinical value as part of a major overhaul of NHS procurement.

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

• Starfish – a story of life before, during and after sepsis In December 1999, Tom Ray suffered a small cut to his mouth during a routine trip to the dentist. An annoying minor inconvenience, he thought, right? Wrong. Two days later he was in hospital, drifting in and out of consciousness. His body was swollen and covered with a purple rash. Blood was weeping from […]
• Ambulatory Emergency Care – Extended Offers The Ambulatory Emergency Care Network, with support from NHS Elect and the British Association for Ambulatory Emergency Care, have created a range of fully customisable support packages to help you maximise the benefits of AEC as efficiently and effectively as possible. These packages enable you to target the areas that are most critical for […]