Reducing emergency admissions / managing long-term conditions
The Health Foundation has published Reducing emergency admissions: unlocking the potential of people to better manage their long-term conditions.  This briefing summarises research that explores the link between how well patients feel able to manage their long-term conditions such as asthma, diabetes and depression and their use of health care.  The findings show the NHS could reduce avoidable health care use and improve people’s quality of life, if they were better supported to manage their long-term conditions.

Electronic prescribing
The Department of Health and Social Care has announced regulations will be changed to replace paper prescriptions with electronic prescriptions.  Thousands of paper prescriptions are still issued each year due to current regulations limiting the circumstances in which electronic prescriptions can be issued.

Changes to these regulations will be made later this year, to expand electronic prescribing for nearly all prescriptions.

Prescribing in primary care
NHS England has published the following documentation for CCGs:

• Prescribing of over the counter medicines is changing – four documents to help CCGs implement recommendations and support discussions between patients and their healthcare professionals
• Quick reference guide for healthcare professionals: items which should not routinely be prescribed in primary care

No-deal Brexit planning
The Department of Health and Social Care has collated information for health and care organisations regarding planning for a potential no-deal Brexit.  The resources cover technical notices, contingency planning, EU citizens and legislation around withdrawal.

Healthcare sustainability
The Royal College of Physicians has launched a new animated video outlining the impact the NHS has on the environment and how health professionals can incorporate sustainability in their work.  It highlights how NHS activity can impact environmental issues such as climate change, reduce air quality, and lead to long term conditions for patients including respiratory diseases and cancers.

Gluten free foods on prescription: consultation
The Department of Health and Social Care has launched a consultation on proposed changes to what gluten-free foods are available on NHS prescription in England. Following the March 2017 consultation on the availability of gluten-free foods on NHS prescription, the government has decided to restrict gluten-free prescribing to bread and mixes only.  This new consultation provides the draft regulations that will allow this and describes what will be done to apply the changes. The consultation closes on 1 October 2018.

Life expectancy and productivity
The International Longevity Centre has published Towards a longevity dividend: life expectancy and productivity across developed countries.  This report explores the relationship between life expectancy and productivity.  It concludes that countries could economically benefit from people living longer and should invest more in health to raise life expectancy.

NIHR Signals

• Cognitive behavioural therapy could benefit adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• People with osteoarthritis can benefit from exercise but may harbour myths about safety
• ‘Virtual wards’ reduce readmissions in people after hospitalisation for heart failure
• Daily low-dose antibiotics halve urinary tract infections in people who self-catheterise
• UK-wide study reveals a pattern of delay in referrals to specialist end-of-life care

Public Health Intelligence programme
Health Education England’s e-Learning for Healthcare has launched its Public Health Intelligence Programme.  The programme introduces learners to concepts of health, definitions of public health, population measures, uncertainty and statistical significance and how to use this to make informed decisions and apply intelligence to gain understanding of population need.

Statistics

• Staff Friends and Family Test (FFT) data – Q1, 2018/19
• Quarterly conceptions to women aged under 18 in England and Wales – April to June 2017
• NHS providers: trust accounts consolidation (TAC) data – 2017/18
• Laboratory reports of hepatitis A and C (England and Wales) – January to March 2018
• Acute Hepatitis B (England) – annual report for 2017

Bulletins

• Vaccine update – issue 284, August 2018, flu special edition

• Vaccine update – issue 285, August edition 2018