Spinal surgery report may bring benefits for tens of thousands of back pain patients – GIRFT national report.
Replacing short-term pain relief injections with long-term physical and psychological rehabilitation programmes could help tens of thousands more patients cope with debilitating back pain, according to a new Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) report on spinal surgery.

Maternity services survey
The Care Quality Commission has published the results from its Maternity services survey 2018.  The survey of more than 17,000 women who gave birth in February 2018 looked at all aspects of maternity care.  The results indicate many women had a good experience, particularly in relation to interactions with staff, access to midwives and emotional support during pregnancy.  However, for some women the care they received fell short of expectations with issues highlighted around continuity of care, choice in antenatal and postnatal services and access to help, information and support after giving birth.

Video triage system developed by Kingston University  – Digital Health
The 5G-enabled system will provide live footage of patients being transported to hospital, enabling clinicians to make life-saving decisions about care.

Pain management outcome measures
The Faculty of Pain Medicine of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and the British Pain Society have developed a guidance document containing outcome scales appropriate to pain management.  The commonly used scales are designed to be completed by adults over 16 before and after treatment.    For each scale, a brief description is given with main advantages and disadvantages, and information on use and copyright.

Spinal services
NHS Improvement has published Spinal services: GRIFT Programme National Specialty Report.  This report from the ‘Getting It Right First Time’ (GIRFT) programme identifies 22 recommendations for improving the spinal speciality in the NHS across England.  The report is primarily focused on spinal emergency conditions such as spinal cord injury and spinal infection, as well as the management of common conditions such as back and sciatica pain.

Clinical leadership framework for action
NHS Improvement has published Clinical leadership – a framework for action: a guide for senior leaders on developing professional diversity at board level.  This guide aims to help leaders working on clinical leadership gain new perspectives on what might be standing in the way of progress, sets out legal and policy considerations, and poses key questions for senior leaders trying to increase the involvement of clinicians. It includes case studies that show how people are already tackling some common barriers.

Workforce Disability Equality Standard
NHS England has published the following documents relating to the Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) which comes into force on 1 April 2019 within NHS Trusts and Foundation Trusts:

• NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) metrics – provides detail about the 10 WDES metrics, which cover such areas as the Board, recruitment, bullying and harassment, engagement and the voices of Disabled staff.
• NHS Workforce Disability Equality Standard (WDES) Metrics: resources – a set of resources developed to help prepare and support trusts for the implementation of the WDES

NHS efficiency map
The HFMA, NHS Improvement and NHS England have worked in partnership to update and revise the NHS efficiency map.  The map is a tool that promotes best practice in identifying, delivering and monitoring cost improvement programmes (CIPs) in the NHS.  As well as additional provider efficiency material the map has now been updated with a number of tools and guidance suitable for commissioning organisations, reflecting increased collaboration and integration.

National Patient Safety Alerting Committee
NHS Improvement has set out background information relating to the National Patient Safety Alerting Committee (NaPSAC).  The NaPSAC is working to align all bodies and teams that issue national alerts, and make sure that a future system of National Patient Safety Alerts set out clear and effective actions that providers must take on safety-critical issues.

Advice for travellers
The government has published its latest advice for people travelling to the UK, European Union, European Economic Area or Switzerland after 29 March 2019 in the event of a no-deal EU Exit.  Until further agreements are reached between the UK and individual EU member states, the government advises UK citizens to follow this latest guidance to ensure they are fully prepared for any unexpected healthcare requirements overseas.

 Debate packs: Long Term Plan /  Mental health / Smear tests/ ME

The Parliamentary Libraries have issued the following debate packs to inform debates recently held or to be held in Parliament:

• NHS England Long Term Plan (House of Lords debate to be held on 31 January 2019)
• Access to NHS Treatments for Children and Young People with Mental Health Problems (House of Lords question for short debate (QSD) to be held on 30 January 2019)
• Debate on e-petition 225767 relating to lowering the age for smear tests for cervical cancer from 25 to 18 (debate held on 28 January 2018)
• Appropriate ME treatment (House of Commons debate held on 24 January 2019)

NICE guidance

Interventional procedures guidance

 Medtech innovation briefing

Bulletins

• Never Events data – 1 April 2018 to 31 December 2018
• Breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks after birth – July to September 2018
• Health visitor service delivery metrics – Quarter 2, 2018 to 2019
• Child development outcomes at 2 to 2 and a half years – Quarter 2, 2018 to 2019
• Health Protection Report 13(3) – 25 and 28 January
• NHS Employers Reward in the NHS newsletter – January 2019

Our Fabulous NHS – Academy of Fabulous Stuff 
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• NHS Long Term Plan an endorsement of what we’ve been doing in Morecambe Bay. 
  Health leaders in Morecambe Bay and across Lancashire and South Cumbria have welcomed the publication of the NHS Long Term Plan. It endorses the approach taken across Morecambe Bay, and in particular the focus on prevention, keeping the frail elderly well at home for longer – and the partnership working at a neighbourhood level, rather than individual organisations working in isolation.
• Innovative new team developed to improve patient care.
  Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has developed an innovative, new and collaborative team to focus on delivering excellent patient centred care. The newly formed, regional tracheostomy team is based at Royal Preston Hospital and is a unique and ground-breaking collaboration which is the first of its kind in the UK and provides exciting opportunities for nurses and allied health professionals to develop their skills as tracheostomy clinical specialist practitioners. This role has been developed after a hugely successful pilot looking at the tracheostomy decannulation potential of patients across Lancashire and South Cumbria.