Using the Directory of Services to improve patient access to Urgent Treatment Centres
NHS England has published Quick Guide – Improving Access to Urgent Treatment Centres using the Directory of Services.  This guide provides information to urgent care Providers, Commissioners, Directory of Services (DoS) Leads and NHS 111 contact centres/Integrated Urgent Care services on how they can use the DoS to improve access for patients to Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) services and other services expected to meet the UTC standards.

NHS cash injection
The Prime Minister has confirmed a new £1.8 billion NHS cash injection to help improve patient care.  Twenty services will share £850 million of new funding to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment whilst there will be a £1 billion boost to NHS capital spending, allowing existing upgrade programmes to proceed and tackling the most urgent infrastructure projects.  The beneficiaries include the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw ICS and Leeds Teaching Hospitals

NIHR Signals
The following research summaries have been added to the National Institute for Health Research website:

• Antibiotics reduce complications after assisted vaginal delivery
• Non-invasive brain stimulation may improve outcomes for children with brain injury
• Mucus-thinning drugs slightly reduce COPD symptom flare-ups
• Routine engagement in end of life planning can improve health outcomes for people with heart failure

NHS Digital prescribing and medicines statistical publications
NHS Digital has launched a consultation on changes to NHS Digital Prescribing and Medicines Statistical Publications.  This consultation seeks views on the set of changes NHS Digital hopes to make to its statistical products in the near future and also to inform users of some medium to longer term plans for further improvements.  The consultation closes on 20 September 2019.

Regulation of physician associates and anaesthesia associates
Following consultation, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has announced that they will ask the General Medical Council (GMC) to regulate physician associates (PAs) and anaesthesia associates (AAs) across the UK.

Celebrating admin staff case study
Read our new case study from Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, to learn about its approach to increasing staff experience and engagement for admin staff.

Social prescribing link workers
NHS England has published Social prescribing link workers: reference guide for primary care networks.  This guide is provided as additional information to help primary care networks introduce the new role of social prescribing link worker into their multi-disciplinary teams as part of the expansion to the primary care workforce introduced under the GP contract reforms.  The guide is accompanied by a technical annex.

NHS England assessment of performance
The Department of Health and Social Care has published Assessment of NHS England (the NHS commissioning Board) for 2017 to 2018 and 2018 to 2019.  This paper sets out the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s annual assessment of the National Health Service Commissioning Board’s performance against section 13U(4) of the NHS Act 2006, covering the multi-year mandate for the financial years 2017 to 2018 and 2018 to 2019.

NICE guidance

• Technology appraisal guidance

•  NICE guidelines

•  Clinical guideline

•  Quality standards

Service specifications / clinical commissioning policy statements
NHS England has published the following documents:

• Hand and upper limb transplant service (adults) – service specification
• Allogenic Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Infusion Therapy for Children with Severe Generalised Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa – clinical commissioning policy statement
• Rituximab for the treatment of refractory focal segmental glomerulosclerosis in the native kidney in adults – clinical commissioning policy statement

Statistics

• Tuberculosis in England 2019 report
• UK pre-entry tuberculosis screening report 2018
• Laboratory reports of hepatitis C in England and Wales, 2018
• NHS providers: trust accounts consolidation (TAC) data for 2018/19
• Tuberculosis cases UK: 2000 to 2018
• Tetanus supplementary data tables, England, 2018
• Monitoring rates of chlamydia re-testing within the English National Screening Programme – January 2013 to June 2018
• Monthly Legionella report – June 2019
• National Travel Survey: 2018