Wednesday 18 April 2012

Finance boss is jailed for taking £330,000

Finance boss is jailed for taking £330,000:
A CARE home finance manager who stole more than £330,000 meant for adults with learning disabilities to buy fur coats, jewellery, champagne and a cruise has been jailed for almost three years. Evening Telegraph

Common challenges to improving quality

Common challenges to improving quality: In my experience, improvement leaders often begin new areas of work with a compelling personal vision of the potential for quality to be much improved. I think there’s a cultural bias in health management of action over reflection, and often a strong temptation to give insufficient time to the initial challenges, says Penny Pereira. Health Foundation

First ever mandatory care standards bring hope of improved care for children and young people with diabetes

First ever mandatory care standards bring hope of improved care for children and young people with diabetes:
Set by leading paediatric doctors, nurses and commissioners, working in partnership with NHS Diabetes, the ‘Best Practice Tariff for Paediatric Diabetes’ sets out 13 mandatory care standards1 for paediatric diabetes service teams to meet. Providers who can prove they meet these levels of care will qualify for greater funding. Local services unable to achieve these standards will be supported to improve but face having their funding withdrawn if unable to reach the required level by April 2013. NHS Networks

Nursing and Care Quality Forum outlines work to improve nursing care

Nursing and Care Quality Forum outlines work to improve nursing care:
The Nursing and Care Quality Forum, which aims to improve the quality of nursing care across all care settings, met Prime Minister David Cameron and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley today to discuss the work the Forum will deliver.
The independent Forum will begin its work by identifying and supporting the spread and adoption of best practice across four areas:
  • how to promote and achieve accountable and empowered nurse leadership across the system
  • how to make sure that the right culture and the right values that put patients first prevails at all times
  • how best to involve, listen to, hear and respond to feedback from patients
  • how to make sure that those providing care have the time to do so properly.
Across all four of these themes, the Forum will consider the knowledge, skills and educational needs of staff providing nursing and care to people. It will engage patients, staff, carers and professional experts, and aims to capture the experience and views of as many people as possible.
The Forum, which is chaired by Sally Brearley, is made up of a range of expert voices, including front-line nurses working in hospitals and the community, patient representatives and members of professional bodies and voluntary sector organisations.
The Forum’s Chair, Sally Brearley, said:
‘We want best practice to be common practice. The Forum’s mission is to identify and spread best practice to help all nurses deliver compassionate, dignified, respectful and safe care. We want nurses to feel confident and proud to give top quality care to those who need it.’
Prime Minister David Cameron said:
‘Nurses are some of the most caring, compassionate people in the country and I want to do everything possible to allow them to do a fantastic job.
‘That means learning from the best – and helping everyone to match those great standards. That’s why I’ve asked the Nursing and Care Quality Forum to scour the country, find out what works best and share it across the NHS.
‘We’ve seen how innovative changes to nursing can increase patient trust and confidence in their care. These are the kind of ideas we need to explore if we are to change the way nursing works and restore a sense of pride in the profession.’
If you would like to feed in your views on any of the above four themes to the Forum, you can contact it by email at ncqf@dh.gsi.gov.uk
Read the Nursing and Care Quality Forum mission statement.

See the Forum membership list and biographies.
See press release

Forget 'social care pot of gold'

Forget 'social care pot of gold': There will be no "pot of gold" to answer the prayers of councils struggling to look after the elderly, according to social care chiefs. BBC News

90% of GPs believe financial pressures will increase in next five years

90% of GPs believe financial pressures will increase in next five years: More than 90% of GPs believe financial pressures will increase in the next five years, a survey has revealed. GP Online

Mental health and homelessness: planning and delivering mental health services for homeless people

Mental health and homelessness: planning and delivering mental health services for homeless people: This Briefing sets out the policy context around tackling homelessness and addressing the mental health needs of homeless people. NHS Confederation

'Striking the Balance': practical guidance on the application of Caldicott Guardian Principles to domestic violence and MARACs (multi agency risk assessment conferences)

'Striking the Balance': practical guidance on the application of Caldicott Guardian Principles to domestic violence and MARACs (multi agency risk assessment conferences):
This guidance has been published jointly by the Department and the UK Council of Caldicott Guardians to assist those who need to share information about individuals involved in domestic violence. It sets out the underlying ethical considerations between confidentiality and information sharing and identifies the role of the Caldicott Guardian to ‘strike the balance’ between maintaining the individuals’ confidentiality and privacy and wider considerations such as protection from harm.

Improving care for lung cancer patients: a collaborative approach

Improving care for lung cancer patients: a collaborative approach:
The Improving Lung Cancer Outcomes project aims to improve the quality of care and patient experience for lung cancer patients. The project paired hospitals and multi-disciplinary teams and encouraged them to visit each others’ services and review their processes. This publication outlines examples of best practice and practical examples of quality improvement projects.

NHS 'must do more to respond to rising numbers of homeless'

NHS 'must do more to respond to rising numbers of homeless':
Many homeless people struggle to register with a GP and gain access to health services, NHS Confederation warns
Health services needs to "up their game" to respond to rising levels of homelessness and people sleeping rough as the recession lingers and benefit cuts begin to bite, according to a report by the providers of NHS services.
The NHS Confederation, representing all hospitals and providers who treat the homeless, warn that those on the streets often struggle to register with a GP and that many suffer from mental health problems that doctors refuse to treat unless they are "clean".
About 70% of people who use homelessness services have mental health problems, and many self-medicate with alcohol or drugs.
"For a range of NHS-funded services, we are not treating homeless patients for mental health who are intoxicated. People are not accepted because they use drink or drugs. Clearly they do need to be referred for therapy, so it's not good enough to say, 'Go away and clean yourself up,'," said the confederation's mental health network director, Steve Shrubb.
Shrubb said there was concern in the NHS that homeless numbers were increasing at a time when the health regulator Monitor warned of cuts of 7% a year for three years. He said the government's own estimate that 2,200 people were sleeping rough on any one night in England – a jump of 23% on the previous year – was too low. "We probably have that in London alone," he said.
Shrubb pointed out that a study by the University of York revealed that 23,000 people were already in emergency accommodation, slipping in and out of homelessness. "A lot of our members tell us that this is the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of particularly young people moving from couch to couch, staying on friends' floors. It only takes a small crisis for them to be on the streets. We need to get an idea of how big this problem is."
Charities backed the report and warned that the government's programme on mental health might be too narrow. Peter Cockersell, the director of health and recovery at St Mungo's, a homeless charity, said the government's focus on improving access to psychological therapies (IAPT), centred around cognitive behavioural therapy, was in some cases obscuring those with the greatest needs.
"We are seeing counselling and therapy services [for the homeless] closed down. IAPT is getting bigger but it is working with a much narrower group of clients," Cockersell said. One of St Mungo's clients, Len, a former alcoholic who spent eight years on the streets, told the Guardian that he had only "got clean because of the therapy provided by the charity. That's all been cut now." The Guardian

One in four women buy wrong medication after misdiagnosing themselves on the internet

One in four women buy wrong medication after misdiagnosing themselves on the internet: Women with embarrassing medical problems are misdiagnosing themselves after consulting 'Dr Google', research suggests. The Daily Telegraph

Exclusive: Crisis in care of elderly as £1bn cuts bite

Exclusive: Crisis in care of elderly as £1bn cuts bite:
Hundreds of thousands of elderly and disabled people face cuts to their support and assistance this year as councils struggle to find new savings of £1bn from social-care budgets, an investigation by The Independent has established.

Government to unveil plan to improve NHS language skills

Government to unveil plan to improve NHS language skills:
Doctors whose English is not up to scratch could be struck off amid fears that patients are being put at risk. The Independent

Independent advocacy for people with mental disorder

Independent advocacy for people with mental disorder
This report sets out the principles of advocacy and provides recommendations and guidance. Independent advocacy is an excellent way to ensure that an individual’s rights are upheld and that the individual receives the care and treatment that they are entitled to. It also has benefits for psychiatrists and can improve the quality of the relationships between people with mental health problems and professionals.
This report replaces CR74: Patient Advocacy, 1999.