Friday 14 September 2012

Moving NGH service ‘least bad’ option

Moving NGH service ‘least bad’ option:
Axing some specialist services at Northampton General and Luton and Dunstable hospitals would be the option with the least effect on travel times for patients, a study shows. Chronicle & Echo

Chance to question NHS Northamptonshire's board at AGM - Northampton Chronicle & Echo

Chance to question NHS Northamptonshire's board at AGM - Northampton Chronicle & Echo:

 
An NHS Northamptonshire spokeswoman said: “The AGM is a chance to look back on some of the successes and highlights of the past year and to discuss with the public future plans for the NHS in Northamptonshire in light of the current NHS reforms.” ...

Tell us plans for Kettering hospital’s future

Tell us plans for Kettering hospital’s future:
Calls have been made for health officials to fully reveal their plans for the future of our hospitals before putting their proposals to the public. Evening Telegraph

Personalisation and personal budgets can support recovery and transform mental health services, according to new report

Personalisation and personal budgets can support recovery and transform mental health services, according to new report: This new briefing paper from the NHS Confederation and the Centre for Mental Health looks at the impact that personalisation and recovery are having on mental health services in England. The first part of this paper describes personalisation, personal budgets and personal health budgets. The second sets out their shared philosophy and discusses what the [read the full story...] Mental Elf

Headline climb in hospital admissions for stress

Headline climb in hospital admissions for stress: Admissions for stress highest in working age adults, while admissions for anxiety highest in the elderly. Onmedica

GPs can access patient records via tablet devices

GPs can access patient records via tablet devices: The first ever service allowing GPs to access and update their patient records using an iPad or other tablet device has been launched.leading GP software supplier EMIS has just launched the first GP and integrated care system to enable mobile working on all the main tablet devices, from iPads to Android.The EMIS Mobile app allows health professionals to work online and offline, managing patients even when there is no internet connectivity. Functions include accessing their diary and appointment ...Health News

Family of Down's patient sue hospital over DNR order

Family of Down's patient sue hospital over DNR order: Relatives allege doctor at NHS hospital in Kent added 'do not resuscitate' order to man's notes on basis of his disabilityAn NHS hospital is being sued by a family who say doctors placed a "do not resuscitate" order on their relative, denying him potentially life-saving treatment, because he has Down's syndrome.The unnamed family are bringing a legal challenge against a hospital in Kent where a doctor apparently decided staff should make no attempt to resuscitate the patient if he suffered cardiac ... Health News

Preparations for winter planning and reporting set out

Preparations for winter planning and reporting set out:
David Flory, Deputy NHS Chief Executive and Shaun Gallagher, Acting Director General, Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships have set out preparations for winter planning and reporting, which this year will run from 6 November to the end of February 2013.
SHA cluster chief executives are asked to ensure preparations are in place and encourage local NHS organisations to review local winter plans and observe the timetable for daily SITREP reporting.
Read letter Preparations for winter planning and reporting 2012/13

Public Health Cold Weather Plan

Later this autumn, as part of the wider suite of measures to protect individuals and communities from the effects of severe winter weather the DH and NHS are planning to publish the second national Cold Weather Plan.
To support the aims of the Cold Weather Plan, the “Warm Homes Healthy People fund” will be made available for winter 2012/2013.  The aim of the fund is to support local authorities and their partners in reducing death and morbidity in England due to cold housing in the coming winter.

Department of Health

NHS accelerating innovation support tool goes live

NHS accelerating innovation support tool goes live: Source: PharmaTimes

The Department of Health has launched an implementation support website to help speed the adoption of six high-impact innovations throughout the NHS, which are identified in the 'Innovation Health and Wealth' report as having the potential to transform both quality and value in the NHS:
 
. increased support for carers of people with dementia
. increased use of technology to allow patients and the public to access healthcare services remotely, should they choose to do so
. the national roll-out of assistive technologies - telehealth and telecare - to three million people by April 2017
. reducing the time it takes from assessment to delivery of wheelchairs for children
. increased use of intra-operative fluid management
. increased opportunities for the NHS to promote the commercial value of its IP and knowledge internationally
 
The new website has been developed by the Department in partnership with the NHS ...

Medicines use in care pathways

Medicines use in care pathways: 'Optimising medicines use in care pathways using pharmacy support' and the 'Medicines in Commissioning Toolkit' are two key interlinked resources that have been revised and updated to support commissioners to help ensure care pathways which involve medicines deliver improved patient outcomes, are safe, use clinical and cost effective treatment options, offer patient choice and the best patient experience. CASH News

Information Governance Toolkit

Information Governance Toolkit: The Department of Health has issued a statement regarding the completion of IG Toolkit assessments. Following a number of queries over the past weeks from NHS organisations regarding the future of the NHS Information Governance Toolkit, the statement stresses there will be no immediate changes to the toolkit and that organisations will be provided with ample notice should any changes be proposed. In the meantime, organisations should complete and publish IGT assessments as usual during 2012/13. CASH News

Final authorisation decision-making process set out

Final authorisation decision-making process set out:
The CCG authorisation governance process is set to be finalised at the NHS Commissioning Board Authority’s meeting in Newcastle on 20 September. A paper seeks the approval of the Board to further proposals on how the moderation, conditions and decision elements of the CCG authorisation process will operate.
A key proposal is to share the recommendations of the Conditions Panel with the CCG prior to decisions being made by the CCG Authorisation Sub-Committee of the NHS CB. The proposal, which has been developed in response to CCG feedback, means CCGs will have two weeks to comment and provide any new evidence that may remove the need for a specific condition.
If approved, it means the final authorisation decision by the CCG Authorisation Sub-Committee of the NHS CB will be four to five weeks later for each wave, and that first decisions on CCG authorisation are due in November 2012, rather than October.
The paper also proposes the membership and terms of reference for:
  • The Moderation Panel, chaired by National Director: Commissioning Development Dame Barbara Hakin, will meet once a month from October 2012 to January 2013, and will ensure overall consistency and make recommendations as to whether a CCG should be fully authorised or authorised with conditions.
  • The Conditions Panel, chaired by Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer Ian Dalton, will meet fortnightly from November, and will consider what support is required where a CCG has not supplied sufficient evidence to meet a threshold for one or more authorisation criteria. The output of the panel will be a report with the recommended conditions and support for each CCG. Regional directors would be given an opportunity to approve the recommendations made on conditions and support for each CCG being considered from their region prior to consideration by the Conditions Panel. They may choose to take informal soundings locally prior to the Conditions Panel on options where the panel is likely to consider that a CCG needs intensive support.
  • The CCG Authorisation Sub-committee will be chaired by an NHS CB non-executive director and will meet twice per wave between October 2012 and February 2013 to make authorisation decisions, and quarterly from March 2013 to consider the removal of conditions. The conclusions of each sub-committee meeting would be published immediately after each meeting, once decision letters have been issued to CCGs.
The Board paper, outlines in full how the moderation and conditions/support processes will work, and how decisions will be made by the NHS CB.
It proposes that a standard review date of March 2013 will be built into all conditions and that CCGs may submit evidence to the relevant regional office which will determine whether the condition can be removed for the majority of conditions. For the more substantial conditions, the sub-committee will need to sanction their removal.
Following the decisions of the Board on 20 September, a factsheet on the process will be prepared and circulated to CCGs.
NeLM News

RCP report: Hospitals on the edge? - The time for action

RCP report: Hospitals on the edge? - The time for action: Source: RCP

This report from the Royal College of Physicians sets out the magnitude of the challenges facing acute care services. It found that hospitals are struggling to cope with the challenge of an ageing population and increasing hospital admissions and concluded that there an urgent need to radically review the organisation of hospital care if the health service is to meet the needs of patients now and in the future.

Doctors' prescriptions 'could severely harm tens of thousands'

Doctors' prescriptions 'could severely harm tens of thousands': Doctors are responsible for prescription errors that could be causing tens of thousands of patients severe harm or death, according to pharmacists.
Telegraph