Thursday 18 June 2015

Evaluating the evidence on employee engagement and its potential benefits to NHS staff: a narrative synthesis of the literature

Evaluating the evidence on employee engagement and its potential benefits to NHS staff: a narrative synthesis of the literature


The objective of this research was to evaluate evidence and theories of employee engagement within the NHS and the general workforce to inform policy and practice. Four research questions focused on definitions and models of engagement; the evidence of links between engagement and staff morale and performance; approaches and interventions that have the greatest potential to create and embed high levels of engagement within the NHS; and the most useful tools and resources for NHS managers in order to improve engagement. National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)
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Putting digital to work for patients – Tim Kelsey

Putting digital to work for patients – Tim Kelsey

NHS England’s National Director for Patients and Information looks at how unleashing the power of technology and data can improve patient care:

Published in October 2014, the Five Year Forward View set out a clear direction for the NHS – showing why change is needed and what it would look like.

Since then, the National Information Board (NIB) has been examining how the NHS can harness the power of data and technology to transform health and care services and deliver greater quality and efficiency.

In November 2014, the NIB launched its framework for action – Personalised Health and Care 2020: Using data and technology to transform outcomes for patients and citizens setting out a bold vision for how technology should work harder and better for the NHS by 2020.

Today we go a step further by publishing detailed plans for how we will deliver on these commitments including offering patients the chance to view and take control of their full health records online; increasing the offer of digital health services and extending the provision of remote care provided through online platforms.

Exclusive: Patients fail to show up for 14m GP appointments a year

Exclusive: Patients fail to show up for 14m GP appointments a year

More than 60,000 GP appointments are wasted every week across England by patients failing to show up, analysis by GPonline reveals.

News story: PHE publishes Child Health Profiles 2015

News story: PHE publishes Child Health Profiles 2015


The Child Health Profiles 2015, published today (17 June 2015), presents data across 32 key health indicators of child health and wellbeing. The data will help local organisations work in partnership to improve health in their local area.

Local government and health services can use the profiles to:
understand the health needs of their community
help improve the health and wellbeing of children and young people
reduce health inequalities

Public Health England (PHE) has also published a condensed version of the profiles for clinical commissioning groups which uses some of the same key indicators.

PHE’s National Child and Maternal (ChiMat) Health Intelligence Network’s website also provides interactive maps and charts for users to create customised views of the data, and links to further supporting and relevant products.

NHS England's e-Referral Service crashes almost as soon as it went live

NHS England's e-Referral Service crashes almost as soon as it went live

The e-Referral service was launched on Monday and went offline almost immediately. The booking service replaces its predecessor Choose and Book, which saw 40,000 patients a day make bookings. Daily Mail

Employing more people with learning disabilities

Employing more people with learning disabilities

Employing people with learning disabilities can help create a diverse NHS workforce which delivers a better service and improved patient care. Latest NHS Employer News

Could antibiotics replace surgery for treating appendicitis?

Could antibiotics replace surgery for treating appendicitis?

Surgery for appendicitis might be a thing of the past as a study finds that antibiotics could be enough to treat the inflammation. Independent

Press release: PHE study finds Ebola virus mutated slower than first thought

Press release: PHE study finds Ebola virus mutated slower than first thought

The Ebola virus responsible for the outbreak in West Africa mutated at a similar rate to previous outbreaks, according to a new international study led by Public Health England (PHE) and published today (18 June 2015) in Nature.

Early in the outbreak, research suggested the virus’ mutation rate was twice that of previous Ebola outbreaks. However, PHE’s study has established that the mutation rate was only slightly higher than previous outbreaks, which is reassuring to public health experts around the world.

Granted unprecedented access to data covering a period of almost a year, the scientists analysed 179 patient samples obtained by the European Mobile Laboratory (EMLab), which was deployed to the epicentre of the outbreak in Guinea, to reveal how the Ebola virus mutated and spread.

The analysis confirmed that the Ebola virus was introduced into the Guinean population in December 2013 at a single source, supporting theories from epidemiologists (scientists who investigate the spread of disease). Scientists believe the virus was initially transmitted from a bat to a 2 year old boy in Guinea.

The team also established how the virus spilled into Sierra Leone from Guinea in April or early May 2014. Notably, a large number of the early cases in different regions of Sierra Leone can be linked to a single funeral.

Lead author Professor Miles Carroll, Head of Research Microbiology Services for PHE, said:

Our analysis shows the Ebola virus responsible for the current outbreak mutated at a similar rate to the earlier outbreaks in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The results are good news for the scientists working to develop long-term solutions for Ebola, such as vaccines and treatments, as it means these new interventions should still work against the mutated strains of the virus. Currently, rehydration and replacement of critical elements appear to be the best way to improve a patient’s chances of surviving Ebola.

Following this study, we have theorised that one of the key factors in whether Ebola kills someone is the host’s genetic makeup rather than changes in the virus itself. Our next study will investigate this theory which may lead to improved treatment options.

We would like to acknowledge the collaborative efforts of a great many colleagues who worked on this study here in the UK and across the European Union and in Africa. In particular, this work was an opportunity to transfer skills and knowledge to our colleagues in Guinea as an investment in the public health infrastructure of the region.

Professor David Heymann, PHE Chairman and of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said:

This project, funded by the European Commission, illustrates how international collaboration is the most effective way to progress our understanding of new emerging diseases and develop innovative public health treatments and vaccines.

PHE are supporting global efforts to find the best diagnostic, vaccine and treatment options for Ebola. This research is reassuring to scientists and the public that the recent work on Ebola has been worthwhile and could soon lead to a better state of preparedness and response for the future.
Background

The article reference is: Carroll et al. (2015). Temporal and spatial analysis of the 2014-2015 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa. Nature.

The study involved 132 scientists from 50 organisations across the UK and European Union, and included scientists based at the EMLab in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. In addition to personnel from the Health Guinean Authorities, World Health Organisation (WHO) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

PHE exists to protect and improve the nation’s health and wellbeing, and reduce health inequalities. It does this through world-class science, knowledge and intelligence, advocacy, partnerships and the delivery of specialist public health services. PHE is an operationally autonomous executive agency of the Department of Health. www.gov.uk/phe. Twitter:@PHE_uk, Facebook: www.facebook.com/PublicHealthEngland

The EMLab is a consortium of laboratories located throughout the EU that specialise in working with dangerous viruses like Ebola. They received a grant from the EC in 2012 to develop three mobile units for the diagnosis of outbreak diseases in Africa and Europe. In March 2014 EMLab scientists were the first to be deployed to the epicentre of the Ebola outbreak in Gueckedou. EMLab worked closely with MSF for 1 year until the Gueckedou region was declared free from Ebola. The EMLab is co-ordinated by Prof Stephan Gunther from the Bernard Nocht Institute in Hamburg. This study was supported by a research grant from the EC that funds the subsequent analysis of the diagnostics material. The research arm of EMLab is called EVIDENT.

The genetic fingerprinting capability for Ebola virus has been in development for several years in collaboration with the study co-authors; Prof. Julian Hiscox and colleagues at the University of Bristol led by Dr David Matthews. The genetic analysis component of the study was led by Dr Mike Elmore (PHE), Dr Georgios Poliakis (Liverpool University) and Prof Andrew Rambaut (Edinburgh University).

The financial support for the study was provided by a €1.8 million grant awarded by the European Union to the research arm of the EMLab, EVIDENT, which is co-ordinated by Professor Stephan Gunther from the Bernard Nocht Institute in Germany. For more information, visit: evident-project.eu

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