The Department of Health website has moved

The Department of Health website has moved:

The DoH is now on .GOV.UK

The Department of Health website has moved to GOV.UK.  The old web site address still works but will refer you to the new site.

However, links to DoH documents and other pages currently do not work (including those from the library catalogue), nor does there seem to be any content on the new site earlier than 2010. We'll update you when we know more about these issues.

Ambulance bosses: Plan ahead and only call if it’s an emergency

Ambulance bosses: Plan ahead and only call if it’s an emergency: Bosses at East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust are urging people to plan ahead to avoid calling out an ambulance this Easter. Evening Telegraph

Patients first and foremost: the initial Government response to the report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS foundation trust public inquiry

Patients first and foremost: the initial Government response to the report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS foundation trust public inquiry: This document details actions to ensure that patients are the first and foremost consideration of the health and care system and everyone who works in it. It outlines how a culture of compassion will be a key marker of success; hospitals and care homes will be encouraged to strive to be the best; basic values of dignity and respect will be central to care training; and if things go wrong, patients and their families will be told about it.

Access to clinical trial information and the stockpiling of Tamiflu

Access to clinical trial information and the stockpiling of Tamiflu: This study follows correspondence from a number of MPs raising questions about access to all clinical trials information for UK regulators when licensing and appraising new medicines; and the decision to stockpile Tamiflu. We will examine whether:

• regulators / NICE assure themselves that they have all clinical trials evidence when licensing and appraising new drugs to be used in the NHS
• all the clinical trials information was available to regulators when they licensed Tamiflu and when NICE undertook its technology appraisal of Tamiflu
• the NHS stockpiled Tamiflu for the treatment of avian and swine flu on the basis of clinical evidence, and on the advice of the appropriate authorities

 Email Angharad through our enquiries desk; please mark your email for her attention. National Audit Office

Updated NHS Constitution published

Updated NHS Constitution published: The Department of Health has published an updated NHS Constitution following a consultation that sought views on a number of proposed changes.

NHS emergency set-up unclear, say MPs

NHS emergency set-up unclear, say MPs: The government's NHS reforms in England mean it is "not clear who will be in charge in the event of a health emergency", MPs warn. BBC News

NHS 111 roll-out could be delayed until mid-summer

NHS 111 roll-out could be delayed until mid-summer: The introduction of NHS 111 could be delayed until the end of June across half of England, GP has learned.

Service reconfiguration case study: Better Healthcare in Bucks

Service reconfiguration case study: Better Healthcare in Bucks: This case study is part of a series designed to share good practice and lessons learned by local NHS organisations involved in major reviews of local health services. NHS Confederation

The NHS atlas of variation in healthcare for people with liver disease

The NHS atlas of variation in healthcare for people with liver disease: This atlas uses data sets in the form of maps to reveal the extent of variations in services and outcomes. It reveals widespread variation in the prevalence of risk factors for liver disease, including Hepatitis infection, obesity and alcohol abuse in emergency admissions and routine treatments and operations in the expenditure on liver disease services across the NHS.

• Atlas 
• NHS Right Care - publications

Doctors to be allowed to date former patients

Doctors to be allowed to date former patients: Doctors will be allowed to form romantic relationships with their former patients, as long as they use their "professional judgement" to decide if it is appropriate. The Daily Telegraph

Britain is worst in Europe for child deaths

Britain is worst in Europe for child deaths: 
Almost 2,000 British children a year die from “avoidable” causes because family doctors lack training in paediatric care, researchers warned yesterday. The Independent

Final decision made on Northamptonshire ambulance stations

Final decision made on Northamptonshire ambulance stations: Ambulances will be stationed at 13 points across the south of Northamptonshire, after the plans were approved by the East Midlands Ambulance Service board. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Health chiefs make final decision on county’s ambulance services Evening Telegraph
• Ambulance station plans approved BBC News

NHS service in county achieves top award - Northampton Herald and Post

NHS service in county achieves top award - Northampton Herald and Post:

Northampton Herald and Post

NHS service in county achieves top award Northampton Herald and Post The Sett, based in Duston and run by Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT), has been accredited by the Royal College of Psychiatry's Quality Network for Inpatient CAMHS (QNIC). QNIC aims to demonstrate and improve the quality of ...

Protection or prosecution? Learning from Denmark

Protection or prosecution? Learning from Denmark: Following the publication of the Francis report, John Illingworth looks at the Danish Patient Safety Act, which includes some key obligations, most crucially for frontline personnel to report adverse events, for hospital owners to act on the reports and for the National Board of Health to disseminate learning and advice from them. The Health Foundation

Fears over launch of NHS 111 line

Fears over launch of NHS 111 line: Doctors are questioning the safety of a new non-emergency NHS telephone advice line in England. BBC News

Nurses to first train in basic care

Nurses to first train in basic care: Nurses will have to spend time as healthcare assistants as part of a measures to be unveiled by ministers in response to the Stafford hospital inquiry. BBC News

See also:

• Mid Staffordshire NHS scandal: Government accepts that student nurses need more hands-on experience The Independent
• Nurses to train in basic care for a year The Daily Telegraph
• Nurses must spend a year on basic care The Guardian
• You're not too posh to wash a patient: Minister orders student nurses back to basics to improve compassion in NHS The Daily Mail

Life on the front line of the NHS

Life on the front line of the NHS: What is life like on the front line of the NHS? BBC News

Quality and outcomes framework guidance for 2013/14 published

Quality and outcomes framework guidance for 2013/14 published: NHS Employers, the NHS Commissioning Board and the General Practitioners Committee have jointly published the 2013/14 Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) guidance.

Dementia: scoping the role of the dementia nurse specialist in acute care

Dementia: scoping the role of the dementia nurse specialist in acute care: This report highlights the significant contribution dementia nurse specialists could make in hospital settings, based on research which found that if properly funded and trained they could reduce hospital stays for older people by one day on average, saving almost £11,000,000 a year. It recommends that there should be at least one whole-time dementia specialist nurse for every 300 hospital admissions for people with dementia.

• Report
• RCN - press release

What about the children?: joint working between adult and children's services when parents or carers have mental ill health and/or drug and alcohol problems

What about the children?: joint working between adult and children's services when parents or carers have mental ill health and/or drug and alcohol problems: This thematic inspection by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission explored how effectively adult and children’s services worked together to ensure that children affected by their parents’ or carers’ difficulties were supported and safe. The report draws on evidence from
cases in nine local authorities and partner agencies and from the views of parents, carers, children, practitioners and managers. It calls on the government to make it a mandatory requirement for mental health services to collect data on children whose parents or carers have mental health difficulties and report on such data nationally.

• Report
• Summary
• Ofsted - publications