Issue 13: 19 February 2015
Quality and Safety eBulletin
Welcome to the Quality and Safety eBulletin
This eBulletin brings you the latest news from key national agencies and initiatives across
the UK, under themed headings.
We welcome your feedback on the eBulletin. Please contact us at
qualityandsafety@rcn.org.uk.
Claire Constable, Daniel Simkin and Ross Scrivener
RCN Nursing Department
RCN highlights
RCN welcomes Freedom to Speak Up review. Dr Peter Carter said: “This is a timely and realistic
review of how many staff feel about raising concerns and it is bourne out by what RCN members
have been telling us for a number of years.
Female genital mutilation (FGM). This RCN publication aims to raise awareness among nurses,
midwives and related health care personnel about FGM, and to provide insight and understanding
of the socio-cultural, legal and health issues surrounding the practice.
RCN responds to Government Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) announcement. Dr Peter Carter
said: “It’s vital that everyone working with girls and young women at risk of FGM knows that it is
abuse and are prepared to treat it as such.”
Dr Peter Carter to leave RCN. RCN Chief Executive Peter Carter has announced that he is leaving
the RCN. Dr Carter will stay in post while a successor is appointed.
Traction: principles and application. This new edition provides information on applying traction and
caring for the patient’s safety whilst traction remains in place. The advent of improved technology
has meant that more fractures are now treated operatively but traction can still be used as a
temporary measure to provide pain relief, reduce blood loss and shock while definitive treatment is
planned.
Continuing learning and development for RCN representatives in England. This prospectus details
learning and development opportunities for RCN representatives, how to apply for places on events
and workshops, and provides signposts to sources of further information available on the RCN
website.
A guide to the learning and development pathway for RCN representatives. This pathway has been
designed to prepare representatives to meet the practice standards for their role. The pathway
combines facilitated learning with structured supported learning, enabling individuals to develop
the knowledge, skills and behaviours to be an effective RCN representative.
RCN survey of nurses working with looked after children. This publication follows on from an RCN
led networking event in 2013 for nurses working with looked after children, where numerous
issues and concerns were raised relating to changes in NHS structures, commissioning of services,
workload and capacity, roles and responsibilities, as well as the potential perverse impact of the
introduction of a Payment by Results tariff and unsafe working practices.
Congress 2015: booking is now open. Bookings are now being taken for RCN Congress 2015,
which will be taking place in Bournemouth from Sunday 21 to Thursday 25 June. Attendance at
Congress is free and open to non RCN members.
Frontline First. Runaway agency spending. The RCN is producing this Frontline First report at a
time of financial crisis for the NHS. The service is expected to cope with increasing demand and
pressures across the system, and deal with an ongoing winter crisis in A&E departments, while at
the same time making huge efficiency savings.
Nursing counts. The RCN is calling on all political parties to protect patient care across the UK by
defending the nursing profession from cutbacks as it launches its manifesto ahead of this year’s
general election.
New Occupational health nursing page in public health resource launched. This new page includes
a section on ‘Frequently asked questions on occupational health nursing’ and useful website links
and references.
“Every child has a right to breathe clean air” – RCN response to new regulations on smoking in
cars with children. Dr Peter Carter said: “Nurses see the devastating effects that smoking can have
on people’s lives. Smoking still causes unnecessary deaths every year in the UK and costs the NHS
dear.”
RCN Bulletin. February 2015. This issue includes features on: members consider NHS pay offer;
make your vote count; Forensic nurse examiner Emma Durmaz provides frontline support to
victims of rape and sexual assault; claiming back tax relief and research and its relevance to
frontline nursing staff.
RCN Library & Heritage Centre newsletter. For information on events, exhibitions and services in
the RCN Library & Heritage Centre, sign up to our quarterly newsletter.
RCN Principles of Nursing Practice. The Principles of Nursing Practice are used by the RCN to
describe what everyone can expect from nursing. The website has been revamped and is designed
to bring you up to speed with all aspects of the RCN's work relating to the Principles. We show how
you can make connections between the Principles and local and national statements defining the
quality of nursing care, and help you find ways to demonstrate how these values translate into
practice. We have drawn on relevant RCN publications to identify how the Principles underpin
nursing care. We also show how nursing staff animate the Principles and use them to reflect on
their practice.
NICE Consultation Gateway
The NICE consultation gateway pages provide information about the work that NICE does, current
NICE consultations and new topics for guideline and guidance development, and how you can get
involved. We will highlight these pages in every bulletin.
You can find out the latest on NICE consultations and new topics in development at Current
consultations and topics in development.
RCN events
The RCN organises an annual programme of events and conferences, including RCN Congress, to
support all health care professionals with their personal and professional development. See:

RCN national events

England regions and branches

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales.
Events
NHS Nursing Plenary. 03 March 2015, National Hall, Olympia, London. Charlotte McArdle, Chief
Nursing Officer for Northern Ireland is the keynote speaker at this event. The keynote speech will
discuss the importance of technology to the future of nursing. Other sessions will cover: a nursing
perspective from the four countries; change and innovation; informatics and technology showcase
and a leadership and partnership panel session.
RCN Fertility Nursing Forum conference and exhibition. Fertility nursing: managing future
expectations. 07 March 2015, 20 Cavendish Square, London W1G 0RN. This conference will extend
knowledge of key issues in fertility nursing. It will enhance the professional and educational
development of fertility nurses, midwives and HCAs working in licensed and non-licensed fertility
departments within the UK.
RCN Education Forum national conference.10 March 2015 – 11 March 2015. East Midlands
Conference Centre, Nottingham NG7 2RJ. The aim of this conference is to enable dissemination of
evidence, good practice and new policy information in relation to the delivery of education for
nursing and health. The conference will be of particular interest to nurse educators, predominantly
from the four countries of the UK, at a range of levels from supporting the education of HCAs to
post-doctoral education.
RCN and RCGP joint event: ‘talking the talk on obesity and malnutrition’. 17 March 2015. 20
Cavendish Square, London W1G 0RN. This joint RCGP and RCN study day provides practical
training for all non-specialist clinical staff in community and integrated care, as well as primary
care, including GPs, GP trainees, health visitors, dieticians, health trainers, physiotherapists and
dentists. Featuring a workshop format plus interactive work book and reflective templates, the
study day will enable staff to incorporate evidence-based approaches to obesity and malnutrition
within routine consultations.
RCN Older People's Forum and BGS joint conference. 30 March 2015 - 31 March 2015 Renaissance Manchester City Centre hotel, Blackfriars Street, Manchester M3 2EQ. This inaugural
joint conference celebrates how older people's experiences of services can be improved through
multi professional, multiagency collaboration. It builds on the success of previous conferences
hosted by the RCN and BGS to share experiences of how working together can make integrated
care a reality. The programme will offer keynote speakers who are UK leaders in older people's
medicine, nursing and social care alongside a wide variety of concurrent sessions which will be
broadly relevant to professionals and staff at all levels who work with older people and people who
live with dementia.
RCN Annual International Nursing Research Conference and Exhibition 2015. 20 April 2015 - 22
April 2015 - East Midlands Conference Centre, Nottingham, NG7 2RJ, UK. The RCN Research
Society is particularly interested in receiving abstracts concerning the health care needs of groups
of people who are traditionally underrepresented in research, such as the black and minority ethnic
(BME) and "seldom heard" communities. We particularly welcome papers which use research to
reflect on the current 'crisis' faced by nursing in many countries e.g. changing workforce profiles,
staffing and other organisational issues, healthcare reform, 'caring' and compassion, workforce
morale, nursing in the media.
Save the date: RCN Congress. RCN Congress And Exhibition 2015, and the AGM, will take place in
Bournemouth from Sunday 21 to Thursday 25 June. The call for agenda items is open and
submitting entities have until 23 January to suggest topics for resolutions and matters for
discussion. After elections earlier this year, Stuart McKenzie is Chair of Congress and BJ Waltho
Vice Chair.
Quality improvement
Audit, reviews, legislation, inspections, regulation
Clinical Audit Support Centre. eNewsletter. Issue 70, February 2015.
Department of Health (DH). Care Act 2014: How should we deliver the 2016 reforms to cap care
costs and manage appeals? Please give us your views. This consultation seeks views on the draft
regulations and guidance needed to introduce the cap on care costs and proposals for a new
appeals system. This webpage is open for comments until 30 March 2015.
Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership. COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) care
improves but ‘still not good enough’ audit finds. The national COPD clinical audit report published
today shows that some aspects of care have improved since the last audit in 2008, but is still not
good enough in many areas.
National Audit Office (NAO). Care services for people with learning disabilities and challenging
behaviour. This report suggests that the Government has not met its central goal of moving people
with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour out of hospital by 1 June 2014, because it
underestimated the complexity and level of challenge in meeting the commitments in its action
plan.
National Audit Office. Inspection: A comparative study.The NAO acknowledges the vital role played
by inspectorates but identifies inconsistency in the extent to which they are independent of
government and in their reporting arrangements, which can limit their impact.
Guidance, innovation, tools
Care Quality Commission (CQC). Regulations for service providers and managers. The CQC have
published guidance on how the 46,000 health and adult social care providers and services across
England can meet the Government’s new care regulations which will take effect from April. The
guidance describes how providers and managers can meet the regulations, including the
fundamental standards below which care should never fall.
Female genital mutilation. An RCN resource for nursing and midwifery practice (Second edition).
Female genital mutilation (FGM), sometimes referred to as female circumcision, is a challenging
subject to understand and manage. This publication aims to raise awareness among nurses,
midwives and related health care personnel about FGM, and to provide insight and understanding
of the socio-cultural, legal and health issues surrounding the practice.
DH. New measures aimed at bringing an end to female genital mutilation (FGM) in the UK
announced.
Guardian. Doctors and nurses to record FGM concerns on children’s NHS records.
Monitor. Special measures: a guide for NHS trusts and foundation trusts. This guide for NHS Trusts
and foundation trusts, written by the Care Quality Commission, Monitor and the NHS Trust
Development Authority explains why trusts are placed in special measures, what happens to trusts
in special measures, the roles and responsibilities of the organisations involved and when and how
trusts leave special measures.
Monitor. Trust special administrators of NHS foundation trusts: statutory guide. This guidance is
for organisations and individuals appointed to be trust special administrators. Monitor may appoint
trust special administrators (TSAs) to take control of an NHS foundation trust’s affairs if the trust
is either financially unsustainable in its current form or is at serious risk of failing to provide highquality, sustainable services to patients.
NHS England. NHS England publishes new guidance on mental health access and waiting time
standards. NHS England has published new guidance to support the introduction of access and
waiting time standards for mental health services. It builds on the joint planning guidance
published in December and explains the case for change in four key areas, setting out the
expectations of local commissioners for delivery, working with providers and other partners.
NHS Wales. New All-Wales Policy on Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency intervention that tries to restart the heart
and breathing if they stop. This can be a medical emergency but for many it is a natural process at
the end of life. The new All Wales policy on Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation
(DNACPR) offers information for clinicians, patients and their carers to help them make decisions
about CPR.
Public Health England. PHE launches new tool to raise awareness about heart disease. The new
heart age tool is on the NHS Health Check website which provides information about what happens
at the NHS Health Check, when and how to get one, and how to lower your risk.
Practice examples and case studies
Local Government Association (LGA). Integrated care and support pioneers case studies. LGA have
published this collection of case studies from fourteen integrated care pioneer sites. In addition to
this, the annual report sets out the achievements, challenges and learning from the first year of
the programme.
Reports, commentary, statistics
Centre for Mental Health. Investing in children's mental health. A review of evidence on the costs
and benefits of increased service provision. Investing in children's mental health examines the
costs and the benefits of a range of interventions to prevent or treat some of the most common
mental health conditions that affect children and young people. These interventions for conduct
disorder, anxiety, depression and ADHD improve children's mental health and have economic
benefits.
DH. MyNHS: greater transparency for better health and care - MyNHS planning 2015-2017. The
MyNHS site is a single place where health and care organisations, as well as the public, can
compare the performance of services over a range of measures, at both local and national level.
The site aims to drive improvement across the health and care system - encouraging organisations
and professional teams to compare their performance and see where they can improve what they
do and the services they offer. This document summarises the current plans for how the
information on MyNHS will be expanded and improved between 2015 and 2017.
Health Foundation. Three tests for a credible health policy. In the run up to the 2015 general
election, Three tests for a credible health policy outlines the actions politicians need to take to
maintain and improve the quality of care both now and for the future.
House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. Financial sustainability of NHS bodies. This report
argues that savings required across the NHS will be difficult to achieve solely by continuing with
the same approach used in recent years. It makes recommendations for improved centralised
collection of cost data across the NHS; implementation of a national payment system for
emergency admissions; and incentivisation for the integration of services.
International Longevity Centre. Serious Illness in the Over 50s. With demand for NHS services
already under pressure, new analysis by the International Longevity Centre – UK (ILC-UK) and
supported by Engage Mutual, the over-50s life cover specialists, predicts the NHS may have to
support up to one million more older people with serious illnesses within the next ten years.
International Longevity Centre (ILC). Next Generation Health Consumers. This report explores
where consumers go to seek out health information and who they trust and reveals a continuing
generational divide in access to and trust of health information. It finds that older people are more
likely to use and trust doctors and nurses whilst younger people are more likely than older to look
towards pharmacists and online and telephone services.
Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The homelessness monitor, England 2015. The homelessness
monitor is a five year (2011-2016) study that will provide an independent analysis of the impact
on homelessness of recent economic and policy developments in England. The key areas of
interest are the homelessness consequences of the post-2007 economic recession and the housing
market downturn.
King’s Fund. The future is now. Featuring the voices of patients, volunteers, clinicians and
managers, this digital report explores future ways of changing health and health care for the
better.
King’s Fund. The NHS under the coalition government Part one: NHS reform. This report assesses
the coalition government's record on the NHS. It comes in two parts, with this first part focusing
on the reforms set out in the Health and Social Care Act. This report covers six major themes of
the coalition government’s reform programme: commissioning of care, provision of care,
regulation of care, competition, governance and accountability and integration of care.
NHS England. Chief Nursing Officer bulletin. February 2015 issue now available.
Nuffield Trust. Parliamentary briefing: building sustainable GP services. On Thursday 5 February,
MPs debated the current pressure on general practice, and options for addressing it. This short
briefing pulls together key findings from the Nuffield Trust’s work. It examines funding and
workforce difficulties, explores possible effects on patient care and A&E, and makes
recommendations for the future.
Public Accounts Committee. The UK's response to the outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in West
Africa.
Policy Research Unit in Commissioning and the Healthcare System (PRUComm). Moving services
out of hospital: joining up general practice and community services? This report summarises the
findings of a rapid review undertaken by PRUComm of the available evidence of what factors
should be taken into account in planning for the closer working of primary and community
health/care services in order to increase the scope of services provided outside of hospitals. This
report was commissioned by the Department of Health to provide background evidence to support
policy development on primary and community health care integration.
QualityWatch. Focus on: hospital admissions from care homes. This analysis explores how care
home residents use hospital services, and how this information could prompt improvement in the
way care is provided. It raises important questions about the use of hospital services by care home
residents, and how they can prompt improvement in the way care is provided.
Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). New league table reveals GP shortages across
England , as patients set to wait week or more to see family doctor on 67 million occasions.
Figures produced by the RCGP show that certain areas of the country will need at least a 50 per
cent increase in the number of GPs working in the community over the next five years because of
the growing population and shortages of family doctors that already exist locally.
World Health Organization (WHO) Europe. Preventing and addressing intimate partner violence
against migrant and ethnic minority women: the role of the health sector. This policy brief aims to
provide input into the role of the health sector in preventing and addressing intimate partner
violence among migrant women and ethnic minorities. It describes the scope of the problem,
presents key evidence, and makes recommendations for health policy and health systems, health
facilities and health service providers.
Patient safety
BBC News. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases ovarian cancer risk. A University of
Oxford study has shown that there was an extra case of ovarian cancer for every 1,000 women
taking the drugs for five years from the age of 50. Medical charities have said that the findings
were robust, but that the risk did fall after HRT stopped.
Care Quality Commission (CQC). Using hidden cameras to monitor care. The CQC have published
information for families, carers and people who use health care services around the use of hidden
cameras to monitor care. The leaflet sets out some of the things to consider in the use of recording
equipment as well as the steps to take to raise concerns over the use of hidden cameras.
Department of Health. Improving patient safety and openness: the role of the NHS Litigation
Authority in incentivising the duty of candour. This consultation is seeking views on whether the
NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) should be able to recover part of an NHS trust’s indemnity cover
for claims where the statutory duty of candour (a legal responsibility to be open with patients)
about patient safety has been breached. This means that the trust would be responsible for
reimbursing the NHSLA for part of a successful claim against that trust. The closing date for
comments is 27 March 2015.
Dr. Foster. Is special measures working? This report provides the first analysis of the impact that
the intervention of ‘special measures’ has had on mortality rates at the 11 hospital trusts placed
under these measures following Professor Sir Bruce Keogh’s review into standards of care in 2013.
“Our analysis finds that the pattern of mortality rates at the 11 trusts as a group is significantly
different to the rest of the country and that this is not something that might have happened by
chance.”
‘Special measures’ cut death rates in Keogh hospitals
Freedom to speak up. An independent review into creating an open and honest reporting culture in
the NHS. Sir Robert Francis has published his report on the Freedom to Speak Up review. The
report sets out 20 principles and actions which aim to create the right conditions for NHS staff to
speak up, share what works right across the NHS and get all organisations up to the standard of
the best and provide redress when things go wrong in future.
Guardian. NHS whistleblowers: the staff who raised the alarm. Four NHS staff drew attention to
poor patient care and safety failures in the health service, including two cases that led to the
Francis inquiry.
Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). NHS Safety Thermometer Report – January
2014 to January 2015. The NHS Safety Thermometer is a local improvement tool, published
monthly, for measuring, monitoring, and analysing patient harms and ‘harm free’ care.
Health Foundation. Safer clinical systems. The evaluation summary provides important insights for
those leading safety improvement locally and nationally. The report argues that small scale locally
led improvement work has an important role to play in improving patient safety. However action
also needs to be taken at an organisational and system level, to address problems beyond the
control of clinical teams. Without it, there will be a limit to the level of improvement that can be
achieved at the frontline.
NHS England. Patient safety – Risk of severe harm and death from unintentional interruption of
non-invasive ventilation. NHS England have issued a patient safety alert to raise awareness of
unintentional interruption of non-invasive ventilation (NIV). The National Reporting and Learning
System (NRLS) has identified patient safety incidents where harm has been caused when oxygen
supply was found to be disconnected.
NHS National Institute for Health Research. Teddy bear legs bags set to make life more bearable
for young children. A simple teddy bear leg bag could revolutionise care for small babies and
children, their parents and carers when urinary catheters need to be fitted due to surgery or health
problems. The smaller sized bags are more comfortable and lighter for small children than typical
adult sized bags.
Northern Ireland Government. Advice to pregnant women during lambing season. Pregnant women
are advised to avoid close contact with sheep during the lambing season. Infections that can occur
in some ewes can risk the mother-to-be’s health and that of her unborn child. Other farm animals
that have recently given birth, especially cattle and goats, can also carry similar infections.
Evidence based practice
BBC News Health. Cigarette packet law would save lives. BBC News have reported that studies
published in the journal, Addiction suggest that standardised cigarette packs would save lives by
reducing the number of people who start smoking. MPs are expected to vote in March and any law
could come into force by 2016.
Department of Health (DH). Government response to the House of Commons Science and
Technology Committee Report on national health screening. This is the government’s response to
the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee report on national health screening. It
welcomes the committee’s enquiry and sets out the government’s response to the report including
how it will address each of the committee’s 22 recommendations and maintain the UK’s reputation
for high quality, evidence based screening.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) standards. The
prevention and control of infection throughout healthcare is everyone’s responsibility and is a
major component in the drive towards a safer NHSScotland. These standards supersede the
NHSScotland Code of Practice for the Local Management of Hygiene and Healthcare Associated
Infection and all previous HAI standards produced by Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s
predecessor organisations.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Shared learning awards, submit your
examples. The NICE Shared Learning Awards recognise and reward examples of how NICE
guidance and standards have been put into practice. The awards are presented annually at the
NICE Conference. Submitters of successfully shortlisted examples receive free conference tickets,
a national platform to present their work to peers and the chance to win the top prize, as voted on
by conference delegates. NICE is now accepting entries for the 2015 Shared Learning Awards. The
closing date for entries is Friday 27 March 2015.
NICE quality standards. NICE has published the following quality standards:

Sarcoma. This quality standard covers the diagnosis, treatment, support and follow-up of
sarcoma in children, young people and adults.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. This quality standard covers the diagnosis and management
of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in adults, from the initial suspicion of the disease to
referral, supportive care and treatment. For more information see the topic overview.

Psychosis and schizophrenia in adults. This quality standard covers the treatment and
management of psychosis and schizophrenia (including related psychotic disorders such as
schizoaffective disorder, schizophreniform disorder and delusional disorder) in adults (18
years and older) with onset before the age of 60 years in primary, secondary and
community care. It will not cover adults with transient psychotic symptoms.
NICE. Say hello to NG - the new naming system for NICE guidelines. NICE is moving to a new way
of guideline numbering following their decision to use a single set of methods and processes to
develop all NICE guidelines - whether they are clinical, public health, social care, safe staffing or
medicines practice guidelines.
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). How effective are interventions at reducing
socioeconomic inequalities in obesity among children and adults? Two systematic reviews. Tackling
obesity is one of the major contemporary public health policy challenges and is vital in terms of
addressing health inequalities. This paper discusses the results of two systematic reviews and
found some evidence of interventions with the potential to reduce low-socioeconomic status
inequalities in obesity and that obesity management interventions do not increase health
inequalities.
NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service. Polypharmacy and medication review – seven steps. NHS
Specialist Pharmacy Service have published this evidence based good practice guide to managing
polypharmacy as part of a patient-centred medication review. Published evidence associates
polypharmacy with increased adverse drug events, hospital admissions, increased health care
costs and non-adherence.
Public Health England. Second-hand smoke campaign launch coincides with vote ending smoking
in cars with children. Public Health England has launched its campaign to highlight the hidden
dangers that second-hand smoke in homes and cars can cause to children’s health, coinciding with
the passing by Parliament of regulations to end smoking in cares carrying children in England.
Patient focus
Department of Health. NHS Constitution (updated). The NHS Constitution has been updated. It
sets out rights for patients, public and staff. It outlines NHS commitments to patients and staff,
and the responsibilities that the public, patients and staff owe to one another to ensure that the
NHS operates fairly and effectively. All NHS bodies and private and third sector providers supplying
NHS services are required by law to take account of this constitution in their decisions and actions.
DH. A consultation on updating the NHS Constitution. The NHS Constitution sets out the rights to
which patients, public and staff are entitled as well as the responsibilities owed to each other to
ensure the NHS operates fairly and effectively. This consultation proposes to amend the NHS
Constitution to respond to recommendations made by Sir Robert Francis QC and to give greater
prominence to mental health; reflect the importance of access to transparent and comparable
data; include the Armed Forces Covenant; and reflect the new fundamental standards in April
2015. The consultation closes on 11 March 2015.
DH. Supporting carers to stay in paid employment. Ministers have launched a series of pilots
exploring ways to help carers balance work with their caring responsibilities. The pilots could see
carers using mart phones, email alerts and pop-up care centres to help them plan and co-ordinate
formal and informal support.
DH. New rules to improve overseas visitor’s contributions to NHS care. Overseas visitors who need
health care while in England will soon be charged differently for using the NHS as part of efforts to
recoup £500 million a year by 2017 to 2018. From April, the way the NHS charges these visitors is
being changed so that it does not lose out on income from migrants, visitors and former residents
of the UK who have left, who should all pay for their care while in the country.
DH. Health and wellbeing: a guide to community-centred approaches. This guide outlines a ‘family
of approaches’ for evidence-based community-centred approaches to health and wellbeing.
DH: PHE and NHS England guide highlights importance of communities to health and wellbeing.
DH. Culture change in the NHS: applying the lessons of the Francis Inquiries. This report shows
that a great deal has been achieved since Sir Robert Francis’s public inquiry into Mid Staffs, and
that the improvements made since must be sustained and embedded for the future and applied
equally and rigorously across all sectors of the health and care system. Each chapter sets out the
main areas where further action is needed to ensure that safe, effective and compassionate care is
the norm. The supporting annex sets out in detail the progress made against the 290
recommendations of the Francis report.
King’s Fund. The future is now. Featuring the voices of patients, volunteers, clinicians and
managers, this digital report explores future ways of changing health and health care for the
better.
NHS England. Five millionth feedback landmark for Friends and Family Test. The NHS Friends and
Family Test (FFT) has reached a milestone by gathering its five millionth piece of feedback from
patients. Launched in April 2013, FFT has allowed millions of patients to give invaluable feedback
on their experiences of care and treatment in services throughout the NHS.
NHS England. Health visiting: Listening to parents, transforming services. NHS England is working
with the Department of Health to showcase health visiting development work and the difference
improved services are making to new parents and children. A series of blogs highlighting the vital
work being carried out by health visitors around the country are being posted at NHS England
website.
NHS England. NHS England publishes latest Assuring Transformation data. NHS Engalnd has
published data that tracks progress on moving people with learning disabilities and/or autism from
in-patient to community settings. The figures at 31 December 2014 show a reduction in the overall
number of people with learning disabilities and/or autism in in-patient settings.
NHS Wales Informatics. Patients benefiting from Video Conferencing service. Cardigan Hospital
recently hosted their first telemedicine clinic for Head and Neck Cancer patients requiring
specialised speech and language therapy. Patients attended the clinic while speaking with Speech
and Language therapists at Swansea's Singleton Hospital using a videoconference (VC) link
through the Welsh Health Video Network.
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Secondary analysis and literature review of
community rehabilitation and intermediate care: an information resource. This research presents a
reanalysis of two merged datasets from intermediate care studies in order to identify patient
characteristics associated with outcomes. It provides additional evidence that interdisciplinary
teamworking in intermediate care may be associated with better outcomes for patients, but care
should be taken with overinterpretation.
NHS England. Compassion in care campaign hits new milestone. NHS England’s Chief Nursing
Officer (CNO) Jane Cummings has praised the “Hello My Name Is…” campaign started by
terminally ill Dr Kate Granger. The CNO spoke out as it was revealed that more than 100 NHS
organisations have now signed up to the social media campaign launched by the 31-year-old
hospital consultant.
Northern Ireland Government. Greater access to specialist medicine essential. Northern Ireland
Health Minister Jim Well said in the Assembly that difficult decisions need to be made to help fund
greater access to specialist medicines for those who need them the most. The Minister was
speaking as he released key findings of an evaluation of the Individual Funding Request (IFR)
process which was originally set up to provide access to unapproved specialist drugs where there
is an agreed clinical need but where they are not routinely commissioned.
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman. Ombudsman finds variation in quality of NHS
investigations into complaints of avoidable death and avoidable harm. More than a third of NHS
investigations regarding allegations of avoidable harm or avoidable death were inadequate and
failed to identify when something had gone wrong, according to a review carried out by the
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
Picker Institute Europe. “Public satisfaction with the NHS is rising, but will care experiences follow
suit?” Chris Graham; Director of Research & Policy, responds to the publication of the British Social
Attitudes Survey, and what it really says about people’s experiences of the NHS.
Reform. Expert patients. The NHS should embrace patient engagement as a key means to achieve
its £22 billion target. In recent years, a considerable range of evidence has shown that patient
engagement can improve both outcomes and use of resources. At a time when services are
stretched, helping patients to manage their own conditions can reduce demand on traditional
services. This report presents four case studies of successful patient engagement.
eHealth
BBC News. Google adds medical information to its search results. Google is launching a health
feature that provides information about medical conditions in response to related searches. The
facility provides medical illustrations, possible treatments and other data ahead of its traditional
links to others’ sites.
BMC Medical Education. The effect of an e-learning course on nursing staff’s knowledge of
delirium: a before-and-after study. The objective of this study was to test the effectiveness of an
e-learning course on nurses’ delirium knowledge. The aims of the e-learning course were to create
or increase awareness about delirium and the associated risks, and to increase knowledge about
delirium care.
Guardian. Google to put health information directly into search results. Google is changing the way
it displays search queries to pull medical facts directly into its results. The medical information is
being added to the company’s Knowledge Graph, which underpins Google’s instant search results
and powers Google’s Now personal assistant and app. It will allow health questions to be answered
directly, without a user having to click.
Guardian. #timetotalk: Is social media helping people talk about mental health? “Whether through
blogs, videos or tweets, candid conversations about mental illness can be found across the
spectrum of social networks we interact with on day-to-day basis. According to a survey by Time
to Change, released for Time to Talk Day, 47 per cent of people aged 21 and under said they find
it easiest to talk about their mental health problems online (compared with 49 per cent who said
face to face and 4 per cent who said over the phone).”
Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). NHSmail - Sending secure email. The NHSmail
encryption service has now gone live. If you are an NHSmail user, you can find best practice
guidance on emailing securely in the NHSmail Training and Guidance pages, in the section 'Policy
and procedure/Emailing sensitive and patient identifiable data'.
Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). HSCIC draft five year strategy for
consultation. The HSCIC have launched the draft of their new five-year strategy ‘Information and
technology for better care’, inviting organisations from across the NHS, social care, independent
and voluntary sectors, and service users and carers to share their views on the strategy’s
objectives.
Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR). Short-term trajectories of use of a caloric-monitoring
mobile phone app among patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in a primary care setting. “This
study provides insight into the nature and extent of usage of a caloric-monitoring app among
patients with type 2 diabetes and managed in primary care. The application of latent-class growth
modelling (LCGM) provides a useful framework for evaluating future app use in other patient
populations.”
JMIR. Health checkup and telemedical intervention program for preventive medicine in developing
countries: Verification study. “The results of this study demonstrate the benefits of an eHealth
checkup and teleconsultation program as an effective health care system in developing countries.”
JMIR. The role of mobile technologies in health care processes: The case of cancer supportive care.
This paper aims to review existing studies on the actual role and use of mobile technology during
the different stages of care processes, with particular reference to cancer supportive care.
NHS National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). HTA open access journal celebrates publishing
800 issues. The NIHR journal, Health Technology Assessment has celebrated publishing 800
issues. The journal has led the way in publishing full, accessible and public accounts of research
funded by the NIHR Health Technology Assessment (HTA) Programme.
Nuffield Council on Bioethics. The collection, linking and use of data in biomedical research and
health care: ethical issues. This report looks at the ethical issues raised by data use in biomedical
research and health care. It sets out key ethical principles for the design and governance of data
initiatives, and identifies examples of good practice relevant to anyone approaching a data
initiative.
Socitm. Redesigning health and social care: challenges and opportunities from an IT and digital
perspective. This report presents a high-level, illustrated guide to recent and forthcoming reforms,
including the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and the Care Act 2014, and sets out some of the
consequences, especially for IT and digital policy and activity.
Staff focus
BBC News Health. Wexham Park Hospital in Slough spent £9m on agency nurses. Wexham Park
Hospital in Slough spent £9.14m between December 2013 and December 2014, more than double
the national average. In response, The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned "over-reliance" on
agency staff was bad for patient care.
BBC News. Alexandra Hospital in Redditch sees all A&E consultants quit. BBC News has reported
that the entire consultant team running A&E services at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch has
resigned. A spokesperson from Worcestershire Acute NHS Trust said an urgent transition plan will
be put in place and emergency care will continue as normal.
Department of Health. Language controls for nurses, midwives, dentists, dental care professionals,
pharmacists and pharmacy technicians: government response. This document outlines the
government response to a consultation on changes to allow professional regulatory bodies to
impose language controls on nursing, dental and pharmacy professionals. The vast majority of the
71 responses received support proposals to allow these regulators the power to apply language
controls, where appropriate, to healthcare professionals, to ensure they have a sufficient
knowledge of the English language to practise safely in the UK.
Guardian Healthcare Network. How is the role of nursing changing? Live discussion. Join the
Guardian at noon on 24 February 2015 to talk about how nursing has changed and the current
challenges it faces.
Health Education England (HEE). Launch of FGM e-learning resource. Next month Health Education
England (HEE) will be launching a new e-learning resource designed to improve the knowledge and
understanding of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) amongst healthcare professionals in the NHS.
Developed in collaboration with key stakeholders, and supported by the Department of Health’s
FGM Prevention team, the material deals with the issues posed by FGM at all stages of a girl or
woman’s life, including the impact on physical and emotional health, legal status and referral
pathways.
HEE. Workforce plan for England 2015/16. Health Education England has published their second
Workforce Plan for England, which sets out the £5bn investment they will make in education and
training programmes for 2015/16.
Health in Wales. More NHS staff to be trained as £80m invested in health education. An £80m
investment by the Welsh Government will increase training places for the next generation of
healthcare professionals by 16 per cent next year. The number of nurses being trained in 2015-16
will increase by more than a fifth (22 per cent), while the number of paramedic places available
will increase by 161 per cent compared to the 2014-15 academic year.
Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The short run elasticity of National Health Service nurses’ labour
supply in Great Britain. The paper investigates the short run responsiveness of NHS nurses’ labour
supply to changes in wages of NHS nurses relative to wages in outside options available to nurses,
utilising the panel data aspect of the annual survey of hours and earnings. We find the short run
responsiveness of NHS nurses’ labour supply to the relative wage of NHS nurses is positive and
statistically significant, albeit economically small, in regions outside the London area. In contrast,
in the London region, the short run elasticity is much higher. We discuss the policy implications of
these findings.
NHS Employers. Launch of flexible retirement hub shared learning. The new NHS Employers
flexible retirement hub contains shared learning, including two case studies providing information
on how organisations are implementing flexible retirement.
NHS Employers. Launch of the new raising concerns manager’s toolkit. This new toolkit, ‘Draw the
line’, has been designed to help managers engage with their board, senior team, wider
management teams and staff about the importance of raising concerns.
NHS Employers. New continuous professional development learning materials published for health
visitors. The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) has developed new resources to support the CPD of
health visitors. The new CPD tools aim to ensure adequate and consistent quality of CPD provided
for health visitors and enable organisations to benchmark their health visitor CPD provision or to
commission training from a suitable provider in specific areas required.
NHS Wales. Welsh public health professionals views needed to help shape skills framework. Public
Health Wales is currently involved in Public Health England’s review of the Public Health Skills and
Knowledge Framework (PHSKF). Public health professionals are being asked if they would be
interested in attending a consultation event re the review. Two dates are currently under
consideration for consultation events in Wales: Tuesday 24 March 2015 and Wednesday 25 March
2015.
Resolution Foundation (RF). The scale of minimum wage underpayment in social care. This report
suggests that more than a tenth of UK care workers are being paid less than the national minimum
wage of £6.50 an hour. The Resolution Foundation says its research indicates that about 160,000
people are losing out on an average of £815 each a year.
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