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Bulletin
for allied health professionals November 2001 Issue 4
Introduction Welcome to the fourth edition of the new AHP bulletin. This bulletin is intended for Senior Allied Health Professionals - senior Rehabilitation Managers, Directors of Therapy, Heads of Departments in Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Dietetics, Prosthetics, Orthotics, Chiropody/Podiatry, Orthoptists, Radiography and Arts Therapy. If you are a Chief Executive, please forward it to the relevant people. We would like to be able to send future bulletins direct to you. Please send your full contact details - including your name, organisation, full postal address (including postcode), 'phone & fax numbers and e-mail address - to DH-Test-Emails@doh.gsi.gov.uk Please also see: Contents: Health and Social Care interest
Social Care interest
NHS interest
Human Resource issues
General issues
1. Update on Meeting the Challenge: a Strategy for the Allied Health Professions AHP Leadership: Leading Empowered Organisations (LEO) Work is well advanced on the introduction of the LEO programme for Allied Health Professionals. We are currently undertaking 'train the trainer' programmes for AHP LEO facilitators. If you are interested in becoming an AHP LEO facilitator, or would like details on the LEO programme, please contact your regional AHP Leadership lead. See the table at the end of the bulletin for their contact details.
2. NHS Reform - Shifting the Balance of Power Kathy Doran (Head of Primary Care) and Antony Sheehan and John Mahoney (Joint Heads of Mental Health) have recently written to PCT and PCG Chief Executives regarding the future role of Mental Health NSF Local Implementation Teams. LITs are to remain a key feature of the planning and implementation structures required to deliver a modern MH service under the arrangements to be established following 'Shifting the Balance of Power'. Read the Letter
3. National Service Framework for long-term conditions A meeting to determine
the scope and content of the new National Service Framework (NSF) for
long-term conditions will take place on November 12. With the help of leading clinicians, managers and staff, the Department of Health will set national standards and define service models to help ensure seamless provision across service boundaries, including the health-social care boundary. The NSF will be published in 2004 for implementation in 2005. See www.doh.gov.uk/nsf/longterm.htm
4. The Renal National Service Framework: We Want To Hear Your Views! This information is for all staff in renal units, A&E departments, intensive care units and diabetes clinics - particularly dieticians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and enquiries and information sections. The Department of Health is developing a National Service Framework (NSF) to improve renal services, and we have launched an interactive website on www.doh.gov.uk/nsf/renal.htm. You will find information there about the scope of the NSF and who is on our External Reference Group. More importantly, you can give us your views, by contributing to the discussion area, or by suggesting a standard for inclusion in the NSF. We would like to hear all points of view, whether you provide the service, use it, or just feel strongly about some aspect of it. To help promote the NSF, the website 'Bulletins' section also includes a printable poster/handout for display. So please, visit our website, and have your say! For more information, follow the Link to Advance Letter(PTB)2/2001
A change to the law on the use of patient-identifiable information has been introduced through Section 60 of the Health and Social Care Act 2001. The government has made it clear that informed consent is the fundamental principle governing the use of such data by the NHS or research community. However, it recognises that there are some situations where informed consent cannot be obtained. Section 60 provides the Health Secretary with the power to ensure that patient-identifiable information needed to support essential NHS activity can be used without patients' consent. This is intended as a transitional measure, whilst consent or anonymisation procedures are developed. The Act provides numerous safeguards for patients, and does not set aside the NHS's obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998. A new Patient Information Advisory Group will advise the Secretary of State on confidentiality issues. For further information, see www.doh.gov.uk/nhsexipu/confiden or contact Sean Kirwan on 0113 254 6019.
6. The Quality Protects Programme: Transforming Children's Services Quality Protects is the £885m five-year programme to transform children's services. LAC(2001)28/HSC(2001)20 sets out the requirements for 2002-03 Quality Protects Management Action Plans (MAPs). MAPs must be signed off corporately by local councils and health agencies and submitted to the Department by 31 January 2002. The full circular is available at www.doh.gov.uk/qualityprotects/year4.doc and also on the Quality Protects website www.doh.gov.uk/qualityprotects.
7. £300m 'Cash For Change' Initiative To Tackle 'Bedblocking' On October 9th 2001 Health Secretary Alan Milburn and Local Government Secretary Stephen Byers announced a major cash investment - £300m over this year and next - as part of a radical 'cash for change' programme designed to end widespread 'bed-blocking' by 2004. It will allow over 2000 older people to leave hospital rather than having to wait after their treatment is finished and will free up 1000 NHS beds this year alone. The £300m investment is linked to radical reform of the way NHS and social services work together, underpinned by a new Agreement - 'Building Capacity and Partnership in Care' - drawn up between the statuary and independent social care sectors, health care and housing sectors. The press release can be found on www.doh.gov.uk/buildingcapacity/index.htm.
8. Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000: Short Break Voucher Schemes The Government plans to begin to implement section three of the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000 and the equivalent amendment to the Children Act 1989 on 1 April 2002. These provisions cover short break voucher schemes. In preparation for this launch date, the Department of Health is planning to consult on Policy and Practice Guidance later this year. The guidance will take account of the experience of pilot schemes, which are exploring the different issues that councils will need to address in developing voucher schemes. Councils which would like more detailed information on the pilot schemes, or advice on setting up schemes of their own in advance of the publication of the guidance should contact Moira Wilson on 020 7972 4715 or Moira.Wilson@doh.gsi.gov.uk.
9. Improving older people's services: inspection of social care services for older people A new national agenda for older people's care was set out in Modernising Social Services and more recently in the National Service Framework for Older People. Taken together, they set out a radical programme for improving older people's services. Between October 1999 and November 2000 we conducted an inspection of social care services for older people in 21 councils. The purpose of the inspection was to evaluate the implementation of national and local objectives relating to the social care needs of older people, and the quality of outcomes for service users and their carers. The enclosed report, Improving Older People's Services provides an overview of the main findings and key messages to emerge from the inspection. Link to report http://www.doh.gov.uk/scg/improvingobjs.htm
10. 'Making It Work' - SSI National Inspection of Welfare to Work for Disabled People Employment is an area where disabled people feel discrimination keenly. However, opportunities for employment have a major impact on people's lives in terms of self-fulfilment, income, involvement in society and independence. This report is based on inspections in eight local council areas to assess the effectiveness of work with disabled people in securing and being supported in employment, co-operation between agencies and fair access to services. It is hoped the report will be helpful to councillors and senior officers in the next stage of the Welfare To Work JIPs and the development of services to assist disabled people to get into or stay in employment. An accompanying leaflet highlights key messages and good practice. For more information
see www.doh.gov.uk/scg/makingitwork.htm
or
11. The PCT Corporate Governance Framework Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are at the forefront of the drive to modernise and to make more effective the delivery of high quality care to patients. We need to deliver first class services to patients while also observing the highest standards of professionalism and National Health Service values. It's therefore very important to set in place arrangements to protect the professional primary care members of the PCT and its Executive Committee from accusations of actual or potential conflicts of interest between their role on the PCT and their professional employment. The PCT Corporate Governance Framework is intended to help address these challenges and to guide you through the requirement to establish internal management and control systems for the PCT. The framework contains:
The framework itself will be sent out on a CD to all PCTs, PCGs and Health Authorities shortly. This disc also incorporates other guidance and regulations relating to PCTs. For further information contact Sonny Dutta at sonny.dutta@doh.gsi.gov.uk The Primary Care Trust
(Functions) Directions 2000 can be found at The Primary Care Trust
Executive Committees (Membership) (No.2) Directions 2000 can be found
at http://www.doh.gov.uk/pct/pctexeccom.pdf
The Secretary of State for Health has recently announced the creation of the NHS University. The NHS University will be available to everyone working in the NHS, including people employed by private companies providing services. Learning materials will be available on-line and staff will be able to access them through NHS Systems, in cyber cafes in NHS organisations and through digital TV. Further details can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/nhsuniversity/bricks.htm.
13. Treatment of patients in the EU Primary Care Trusts will in future have the option of securing treatment for NHS patients in other European countries, Health Secretary Alan Milburn has announced. But this can only happen where it meets the patients' wishes and their needs as defined by a full clinical assessment. Mr Milburn stressed that authorities would be expected to apply the same principles to European providers as to private providers in this country, including patient safety, quality, aftercare arrangements and complaints. Domestic law also needs to be clarified to ensure it conforms with recent European judgements.
14. Withholding Treatment from Violent and Abusive Patients in NHS Trusts This Health Service Circular refers to national guidelines on the withholding of NHS treatment from violent and abusive patients. As part of a policy of applying zero tolerance on violence against staff, all NHS Trusts must consider the need for such policies and procedures. The document sent with the HSC provides a policy framework to help trusts develop and implement their own local policies and procedures by April 2002. The guidance is available at www.nhs.uk/zerotolerance and the HSC from http://www.doh.gov.uk/coin.htm or from the NHS Responseline telephone: 08701 555455 Alternatively contact:
15. Demand and capacity management The NHS Modernisation Agency is leading a national workshop programme on demand and capacity management. The programme is aimed at NHS leaders and people who are facilitating or teaching local modernisation programmes and projects. Demand and capacity management is a priority development area for the agency. These skills are fundamental to achieving and sustaining NHS Plan targets in emergency access, outpatient and inpatient waiting times and booked admissions. The workshop programme is at www.nhs.uk/npat/workshop.asp.
16. Health Service Commissioner "Completed Investigations" Report: April to July 2001 For those of you involved in managing complaints, you will be interested to know that on the 1st November 2001 the Health Service Commissioner published his "Investigations Completed" report covering the period April to July 2001. The report (in two volumes) is available on the Commissioner's website www.ombudsman.org.uk. These reports are an invaluable source of information for the NHS both for improving services and as a training resource. Chief Executives have been urged to consider carefully how they might best be used within their organisation. For further information contact Adrian Landon, Complaints and Clinical Negligence Policy Team. Tel: 0113 254 5679 E-mail: adrian.landon@doh.gsi.gov.uk.
17. Reforming the NHS complaints procedure A 'listening document' suggests ways to improve the complaints procedure for patients in England. It summarises suggestions made after a two-year evaluation study of the existing procedure. See the document at www.doh.gov.uk/nhscomplaintsreform/index.htm.
18. Intermediate Care - £66 Million Capital Investment As part of the additional funding for intermediate care announced in the NHS Plan (July 2000), new capital investment of around £66 million is available over the next two years (£33m in 2002-03 and £33m in 2003-04) to support the development of intermediate care and particularly a growth in bed numbers. A letter will shortly be issued inviting Regional Offices to submit a prioritised list of bids for this capital funding for intermediate care. Full details, including the timetable, will be provided in the letter, but it is anticipated that NHS Trusts or PCGs/PCTs will be asked to submit bids to their respective regional offices by early to mid December. A targeted approach will be adopted in the allocation of funds. The ability of any project to deliver significant increases in capacity within the specified timescale will be a key criterion. It will also be important to integrate any development proposal within a whole system approach that local partners are signed up to, and to ensure that maximum benefit both for patients and for overall system capacity will be achieved from the investment. It is expected that Regional offices will be notified of the outcome of their bids by the end of January 2002. For more information please contact gareth.h.jones@doh.gsi.gov.uk.
19. NHS performance ratings - acute trusts 2000/01 Patients and the public have a right to know how well NHS organisations are performing. Different NHS organisations also need to know how well they are doing in comparison with others, so that successes can be shared and weaknesses can be identified and acted upon. The NHS Performance Ratings represent, for the first time, a high level summary of the overall performance of non-specialist acute NHS hospital Trusts (general hospitals) against a number of key targets. In this first year of Performance Ratings we are only covering acute hospital trusts on a limited range of measures. Our focus for this year is limited to a number of indicators largely related to the experience of NHS patients. The system is not primarily a commentary on the quality of clinical care although indicators relating to clinical negligence, deaths in hospital and emergency re-admission rates are included. A poor performance rating does not necessarily mean that Trusts are failing to provide a good standard of care to their patients but that the overall patient experience is poor. For more information see http://www.doh.gov.uk/performanceratings/index.html.
The NHS plan included a commitment to pilot the use of team bonuses in a number of NHS organisations from 2001 with a view to extending them more widely in the light of evaluation of the results. The schemes are intended to provide incentives for all types of staff who work together in a variety of settings across the country. Expressions of interest were sought from NHS Trusts and PCTs on 3 May. The ten sites selected have been chosen from the 53 expressions of interest received and represent a broad range of Trusts, team types and reward schemes. Haygroup management consultants were appointed in the summer, following a competitive tendering exercise, to help with the selection process, to assist the pilot sites in implementation and to evaluate the outcomes. Bids for a second wave of pilot sites will shortly be invited. These will be for 3 star acute Trusts only and are likely begin in April 2002. For more information Link to Press Release 0469
The fourth edition of the NHS Bursary Scheme includes a range of amendments to the current student support arrangements. The document is available at www.doh.gov.uk/hcsmain.htm.
22. Knowledge and Skills Framework Development Group The Knowledge and Skills Framework Development Group was formed in the summer as part of the pay modernisation / Agenda for Change project. The Group has a remit to design a knowledge and skills framework which would detail the skills and knowledge required to perform jobs effectively across the NHS at different levels in career pathways. The aim is to promote education and development by rewarding people for increasing the levels of skills and knowledge they apply in their jobs. Implementation of the framework would be subject to final agreement on pay modernisation. The Group has been working in partnership to collect information on existing knowledge and skills frameworks, partly to ensure that good examples of local practice inform the development of the framework. Good local examples have already been collected covering the largest Nursing, Midwifery, Health Visiting and Allied Health Professional groups. However, we are particularly keen to collect more useful information on other groups. Please contact Tim Lund on 0113 2545751 or e-mail tim.lund@doh.gsi.gov.uk if you are able to help with collecting information.
23. Advance Letter: 2002 Spring Bank Holiday and Special Golden Jubilee Bank Holiday This letter notifies employers of an agreement of the General Whitley Council regarding the arrangements for the 2002 Spring Bank Holiday and Special Golden Jubilee Bank Holiday. Advance Letter
24. Keeping up to date with other reading If you are interested in keeping up to date with developments across the NHS, you might find these two publications interesting:
These bulletins aim to provide you with up to date information about relevant issues in the NHS, which will be of specific interest to Allied Health Professionals. They will also enable you to obtain further detail about particular issues through hypertext links. Please help us make these bulletins as helpful to you as possible by telling us what you think of the bulletins and how they might be improved, for example:
Please send you comments and suggestions to: Alan.Robson@doh.gsi.gov.uk
LEADERSHIPS REGIONAL ALLIED HEALTH PROFESSIONS (AHPs)
The documents in this bulletin are Crown copyright but may be reproduced by NHS and Local Authority staff without formal permission or charge for personal or in-house use - ©2001 Back to Allied Health Professionals Bulletin Home Page
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