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Bulletin
for allied health professionals May 2002 Issue 8 Welcome to the eighth edition of the AHP bulletin. I hope it continues to be filled with helpful information and contacts. AHP consultants As you will be aware, a key element of the AHP strategy 'Meeting the Challenge' was the introduction of the post of AHP consultant. With the abolition of regional office structures, we have been faced with developing new arrangements for the assessment and notification panels and also timetables for submissions of proposals. We envisage that ultimately, the assessment and notification panels for consultant posts will become part of the remit of the new health authorities. However, in the interim, and until the health authorities have developed the capacity to deal with the process, I have asked the heads of nursing in each Directorate of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to take on responsibility for the approval process in their area. With regard to the timetable and cut-off dates for submissions, these will be: Friday 28 June 2002 Finally, please do continue to give us feedback on the bulletin. Please send your comments and suggestions to: Alan.Robson@doh.gsi.gov.uk Avril Imison Contents: Health and social care interest
NHS interest Social care interest AHP human resource interest 16. New Salary Scales for non Review Body Staff for 2002-03 General issues NHS and social care interest 1. Configuring hospitals in health and social care systems The Department of Health has set in train a programme of work to provide help and support to NHS organisations and local authorities considering the development and configuration of hospital services. The focus of the project is acute hospitals within the context of overall health and social care systems. Jeremy Hallett (formerly chief executive of Wiltshire Health Authority) and Chris Howgrave-Graham (formerly chief executive of Coventry Health Authority) have been appointed to the DH Policy Directorate and Modernisation Agency to work in this field. They will begin by contacting all strategic health authority chief executives to identify where such additional support may be beneficial. In the autumn, the Department plans to publish a framework for configuring hospitals, setting out a proposed approach to assessing configurations and possible options for models of care and balancing the need for sustainability with opportunities to provide care closer to home. The project is closely linked to other work within the Department and the Modernisation Agency which impacts on the hospital configuration. A website is being developed at www.doh.gov.uk/configuringhospitals to:
For further information e-mail Helen.Lovell@doh.gsi.gov.uk 2. Prison health newsletter - March 2002 For those AHPs working in the prison service, you may find this publication of interest. Produced on a quarterly basis by the Prison Health Policy Unit & Task Force, it provides news, updates on the unit's development work programme and innovative work being carried out by staff in the prison healthcare field. An electronic copy of the newsletter is available on the Department of Health Prison Health Policy Unit and Task Force website at: www.doh.gov.uk/prisonhealth/newsletters.htm A hard copy of the document can be obtained by contacting the NHS response line on 08701 555455. 3. Critical care capacity contact The winter and emergency services team, within the Access Directorate of the Department of Health, is responsible for policy and for the central co-ordination of adult critical care services in England. The availability of critical care capacity underpins many of the access and waiting times objectives, reduces the unnecessary transfer of critically ill patients between hospitals for non-clinical reasons and is a prerequisite of many elective and emergency procedures. The Department appreciates that many StHA organisations are still at a formative stage of development but, as questions on critical care incidents are often raised urgently or at short notice, it is essential that we have available a list of contact points. The purpose is to have a contact able to assist on matters related to the delivery and performance of critical care services locally. All chief executives are therefore asked to inform Keith Young by 31 May 2002 of the name, phone number and email address of the contact within their organisation for matters related to critical care. keith.young@doh.gsi.gov.uk 4.Are you an AHP that works on healthcare for asylum seekers? Michael Swaffield is co-ordinating health and social care policy for asylum seekers at the Department of Health. He can be contacted by telephone on 0113 254 5002 or via Michael.Swaffield@doh.gsi.gov.uk on e-mail. Please pass this message on to staff and colleagues in your PCT who need to know this. Michael hopes to keep all those who are working within PCTs on the health of asylum seekers informed both of developments within the Department and elsewhere, such as the reforms of the asylum system being led by the Home Office. He also hopes to foster closer working between all those involved with the dispersal process. Michael's colleague, Ian Copestake, is currently contacting all PCTs to identify contacts who cover the health of asylum seekers as part of their work remit. If Ian has not yet made contact with your PCT lead person for this issue they should send their contact details to Ian.Copestake@doh.gsi.gov.uk on e-mail. 5. Improving Working Lives assessment and accreditation for strategic health authorities and workforce development confederations Late last year health minister John Hutton, MP announced the timetable for new NHS organisations to meet the individual stages of the Improving Working Lives accreditation process - Pledge, Practice and Practice Plus. This bulletin confirms the expectation that strategic health authorities and workforce development confederations will be assessed against the Improving Working Lives standard together during 2002 and highlights the target date of 31 March 2003 for them to be jointly awarded Pledge Status. Achieving Pledge means that an organisation is committed to achieving improvements in the working lives of its staff. It requires the organisation to have policies and procedures in place that will deliver these improvements, and an action plan to ensure that these policies are implemented. This commitment needs to come not only from the chief executive but the whole organisation including staff and staff side representatives. Strategic health authorities and workforce development confederations will need to work together to sign up to this commitment, and to agree an action plan and timetable that will enable them to implement these policies and procedures as part of their organisational development. The DH contact is Mary Best at: mary.best@doh.gsi.gov.uk 6. Improvement in Patient Care The NHS Modernisation Agency has just released the first three in a series of seven guides for improvement leaders in the NHS. The aim of the guides is to summarise the agency's current learning and thinking. They have been written in response to a huge demand for tools and techniques to support improvements in patient care. The guides have been written by experienced healthcare staff for improvement leaders right across the NHS. Everyone in the service who wants to improve the care and experience of patients is an improvement leader. The guides can be found at www.modern.nhs.uk/improvementguides For further information contact Mike McBride on 0116 222 1410 7. Health Promoting Prisons: a shared approach The health promotion in prisons strategy document has now been published. Health Promoting Prisons: A Shared Approach will support staff who have a role in promoting health in prisons, whether they are directly employed by a prison or working for the NHS or for a voluntary organisation. The strategy will also support prison governors who are developing health promotion work in their establishments. The strategy illustrates the framework for a 'whole prison approach' to promoting the health of prisoners, includes many practical examples of work in the field, and contains an action plan to help take forward the agenda for this work up to 2005. A copy of the report is available from the NHS response line on 08701 555455 (Ref.27460). Alternatively an electronic copy is available online at: www.doh.gov.uk/prisonhealth/17042002ahealthpromotingprisons.pdf 8. Consent to treatment forms: centralised production facility In last October's HSC 2001/023 the Department set out the timetable for the implementation of the model consent to treatment forms, consent forms and consent policy as part of the Good Practice in Consent initiative. HSC 2001/023 can be found at http://www.doh.gov.uk/consent/hsc2001023.htm The date for the introduction of the new consent to treatment forms and accompanying patient information was 1 April 2002. Following numerous expressions of interest, and to help reduce unit costs, the DH has been working with the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency and Collector Set Printers to provide a central production point for the forms. These can be ordered directly from the printers. The print specifications will also be made available on the consent website www.doh.gov.uk/consent/index.htm to allow for local production. To order the forms, please contact Collector Set either by fax, post, or e-mail, stating how many of each form you require, and giving the full delivery and invoice address. The contact details are: Collector Set Printers Ltd Contact names: Claire Marsh, stock office manager ext: 230, Ron Smith, orders manager ext: 221, Paul Ridgewell, sales manager: ext: 226 DH contact: clare.lynley@doh.gsi.gov.uk, tel: 020 7972 5334 With negotiations on agenda for change and a new consultants' contract hopefully nearing completion it will be crucial for NHS organisations to understand the implications and opportunities of pay modernisation. Pay modernisation cannot be simply a technical issue for HR departments. It must be a central concern for the boards of all NHS organisations. Besides bringing benefits to staff, pay modernisation must be seen and used as a tool for service modernisation and improvement or a huge opportunity will be lost. The Department of Health and the NHS Confederation are holding some workshops aimed at chief executives, HR and other directors. HR directors should have received a letter from the Confederation regarding this. It is not the intention to cover the technical details of the new system. Attendees will hear from senior negotiators from both the management and staff organisations, as well as professional bodies who have been directly involved in the negotiations. There will also be plenty of opportunity for comment and discussion. Issues to be addressed include:
The events are being run twice on each date:
In order to book your place at this event please choose between the morning and afternoon session in the region. Call Nicci Lawrence at the NHS Confederation on 020 7959 7262 if you do not have a booking form. For further information on Agenda for Change see www.doh.gov.uk/agendaforchange NHS interest 10. The NHS MODERNISATION AGENCY critical care programme -weaning and long-term ventilation. Comprehensive Critical Care, published in 2000, outlines a far-reaching modernisation programme for the development of critical care services around a new approach based upon the severity of illness. Since the publication of Comprehensive Critical Care, a sub working group of experts has reviewed issues related to the needs of patients with both acute and chronic respiratory insufficiency, who might respectively require access to specialist weaning and progressive care for long term ventilation. The recommendations of the working group should be seen as being an important component in the provision of a comprehensive service for patients with a critical illness, and should justify further detailed discussion and debate. The report is now available at www.modern.nhs.uk/criticalcare or can be obtained in hard copy from the NHS Modernisation Agency, 4th Floor, St Johns House, East Street, Leicester, LE1 6NB. 11. Workforce Development Confederations: Functions Shifting the Balance of Power: The Next Steps sets out in broad terms the relationship and accountability arrangements between workforce development confederations, strategic health authorities and postgraduate deaneries. The document sets the arrangements out in more detail, updating the functions of workforce development confederations to show how they will relate to postgraduate deaneries and strategic health authorities. Workforce development confederations have a central role in enabling the delivery of strategic health authority franchise plans through planning and development of the healthcare workforce, working with postgraduate deaneries to commission education and training, and managing the DH annual investment in training of almost £3 billion. The document is available at www.doh.gov.uk/workdevcon/guidance.htm Further information can be obtained from keith.baggs@doh.gsi.gov.uk 12. General ophthalmic services: increase in sight test fees The letter below informs strategic health authorities, NHS trusts, PCTs, optometrists and ophthalmic medical practitioners of an increase of 4 per cent in the NHS sight test fee with effect from 1 April 2002. A determination of the sight test fee on behalf of the secretary of state is annexed to the letter. Strategic health authorities and trusts are asked to:
The letter is available at www.doh.gov.uk/ophthalmicservices/feesapril02.htm Please direct any enquiries to John Canavan, Room 334A Wellington House, 135-155 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8UG. Tel 0207 972 3992. Fax 0207 972 3999 Email John.Canavan@doh.gsi.gov.uk 13. HSC 2002/007: securing service delivery: commissioning freedoms of primary care trusts This health service circular was issued to reinforce the discretion primary care trusts have in commissioning care for NHS patients. To support stability across the NHS allocations to PCTs, to be made in the Autumn, will cover three years - 2003/4 to 2005/06. PCTs as local organisations should use the full range of flexibility and freedom available, now and in the future, to ensure they effectively secure the services required to meet the needs of their local populations. Social Care Interest 14. CI(2002)6: Restructuring of the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) This chief inspector's letter provides information on some of the structural changes to the organisation of SSI. These new arrangements foreshadow the setting up of the new commission for social care inspection and are now 'going live'. The changes will enable SSI to focus on the core tasks and will help them to be flexible in response to the improvement agenda. If you require further information please contact Jacqueline Whittle at: jacqueline.whittle@doh.gsi.gov.uk The letter will be mailed to NHS and local authority chief executives and directors of social services. Letter (Ref 27885) 15. CI (2002)4: social services performance "star" ratings At his speech to the social services conference in October 2001, the Secretary of State Alan Milburn announced that we would be introducing social services performance 'star' ratings, to be based on an assessment of all the available evidence. The first star ratings are to be published during May 2002 based on the performance assessment round currently under way. This chief inspector's letter covers guidance which describes how star ratings will be produced and presented, and how they link with the comprehensive performance assessment to be introduced for all local government services following the local government white paper. The CI letter and guidance can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/pssratings/guidance AHP Human Resource Interest 16. New salary scales for non-review body staff for 2002-03 The advance letters containing the increases in national salary scales for 2002-03 for the non-review body groups of staff listed below were published through the chief executive's bulletin on 9 May and are on the COIN circulars database http://www.doh.gov.uk/publications/coinh.html Employers are asked to make arrangements to implement the new pay scales so that staff receive their increased salaries as quickly as possible.
If you have any queries please contact David Glassborow at David.Glassborow@doh.gsi.gov.uk General issues
www.doh.gov.uk/nsf/
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