Bulletin
for allied health professionals September
2002
Issue 11
Introduction
Welcome to the eleventh edition of the AHP bulletin. This month's edition
continues to inform you of the changes that are being made to fulfil the
'Modernisation Agenda'. Alongside the external changes, the Department
of Health has appointed for the first time a chief health professions
officer, Kay East, who will begin work on 1 November. Kay will be based
in London at Wellington House.
I hope the bulletin continues to be of value - please keep sending your
feedback.
Avril Imison
Head of Policy - Allied Health Professions
Contents:
Health and social care interest
1. Publication of departmental report - Department of Health
2. NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (NHS LIFT)
3. Relationship between the single assessment process for
older people and the care
programme approach
4. Merger of Medicines Control Agency and Medical Devices
Agency
5. Safety notices
NHS interest
6. Making a difference: reducing burdens in hospitals
7. Gluten free foods - local options for supply
8. New planning framework
9. Proposed standards for NHS help line guidelines
10. NHS Modernisation Agency - improvement leaders' guides
11. Improving the use of clinical databases
12. Patient and public involvement
Social care interest
13. Modern social services: a commitment to reform - the
11th annual report of the chief inspector of social services 2001/2002
14. Piloting an integrated approach to the delivery of services
to children and their
families
15. Reducing health inequalities - health action plans for
people with learning
disabilities
AHP human resources interest
16. Flexible careers scheme: central funding for flexible
working and flexible retirement
General issues
17. Keeping up to date
NHS and social care interest
1. Publication of departmental
report: Department of Health
The twelfth annual departmental report describes the
progress and achievements of the past year and sets out expenditure plans
for 2002-03 to 2003-04. It also sets out the aims and objectives of the
Department, and describes the main activities which support them.
Covering different business areas for which the Department
is responsible: public health, the NHS, social care and departmental management,
it sets out the resources committed to each, the results that are being
achieved and the priorities for the future.
The report has also been published on the internet
at: www.doh.gov.uk/dohreport
2. NHS Local Improvement Finance
Trust (NHS LIFT)
The Department has announced a third wave of NHS LIFT
schemes, bringing the total number under development to 42. NHS LIFT aims
to deliver improved primary care facilities by batching together primary
care developments within an area. The schemes will be established as public-private
partnerships with the private sector providing the majority of funding.
NHS LIFT should help strengthen joint working with local authorities.
The locations of the 24 schemes are Ashfield; Ashton,
Leigh and Wigan; Barnet, Enfield and Haringey; Brent and Harrow; Bristol;
Bromley, Bexley and Greenwich; Colchester and Tendring; Derby; Doncaster;
Dudley; Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow; East Hampshire and Fareham and
Gosport; Gedling; Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham; Leeds; Norfolk; Oldham;
Oxford City; Sheffield; St Helens, Knowsley, Halton and Warrington; Tees;
Plymouth; Wandsworth, Kingston, Richmond and Twickenham and Wolverhampton.
For further information contact:
James Skelly at james.skelly@doh.gsi.gov.uk
or 0113 254 6295
Joe Clyne at joe.clyne@doh.gsi.gov.uk
or 0113 254 5603
3. Relationship between the single
assessment process for older people and the care programme approach
Chief executives of strategic health authorities,
primary care trusts, care trusts, other NHS trusts and directors of social
services should be aware that the Department of Health has issued a note
of clarification on the relationship between the single assessment process
for older people and the care programme approach.
The note is available at www.doh.gov.uk/scg/sap
and the link is entitled ‘SAP and CPA’. The note should be brought to
the attention of managers and professionals who assess and care-manage
the needs of older people and/or who work with individuals subject to
the care programme approach.
For further information please contact:
Sanjay Khatri sunjay.khatri@doh.gsi.gov.uk
4. Merger of Medicines Control
Agency and Medical Devices Agency
The Medicines Control Agency and the Medical Devices
Agency are to become a single agency from 1 April 2003.
The new body will remain an executive agency of the
Department of Health, and will continue all the functions currently carried
out by the two agencies. As plans proceed, there will be discussions with
all stakeholders, including those in the NHS.
5. Safety notices
The following safety and hazard notices and device
alerts have recently been issued by the Medical Devices Agency on key
issues of patient equipment:
- SN2002(18) Scandinavian Mobility popular plus powered
wheelchair - risk of overheating or possible fire in the battery cables
and connector plugs
- SN2002(17) Management of loaned medical devices,
equipment or accessories from manufacturers or other hospitals
- SN2002(16) Smith & Nephew Homecraft Ltd, Liftmaster
160 and 190 hoists
For full details please check www.medical-devices.gov.uk
NHS interest
6. Making a difference: reducing
burdens in hospitals
On 31 July 2002, Lord Hunt launched a joint
DoH and cabinet office report on reducing burdens in hospitals. The report
identifies 40 practical outcomes that will be implemented to free up time
for front-line staff so that they can concentrate on delivering care.
The ideas have been suggested by front-line staff, and are agreed outcomes
rather than recommendations.
The outcomes are grouped under three main areas:
The patient journey: interface with primary
care; emergency care; requesting tests and administering treatment; patient
discharge – planning and interface with social care;
patient discharge – medicine management.
Information flows: patient records and hospital
paperwork; requests for information and communications with hospitals;
return to nursing practice; state benefits; bidding and funding.
Quality: risk management; inspection and accreditation.
Please ensure that relevant managers and front-line
staff are aware of this report, as the successful implementation of the
outcomes depends on their co-operation, implementation and feedback.
Full copies and one-page summaries of the report are
available at www.doh.gov.uk/reducingburdensinhospitals
and
www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/regulation/PublicSector/Hospitals.htm
For hard copies or queries please contact Vicky Lawrence
at the public sector team on 020 7276 2194, or email psinfo@cabinet-office.x.gsi.gov.uk.
7. Gluten free foods - local options
for supply
The Department of Health/cabinet office report Making
a Difference: Reducing Burdens on General Practitioners - second report
(published in June) noted that GPs feel
burdened by requests to prescribe gluten free foods. While repeat dispensing
schemes and/or supplementary prescribing by pharmacists should lessen
this burden in due course, PCTs may wish to consider taking local action,
having sought the advice of their local GPs on whether alternative supply
options are necessary and/or appropriate.
Further advice on the alternatives to prescribing
of gluten free foods can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/glutenfree
For further information please contact Kevin Guinness
at kevin.guinness@doh.gsi.gov.uk
8. New planning framework
Delivering the NHS Plan described the programme
of system reform required to deliver core NHS Plan priorities.
A key element of the programme is the introduction of a new planning framework
for the NHS, to be delivered through the following actions:
- all planning at national and local level will be
moved to a three-year basis from 2003-2004
- national planning requirements, and the setting
and reporting of targets at a national level, will be reduced and streamlined
- time-scales for planning will change to reflect
the need for planning to be a process that ensures delivery rather than
an end in itself
- the new timetable will allow more time at a local
level to involve front-line staff, key delivery partners, patients and
the public in the development of plans.
A brief on the framework can be found on the website
at www.doh.gov.uk/planning
Please contact kathy.beynon-tullett@doh.gsi.gov.uk
for further information.
9. Proposed standards for NHS helpline
guidelines
The Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) is seeking
the views of all NHS organisations in England and Wales on proposed standards
for NHS helpline guidelines. CHI is developing mandatory guidelines, following
its investigation of a case last year when anxiety was expressed to CHI
about the role and purpose of the health authority's helpline.
A number of voluntary and statutory bodies have been
working with CHI to develop the standards. NHS organisations are urged
to comment and share their own policies and examples of good practice.
The proposed standards can be found at www.chi.gov.uk/eng/latestnews/008.shtml
Please send comments and existing help line policies
to margaret.tozer@chi.nhs.uk
10. NHS Modernisation Agency -
improvement leaders' guides
These guides are aimed at anyone who wants to improve
the care and experience of patients. They form a set of principles designed
to create the best conditions for improvement in healthcare, and ideally
they should support a programme of training in improvement techniques.
Earlier this year, three guides were published on
the themes of: process mapping and redesign; matching capacity and demand;
and measurement for improvement. The latest guides look at: managing the
human dimensions of change; involving patients and carers; and sustainability
and spread.
They are all available on the internet at www.modern.nhs.uk/improvementguides
For further information please contact Mike McBride,
redesign team, NHS Modernisation Agency on 0116 222 1410 or email
improvementguides@npat.nhs.uk
11. Improving the use of clinical
databases
High quality clinical databases offer opportunities
to carry out clinical audits and plan and manage services, as well as
providing individual clinicians with accurate estimates of the outcome
of their care and opportunities to undertake evaluative research.
A Directory of Clinical Databases (DoCDat) website
has been established at www.lshtm.ac.uk/docdat
where visitors can find out which databases exist and benefit from an
independent assessment of their scope and quality. Searchers can look
for databases under the fields of medical condition, health care intervention
and geographical area.
The website only provides an overview of each clinical
database. To delve deeper it is necessary for the user to obtain more
from the database custodians, whose contact details are provided. The
aim of DoCDat is to enable greater access and use of clinical databases,
and to improve their quality. The website is supported by the Nuffield
Trust and the Department of Health.
Database custodians:
Mary Payne at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine: mary.payne@lshtm.ac.uk
Prof Nick Black at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine:
nick.black@lshtm.ac.uk
For further information please contact: Karl Payne,
Finance and Investment Directorate
on 0113 254 5368 or Jonathan Hey, Finance and Investment Directorate,
on 0113 254 6012.
12. Patient and public involvement
The new national Commission for Patient and Public
Involvement in Health (CPPIH) will be established in January next year.
Its role will be to:
- monitor and manage performance of the new patient
forums and providers of independent complaints advocacy services – thus
guaranteeing their independence from the NHS
- keep an overview of the patient and public involvement
system and make recommendations to the health secretary
- carry out national reviews of services from the
patient's perspective.
Forums in every NHS trust and PCT will monitor and
review local health services, and make reports and recommendations to
local trusts. They will be able to inspect all health services, whether
provided within NHS facilities or through contracts with the private sector.
A member of each forum will have a place on trust boards. The timetable
for implementation is currently being finalised. Further details will
be available shortly.
Social care interest
13.
Modern social services: a commitment to reform – the 11th
annual report of the chief inspector of social services
In a year that culminated in the first performance
ratings for local council social services, this year's Chief Inspector's
Annual Report draws on that information and a range of inspection
and performance review activities of the Social Services Inspectorate
(SSI), to provide an assessment of performance across England. This year's
report has a regional focus and also provides information about the activities
of SSI.
For more information go to www.doh.gov.uk/ssi/ciann-11.htm
or contact Carolyn Denne at carolyn.denne@doh.gsi.gov.uk
14. Piloting an integrated approach
to the delivery of services to children and their families
Funding is available from the Whitehall-wide evidence-based
policy fund and selected government departments for a research programme
to pilot the ‘integrated children's system’ with social services
and relevant partner agencies. The system offers a coherent framework
for assessment, planning, intervention and review of children using social
services. The multi-agency research will examine whether the integrated
children's system:
- supports interagency working
- facilitates information sharing
- strengthens social work practice and processes
- provides the information needed to support planning
processes at individual and strategic levels
- assists the use and development of performance
management
- provides the foundation for achieving better outcomes
for children.
A letter to chief executives of councils with social
services responsibilities providing information on the project and criteria
for participating in the pilot is available on www.doh.gov.uk/integratedchildrensystem/briefings.htm
Any queries please contact Hedy Cleaver at hedy@vsvboats.com
15. Reducing health inequalities
– health action plans for people with learning disabilities
Health Action Plans (HAPs) and health facilitation
are key elements of Valuing people, a white paper strategy for
addressing the health inequalities experienced by people with learning
disabilities. Good practice guidance on HAPs and health facilitation was
published in July as part of a series of good practice guidance to support
the implementation of Valuing people. Information on decision making
and person centred planning has already been issued.
The HAP guidance is produced in three parts:
- a summary version for partnership boards which
is accessible to all members, including those with a learning disability
- a booklet for people with learning disabilities
- a detailed version to help those directly involved
in implementation.
All versions and a flyer with details of where to
obtain hard copies are available at www.doh.gov.uk/publications/coinh.html
and on the learning disability website pages at www.doh.gov.uk/learningdisabilities
For further information please Elaine Cooper at elaine.cooper@doh.gsi.gov.uk
AHP human resources interest
16. Flexible careers scheme: central
funding for flexible working and flexible retirement
Please find attached
the latest information about Improving Working Lives initiatives
Updates can also be accessed on www.doh.gov.uk/iwl
General issues
17. Keeping up to date
If you are interested in keeping up to date with developments
across the NHS, you might find the home page of all the current and future
national service frameworks interesting. Find out more at www.doh.gov.uk/NSF
- NHSMagazine. Contains analysis and discussion
of health care and health management issues and aims to engage people
at the forefront of change and service modernisation locally. The Department
of Health publishes the magazine ten times a year. The magazine is available
free of charge to anyone in the NHS or social care. If you would like
to be on the regular mailing list e-mail your name and address details
to
neil.cussons@doh.gsi.gov.uk. or see
www.nhs.uk/nhsmagazine
- Primary Care is a new magazine published
by the Department of Health. Its aim is to share good practice, stimulate
debate, encourage genuine dialogue and keep health professionals up
to date with the important issues in this time of change. You can link
to Primary Care via: www.nhs.uk/nhsmagazine/primarycare
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