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Contents:

NHS and social care interest

1. New graduate primary care workers and `gateway' workers
2. National alcohol harm reduction strategy - consultation document
3. Safeguarding children report
4. The national women's mental health strategy - consultation events
5. Periodical payments made in consequence of personal injury awards and deferred payments
6. Planning & Priorities Framework (PPF) - printing error

NHS interest

7. Reforming NHS financial flows
8. National joint registry - reply required from trust IT managers
9. PCT chief executive vacancy on Prescription Pricing Authority
10. Changes to NHS 'responsible commissioner' for prisoners
11. Stopping violence against NHS staff - managers' guide
12. Strategic health authorities - duty to promote race equality
13. Seminar on variations in clinical care, 8 November 2002, central London
14. The national electronic booking programme
15. Cost rent scheme - prescribed percentages
16. Recovery of NHS costs following road traffic accidents: outcome summary of consultation on increasing the level of charges
17. Confidentiality consultation
18. Criminal records bureau certificates for GPs
19. Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) annual scientific congress
20. Statistics

Social care interest

NHS / social care interest

1. New graduate primary care workers and `gateway' workers

The NHS Plan contained proposals to strengthen primary care mental health by appointing 1000 graduate primary care mental health workers and 500 more community mental health staff (`gateway' workers) by 2004 (see workforce section on page 23 of the priorities and planning guidance at http://www.doh.gov.uk/planning2003-2006/index.htm).

New guidance on gateway workers' roles and responsibilities is available. Copies can be found at http://www.doh.gov.uk/mentalhealth/fastforward.htm or obtained from Department of Health, P.O. Box 777, London SE1 6XH. Tel: 08701 555455, e-mail doh@prolog.uk.com.

This year, £2.5m has been made available to set up training programmes for the new graduate workers. This is being managed by Trent Workforce Development Confederation. Applications are now being sought from interested higher education providers. Further information is available from Trent Workforce Development Confederation, Floor 2, Mill 3, Pleasley Vale Business Park, Pleasley, Outgang Lane, Mansfield, NG19 8RL. Tel: 01623 819350, e-mail: ian.baguley@trentconfed.nhs.uk

Preliminary briefing on the content and process of training has been developed and can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/mentalhealth/fastforward.htm. For further information e-mail anne.richardson@doh.gsi.gov.uk or telephone 020 7972 4331.

The white paper Our Healthier Nation said that the Government would produce a National Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy, and the NHS Plan said that the strategy would be implemented by 2004. The Prime Minister has asked the Cabinet Office strategy unit to undertake a project on alcohol misuse, with Hazel Blears as the project's sponsor minister. The project will report in May 2003 and the conclusions from the project will form the basis of the strategy.

The Department of Health and the Cabinet Office are carrying out a joint consultation exercise to inform work on the strategy. The consultation will seek the views of staff at all levels in health and social care - managers, commissioners, specialist and generalist medical staff, social workers, care workers - on what the Government and others should be doing to address the problems of alcohol misuse. The exercise will run from 15 October 2002 until 15 January 2003.

A copy of the consultation document can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/alcohol/alcoholstrategy.htm It poses a number of questions on alcohol misuse and how it should be tackled. It also gives details of how to respond, either by post or by e-mail.

For further details contact Judith Hind on 020 7972 5221 or judith.hind@doh.gsi.gov.uk

Safeguarding children - a joint chief inspectors' report on arrangements to safeguard children was published on 14 October. It focuses on how well local arrangements are working across health, social services, education, police, court and custodial services. It is based on findings of the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI), the Commission for Health Improvement (CHI) and six other inspectorates.

The report identified much good practice:

• the vast majority of children were protected from further harm
• there were good working relationships at all levels between local agencies in most areas
• agencies worked flexibly together.

However arrangements to safeguard children were weakened by:

• insufficient priority being given by some agencies to safeguarding children
• lack of commitment to and inadequate resourcing of local area child protection committees
• severe difficulties in recruiting and retaining public sector professionals, particularly in child protection and child welfare posts.

GPs, child and adolescent mental health services, adult mental health services, NHS Direct and walk-in centres were not sufficiently integrated into local arrangements to safeguard children.

The report makes recommendations to all the relevant Government departments and services.

The report can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/ssi/childrensafeguardsjoint.htm. For further information email matthew.dieppe@doh.gsi.gov.uk

Following the publication of the consultation document for the national women's mental health strategy on 3 October, the Department of Health has arranged the following consultation and listening events:

• Monday 18 November: 10.00am - 3.30pm - Barbican Centre, London - contact Virtuall on 020 7706 4822
• Friday 22 November: 9.15am -4.30pm - New Century House, Manchester - contact Geoff Hodgson on 020 7848 3741
• Tuesday 10 December: Gloucester Cricket Club, Bristol - contact Vicky Macdougall on 01452 554797
• Thursday 12 December: the Grand Hotel, Torquay - contact Vicky Macdougall on 01452 554797
• Monday 16 December: Centennial House, Birmingham - contact Keren Corbett on 01527 587625

We would be grateful if you could inform your staff of these events and recommend that they book early to avoid disappointment.

All these details can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/mentalhealth/women.htm

5. Periodical payments made in consequence of personal injury awards and deferred payments

Directors of social services and chief executives of care trusts are advised that a local authority circular, LAC(2002)15, dealing with various aspects of residential care charges - including periodical payments made in consequence of personal injury awards and deferred payments - was published on 14 October 2002. The circular, supporting guidance and other documents can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/publications/coinh.html or www.doh.gov.uk/scg/crag/index.htm. Hard copies are also being distributed and will arrive the week beginning 21 October 2002.

For further information contact Ray Warburton on 020 7972 4286 or ray.warburton@doh.gsi.gov.uk

Annex C of the PPF contains two printing errors, both within bullet point 6 of the workforce section (page 23). The target for extra prison in-reach staff should read 300 and not 3,000, and reference to Star workers should read Support, Time and Recovery Workers (STR).

The web version of the PPF at www.doh.gov.uk/planning2003-2006/index.htm has been corrected. Can you please ensure that copies of the PPF held locally are amended to reflect this.

For further information contact Richard Reed on 0113 254 5441 or richard.reed@doh.gsi.gov.uk

7. Reforming NHS financial flows

Reforming NHS Financial Flows: Introducing Payment by Results is a consultation and guidance document about changes to the way that funds flow through the NHS. It sets out the next steps on the financial reforms announced in Delivering the NHS Plan. The document outlines important information for this year's planning round and seeks feedback on some key issues. It contains information and guidance for all NHS finance, planning and commissioning staff.

The document is available at www.doh.gov.uk/nhsfinancialreforms/financialflowsoct02.htm

Please send any comments to the response mailbox at Financial-Flow@doh.gsi.gov.uk

For more information contact Frances Smethurst on 020 7210 5647 or frances.smethurst@doh.gsi.gov.uk

AEA Technology plc (AEAT) was awarded the contract to develop the national joint registry for hip and knee implants in September. The registry will collect information on hip and knee implants to provide evidence of their long-term effectiveness and will help to improve the quality of patient care.

AEAT will need the support of all NHS trusts that undertake orthopaedic surgery in developing and implementing the registry.

From April 2003 NHS trusts and private health care providers will submit data to the registry for all total hip and knee replacement operations. This data will be sent electronically. To help with the development of the electronic system to support the collection of data, AEAT need to understand the IT equipment used in each trust. They have produced a two-page IT questionnaire that will help with the design of the system. Trust IT managers are requested to fill out the questionnaire which can be found at: www.njrcentre.org.uk/healthcheck.htm and to return it by email to david.pegg@aeat.co.uk by 22 October 2002.

The Department will continue to keep you updated on the development of the registry. If you have any queries about the questionnaire please contact David Pegg at david.pegg@aeat.co.uk. For general queries about the national joint registry, contact Paul Woods at paul.woods@doh.gsi.gov.uk or 020 7972 4811.

As a result of Shifting the Balance of Power, the constitution of the Prescription Pricing Authority (PPA) has been changed. One of the non-executive members must now be a serving PCT chief executive. Applications are now invited for this post.

The PPA's main role is to calculate the payments due to pharmacies and GPs for supplying and administering medicines. The key challenge over the next few years will be to move from paper to electronic prescriptions.

Members of the PPA board are appointed by the secretary of state for a period of up to three years. The board meets for 1-2 days a month at either the Newcastle headquarters or one of the divisional offices.

An application form and copy of the person specification and job description are available at http://www.doh.gov.uk/ppavacancy.htm

More information about the PPA is also available at www.ppa.nhs.uk.

To discuss the position further contact PPA chief executive Nick Scholte or PPA chair Anne Galbraith on 0191 203 5208.

The closing date is the 8th November 2002.

For more information contact Gina Jones on 020 7210 5953 or Bernice Smith on 020 7210 5712.

From 1 April 2003, changes will be introduced to the way PCTs are funded for providing secondary care for prisoners. This is separate from, but complementary to, the planned shift of funding responsibility for prison health care to the Department of Health, which was announced on 25 September.

At present, most primary health care for prisoners is provided or commissioned by the Prison Service, with the NHS taking responsibility for secondary care. The 'responsible commissioner' for a prisoner's NHS treatment at present is the PCT in which the prisoner resided immediately before entering custody. From April 2003, responsibility for NHS secondary care services will pass to the PCT in which the prison is located and resource allocations will be adjusted accordingly. Different arrangements will apply for secure mental health transfers.

A document explaining the changes in more detail is available at www.doh.gov.uk/prisonhealth/events.htm It includes a list of PCTs with the numbers of prisoners in each PCT area, and population information that will form the basis of allocations, to be announced in the Resource Allocations Schedule for 2003/04.

For further information contact Julie Bishop on 020 7972 3926 or julie.bishop@doh.gsi.gov.uk.

Guidance for NHS managers on tackling violence has been updated to reflect developments with the NHS zero tolerance campaign and new information from the Home Office on the Crime and Disorder Act. The areas updated include:

• reporting - employers to ensure that staff report all violent incidents and that, where appropriate, these are reported to the police
• police liaison - employers to consider extending the role of health and safety officers, or nominating an alternative member of staff, to act as a police liaison officer
• withholding treatment - employers must consider the need to develop local policies on withholding treatment from violent and abusive patients
• prosecutions - employers to consider with their lawyers the need, where appropriate, to support a prosecution against an individual in cases where the Crown Prosecution Service decides not to do so.

The guidance is available at www.nhs.uk/zerotolerance or from the NHS Responseline on 08701 555 455

For further information contact:

• Meena Paterson on meena.paterson@doh.gsi.gov.uk or 0113 254 5758
• Eileen Calline on eileen.calline@doh.gsi.gov.uk or 0113 254 6131

From 1 October 2002, with the coming into force of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 (supplementary, consequential etc provisions) regulations, strategic health authorities (StHAs) are formally a listed body for the purposes of the Race Relations Act.

StHAs have a statutory general duty to promote race equality. This means that StHAs must have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
• promote equality of opportunity
• promote good relations between people of different racial groups.

To assist in delivering the general duty, specific duties have been imposed on public bodies. There are two types of specific duties: On the employment side, there is a requirement to collect and publish a specific set of information; on the policy/service delivery side, the requirement is to set out information on a number of actions that will help deliver non-discriminatory services to local people.

Along with other NHS organisation StHAs are required to publish a 'race equality scheme' setting out their arrangements for meeting the duties. The Commission for Racial Equality has enforcement powers. If you have not already published your scheme, you should do so as quickly as possible.

Further information can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/race_equality/index.htm. The Statutory Code of Practice (and other good practice guidance) is available at www.cre.gov.uk

For further information contact Alison Beedie on 020 7972 4339 or alison.beedie@doh.gsi.gov.uk

13. Seminar on variations in clinical care, 8 November 2002, central London

A seminar on Variations in Clinical Care will be held by the NHS Modernisation Agency on 8 November in central London. It will be run by Professors Wennberg & Fisher from Dartmouth Medical School, Boston.

The seminar will explore variations in care across the United States. The professors' research demonstrates that both preference sensitive care and supply sensitive services are significant factors. This means that new investments in care do not necessarily produce improvements in access or in population health.

This seminar will be of interest to commissioners and providers who wish to ensure that services and investments are organised to provide the best possible care.

For more information and to register visit www.doh.gov.uk/clinicalcareseminar.htm You can also obtain further details from Helen Cullinan on 0116 222 5146 or helen.cullinan@npat.nhs.uk

A one-day event to celebrate the work of the electronic booking pilot sites and to introduce the NHS to plans for electronic booking will be held in central London on 21 November aimed at healthcare leaders.

Director General of NHS IT Richard Granger will be the main speaker. There will be contributions from patients, clinicians and managers involved in electronic booking, as well as an overview of how electronic booking fits into the 21st Century IT strategy.

This event is particularly aimed at chief executives, directors of modernisation, clinicians in key posts, and the chairs of PECs, so please pass the information on as appropriate (it follows an event on 19 November for which personal invitations were sent to those particularly concerned with electronic booking).

Five 'enterprise communities' began piloting electronic booking in April this year and have been joined by 14 'shadow sites'. The experience of these trusts will be used to inform the development of electronic booking across the NHS.

The event on 21 November will be held at the Royal Society, 6-9 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG from 10.30 to 3.30. Places will be limited, so please register as soon as possible if you wish to attend. Contact: Anna Liddell, 6th Floor, St John's House, East Street, Leicester, LE1 6NB. E-Mail: anna.liddell@npat.nhs.uk . Fax: 0116 2225143.

Each quarter the prescribed percentages applicable to the cost rent scheme for GMS premises are reviewed. The latest figures can be found at http://www.nhsestates.gov.uk/primary_care/index.asp

Please ensure that the relevant staff at all primary care organisations are informed of this update. Future updates to this and other primary care premises issues can be found at the same site.

For further information, contact Bill Fone on 0113 254 7075 or bill.fone@doh.gsi.gov.uk

The Department of Health published a consultation document on 25 April 2002 which recommended that the tariff and ceiling of charges for the recovery of NHS costs following road traffic accidents be increased in line with hospital and community health services inflation. The consultation finished on 26 July 2002.

Following the responses to the consultation it has been agreed, subject to the parliamentary timetable for introducing regulations, to increase the level of charges from 1 January 2003 and again on 1 April 2003.

The outcome summary of the consultation can be found at http://nww.doh.nhsweb.nhs.uk/rta_charges or at www.doh.gov.uk/rta_charges/nhscosts.htm This should be brought to the attention of finance directors and staff involved in road traffic income.

For further information contact Tracy Morton on 0113 254 5380.

A major consultation will be carried out on a patient confidentiality management system for the NHS from 22 October 2002 to 31 January 2003.

The consultation targets those who deliver, support, research, regulate and receive NHS healthcare services. The aim is to canvas the widest range of opinion to ensure that the outcome works for all concerned.

The consultation proposes new ways for staff to work as well as new tools, processes and technology to support them in sharing patient information. You are urged to take part and to ensure that responses are received from as many perspectives as possible.

Organisations and individuals can participate online, through workshops, and through the post.

After the consultation, two months will be spent analysing the results and amending the proposals after which results will be published.

Further information and an online consultation pack can be found at www.nhsia.nhs.uk/confidentiality. Or call the information hotline on 08453 660066 for a pre-printed or CD ROM consultation pack.

18. Criminal records bureau certificates for GPs

The Health and Social Care Act allows regulations to be made which require GPs applying to join a PCT medical or supplementary list, and those already on a PCT list, to provide a criminal records bureau (CRB) certificate.

There has been some confusion about whether PCTs should currently be seeking certificates. The necessary regulations have yet to be made and, because of the problems the CRB is currently experiencing, we have deferred them for the time being. The regulations will be introduced when we are satisfied that the CRB is in a position to perform the checks within target.

In the meantime, PCTs are asked to take account of the guidance in paragraphs 13.6 of the implementation advice. Paragraph 13.6.7 says:

"there is no requirement on GPs to provide CRB certificates as part of the application process, or any catch-up exercise, for either the medical or supplementary list. Consequently health authorities/PCTs ought not to request certificates."

A full copy of the guidance can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/pclists/new.htm

For more information contact Jenny Smith on 0113 254 5825 or jenny.smith@doh.gsi.gov.uk

Kay East, the Department of Health's chief health professions officer and director of therapies at East Kent Hospitals NHS Trust spoke at the congress. Her presentation, 'Managing the Challenge', looked at how changes are being made and challenges are being met in the 'new' NHS. A summary of her speech can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/conferences/csp-sci-overview.htm

The following statistics are now available on the Department of Health website:

• Occupational therapy services summary information for 2001-02 - www.doh.gov.uk/public/kt260102/index.htm
• Speech and language therapy summary information for 2001-02 - www.doh.gov.uk/public/kt290102/index.htm
• Health visiting professional advice and support in the community summary information for 2001-02 - www.doh.gov.uk/public/kc550102/index.htm
• Patient care in the community - district nursing summary information for 2001-02 - www.doh.gov.uk/public/kc560102/index.htm

21. The second annual report of the Adoption & Permanence Taskforce

The second annual report of the Adoption & Permanence Taskforce was published this week at the National Social Services Conference in Cardiff. The report covers the work of the taskforce from October 2001- September 2002 and describes the progress made during that period.

The report can be found at http://www.doh.gov.uk/adoption/annualreportoct02.htm.

For further information contact Kelly Groves on 020 7972 4750 or kelly.groves@doh.gsi.gov.uk

Improving Older People's Services is the second inspection report from the Social Services Inspectorate (SSI) about an inspection of social care services for older people. Between August 2001 and March 2002, the SSI conducted a series of 23 inspections of older people's services to see how well councils had moved from policy to practice. The report provides an overview of the main findings and key messages to emerge from the inspection. Separate local reports have been published on each of the inspections that set out the specific agenda for each council.

The report can be found at http://www.doh.gov.uk/ssi/socialcareolderpple.htm

For more information, contact Margaret Little on 0113 254 7377 or margaret.little@doh.gsi.gov.uk

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23. CI(2002)17 SSI involvement in improvement planning following corporate & comprehensive performance assessment
This chief inspector letter explains how SSI will be involved in:

• council improvement planning discussions
• planning for inspection programmes related to the programme of corporate assessment led by the Audit Commission
• the comprehensive performance assessments to be published in December.

It includes a framework of principles for the work, agreed with the Audit Commission and other inspectorates.

Click here for the letter

For more information contact Paul Brearley on 0113 25 47376 or paul.brearley@doh.gsi.gov.uk

This letter is to give six months notice of the data that local authorities need to collect to accurately pinpoint the contribution each is making to the provision of practice learning for social work students.

The letter can be found at www.doh.gov.uk/public/p-learningletter.htm

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copyright: © | Last updated: 17 October, 2002