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Chief Executive Bulletin
The documents in this bulletin are Crown copyright but may be reproduced by NHS and Council staff without formal permission or charge for personal or in-house use - ©2002 Contents:NHS and Social Care interest 1. Audit Commission report - Fully Equipped 2002 2. Relationship between the single assessment process for older people and the care programme approach 3. Nurses agency regulations and national minimum standards 4. Health professional learning beyond registration - developing a shared framework 5. Safety notice - MDA SN2002(22) Oxford major electric & hydraulic hoists – risk of mast failure NHS interest 6. Planning cycle 2003-2006 - message from Nigel Crisp 7. NHS Foundation Trusts eligibility criteria and timetable 10. Positively diverse 2002 - focus on dealing with harassment 11. The Shared Services Finance and e-Commerce Project 12. National Audit Office (NAO) study - Achieving Improvements Through Clinical Governance 13. Schedule 10 to the National Health Service (general medical services) Regulations 1992 14. Skin cancer – Department of Health SunSafe web pages 15. Patient choice - information for patients 17. Use and dissemination of information from the Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators 2001 Social care interest 19. General social care council consultation NHS / Social Care interest 1. Audit Commission report - Fully Equipped 2002 On 27 June 2002 the Audit Commission published a follow-up report to its 2000 study (Fully Equipped) of equipment services for older and disabled people, covering: audiology, wheelchairs, orthotics, prosthetics, and community equipment. Fully Equipped 2000 - Assisting Independence is critical of commissioners of these services. In particular, the Audit Commission was critical of the low priority held by community equipment services and the failure of commissioners to use additional funding for them for the purpose for which it was intended. Details of these allocations and associated NHS Plan targets were published in HSC2001\008:LAC(2001)13 at www.doh.gov.uk/pdfs/hsc2001008.pdf on 27 March 2001. The Audit Commission reports can be downloaded from the HTML summary links in the ‘National Reports’ section in www.audit-commission.gov.uk. Further information and sources of help for the NHS and social services can be found on the integration support team’s website www.icesdoh.org 2. 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 can be accessed on www.doh.gov.uk/scg/sap. The actual link is titled ‘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. DH contact: Sanjay Khatri sunjay.khatri@doh.gsi.gov.uk 3. Nurses agency regulations and national minimum standards Ministers have decided to further postpone the commencement date of the nurses agency regulations and national minimum standards until 1 January 2003. The target date for the application of these regulations and standards was 1 July 2002. Following the consultation, it did not prove possible to publish the regulations and standards in their final form in sufficient time to allow agencies a reasonable length of time to gear up for implementation and so this was postponed until 1 September. There is insufficient time now to publish in time for a September start. Therefore we intend to publish at the end of September so that the regulations and standards will come into force on 1 January 2003. Local authorities will continue to have responsibility for the licensing of nurses agencies under the Nurses Agencies Act 1957, until the transfer to the NCSC takes place on 1 January. This was referred to in LAC(2001)31 at www.doh.gov.uk/carestandards/025hsc2001.pdf, paragraph 2.6.1. DH contact: Peter Jones peter.jones@doh.gsi.gov.uk 4. Health professional learning beyond registration - developing a shared framework The attached letter provides an update on the Department of Health’s plans to develop a more integrated and coherent framework to support inter-professional education and CPD at post-registration level. DH contact: Leo Doherty leo.doherty@doh.gsi.gov.uk Letter : www.doh.gov.uk/hrinthenhs/postlearningframework.pdf 5. Safety notice - MDA SN2002(22) Oxford major electric & hydraulic hoists – risk of mast failure This Safety Notice was issued on 17 July 2002. to NHS trusts, primary care trusts, chief executives, social services directors and National Care Standards Commission headquarters. As usual it was also issued to liaison officers of trusts, primary care and health authorities, social services and National Care Standards Commission headquarters for action and for onward distribution as specified in the Notice. For further information on the role and nomination of liaison officers e-mail us at: bs@medical-devices.gov.uk http://www.medical-devices.gov.uk NHS interest 6. Planning cycle 2003-2006 - message from Nigel Crisp As discussed at the chief executives’ conference, we are planning to ask NHS bodies to prepare 3-year plans in the autumn and to issue 3-year allocations. This will allow people locally to take charge of planning properly and plan for change and development in a serious fashion. During August I have asked Ian Dalton (Peter Garland’s director of performance from the Northern Directorate of Health and Social Care) who is chairing the project board, engaging a range of service based colleagues on the NHS planning cycle, to organise a session for StHA directors of planning to consider the new system, make suggestions and think about how we will implement it. In the meantime it is important that all NHS organisations continue with their local planning processes. This year we will be giving you an early indication of both priorities and allocations, and although this cannot be given yet, you should clearly plan on the assumption that the public service agreement with the Treasury represents the core of our priorities and that any others e.g. on workforce, will be those already identified in The NHS Plan. None of this should come as a surprise. Following our discussions with StHAs we will be looking to provide you with a statement on priorities and the planning framework in September with allocations following thereafter. For further details, contact Ian Dalton on 0191 301 1380 or Miles Ayling on 0113 254 5410. 7. NHS Foundation Trusts eligibility criteria and timetable On 22 May the secretary of state gave a speech outlining our vision for the establishment of NHS Foundation Trusts. The establishment of NHS Foundation Trusts aims to bring about improved access to higher quality services for NHS patients by harnessing the creative energy and expertise of NHS managers and clinical staff from the highest performing NHS organisations. Now that the new NHS Performance Ratings have been published we would like to provide NHS trusts with information about preliminary applications for foundation status. This will be of particular interest to 3 star acute and specialist NHS trusts who are eligible and may wish to apply to become NHS Foundation Trusts. This document sets out the timetable for the application process and the material that will need to be included in preliminary applications for foundation status. In October, the Department of Health will host a special event on NHS Foundation Trusts, to which chief executives of the new 3 star trusts will be invited. At this event we will provide further information about how NHS Foundation Trusts will operate and issue an application pack inviting preliminary applications for foundation status. The document is available on our website: www.doh.gov.uk/nhsfoundationtrusts Please note that a staff briefing will be made available on Friday 26 July to your communication managers on the department's NHS Syndication Service which they can use to support staff communications activity in your organisation. Hard copies of this document can be ordered by quoting 25873 and contacting: Department of Health Publications 8. National pay for managers 2002-2003 (i) senior management in health authorities (ii) other general and senior managers on residual national arrangements Ben Dyson’s letter of 24 July summarises the arrangements for managers on national terms whose pay is reviewed from 1 September each year. It is to be implemented in light of Nigel Crisp’s letter of 11 April 2002 entitled ‘Pay for NHS Senior Managers 2002-2003’. Letter
of 24 July There will be no hard copy distribution to recipients of the Chief Executive and HR Directors Bulletin. Employers should make their own arrangements to print off any copies they require For further information contact Jane Roberts on 0113 254 5736 or email jane.roberts@doh.gsi.gov.uk Ref. 28659. Mailed to chairs of health authorities, NHS and primary care trusts. 9. Removal, retention and use of human organs and tissue: the law in England and Wales – seeking your views The Department of Health and the Welsh Assembly Government have published a consultative report, Human Bodies, Human Choices, on the law relating to human organs and tissue. The purpose of the report is to discuss the various issues that may need to be considered in the preparation of new legislation. A resulting framework might:
We welcome comments from members of the public, professional staff and others with an interest in this area, and from a range of family, professional, statutory and voluntary groups. Import and export of human body parts In response to another of the chief medical officer’s recommendations, we are publishing alongside the report on the law, a draft code of practice on the import and export of human body parts. This code is also for consultation. The documents and a summary of the report on the law, are available at: http://www.doh.gov.uk/tissue/review_of_law.htm If you require printed copies of these reports, please telephone 08701 555 455. The closing date for comments on both documents is 17 October 2002. Please send these to either the Department of Health at Review-of-HT-Law@doh.gsi.gov.uk or the Welsh Assembly Government at: anna.slatter@wales.gsi.gov.uk Ref. Consultation document 28090, summary 28092, draft code of practice 28091. 10. Positively diverse 2002 - focus on dealing with harassment Health minister John Hutton will launch Dealing with Harassment by NHS Service Users at Work at the Positively Diverse Conference to be held on 5 September in London. Chief executives, directors and senior NHS managers will hear from a range of speakers on topics relating to harassment at work in all its forms and will have an opportunity to discuss some of the work being undertaken across the NHS to tackle this problem. Attendance is free-of-charge. Full details and registration forms are available from Creative Event Solutions who can be contacted on 01625 265732 or email jan@creative-event-solutions.co.uk. Forms are also available on the Positively Diverse website at www.positivelydiverse.org.uk 11. The Shared Services Finance and e-Commerce Project The supplier event for the Shared Services Finance and e-Commerce Project took place on 17 July 2002 at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, following the issue of a prior indicative notice in May. 200 delegates representing the major software and service providers attended to be briefed on the objectives and scope of the project. The event has generated considerable interest from suppliers, who have now been asked to complete a questionnaire – the feedback from which will be used to strengthen the outline business case before a formal OJEC advertisement is issued. On the day, all suppliers were given a comprehensive briefing document about the finance & e-commerce project which can be viewed at www.doh.gov.uk/ssbulletin/index.htm. By the beginning of next week, the finance & e-commerce section of the shared services website will hold more information about the project (www.doh.gov.uk/sharedservices). For more information contact Fiona Barr - fiona.barr@doh.gsi.gov.uk, 0113 2547712 12. National Audit Office (NAO) study - Achieving Improvements Through Clinical Governance A survey of NHS board members and senior managers at 100 NHS trusts was dispatched on 31 May, with a return date of 14 June. The response rate to date is 40 per cent, which means that neither the NAO nor the NHS will get the benefit they might expect from this work. Chief executives in sampled trusts are urged to encourage their senior managers and fellow board members to complete and return this short questionnaire. For further information contact Tim Freeman on 0121 414 7050 or t.freeman@bham.ac.uk 13. Schedule 10 to the National Health Service (general medical services) Regulations 1992 With effect from 1 August 2002 the following products may not be prescribed by GPs on the NHS or dispensed in the community:
With effect from the same date the current prohibition on GP prescribing and community dispensing of two infant formulae for premature babies is lifted. The two products are:
Amendments have been made to Schedule 10 to the National Health Service (general medical services) Regulations 1992 to give effect to these changes. In addition the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances (ACBS) has reinstated its earlier recommendation of the two infant formulae as "suitable for catch-up growth in pre-term infants (ie less than 35 weeks at birth) and small for gestational age infants, until 6 months post-natal age." These changes are recorded in Part XVIIIA of the Drug Tariffs for August 2002 and subsequent months (changes to Schedule 10) and Part XV of the same tariffs (amendments to the ACBS recommended list). 14. Skin cancer – Department of Health SunSafe web pages The Department of Health has launched new SunSafe web pages (www.doh.gov.uk/sunsafe) to promote awareness on the causes of skin cancer. The pages provide easy-to-understand advice and have been designed with children in mind, since greater exposure to the sun in childhood may increase the risk of malignant melanoma in adulthood. Risk of skin cancer increases with sun exposure over time so it is important to develop sun safety awareness early in life. The SunSafe web pages are part of a co-ordinated sun awareness campaign with key collaborators, such as Cancer Research (UK), the British Association of Dermatologists and the National Radiological Protection Board. DH contact: Tony Doole tony.doole@doh.gsi.gov.uk 15. Patient choice - information for patients Delivering the NHS Plan describes how explicit patient choice will be introduced across the NHS. From this year we will move to publish on the internet regularly-updated information on waiting for all major treatments at all providers. In May we alerted chief executives to the project, the timetable and the need to prepare to provide data from the summer. By September the nhs.uk web site will provide online:
Chief executives have already identified a lead within their NHS trusts. The first submission of test data is due by 6 August. The first submission of actual data is due by 20 August. Chief executives should ensure that within their organisations arrangements are in place to make this first submission. For further information contact Richard Edwards on 0121 333 0274, Simon Matthews on 0845 650 4865 or Deborah Harrison on 0113 254 6110. Or visit www.doh.gov.uk/nhsplanbookingsystems 16. NICE guidance on surgery for morbid obesity and pegylated liposomal doxorubicin hydrochloride (PLDH/Caelyx) for advanced ovarian cancer On the 19 July the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued guidance to the NHS on the appropriate use of surgery for obesity and PLDH for ovarian cancer. NICE has recommended to the NHS in England and Wales that, subject to a number of caveats listed in the guidance, surgery should be available as a treatment option for people with morbid obesity. On advice from NICE, the Department of Health has decided to issue a direction to exempt this appraisal from the direction issued on 11 December 2001 concerning the availability of funding for treatments recommended by NICE within three months of the publication of the guidance. The text of the directions can be viewed below. Chief executives will be formally informed of this decision shortly. Directions January 2002
- www.doh.gov.uk/nicetagdirectionsjan02.pdf Full details of the guidance are available at http://www.nice.org.uk/cat.asp?c=34789 It is envisaged that when considering your approach to the implementation of NICE’s guidance on surgery for the morbidly obese, you will consider it in the context of the existing guidance set out in the Priorities and Planning Framework 2002-2003 relating to priority targets such as those on reducing cancer waiting times which remain unchanged. In particular, you will need to consider the extent to which GI surgeons and teams are needed for both GI cancer surgery and obesity surgery. Surgery for morbid obesity is a specialised service and as such, primary care trusts should consider adopting a collaborative approach to planning the configuration of the service. For further details contact Jaimie Cross, 6E55 Quarry House, Quarry Hill, Leeds LS2 7UE. Tel 0113 2545624 jaimie.cross@doh.gsi.gov.uk NICE has also recommended that PLDH should be considered as one option for the treatment of women with advanced ovarian cancer. Full details of the guidance are available at http://www.nice.org.uk/cat.asp?c=34772 Chief executives should ensure that NICE guidance informs local decisions on the provision of services to people with advanced ovarian cancer or morbid obesity. 17. Use and dissemination of information from the Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators 2001 A letter from The Department of Health and The Office of National Statistics to organisations within the NHS regarding the use and dissemination of information from the Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators 2001 was issued in February 2002 and version for earlier years. It raised two issues – copyright and disclosure. If you need further advice on issues affecting the release of potentially disclosive information from data or records originally supplied by ONS please contact ONS on 0845 6013034 (email hdd@ons.gov.uk). For advice on information from HES data please contact Sheila Dixon on 0207-97-25523 (email sheila.dixon@doh.gsi.gov.uk) and for advice on data from other sources please contact John Davies on 0207-97-25177 (email john.davies@doh.gsi.gov.uk) 18. Consultation on new draft environmental information regulations on public access to environmental information This12-week long public consultation was launched by DEFRA on 15 July and will run until 4 October. These draft regulations will be relevant to health bodies as some information held by NHS bodies e.g. primary care trusts, hospital trusts and ambulance trusts is considered environmental information and is therefore caught by the scope of the regulations. The new draft regulations are a step towards full implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. The regulations expected to come into force this winter. The document can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/consult/envinfo/index.htm Printed copies can be obtained from DEFRA Publications, Admail 6000, London, SW1A 2XX, Tel: 08459 556000, Fax: 020 8957 5012, Email: For further information contact Richard on eir@defra.gsi.gov.uk Social care interest 19. General social care council consultation The four UK care councils have launched a consultation on the rules that underpin the registration of over a million social care workers as well as conduct rules that set out how the councils will investigate allegations of misconduct and hold hearings where necessary. The General Social Care Council in England, the Northern Ireland Social Care Council, the Care Council for Wales and the Scottish Social Services Council worked together to draft the rules. The consultation is an important part of establishing a register of social workers and other social care workers. The register is due to open in spring 2003. Registration is part of the framework for improving standards in social care through promoting better training and high standards of conduct amongst the workforce. Registration will allow the public to verify that a care worker has met the requirement for entering the register and has agreed to abide by standards in a code of practice developed for social care workers. The four councils have published draft rules setting out how social care workers can join the register and how it will operate. They have also published conduct rules spelling out how they will investigate and hold hearings about allegations of misconduct. The consultation runs until 9 September. More information and a full consultation pack for England is available on the GSCC website at www.gscc.org.uk or by ringing 020 7397 5800. The pack is available in a range of formats, including large print and Braille. For more information on the consultations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland contact:
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 - ©2002
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