On 1 April 2013 the assets and liabilities of PCTs and SHAs were transferred to the relevant receivers. However, there will be circumstances where the receiver identified in the Transfer Scheme may not be appropriate. This may be where PCTs were told that changes requested prior to 1 April would not be included and would need to be dealt with through rectification process. Alternatively it may be that the need to change the receiver has come to light since receipt of the final Transfer Scheme.
This update contains brief details of recent Government publications, legislation, cases and other developments relevant to those involved in local government work, which have been published in the two weeks up to 17 May 2013. Items are set out by subject, with a link to where the full document can be found on the internet.
This Update contains brief details of recent Government publications, legislation, cases and other developments relevant to those involved in health and social care work, which have been published in the last month.
It must be disconcerting for anyone working in the NHS to read of the nation’s adoration of the service, and then see how NHS-bating has become a national sport. Hidden away from the limelight of the Response to the Francis report is a small example of the relentless scrutiny faced by healthcare practitioners in the form of the Court of Appeal judgment in R (Sreedharan) v Coroner for Greater Manchester [2013] EWCA Civ 181. There are a number of important lessons in this case, not least that the scope and intensity of an inquest involving healthcare issues can still be an intimidating arena for Trusts and their staff.
Monitor has issued its latest guidance “Quality Governance:
How does a board know that its organisation is working effectively to improve patient care?”
The Guidance is addressed to boards of NHS provider organisations.
However, it has application across a range of functions, including senior management, internal and clinical audit, and clinical and nursing services.
The Government has published its response to the consultation on reforming the judicial review process that was issued in December 2012. Despite admitting that most respondents opposed the proposals and criticised the consultation process, the Government is pressing ahead with reforms that it considers are necessary to target large numbers of “weak, frivolous and unmeritorious cases”.
This update contains brief details of recent Government publications, legislation, cases and other developments relevant to those involved in local government work, which have been published in the two weeks up to 3 May 2013. Items are set out by subject, with a link to where the full document can be found on the internet.
Many of the initial commissioning contracts put in place for the transfer of PCT provider arms to new providers under the Transforming Community Services initiative will come to an end in less than a year on 31 March 2014. CCGs will need to rapidly address replacement arrangements including how this may advance the transformation of community services and deliver improvements in quality and cost effectiveness. This is particularly the case where procurement will be needed to select the new provider(s).
In this article we address some of the key issues that commissioners will need to consider in putting in place the new arrangements.
This Update contains brief details of Government and EU publications, legislation, cases and other developments in England and Wales relevant to those interested in waste management, which have been published in April 2013.
In this update, we look at some of the legal issues that have started arising since the reforms under the Welfare Reform Act 2012 have started to be implemented, focusing on the introduction of the Bedroom Tax.