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.
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.
The Government has issued its initial response to the Francis Report of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry. It sets out a five point plan intended to herald an end to failure and a call for excellence. This article gives a summary of what the plan will cover.
On 27 March 2012, the Health and Social Care Bill received Royal Assent and became the Health and Social Care Act 2012. The provisions are being brought into force by commencement orders and the reforms mean that all Foundation Trusts (“FTs”) and Aspirant Trusts will need to revisit their Constitutions and to begin making preparations to revise these to ensure that they are consistent with the Act. We appreciate that you’ve already had to make amendments, but such changes won’t be enough for this year, you will need to do substantially more.
Some of you may remember Total Place, a project that originated in local government but caught the imagination of many in public services. It added up the total cost of supporting the most vulnerable groups in any one area and the outcomes were in many cases quite staggering. Quite simply we give poor value to taxpayers by spending their money on the "stock" - the effect of chaotic lives, troubled families, poor health, inadequate housing - and should spend it on the "flow", intervening early in the causes, be it high reoffending rates, excessive numbers of children in care, or the elderly in and out of hospitals with long term conditions much of which could have been prevented or better managed in a community/domiciliary setting.
This article looks at how you, as health commissioners, can implement some of those changes. It is not theoretical – it is happening already in a range of public services, just much slower in health for fairly obvious reasons arising from the structural changes.
It is said that no news is good news. So interest in the Winterbourne case or the Heslop report is encouraging only because it identifies bad practice. Likewise, if litigation is a measure of the success of a particular state of affairs, the courts’ involvement in care packages for vulnerable patients is a sign that not all is well.
For CCGs, the prospect of taking on the mantle of litigation arising from care arrangement disputes may present a significant challenge. Some of the key issues are set out in this article.
Of the 290 recommendations in the Francis Report into the Mid-Staffs inquiry, many would have an impact on the role of PCTs. With their abolition now looming, this begs the question of what CCGs should do in response to the Inquiry Report as they take on the commissioning mantle.
Much has been said about the need for openness, transparency and candour in healthcare services, since the publication of the Robert Francis report into the Mid Staffordshire Hospital last month. One of the specific issues in this regard, raised by the report, was that individuals were apparently prevented from raising concerns about patient safety because of so-called ‘gagging clauses’ in agreements with the hospital.
Jeremy Hunt has announced today that so-called ‘gagging clauses’ in NHS settlement agreements, which seek to prevent public interest disclosures regarding patient safety and patient care, will be ‘banned’ with immediate effect.
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.
This article covers key tips on how to prepare a statement in order to best assist the Coroner in the context of an Inquest.