06/12/2011
Legal intelligence for professionals in health and social care
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.
If you have been forwarded this update by a colleague and would like to receive it directly, please email Claire Bentley.
Care
Publications/Guidance
Close to home: An inquiry into older people and
human rights in home care. The Equality & Human Rights
Commission's inquiry has found that although many older people
receive care at home which respects and enhances their human
rights, this is by no means a universal experience. The inquiry
uncovered areas of real concern in the treatment of some older
people and significant shortcomings in the way that care is
commissioned by local authorities. The report says that hundreds of
thousands of older people lack protection under the Human Rights
Act and it calls for this legal loophole to be closed. It questions
commissioning practices that focus on a rigid list of tasks, rather
than what older people actually want, and that give more weight to
cost than to an acceptable quality of care. It found that very few
local authority contracts for home care specify that the provider
must comply with the Human Rights Act, which undermines the quality
of care that older people are getting. The evidence given to the
inquiry indicated that where human rights are embedded into the way
home care is provided, high quality care is delivered without
necessarily increasing costs. The Commission's main recommendations
fall under three broad categories:
Proper protection: closing the
loophole in the Human Rights Act which would give protection to the
growing number of older people receiving home care from private and
voluntary sector agencies;
Effective monitoring: the Government,
CQC and local authorities need to work together better to build
human rights into home care and make sure that abuses are detected
faster and dealt with more effectively; and
Clear guidance: clear and robust
guidance on human rights is needed for local authorities so they
can use the opportunities they have to promote and protect older
people's human rights in commissioning; older people also need
guidance to help them make choices about care and to explain how
their human rights should be protected.
BUPA: Ensuring local authority fee levels reflect the real costs of caring for vulnerable older people. This report shows that care home fees paid by councils have fallen by 3.9% in real terms over the last two years, hitting providers at the same time that care homes have been facing large increases in their main costs. It looks at the level of local authority fee increases needed to reverse this trend, stabilise funding, and ensure that older people get the high quality care they deserve. It estimates that an extra £1.7bn is needed in total over the next three years to fill the funding gap.
Tough inspections to root out poor home care. The Care Quality Commission has announced that it is to carry out a programme of inspections of 250 providers of home care services. The inspections will focus on the respect, care and welfare of people who receive care services in their own homes, as well as the support given to the staff providing the care. They will run alongside the CQC’s planned reviews of home care services, in addition to the 1,000-plus unannounced inspections of adult social care services the CQC carries out every month.
How can the web support carers? This report from the Princess Royal Trust for Carers looks at the way that carers use the internet. It contains a detailed exploration of the advantages and challenges of providing carer support online, as well as the pros and cons for the main types of web services that are currently being offered.
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in this section please contact Carlton Sadler.
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Children
Publications/Guidance
Together for Short Lives. Standards framework
for children’s palliative care. This document pulls together all
the standards from the four care pathways, as well as the service
audit tool for each pathway, into one document.
Mental health service transitions for young people highlights some of the key recommendations for improving transition, as well as the Top 10 principles for practice. These include ensuring young people are fully engaged and understand their mental health problem, treatment and support options, as well as ensuring that young people move to flexible and age appropriate services.
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in this section please contact Penelope Radcliffe or Deborah Jeremiah.
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Clinical ManagementPublications/Guidance
Caesarean section NICE has published an update to
its existing guidelines on caesarean section. It is hoped that
these new recommendations mean more women may avoid unnecessary
surgery and that changes in practice will reduce post-operative
infections. It also recognises that mental health issues, as well
as physical conditions, are possible indications for caesarean
section.
The care of women requesting induced abortion:
evidence-based clinical guideline number 7. These guidelines
are for all healthcare professionals and aim to ensure that all
women considering induced abortion have access to a high quality
service based on national standards. The recommendations cover
commissioning and organising services, possible side effects and
complications, pre-abortion management, abortion procedures and
follow up care.
Management of blood-exposure in personnel of public and voluntary services. Letter from Professor Matthew Cooke, National Clinical Director for Urgent and Emergency Care, seeks to clarify existing policy on the need for public and voluntary services workers, such as fire and rescue and prison services, who may be exposed to the blood of others in the course of their professional duties, to receive assessment, and treatment from NHS Accident and Emergency departments.
Guide to using quality improvement tools to drive clinical audits. This guidance aims to help implement improvements to health services through quality improvement tools that can be applied to the clinical audit process.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Claims
case round-up. Nicola Pegg provides our usual round-up of
interesting cases, including a look at whether a Claimant can sell
a claim to someone else to pursue and more judicial support for
standing firm against over-inflated claims.
Is your trust involved in organ transplants? If yes, it will be illegal to be involved in this activity without a licence from 27 August 2012 - Are you prepared?
Litigants in person numbers on the rise. The number of litigants in person is on the rise according to The Personal Support Unit (PSU), a voluntary organisation which provides support to litigants in person. They have reported that such cases in the Manchester Civil Justice Centre are up by 89% in the four months to 30 September compared with 2010.
Ten minute teaser - test your knowledge of the early stages of litigation. Julie Charlton sets out a quick brainteaser on various aspects of managing claims, for when you have a spare 10 minutes.
Publications/Guidance
Choosing a predictive risk model: a guide for
commissioners in England. Predictive risk models are an
important part of the strategy for managing patients with chronic
illness. They are used to identify patients most at risk of future
unplanned hospital admissions, and who may benefit from preventive
measures. This guide is intended to help commissioners with
selecting predictive risk modelling tools from an open market.
A framework for technology enhanced learning.
This framework provides guidance to help commissioners and
providers of health and social care deliver high quality, cost
effective education, training and continuous development to the
workforce for the benefit of patients through the effective use of
technology as part of a blended learning process.
If you require further information about any of the items
raised in this section please contact
David Owens.
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ComplaintsPublications/Guidance
Government Response to the House of Commons Health
Select Committee Sixth Report of Session 2010-11: Complaints and
Litigation.
Bevan Brittan Events
Claims
and complaints forum. 06 December 2011.
If you require further information about any of the items raised in this section please contact Julie Chappell.
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Employment/HR
Publications/Guidance
Public health human resources (HR) concordat.
The Public Health HR Concordat provides the principles and
standards for managing the HR processes to support the transfer of
PCT public health commissioning activity to Local authorities. It
sets out the obligations of the NHS and local government employers
and trade unions in managing the change.
Medical revalidation: what employers need to know
and do. This briefing provides a timeline of activity so far on
medical revalidation, a checklist of actions that organisations
need to carry out if they are to be ready for the introduction of
revalidation ready and a list of the key milestones ahead.
Generating savings by improving health and
well-being: experiences in NHS trusts. This briefing features
examples of good practice from across the NHS to help inform the
planning of strategies to further reduce sickness absence and
highlights the opportunities for financial savings that can be made
through the introduction and implementation of new policies.
Enhancing employment practice to increase quality
and safety. This briefing looks at a number of issues being
discussed that have a direct relationship to employment practices
and poses some questions for consideration with board
colleagues.
Taxpayer funding of trade unions 2011. This
report finds that taxpayer funding of trade unions has increased
from last year and that the value of direct grants to trade unions
is also higher. It includes a breakdown of NHS PCTs and trusts and
local councils.
Managing industrial disputes: guidance for
employers in the NHS. This guidance aims to help employers in
the NHS to manage the legal, practical and operational risks
presented by the threat of industrial disputes.
NHS Pension Scheme calculators published. The Department of Health is publishing pension calculators for NHS Pension Scheme members to support their understanding of the proposed changes in pension relating to the Hutton reform.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Change
is most certainly afoot in the employment law world. In
recent months there have been a notable number of announcements and
emphatic speeches from the prime minister and his government
regarding changes to employment law. Sarah
Lamont has looked into these in more detail and sets out the
various proposals and suggestions.
Employment news Round Up. Although it may not be Christmas just yet Joanna Smart is generously treating you to a bumper edition of the news round up this month, covering a mixture of legal developments from October and November 2011.
Just what the doctor ordered? As many of you will be aware
there has been a great deal of case law on the issue of holiday
entitlement to those on long term sick leave. It is now clear
that those workers on sickness absence continue to accrue their
annual leave entitlement during this time and that they can to take
annual leave at the same time as being absent due to
sickness. However the area which is less clear cut is whether
an employee on sickness absence can claim holiday pay where they
have failed to give notice to take the leave to their employer. The
latest in the string of sickness cases is Fraser v St George’s NHS Trust which has
provided some clarification on this potentially confusing, yet
important, issue; Lara Feghali has reviewed the case and sets out the
implications for employers below.
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in this section
please contact Julian
Hoskins or
Sarah Michael.
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Finance
Publications/Guidance
The financial cost of healthcare fraud: what data
from around the world shows. This report investigates the true
financial cost of fraud to the NHS. It estimates that the NHS loses
£3 billion per year in fraud and in light of financial pressures,
minimising fraud has the potential to aid with efficiency
savings.
If you require further information about any of the items
raised in this section please contact
David Owens.
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Foundation Trusts
Bevan Brittan Events
Governance
for Foundation Trusts 8 December.
If you require further information about any of the items
raised in this section please contact Vincent
Buscemi.
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Governance
Publications/Guidance
What makes a top hospital? Leadership. This is
the third in a series of publications centred around quality in
hospital services. This report looks at the features of leadership
that are found in top performing acute organisations.
Bevan Brittan Events
Governance
for Foundation Trusts. 08 December 2011.
If you require further information about any of the
items raised in this section please contact Vincent
Buscemi.
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Healthcare Associated InfectionPublications/Guidance
Designs help combat hospital bugs. Four new
bedside furniture designs to reduce healthcare acquired infections
are available for the NHS to purchase after testing showed positive
patient and staff feedback.
Showcase hospitals local technology review reports. This report is part of the Healthcare Associated Infections Technology Innovation Programme. Under the programme, a range of infection-related technologies or products are being evaluated at showcase hospitals to help NHS decision makers and budget holders to target their infection control investments and select effective technologies.
Antimicrobial stewardship: start smart - then focus. The aim of this guidance is to provide an outline of evidence-based antimicrobial stewardship in the secondary healthcare setting. Following this guidance will help organisations to demonstrate compliance with Criterion 9 of The Health and Social Care Act 2008: Code of Practice on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance.
The Healthcare Associated Infections (HCAI) Technology Innovation Programme: Showcase hospitals report no. 8: Otex laundry system. The Otex Laundry System was evaluated at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (formerly Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust) and this report details the outcomes. The report also includes a template business case for use by any Trust considering using this product.
Guidelines for the management of norovirus outbreaks in acute and community health and social care settings. This guidance gives recommendations on the management of outbreaks of vomiting and/or diarrhoea in hospitals and community health and social care settings, including nursing and residential homes.
Prevention and control of healthcare-associated
infections (HCAIs) quality improvement guide. The guide offers
advice on management or organisational actions to prevent and
control HCAIs in secondary care settings. It is aimed at board
members working in (or with) secondary care. It may also be of use
to senior managers, those working elsewhere in the NHS, as well as
those working in local authorities and the wider public, private,
voluntary and community sectors.
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Publications and Guidance
Hospital Guide 2011. Dr Foster, the UK’s
leading health information company, has published the 2011 Hospital
Guide, the 10th edition of the guide, revealing for the first time
levels of medical staffing in hospital at nights and weekends. The
Hospital Guide shows that patients are less likely to get treated
promptly and more likely to die if they are admitted to hospital at
the weekend. The chances of survival are better in hospitals that
have more senior doctors on site. But some hospitals with A&E
departments have few senior doctors in hospital at weekends or
overnight. The guide identifies trusts with low levels of staffing
and high mortality.
A process for rapid learning: sharing experience
when things go wrong in out-of-hours services - reflections one
year on. This paper reviews the collaborative work of ten
out-of-hours providers over the past year. It highlights the
benefits of rapid learning and some of the key issues around how
providers learn and share information within organisations and
across the wider out-of-hours system.
Designs help combat hospital bugs. Four new bedside furniture designs to reduce healthcare acquired infections are available for the NSH to purchase after testing showed positive patient and staff feedback.
Sharps safety: RCN guidance to support implementation of the EU Directive 2010/32/EU on the prevention of sharps injuries in the health care sector. This guidance covers the law on sharps injuries, including the European Directive 2010/32/EU and its underlying principles as well as its requirements on health care providers. It includes information on preparing an organisation, introducing risk assessments, selecting and evaluating safety-engineered devices and what employers should be doing to comply with the directive. It also includes a checklist to help safety representatives assess organisational and ward/departmental level compliance with the directive.
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in this section
please contact Joanna
Lloyd.
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Information Law
Bevan Brittan Updates
Data
Protection breaches in the headlines again. A report published
today has again highlighted the regularity with which the Data
Protection Act 1998 ("DPA") is being breached by public sector
organisations. A report by Big Brother Watch details that
between 2008 and 2011, 132 local authorities in the UK lost data in
over 1000 separate incidents.
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in this section please contact James Cassidy.
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Inquests
News
The post of chief coroner will no longer be
abolished.
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in this section
please contact Joanna
Lloyd.
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Mental Health
NEW! Bevan Brittan Mental Health Extranet. Free resource for Bevan Brittan NHS clients. Bevan Brittan has a wealth of mental health knowledge it would like to share with NHS clients. We have therefore developed an online searchable extranet designed to bring various sources of mental health information and guidance into one place.
Bevan Brittan Mental Health Forum
There is
also a forum on the extranet for use by members to share knowledge
and information. If you would like information about how to
access the Bevan Brittan Mental Health Extranet
please email Claire Bentley by clicking here. Issues
currently being discussed are:- 
Cheshire
West and Chester - Deprivation of liberty. Join the
discussion here. Deprivation
of Liberty Safeguards - Are they adequate? Reference to
the Radio 4 programme on 24 November. Join the discussion
here. Interim
Hospital Orders - Timescales. A practical query in relation to
detention. Join the discussion here. s117
Best Practice Issues. Discussion about how long aftercare continues
and what happens when patient moves out of area. Join the
discussion here. Mental
Health Act Scrutiny Committees. Join the discussion
here. When
an urgent DOLs authorisation starts. Join the discussion
here. Charging
Policies. Join the discussion here. Appointment/reappointment
and review of Hospital Managers. Join the discussion
here. Meaning
of hospital treatment. Join the discussion
here.
Publications/Guidance
National audit of psychological therapies for
anxiety and depression: national report 2011. This report into
the care received by patients with anxiety and depression across
more than 350 NHS-funded psychological therapy services in England
and Wales has revealed good overall standards of care, but
substantial variation in quality. The audit collected data from 357
services and over 10,000 people in therapy for anxiety and
depression and measured ten standards, including patient
satisfaction, effectiveness of therapy, waiting times and number of
treatment sessions offered.
Listening to experience. Between Autumn 2010
and Summer 2011, Mind’s independent inquiry heard evidence from 400
service users and professionals in relation to acute mental
healthcare in England and Wales and prepared this report.
A report by the Health Service Ombudsman and the
Local Government Ombudsman about the care and support provided to a
person with Down’s syndrome. This describes how Mr J’s basic
human rights were ignored after he was detained unnecessarily in
hospital for months and was then moved into inappropriate locked
accommodation until his death. See news summary.
Government response to a report from the Office of
the Children's Commissioner. On 23 June 2011 the Office of the
Children’s Commissioner (OCC) published ‘I think I must have been
born bad’, a report into the emotional well-being and mental health
of children and young people in the youth justice system. The
report contained 19 principal recommendations for the Ministry of
Justice (including the National Offender Management Service), the
Youth Justice Board and the Department of Health.
Safer prescribing in prisons: guidance for
clinicians. This guidance looks at a number of clinical areas
and highlights issues such as medication misuse by patients and
medications being traded between inmates. It has been written to
assist clinicians working in prisons but it also has relevance for
clinicians working in other secure environments such as forensic
physicians and custody nurses; consultant psychiatrists; pain
clinic prescribers; hospital prescribers and general practitioners
who work with offenders.
With money in mind: the benefits of liaison
psychiatry. This briefing outlines the benefits that the
Birmingham RAID liaison psychiatry service has brought in terms of
cost savings and improved health and well-being for patients. It
will be of particular interest to all those who commission and
provide acute hospital and mental health services.
Getting personal? Making personal budgets work for
people with dementia. This report found that more than three
quarters of people with dementia who receive social care support at
home are not using direct payments or other personal budgets. It
calls for the personal budget system to be adapted to meet the
specific needs of people with dementia.
Mental Health Payment by Results Readiness Review. The development of a Payment by Results approach to provider reimbursement in mental health services has been going on for a number of years. The aim of this review was to provide an assessment of commissioners’ and providers’ readiness to deliver the Department of Health policy commitment that adult mental health Payment by Results currencies should be used for commissioning and reimbursement purposes from April 2012. The review was carried out by seeking the views of a wide spread of people in mental health trusts, commissioners, local authorities and the independent sector, as well as national stakeholders.
Being sectioned (in England and Wales). This leaflet was produced by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in November 2011.
Reducing violence and aggression in A&E. According to the National Audit Office, violence and aggression towards frontline hospital staff is estimated to cost the NHS at least £69 million a year in staff absence, loss of productivity and additional security. This project aimed to use a design-led approach in order to help reduce violence in A&E departments.
NHS pension scheme calculator – Agenda for
Change. This calculator is for Agenda for Change staff,
including special classes and Mental Health Officers. It can be
used to get an illustrative estimate of how the proposed reforms
might affect your pension.
Report from the Forensic & Challenging Behaviour
Product Review Sub Group September 2011. This report summarises
the work undertaken by the Forensic and Challenging Behaviour
Product Review Sub Group over the past twelve months. It builds
upon two strands of work previously undertaken, the first being the
development of a clinically derived set of descriptors piloted by a
group of London Medium Secure Units and the second being a
modification of the Mental Health Clustering Tool (MHCT) and the 21
Clusters mandated for use in Working Aged Adult and Older Peoples
services, piloted by two Trusts in the North East of England.
National audit of psychological therapies for
anxiety and depression: national report 2011. This report into
the care received by patients with anxiety and depression across
more than 350 NHS-funded psychological therapy services in England
and Wales has revealed good overall standards of care, but
substantial variation in quality. The audit collected data from 357
services and over 10,000 people in therapy for anxiety and
depression. It measured ten standards, including patient
satisfaction, effectiveness of therapy, waiting times and number of
treatment sessions offered.
Mental health service transitions for young
people highlights some of the key recommendations for improving
transition, as well as the Top 10 principles for practice. These
include ensuring young people are fully engaged and understand
their mental health problem, treatment and support options, as well
as ensuring that young people move to flexible and age appropriate
services.
Payment by Results quality and outcomes
indicators. This report has been produced by the Quality and
Outcomes Sub Group of the Product Review Group for the Mental
Health Payment by Results (MH PbR) project. It describes the
progress made to date in responding to the request from the
National Project Board for MH PbR to develop an approach that
ensures quality indicators and outcome measures are an integral
part of the PbR process, and in particular that they encourage the
correct incentives.
Cases
R (on the
application of Modaresi) v Secretary of State for Health and Ors.
[2011] EWCA Civ 1359. An application for a review under
the Mental Health Act s.66(1) had to be made within 14 days of a
patient's detention. However where the expiry date fell on a date
that was not a working day the time limit was extended. The
approach in Mucelli v Albania (2007) EWHC 2632 (Admin), (2008) 1
WLR 2437 was equally applicable to time limits in relation to s2
detention.
Cheshire West & Chester Council v P (by his litigation friend the Official Solicitor) [2011] EWCA Civ 1257 (CA). The Court of Appeal has allowed the council's appeal against the Court of Protection's declaration that P's care plan involved a deprivation of his liberty for the purposes of Art.5 ECHR. Simon Lindsay has prepared a summary of this case which is available on the Bevan Brittan Mental Health Extranet.
Re RB (Adult); A London Borough v RB (Adult) (No 4) (2011).
More information on this case is available on the Bevan Brittan Mental Health Extranet.Rabone (in his own right & as Personal Representative of the Estate of Melanie Rabone) v Pennine Care NHS Trust.
More information on this case is available on the Bevan Brittan Mental Health Extranet.Inquiries
Mr I and the provision of Mental Health Services, following a
Homicide committed in June 2009. Healthcare Inspectorate
Wales (HIW) has published its report following a review of a
homicide carried out by Leyton Williams in the Tremorfa area of
Cardiff on 6 June 2009. There were two victims - one was Anthony
Kitely who sadly died. The other was Mr I's mother who
suffered grievous bodily harm. More information is available on the
Bevan Brittan Mental Health Extranet.
Legislation
Mental Health (Discrimination) Bill. Second
reading - the general debate on all aspects of the Bill - took
place on 25 November.
News
Lord Toby Harris, Chair of the IAP, appears in the
latest edition of ‘The Solution’, the online magazine for Black
Mental Health UK. The foreword, written by Lord Harris, focuses on
the significant amount of work still needed to be done, to reduce
the number of detained patients dying of natural causes in secure
mental health settings.
Offer psychological interventions to people who
self-harm.
Bevan Brittan Training Claims
and complaints forum. 06 December 2011. An audience with a
Claimant Lawyer & The Annual Clinical Risk CPR and Case Law
Review.
Part 1- The Clinical Risk Team is delighted to welcome Phillippa
Luscombe and Grainne Barton from the Clinical Negligence and
Personal Injury Team at Penningtons Solicitors. Philippa and
Grainne will give a fascinating insight into how Claimant lawyers
investigate and approach claims and also provide a Claimant
perspective on how we can work better together to save costs
without compromising access
to justice.
Part 2 - The Clinical Risk Team will provide an update on the
year’s case law and amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules. We
will also consider the practical implications for you as a result
of changes in the law.
Injunctive
Relief in Best Interest Cases. 02 February 2012. If you are a
member of the Bevan Brittan mental Health Extranet and would like
to attend this training session being taken by Michael Mylonas of 3
Serjeants Inn please contact Claire
Bentley.
Bevan
Brittan Annual Mental Health Seminar. Bevan Brittan Birmingham
Office 28 February 2012. More information about this half day
seminar will be available in the next HSC Update
Bevan
Brittan Annual Mental Health Seminar. Bevan Brittan London Office
14 March 2012. More information about this half day seminar will be available
in the next HSC Update
Bevan Brittan Training Slides The
Price of Death: An Update on Quantum in Fatal Cases. This training
session by Alexander Hutton of Hailsham Chambers took place on 28
November. If you would like to access the training notes and slides
they can be obtained from the Bevan Brittan Mental Health
Extranet.
Annual
Inquest Seminar. Bevan Brittan’s Inquest Update this year focussed
on the impact of recent key cases upon healthcare related deaths,
such as Savage v South Essex Partnerships NHS Trust [2010] and
Rabone v Pennine Care NHS Trust [2010]. There was an update in
relation to the implementation of the Coroners and Justice Act
2009. We have been working closely with healthcare
organisations across the UK and we discussed the changes that
have already been made as a result of key decisions/legislation and
explored how those yet to come into force will
affect healthcare organisations. If you would like to access
the slides they are available on the Bevan Brittan Mental Health
Extranet site.
Mental
Health Act 1983 Update. Hannah Taylor has been providing training
to clients on the Mental Health Act 1983. If you would like
to access the slides they are available on the Bevan Brittan Mental
Health Extranet.
Section
117 Aftercare - The training slides prepared for this training
session by Susanna Rickard of 3 Serjeants Inn can be obtained
from the Bevan Brittan Mental Health Extranet.
MHA
and MCA Interface, Deprivation of Liberty, DOLS Issues and Case Law
prepared by Paul Barber. These slides can be accessed from the
Mental Health Extranet site. They cover the following:-
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in the above section please contact Simon Lindsay.
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Primary Care
Publications/Guidance
Tough inspections to root out poor home care.
The Care Quality Commission has announced that it is to carry out a
programme of inspections of 250 providers of home care services.
The inspections will focus on the respect, care and welfare of
people who receive care services in their own homes, as well as the
support given to the staff providing the care. They will run
alongside the CQC’s planned reviews of home care services, in
addition to the 1,000-plus unannounced inspections of adult social
care services the CQC carries out every month.
Planning for contract transfer. Following a
detailed assessment of contract transfer risk with a small sample
of PCTs, the Department of Health has developed a national
framework and timescale for contract transfer and some supporting
tools to assist PCT and SHA clusters to manage this
process.
Non-clinical substance misuse services in
contracted adult prisons (England). This letter provides more
information on the position of NHS Primary Care Trusts
responsibility for the funding of substance misuse services in
relation to adult contracted prisons in England.
NHS not making the break for carers: a report on
the implementation of the Carers Strategy by primary care
trusts. This research shows that spending on carers by PCTs has
fallen by £2.4m this year. In November 2010 the Government
allocated an extra £400m over four years to provide support for
carers and this report seeks to establish how PCTs have invested
the added funding this year. It also finds that PCTs have defied
Government by not publishing plans and budgets as was requested –
only 26% have published updated plans, and 13% have published
budgets for 2011/12. It also finds that only 4% of PCTs have not
budgeted any investment in services for carers in
2011/12.
Strengthening primary care: recent reforms and achievements in Australia, England and the Netherlands. This briefing provides a summary of a study which examined quality improvement strategies in countries which have gone through recent health care reforms.
Cases
Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust v Joint
Committee of Primary Care Trusts and Croydon PCT [2011] EWHC 2986
(Admin) (Admin Ct). The court held that a consultation exercise
concerning the reconfiguration of children's congenital heart
services in England was unlawful as it breached the legitimate
expectation relating to the scoring of the hospitals
concerned.
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in the above section
please contact
David Owens.
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Prison Health
Publications/Guidance
Learning from PPO investigations: Violence
reduction, bullying and safety. The Prisons and Probation
Ombudsman (PPO) has published a report on learning from violence
reduction and safety.
The IAP have published their statistical
analysis of all recorded deaths in state custody between 1
January 2000 and 31 December 2010. This is the first time that all
recorded deaths in state custody have been broken down by
ethnicity, gender, age and cause of death and presented together in
a single format.
Safer prescribing in prisons: guidance for
clinicians. This guidance looks at a number of clinical areas
and highlights issues such as medication misuse by patients and
medications being traded between inmates. It has been written to
assist clinicians working in prisons but it also has relevance for
clinicians working in other secure environments such as forensic
physicians and custody nurses; consultant psychiatrists; pain
clinic prescribers; hospital prescribers and general practitioners
who work with offenders.
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in this section
please contact
Nadia Persaud.
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RegulationPublications/Guidance
Monitor's new role. Monitor has set up a web page that
provides information on its proposed new role as the sector
regulator for health in England. Its core duty will be to protect
and promote patients' interests. There are also further details on
its main functions, as proposed in the Health and Social Care Bill.
See also the information sheet The Health and Social Care Bill: Monitor's evolving
role.
Professional boundaries: guidance for social workers. The aim of this guidance is to increase public protection by supporting social workers to practise ethically and safely by encouraging reflection on professional boundaries issues. The GSCC’s analysis of its conduct cases has shown that professional boundaries breaches are a recurring trend. Data collected by the GSCC shows that misconduct in about a fifth of all its cases involved inappropriate relationships which is one of a number of ways in which professional boundaries can be crossed.
The Care Quality Commission: Regulating the quality and safety of health and adult social care. This report finds that the Care Quality Commission had a difficult task in establishing itself and has not so far achieved value for money in regulating the quality and safety of health and adult social care in England.
Consultations
Developing the new NHS Provider Licence: A
Framework Document. Monitor has published a consultation
document on its proposed future role in licensing health care
providers. If the Health and Social Care Bill becomes law, Monitor
will probably need to license providers relatively quickly - by
October 2012 for NHS foundation trusts and April 2013 for all other
health sector providers. The consultation ends on 12 December
2012.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Glimpse
of the future? Monitor reveals proposed licensing regime. The
Health and Social Care Bill 2011 (the "Bill") will not complete its
passage through Parliament for some months and may be further
amended. However Monitor has started to prepare for its new role as
regulator of NHS healthcare providers, should the Bill become
law.
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in this section please contact Carlton Sadler.
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General
Publications/Guidance
Reducing
violence and aggression in A&E. According to the National
Audit Office, violence and aggression towards frontline hospital
staff is estimated to cost the NHS at least £69 million a year in
staff absence, loss of productivity and additional security. This
project aimed to use a design-led approach in order to help reduce
violence in A&E departments.
Tackling violence and anti-social behaviour in the NHS. NHS Protect, the Crown Prosecution Service and Association of Chief Police Officers have agreed a stronger response to violence against NHS staff.
The UK influenza preparedness strategy 2011. This strategy describes the Government's approach for responding to an influenza pandemic. It updates and replaces the previous guidance 'Pandemic flu: a national framework for responding to an influenza pandemic 2007'.
An involving service: Ambulance responses in urban and rural areas. This NHS Confederation briefing aims to help NHS organisations engage with local leaders, communities and other public services about the issues and challenges ambulance services face in rural areas. It sets out some of the solutions that rural ambulance services have devised to help them deliver high-quality urgent care to rural communities, and is intended to start a conversation with local leaders and other public services about how best to work together for patients.
QOF briefing 2012-13 changes. PCC has developed a briefing explaining the QOF changes that will be coming into effect in 2012/13.
Case management - What it is and how it can best be implemented. Report by the Kings Fund examining how case management can improve delivery of integrated care for people with long-term conditions.
New approaches to supporting carers’ health and
well-being. This report presents the findings of an independent
evaluation of the National Carers’ Strategy Demonstrator Sites
programme. It evaluates 25 demonstrator sites around the country
that either developed new and innovative services for carers or
extended existing provision where effective arrangements were
already in place.
Community nursing: transforming health care.
The RCN has published nine case studies of excellent community
nursing to inform, inspire and persuade people to scrutinise their
current community nursing services and identify how they can be
both expanded and enhanced. The case studies not only illustrate
how people’s health and life styles can be improved, but how
community nurses can also provide the most marvellous end of life
care within people’s homes.
European Strategic Action Plan on antibiotic resistance. The UK Government, along with other European Union member states, has agreed this new World Health Organization (WHO) initiative on antibiotic resistance in recognition that ‘together we will have greater impact’.
Joining up health and social care. At a time when the whole of the public sector must find significant savings, the report says that integrated working across health and social care offers opportunities for efficiencies and improvements to services. Without it, there is a risk of duplication and ‘cost-shunting’ where savings made by one organisation or sector create costs for others. And a lack of integrated working means that people are less likely to receive the best care. But the briefing also finds that the NHS and councils have made patchy progress in improving this joint working across health and social care. The briefing offers guidance to local partnerships, setting out a list of questions to consider, and suggestions for interventions that might help. Case studies show how some areas have embraced partnership working and used local data and benchmarking to establish how and where to make improvements. NHS and social care partnerships can benchmark their performance against others by using the tool that accompanies the briefing.
The cost of caring. This survey of over 4,000
carers found that almost 47% were being made ill by money
worries.
Consultations
PFI reform: Call for evidence. On the 15
November 2011 the Government’s intention to reform the Private
Finance Initiative (PFI) was announced by the Chancellor. The
Government intends to conduct a broad based engagement process and
is now inviting all interested parties to respond to a call for
evidence on the reform of PFI and to bring forward proposals for a
new approach to using the private sector in the delivery of public
assets and services.
Management of HIV-infected healthcare workers: a paper for consultation. The national guidance which presently restricts healthcare workers infected with HIV from performing invasive clinical procedures has been reviewed by a joint working group. This consultation paper seeks views on recommendations from the working group for changes to the current policy on HIV-infected healthcare workers. The working group’s report is being published alongside this consultation paper, together with a consultation impact assessment and a draft equality analysis, which will be reviewed in the light of the consultation responses. The closing date for comments is 9 March 2012.
Bevan Brittan Events
Claims
and complaints forum. 06 December 2011
If you wish to discuss any of the items raised in this section please contact Claire Bentley.
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