The week: 2 - 8 November 2012 
for NHS and social care leaders

Issue: 272

On the agenda

One million ‘dementia friends’ scheme launched
An ambitious project to register one million people by 2015 who can increase understanding of dementia, is one of the next steps in the Prime Minister’s Dementia Challenge. Under the scheme led by the Alzheimer’s Society, people who become dementia friends will be given free information sessions, to help them raise awareness of dementia in their communities.

Other measures include providing £9.6m for dementia research, extra support for GPs to spot and diagnose dementia, and a pilot programme in schools and youth projects to help young people become dementia aware.

For further information go to: 
http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/dementia-friends/
http://dementiachallenge.dh.gov.uk/

Views sought on strengthening NHS Constitution
The Department of Health has launched a public consultation on strengthening the NHS Constitution. Proposals, which reflect advice from the NHS Future Forum, include greater clarity on patient involvement covering end of life care, same-sex wards and refusing access to abusive patients. They also cover new staff responsibilities around openness about mistakes, acknowledging complaints, and delivering compassionate care. The deadline for staff and the public to respond is 28 January 2013. 

For further information go to: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/constitution-consultation

Plans to prepare NHS and social care for winter 
Plans have been announced to help people keep well this winter and support the NHS in preparing to meet the increase in winter-related health problems always seen at this time of year.

The Department of Health’s measures include a flu vaccination advertising campaign to encourage people in at-risk groups to get vaccinated. A £20 million fund, distributed among local authorities, is also available to help vulnerable people stay warm and well this winter.
For further information go to: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/nhs-winter/ 
Policy news
No news this week

Consultations and evaluations	                        
1. Health Red Tape Challenge launched     
2. New innovation - share best practice               

Publications
3. Publication of 2011-12 reference costs			
4. PSA standards for NHS boards and clinical commissioning groups  
5. Allied health professionals referral to treatment data collection   
6. Change4Life launches smartphone drinks tracker app      

Conferences and events

i. what’s new
No news this week

ii. places still available
No news this week

Patient safety alerts
Refer to website below

Extra notes
Chief executives are reminded that all communications requiring the attention of NHS and local authority management must include a Gateway reference number. In order to streamline the number of communications issued by the Department, these will continue to be summarised in ‘the week’ every Thursday.

Policy news
No news this week

Consultations and evaluations

1. Health Red Tape Challenge launched
(Gateway reference number: 18324)
Ideas are invited about how to remove excessive burdens and reduce bureaucracy across the health and social care sector, in the latest round of the Government's Red Tape Challenge. Healthcare providers and members of the public can comment on more than 500 Department of Health regulations, covering a range of areas across quality of care, mental health, the NHS, professional standards and public health. 

Link: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/red-tape-challenge/
Action: NHS chief executives and staff are encouraged to respond by 11 December 2012. 

2. New innovation - share best practice
(Gateway reference number: 18338)
The innovation.nhs.uk website has been developed to support the improved spread of new ideas and practices across the NHS. It is now seeking proposals for a second wave of high impact innovations for 2013/14.

Links: www.innovation.nhs.uk
http://tinyurl.com/btukzxy
Action: NHS chief executives will wish to submit their ideas using the link above.

Publications

3. Publication of 2011-12 reference costs
(Gateway reference number: 18220)
These newly-published reference costs are part of the Department of Health’s commitment to provide accountability and transparency in relation to the costs of NHS services. Reference costs have a number of very important uses, principally in recent years to inform the national tariff. The NHS uses the data for reporting to executive teams, benchmarking, contract negotiation and local pricing of non-tariff services. 

Link: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/2011-12-reference-costs/. 
Action: NHS chief executives will wish to discuss data quality and reference costs with their boards.

4. PSA standards for NHS boards and clinical commissioning groups
(Gateway reference number: 18333)
The Professional Standards Authority (PSA) has published new standards for members of NHS boards and clinical commissioning group (CCG) governing bodies in England. These standards are aimed at supporting them to understand the extent of their personal responsibility in making sure care, dignity and respect are central to service delivery in their organisations.     

Link: http://www.chre.org.uk/media/18/502/
Action: NHS chief executives will wish to discuss the implications with their boards and prospective accountable officers/chairs for CCGs.  

5. Allied health professionals referral to treatment data collection 
(Gateway reference number: 18292)
This letter from Karen Middleton CBE, Chief Health Professions Officer, confirms timings for collection of allied health professionals (AHP) referral to treatment (RTT) data, and gives details for the forthcoming AHP RTT data in both mental health and community information data sets. 

Link: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/providers-collect-ahprtt/
Action: NHS chief executives will wish to discuss this letter with their directors responsible for AHP services, and informatics/data collection.

6. Change4Life launches smartphone drinks tracker app
(Gateway reference number: 18336)
A new range of resources to encourage people to cut back on their drinking is now available as part of the nationwide Change4Life campaign. They include a new smartphone app and online drinks checker. The checker is an easy-to-use tool, which allows users to see how many units and calories they are consuming and how much cash their drinking is costing them. It also provides broad risk assessments, advice and tips for cutting down.

Link: http://www.nhs.uk/Change4Life/Pages/understanding-alcohol.aspx
Action:  NHS chief executives may wish to add the online drinks checker to their organisation’s website. To arrange this, please email C4LPartnerships@dh.gsi.gov.uk.

Conferences and events

i. what’s new
No news this week

ii. places still available
No news this week

Patient safety alerts

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has sent the NHS the latest medical device alerts in the link below. NHS trusts are expected to take the specified action by the date given.

Link: www.mhra.gov.uk/Publications/Safetywarnings/MedicalDeviceAlerts/index.htm

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Unless otherwise stated, guidance referred to in the bulletin has not been commissioned or endorsed by the Department of Health – it is evidence that organisations and professionals may find helpful in improving practice. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is the Department's provider of accredited evidence and guidance, which can be found on the Institute's website at www.nice.org.uk