The week: 23 to 29 November 2012

Issue: 275

On the agenda

‘Ofsted-style’ ratings system for hospitals and care homes considered
A review has been ordered by the Department of Health into the way information on NHS and social care services is given to patients and the public. The study, to be completed by the end of March 2013, will assess the merits of an ‘Ofsted-style’ system of ratings for hospitals and care homes.

It will look at the way a new ratings system could help improve standards of care, in particular how information about services can be communicated to the public, and how this can be used to drive up standards across the system.

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

Chief Executive’s conference cancelled – leadership event next year
The planned NHS Chief Executive's conference on 12 December 2012 has been cancelled. The NHS Commissioning Board will instead host a full system health leadership conference in Birmingham in early February 2013. 

The December conference would normally mark the publication of the planning guidance and allocations for the NHS for the coming year. The NHS Commissioning Board will make sure this information is communicated swiftly and clearly during the week commencing 17 December 2012. 

Independent chair to oversee review of Liverpool Care Pathway
Health Minister Norman Lamb has held a roundtable meeting with groups interested in end of life care, such as patients, families and charities, to explore the concerns raised in recent media coverage of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP). The meeting concluded it was important to understand what lay behind the reports of poor quality care. An independent chair will be appointed to oversee and validate the LCP review work, initiated by the National End of Life Care Programme, the Association for Palliative Medicine, and Dying Matters. The review will report next year.  

For further information go to:
www.endoflifecareforadults.nhs.uk/news/all/learning-from-peoples-experience-of-last-days-of-life 
www.mcpcil.org.uk/mcpcil/liverpool-care-pathway/implementation-lcp/ 

Policy news
1. Ban on use of silver/copper ionisation water treatment systems for legionella control 

Consultations and evaluations
2. Payment by results (PbR) local tariff flexibilities supporting innovation

Publications
3. National homecare medicines review and implementation 
4. NICE public health guidance for the workplace
5. Spread and adoption tool goes live

Conferences and events

i. what’s new
6. Banning unjustifiable age discrimination webinar 
7. A practical guide to appraisal and revalidation 
8. Measuring and monitoring clinical quality
9. Information governance: management and confidentiality in the new landscape 

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

1. Ban on use of silver/copper ionisation water treatment systems for legionella control
(Gateway reference number: 18466)
The Health and Safety Executive has informed the Department of Health that from 1 February 2013 it will be illegal, under the terms of the EU Biocidal Products Directive, to use elemental copper as a biocide in water treatment systems or to supply the copper needed for their use. Users should contact the manufacturer/maintainer of their system to discuss how to achieve this.

Link:  www.hse.gov.uk/legionnaires/index.htm.
Action: NHS chief executives will wish to discuss with estates and facilities, and infection control managers, to make sure appropriate action is taken where necessary.

Consultations and evaluations

2. Payment by results (PbR) local tariff flexibilities supporting innovation
(Gateway reference number: 18464)
The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement is seeking examples of using   variations (local flexibilities) to the payment by results (PbR) national tariff, to help introduce innovations benefiting patients and the service. It is also interested in learning about the barriers when using local tariff flexibilities.

Link: http://www.institute.nhs.uk/department_of_health/general/pbr_local_tariff_flexibilities_and_innovation.html
Action: NHS chief executives and their colleagues can use this link to express an interest in contributing ideas, flexibilities@institute.nhs.uk. A member of the team will then be in touch. 

Publications

3. National homecare medicines review and implementation 
(Gateway reference number: 18170)
A programme of work has been developed to implement the recommendations of the National Homecare Report (December 2011). This letter from Mark Hackett highlights the potential savings, alongside improved governance arrangements for NHS organisations. An accompanying paper covers savings opportunities relating to high drug costs.  
 
Links: 
http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/homecare-medicines/
http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/11/high-cost-drugs-savings/
Action: NHS chief executives will wish to consider the implications of these documents.

4. NICE public health guidance for the workplace 
(Gateway reference number: 18465)
The Royal College of Physicians has called for NHS board members to proactively lead staff health improvement. Making staff health and engagement a central trust value will avoid financial waste and contribute to better patient care.  
 
Link: www.rcplondon.ac.uk/staffhealth 
Action:  NHS chief executives may wish to consider appointing a proactive board lead with responsibility for staff health and wellbeing.

5. Spread and adoption tool goes live
(Gateway reference number: 18467)
The spread and adoption tool is a free, easy-to-use, web based application to help healthcare professionals at all levels increase the scale and pace of sustainable spread and adoption of new ideas.
 
Link: www.institute.nhs.uk/spread
Action: NHS chief executives will wish to assess this tool and discuss the resource with their innovation leads.

Conferences and events

i. what’s new

6. Banning unjustifiable age discrimination webinar 
(Gateway reference number: 18451)
A ban on unjustifiable age discrimination is now in force. A panel of experts will be on hand on 4 December 2012 from 10.00am to 11.00am to answer questions, and share case studies, guidance and practical tools to help implement the ban for both employees and patients.  

Link: http://www.nhsemployers.org/Aboutus/Events/Pages/AgeDiscriminationSeminar.aspx
Action: NHS chief executives who wish to attend, or nominate a colleague, can do so at the above link.

7. A practical guide to appraisal and revalidation 
(Gateway reference number: 18447)
This one-day national conference in London on 30 January 2013 focuses on moving forward with appraisal and revalidation. There will be updates from the General Medical Council, Royal College of Physicians, the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, and Prof Hugo Mascie-Taylor, Chair, Remediation Working Group, Department of Health.

Link: http://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/medical-revalidation-training 
Action: NHS chief executives and their colleagues can download the brochure at the link above, or contact kerry@healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk for further information. Quote ref: hcuk20theweek for 20 percent booking discount. 

8. Measuring and monitoring clinical quality
(Gateway reference number: 18449)
This conference in London on 31 January 2013 has an address from Dr Mike Durkin, Director of Patient Safety, NHS Commissioning Board. It will provide a practical update on measuring and monitoring quality in the new health system, including developing the role of the new quality surveillance groups and risk summits, and using clinical quality indicators and dashboards.

Link: http://healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/quality_indicators_clinical_dashboards
Action: NHS chief executives and their colleagues can download the brochure at the link above, or contact kerry@healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk for further information. Quote ref: hcuk20theweek for 20 percent booking discount. 
 
9. Information governance: management and confidentiality in the new landscape 
(Gateway reference number: 18450)
This one-day conference in London on 6 February 2013, with an address from Dame Fiona Caldicott, will examine the practicalities of how to manage and share patient and service user identifiable data. It will also look at how to meet the standards of information governance laid down by the Caldicott review. 

Link: http://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/information-governance-training-nhs-caldicott2
Action: NHS chief executives and their colleagues can download the brochure at the link above, or contact kerry@healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk for further information. Quote ref: hcuk20theweek for 20 percent booking discount. 

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

Need help?

Change in contact details
Please email contact_details@dh.gsi.gov.uk to update your contact details. Make the email subject 'the week' and include your name, job title, organisation, telephone number and date of change.

Technical difficulties
If you have trouble opening the attachment or accessing links, please visit 
www.dh.gov.uk/health/contact-dh/

General comments
If you would like to comment on 'the week', please email theweek@dh.gsi.gov.uk or write to NHS Staff Comms Team, Department of Health, Room 444, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2NS.

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