The week: 1 - 7 February 2013
for NHS and social care leaders

Issue: 284

On the agenda

NHS leaders encouraged to hold listening events following Mid Staffs report
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and NHS Chief Executive Sir David Nicholson have asked NHS leaders around the country to hold staff listening events following the publication of Robert Francis’s report of the Public Inquiry into Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust.  The listening events will help the NHS discuss and learn from the report.  The events will provide insights in helping to achieve a safer, more open, and compassionate NHS.

Read the letters to NHS leaders from Jeremy Hunt and Sir David Nicholson.

For further information go to: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2013/02/dh-responds-midstaffs/

Honour nominations for New Year 2014
Una O’Brien’s letter explains why honours remain an important recognition of the achievements of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.  The nation values the contribution the care system makes to people's health and wellbeing.  Honours are a visible celebration of those individuals who really make a difference.  NHS and local authority chief executives will wish to note the deadline for submitting nominations is Wednesday 20 March 2013.

For further information go to: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2013/02/honours-2014/

Policy news
No news this week.

Consultations and evaluations
1. Consultation on future NICE social care quality standards 

Publications
2. Publications detailing EPRR arrangements post-April 2013 
3. New report on deaths from cardiovascular diseases 

Conferences and events

i. what’s new
4. Safe and effective nurse staffing, 19 March 2013, London 
5. Reducing hospital deaths attributable to problems in care, 21 March 2013, London 
6. Safeguarding vulnerable adults in mental health services, 26 March 2013, London 

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. Consultation on future NICE social care quality standards
(Gateway reference number: 18564)
The Minister for Care Services, Norman Lamb, has launched a consultation seeking views on an initial proposed list of social care quality standard topics and ideas for new topics. The aim is to establish a full set of NICE quality standards and guidance to improve the quality of social care.

Link: http://consultations.dh.gov.uk/quality-and-safety/nice-future-quality-standards-2
Action: Local authority chief executives and Directors of Adult Social Services who wish to respond can do so by 26 April 2013. 

Publications

2. Publications detailing EPRR arrangements post-April 2013
(Gateway reference number: 18722)
This suite of NHS Commissioning Board publications details the new structures and procedures the NHS must embed as part of the new emergency preparedness, resilience and response (EPRR) arrangements. It must do this whilst maintaining system resilience throughout transition. These supporting publications follow the release of a previous suite of documents in October 2012.

Link: http://www.commissioningboard.nhs.uk/ourwork/gov/eprr/
Action: NHS chief executives may wish to review the documentation and consider any local implications. 

3. New report on deaths from cardiovascular diseases
(Gateway reference number: 18729)
This National End of Life Care Intelligence Network report indicates that people dying with cardiovascular diseases are more likely to die in hospital than those with other conditions. It also highlights regional variations, gender and socio-economic differences, as well as an increase in comorbidities (the presence of one or more disorders in addition to a primary disease). 
 
Link: http://www.endoflifecare-intelligence.org.uk/resources/publications/default.aspx
Action: NHS and local authority chief executives and Directors of Adult Services may wish to discuss this report with commissioning and provider leads to plan and identify future local priorities.

Conferences and events

i. what’s new

4. Safe and effective nurse staffing
(Gateway reference number: 18719)
This conference, taking place in London on 19 March 2013, will provide a practical guide to planning nurse staffing.  Chaired by Professor Juliet Beal, Director of Nursing: Quality Improvement and Care at the NHS Commissioning Board, it will put forward a business case for effective nurse staffing and managing staffing and skill mix in clinical areas - having the right skills at the right place at the right time.

Link: http://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/nursing-staff-levels-skills-mix  
Action: NHS chief executives and their colleagues can download the brochure at the link above, or contact Kerry@healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk for further information. A 20 per cent discount is available by quoting ref: hcuk20theweek when booking. 

5. Reducing hospital deaths attributable to problems in care
(Gateway reference number: 18720)
This conference, taking place in London on 21 March 2013, focuses on recognising deaths attributable to problems in care and how to avoid them. It includes an opening address from the NHS Commissioning Board and sessions on meeting the new indicator, as outlined in the NHS Outcomes Framework 2013-2014 - a key area for progress detailed in the NHS Mandate.

Link: http://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/hospital-mortality-hsmr-shmi-nhs-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. A 20 per cent discount is available by quoting ref: hcuk20theweek when booking. 

6. Safeguarding vulnerable adults in mental health services
(Gateway reference number: 18721)
This practical conference, taking place in London on 26 March 2013, will be opened by Claire Crawley, Senior Policy Manager - Adult Safeguarding at the Department of Health. She will examine what should be included under safeguarding, which incidents should be put through the safeguarding system, and which through standard management and risk processes.

Link: http://www.healthcareconferencesuk.co.uk/safeguarding-vulnerable-adults-mental-health-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. A 20 per cent discount is available by quoting ref: hcuk20theweek when booking. 

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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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  

Sir David Nicholson's role as NHS Chief Executive transfers completely to the NHS Commissioning Board in April 2013. Sir David would still like to communicate with you in his new role and we are therefore asking if you are happy for your email address to be shared with the NHS Commissioning Board. If you do not want your email address shared, please email the theweek@dh.gsi.gov.uk