Website of the Department of Health

Health professionals whose registration has just lapsed

The HPC has just lapsed the registration of a number of occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, clinical scientists, prosthetists and orthotists, paramedics and orthoptists who have failed to renew their registration.

If professionals wish to continue practising using one of the HPC's protected titles, they will need to be registered.

AHPs not registered after 13 February will have to apply for re-admission to the register. This involves completing a re-admission form and obtaining all the required details, including a health and character reference.

A re-admission form is available at

• http://www.hpc-uk.org/apply/readmission/ (opens new window)

Visioning Day

Over 50 AHP practitioners and stakeholders attended the first 'stakeholder' day for this group on 21 January. These included representatives from: workforce development confederations/strategic health authorities; human resources; the Changing Workforce Programme; the NHS Modernisation Agency Leadership Centre; the Workforce Review Team; the Council of Deans; the Health Professions Council; research forums and educational bodies.

The outcome was a consensus across all professions on the action needed to take to take services forward. This was a positive day which strengthened support for new ways of working, commitment to patient choice and team working. It also reinforced awareness of the essential need for support workers/assistant practitioners; the development of flexible approaches to education and training; and general support for modernisation of the NHS and social care.

It is clear that, in services across the country, AHP practitioners are engaged in service development and change and welcome the opportunities to participate in service redesign.

Fewer targets for the NHS

The Department of Health has confirmed that many performance targets will be replaced by new quality standards from 2005 onwards.

Targets have speeded up treatment for patients and helped to drive forward health service reforms.

Target-driven star ratings are set to continue in the NHS but greater emphasis will be placed on the quality of care.

A consultation paper Standards for Better Health has been launched which sets out a range of proposed quality standards on which to judge NHS performance.

The consultation period ends 4 May.

Read more at

• Standards for Better Health: Health Care Standards for Services under the NHS - A consultation

New NHS scheme aims to halve falls

Simple measures are being recommended by health experts to cut by half the number of falls among older people.

Detailed guidance on preventing falls is being published by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) next year, but much pioneering work across the country is already reducing falls.

Hip fractures kill up to 14,000 people a year in the UK and half of all older people who fall over can no longer live independently because of their injuries. The NHS also spends £1.7 billion each year on treating fractures caused by falls.

More at

Making IT happen

The National Programme for IT in the NHS has issued the brochure Making IT Happen.

It has been developed in response to the requirement for information about the national programme from stakeholder groups. The purpose of this brochure is to provide colleagues with core information about the programme which includes: the NHS Care Records Service, electronic booking, the New National Network (N3) and electronic transmission of prescriptions.

It will be kept under regular review to ensure its content is up to date.

• Making IT happen

or email

• npcomms@npfit.nhs.uk (opens new window)

PhD students rehabilitation research

A physiotherapist and occupational therapist have become the first PhD students to graduate from the Institute of Rehabilitation at the University of Hull.

The Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals Trust funded the students' degrees as part of a partnership agreement between the trust and university.

Trust head of therapy Eileen Henderson said that the support of the trust meant it could continue its evidence-based research for therapies which would benefit both staff and patients.

The graduates are occupational therapist Katrina Bannigan and physiotherapist Caroline Metcalfe.

More at

• http://www.hull.ac.uk/ (opens new window)

Health and Social Care Awards 2004

The health and social care service's equivalent to the Oscars will this year celebrate an even wider range of achievement and excellence in frontline care.

The annual Health and Social Care Awards are the most important opportunity to identify and recognise outstanding contributions to care.

This year there are changes to classes, criteria and structure to further enhance the award's accessibility, relevance and credibility. A key development is the introduction of two levels of competition, with four 'regions' - North, Midlands and East, South and London - conducting local awards schemes to select finalists in each of the categories for the national awards.

Regional and national awards will be run jointly by the Department of Health and the NHS Modernisation Agency. Regional winners will receive £1,000 each and national winners £15,000.

The national high-profile ceremony will take place on 7 July at the ExCel Centre in London.

The award categories are: Primary Care Professional of the Year; Hospital Doctor of the Year; Nurse or Midwife of the Year; Allied Health Professional of the Year; Manager of the Year; Outstanding Achievement in Emergency Care and Outstanding Achievement in Social Care.

There are also awards for: Health and Social Care Team Award; Reducing Health Inequalities Award; Chronic Disease Management Award; Outstanding Achievement in Mental Health; Queen Mother's Older People's Awards; Children's Care Award and the 'NHS Live Award' for Patient Involvement.

For application packs and more information e-mail

• awards@dh.gsi.gov.uk (opens new window)