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The Digest
Did you see the news about...? If you missed an announcement or new development of interest to you, the chances are that it could be listed in The Digest. Each month in The Digest we feature subjects of note including where to obtain more information.
Chief executive's report now available
Sir Nigel Crisp has outlined activity and performance in the NHS over the last financial year in his 2004 annual report.
In his survey of the health service he found that improvements are coming quicker with a significant fall in waiting times, a fall in premature death rates from major killer diseases and an increase in the number of staff recruited.
The report also concludes that the NHS is working more effectively and efficiently with measurable improvements in productivity, but acknowledges that there is more work to do to build on progress so far.
Read the report at
NHS leadership skills programme
Developing leadership skills in the NHS is the focus of a new programme launched by the National Primary Care Development Team (NPDT).
The Leadership for Quality Improvement Programme (LQUIP) is designed to maximise primary care leadership skills in both clinicians and managers.
Practice-based practitioners or managers based wholly or partly in a practice and who have been involved with improvement can apply.
The programme also counts towards continuing professional development points.
Running for one year from this September, the programme will be based around six learning workshops. Study areas include:
- identifying participants' specific leadership needs through one-to-one coaching and feedback
- creating a community of clinicians who can support and learn from each other
- how to apply techniques learned to the workplace.
You can find further information at
Medicinal effects reporting scheme
Patients suffering adverse reactions to medicines will be able to report them directly to the Medicines Healthcare and products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), under new proposals.
This is just one of several recommendations made in a review of the Yellow Card scheme, which oversees the early detection of drug safety hazards.
MHRA is to pilot different methods of patient reporting, including via the web.
Recommendations put out to consultation include increasing access to information for health academics and researchers and a more proactive approach by the MHRA to inform health professionals about the importance of reporting adverse reactions.
Responses to the consultation are needed by 28 July.
You can find further information at
Cardiac arrhythmia
A new consultative group has been set up by the national clinical director for heart disease Dr Roger Boyle to deal with cardiac arrhythmia.
Its main objective will be to create a new chapter in the National Service Framework on Coronary Heart Disease.
This will promote the early diagnosis and treatment for people living with heart rhythm disorders that can lead to brief losses of consciousness, seizures or Sudden Adult Death syndrome.
The new organisation's president will be Professor John Camm of St George's Hospital, London.
A consultation paper has been published. Comments on the proposals must be made by 4 August.
Get the consultation paper at
Tackling eye disease
Patients with chronic eye diseases and poor vision will benefit after the launch of new pilot schemes to treat the conditions.
The £4 million programme will be testing new methods of treating glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and low vision. If successful, these will be introduced nationally.
The pilots include a seamless service for glaucoma patients that merges high street and hospital eye care, investment in the latest technology, a mobile eye care unit and additional training for optometrists.
The first report by the national eye care services steering group, underpinning the principles behind the pilots, has also been published.
See this report at
Genetics winner
A new national centre is being created to educate NHS staff about the real benefit of genetics.
One of the key objectives of the NHS Genetics Education and Development Centre will be to identify the learning needs of different groups of staff, particularly GPs, and to provide easily-accessible training material.
The centre, which will be run by Birmingham Women's Healthcare Trust, is part of the Government's £50 million strategy, as laid out in the 2003 White Paper Our Inheritance, Our Future: Realising the potential of genetics in the NHS.
You can find further information at
Making services accessible
Patient choice means providing health services that meet individual needs and preferences.
From October 2004, all service providers - from health services to supermarkets - will have to consider changes to physical features or premises to overcome barriers to access for disabled people.
The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) has launched a campaign Open 4 All across England, Scotland and Wales to inform service providers in the private, public and voluntary sectors about how to make their services accessible.
For a free Open 4 All campaign pack please email
Patient safety guide
A new, full reference guide to patient safety, has been published on the National Patient Safety Agency's (NPSA) website.
Seven Steps to Patient Safety offers staff involved in primary and secondary patient care practical guidance and support to improve the safety of patients and details the latest thinking and evidence in patient safety.
The guide offers a comprehensive overview of patient safety with practical action points and techniques and is additional to the summary guide published in November 2003.
Get a copy of the guide at
NHS Information Revolution website
A new internal website has been launched to provide a central reference point for NHS health professionals on patient information.
It provides policy context from Building on the Best and introduces some of the existing and forthcoming communications tools already delivering the NHS information revolution.
These include Your Life! Magazine and NHS Direct Digital TV.
You can find further information at
Living wills
Individuals will be helped to make their wishes clear about refusing certain medical treatments under proposed changes to the Mental Incapacity Bill.
The bill will give people the opportunity to plan ahead for a time when they might lose the ability to make their own decisions and create a 'living will'.
It aims to ensure people making advance decisions to refuse treatment do so fully understanding the consequences and free from coercion.
A code of practice will recommend that the decisions should be made in writing and witnessed independently, be discussed with a health professional and be regularly reviewed and updated.
The Government intends to publish the revised bill, to be renamed the Mental Capacity Bill, before the summer recess.
You can find further information at
National ambulance advisor appointed
A national ambulance advisor has been appointed to drive forward service improvements.
Peter Bradley, Ambulance Service Association president and former chief executive of the London Ambulance Service, will lead a six-month strategic review of ambulance services.
The review is expected to resolve several issues including how best to measure response times consistently and how to implement recommendations made in the recent review of call categorisation.
It will also consider how to make longer-term improvements in integrating the ambulance service with other care providers, particularly primary care out-of-hours services.
You can find further information at
Treatment centres contracts signed
Eight independently-run treatment centres will have the capacity to perform thousands of additional NHS operations when they open next year.
The Department of Health has signed contracts with Capio Healthcare UK for centres in areas including Cornwall, Lincolnshire, Southampton and Milton Keynes.
From March 2005, the centres will perform more than 19,000 extra operations, a mixture of general surgery, trauma and orthopaedic procedures.
It is the latest stage of the NHS treatment centre programme, which is making significant improvements to patient care. Nearly 60,000 people have had their operations more quickly in treatment centres run by the NHS and independent sector.
Selby and York Primary Care Trust chief executive Jeremy Clough - one of the trusts to benefit - said: "The extra capacity will help us to make further progress in reducing the time patients wait for hospital treatment and enable us to offer patients greater choice in where they receive their surgery."
More information at
Medical device alert
- Medtronic implantable defibrillators, models: Marquis VR 7230, Marquis DR 7274, InSync Marquis 7277.
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