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DH news

A round-up of current Department of Health news and information.

Cancer plan progress

Lives are being saved and patients receive better care, according to a progress report on the NHS Cancer Plan.

Cancer death rates among people under 75 have fallen by more than 10 per cent - putting the NHS on track to achieve its target of a 20 per cent reduction by 2010.

The report - Maintaining the Momentum - reviews the advances made since the cancer plan was launched in 2000.

Consultants accept new contract

Six out of ten consultants have voted to back a new contract negotiated by the Department of Health and the British Medical Association (BMA).

Under the agreement, consultants stand to receive pay rises of up to 24 per cent, depending on their age and experience.

GP recruitment on target

The Government remains on target to meet its commitment of recruiting 2,000 more GPs by March next year. Between September 2002 and June 2003 there were 800 more GPs - a total increase of 1,535 since 1999.

GPs with special interests

The NHS now has more than 1,250 specialist GPs - exceeding a key Government target one year early.

The NHS Plan stated that by 2004, up to 1,000 GPs with a special interest (GPwSI) would be taking referrals from colleagues for a range of specialist conditions.

Ten key roles

The launch of ten key roles for allied health professionals (AHPs) aims to help them modernise and transform NHS services.

Better working for health visitors

Health visitors are to benefit from flexible working and less bureaucracy. New retirement, work pattern and careers flexibilities - currently available to hospital staff - are being extended into primary care.

NHS violence

The NHS Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (CFSMS) is launching a security management strategy later this year to build a safer and more secure NHS.

Black and minority ethnic services

Proposals to improve mental health services for black and minority ethnic communities have been set out for consultation by the Department of Health.

More doctors in training

The number of student doctors has risen by 50 per cent since 1997 from 5,050 to 7,662.

There are 2,250 more medical school places and four new medical schools have opened their doors within the last year.

Waiting lists

Waiting lists continued to fall in August 2003, in line with targets set in The NHS Plan. Figures from the Department of Health show the total number of patients on the lists is now lower than at any time since December 1992.

Patients' champion

The new director for patient experience in A&E is Jonathan Asbridge, former chief nurse and acting chief executive at Barts and the London NHS Trust.

He will have responsibility for raising standards of services for patients and their carers who attend NHS A&E departments, working with chief nursing officer Sarah Mullally, national director for emergency access Professor Sir George Alberti and the NHS Modernisation Agency.

New treatment centres

About 250,000 NHS patients will get faster surgery from new treatment centres. Around £2 billion is being spent over the next five years and all the centres will be up and running by 2005. A shortlist of the Government's preferred companies bidding to run the centres has also been announced.

Firm foundations

A report shows £21 billion is being invested on improving the infrastructure of the NHS with new hospitals, NHS walk-in centres, refurbished wards, affordable housing for NHS staff and state-of-the-art equipment.

A new generation of healthcare facilities - Modernising the fabric of the NHS is at:

E-booking contract

A contract to provide the world's first national electronic booking service has been signed. The Government has signed a five-year contract, valued at £64.5 million. This will connect 30,000 GPs in England with 270 acute, community and mental health hospitals.

Women's mental health strategy

The Government's campaign to remove inequalities in mental health services now includes a strategy for women.

New guidance is at:

Ambulance partnership

New support will be offered to ambulance trusts and staff to modernise services and improve the patient experience. The Improvement Partnership for Ambulance Services (IPAS), backed by £1 million of government funding, will help trusts improve performance and spread good practice.

Cancer care

Cancer screening services have been boosted by a £7.5 million investment with a new, more effective technique for screening for cervical cancer, and by new investment in endoscopy training.

Cancer networks across the country will also receive a share of a £50m to develop better services for terminal cancer patients.

Hospital improvement partnership

A successful hospital improvement programme is now being rolled out to one, two and three star acute trusts across England.

The Improvement Partnership for Hospitals (IPH) aims to cut delays by improving the quality of care, addressing specialist staff shortages and developing better systems for controlling patient movements into and around the hospital. It also focuses on strengthening leadership among staff to drive forward local modernisation.

PCTs pilot US model

Eight primary care trusts have been working with Kaiser Permanente, a US not-for-profit medical organisation which specialises in providing medical services in the community.

It also educates and encourages patients to become more involved in their own care, leading to a reduction in the length of hospital stay for conditions such as asthma, bronchitis and strokes among the over 65s.

NHS dentistry reforms

The reforms, which will take effect from April 2005, are aimed at reshaping the way local dental services are commissioned, improving oral health and meeting the demand for more advanced treatment.

Dentistry investment

NHS dentistry services are being given more than £65 million to help update information technology (IT) equipment and improve access to services. Primary care trusts (PCTs) will be given £35m to improve access; £30m for updating IT; and an extra £200,000 will develop dental leadership skills.

A Vision for Pharmacy

New measures have been announced, backed by £1 million, to support the training pf pharmacy technicians and pharmacy assistants and to extend repeat dispensing where patients can get repeat medication for up to one year without having to contact their GP surgery.

Removing advertising restrictions

The Department of Health proposes to increase the information available to patients by removing advertising bans on some medicines. Some over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, currently available in pharmacies without prescription, will have advertising restrictions removed.

Pharmaceutical price regulation

Stakeholders are being invited to comment on extending the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS).

Generic medicine reforms

A new system for reimbursing the cost and supply of generic medicines for the NHS has been proposed by the Department of Health.

Pharmacy regulation reform

Proposals to reform and modernise the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1992 supports Government plans to put patient needs first by strengthening the pharmacist's role, raising standards, improving access and providing greater choice.

Accident reporting

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has launched a new system enabling medical device manufacturers to communicate accidents or recalls to the agency instantly.

Sexual health cash

The Government has committed an extra £11 million to improving the nation's sexual health.

Vision on

People with sight problems will have faster access to services following changes to the registration system which come into force this month. The changes are being introduced following consultation with service users.

Flu jab campaign

The national flu immunisation campaign aims to encourage people aged 65 or over and those in at risk groups to book an appointment for their free flu jab.

Keep warm, keep well

The Government has launched a six-month Keep Warm, Keep Well campaign to protect older people from winter-related illnesses and deaths.

Increase in MMR uptake

Latest figures show more than 80 per cent of children were last year protected from measles, mumps and rubella with the MMR vaccine.

Food and cleanliness

Results from the Patient Environment Action Teams (PEAT) summer 2003 inspections show that no hospitals received the red rating, denoting poor standards in need of urgent improvement, for either food quality or cleanliness this year.

Full results on cleanliness are at:

Food assessment results are at:

Funding for voluntary and community sector

The awarding of grants to the voluntary and community sector (VCS) will be made simpler under new proposals to encourage devolved decision-making.

The proposals follow 31 recommendations on streamlining the grant process in the Section 64 Review Group Report.

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