Website of the Department of Health

Consultations and evaluations

1. Your opportunity to help vulnerable groups (Gateway reference number: 8349)

Tragic events such as the Soham murders and the death of Victoria Climbié prove the importance of vetting and barring arrangements. You can contribute to a new consultation that aims to strengthen current vetting and barring arrangements and avoid harm, or risk of harm, to children and vulnerable adults. Everybody is responsible for protecting vulnerable groups, so if you have the knowledge, share it.

Action: Read the document and take part in the consultaton.

• DfES Barring Consultation: Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 (opens new window)

2. Can you turn complaints into compliments? (Gateway reference number: 8288)

Help develop a new approach to complaints handling across health and social care by contributing to our new consultation. Working towards a system that encourages patients to voice their concerns will mean complaints will turn from negative experiences into constructive ideas for improvement.

Action: Read the consultation document, Making Experiences Count: A new approach to responding to complaints - A document for information and comment, and share your views.

• Making experiences count: a new approach to responding to complaints - a document for information and comment

Publications

3. Help improve the experiences of children in care (Gateway reference number: 8466)

Despite efforts to support them, there remains a significant gap between the quality of life of young people in care and those raised in supportive families. Find out about your role in tackling this gap by viewing the Government’s White Paper - Care Matters: Time for Change, which sets out a range of sustained actions across central and local government, and health services.

Action: Read the White Paper online, or order hardcopies from 0870 000 2288 or by emailing

• info@dfes.gsi.gov.uk (opens new window)
• Department for Education and Skills: Care Matters - Time for Change (opens new window)

4. National framework for continuing care published (Gateway reference number: 8427)

A new framework outlines a single system for determining people’s eligibility for long-term NHS healthcare. The National Framework for NHS continuing healthcare and NHS-funded nursing care in England will be implemented from 1 October. The framework was shaped by a public consultation, which asked for views on the way continuing care should be delivered and funded.

Action: Use the framework to prepare for implementation, and out look out for the directions to support the framework, which will be published in time for 1 October 2007.

• The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care

5. Health profiles 2007 (Gateway reference number: 8084)

Want to find out more about the health inequalities in your area? You can now download updated health profiles for your local community. The health profiles provide concise, comparable overviews of health in your area to inform local needs assessment, planning and action by local government and PCTs.

Action: Download the health profile for your area

• Community Health Profiles (opens new window)

6. Learn how to benefit from eEnablement (Gateway reference number: 8387)

IT only helps us if we know how to use it. This strategy aims to exploit eEnablement for commercial and procurement activities and allow the NHS to reap the rewards of technology.

Action: Read the strategy to learn more about how to take advantage of eEnablement.

• NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency: The NHS Procurement eEnablement Strategy (opens new window)

7. Ensuring children are properly safeguarded (Gateway reference number: 8328)

A new report Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs) – A Review of Progress highlights key areas for action for LSCBs, including making sure they are adequately resourced to help keep children safe from harm. The report is accompanied by a joint letter from Secretaries of State at DH, DfES, DCLG and the Home Office setting out the findings of the report and their expectations of LSCBs going forward.

Action: LSCBs can use the report to benchmark their own development and performance, and to commit to actions accordingly.

• General information at Every Child Matters: Change for Children - Local safeguarding children boards (opens new window)

8. Interim guidance to help achieve cost-effective prescribing (Gateway reference number: 8313)

Cost-effective prescribing can free up resources to improve patient care and treat more patients. This guidance, issued on an interim basis pending the outcome a legal challenge by the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries, gives advice on all strategies used to achieve cost-effective prescribing, and specifically on the principles PCTs should adopt in framing and running incentive schemes that reward cost-effective prescribing by their GP practices.

Action: Make sure your PCT is aware of the interim guidance.

• Strategies to achieve cost-effective prescribing: Interim guidance for primary care trusts (PCTs)

9. Working to make the patient choice vision a reality (Gateway reference number: 8341)

The NHS has come a long way in making patient choice a reality, for example, the majority of patients referred for planned treatment report a discussion about choice of hospitals and clinics with their GPs. This new report Choice Matters: 2007/08 – Putting patients in control updates on the implementation of patient choice, focusing on the experiences of patients and NHS staff.

Action: Download the report, or order your copy by email quoting: 281846 Choice matters: 2007/8.

• dh@prolog.uk.com (opens new window)
• Choice matters 2007-08: putting patients in control

Conferences and events - i) what’s new

10. Infection control – help us shape the future (Gateway reference number: 8452)

Use your experience to help us develop the role of Director of Infection Prevention and Control (DIPC) by attending the second event (14 September, Birmingham) led by Professor Brian Duerden and his team in conjunction with the MRSA/Cleaner Hospitals Team. We need your input to make sure this role is as effective and influential as possible.

Action: Register for the event to help us review and refresh the DIPC role.

• Invitation to Chief Executives and Directors of Infection Prevention and Control

Conferences and events - ii) places still available

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Patient safety alerts

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