Mid Staffs NHS Inquiry published
Following on from the 2010 Francis Report, which set out a variety of recommended changed to NHS practices in the light of perceived failures in patient care at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, an Inquiry has been published on February 6.
The Inquiry is intended, in its own words, to ”examine the commissioning, supervisory and regulatory organisations in relation to their monitoring role at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between January 2005 and March 2009. It will consider why the serious problems at the Trust were not identified and acted on sooner, and will identify important lessons to be learnt for the future of patient care”.
You can download the various sections of the report here.
Some responses
As reported by BBC News, the Inquiry lays particular emphasis on:
- The merger of the regulation of care into one body – two are currently involved
- Senior managers to be given a code of conduct and the ability to disqualify them if they are not fit to hold such positions
- Hiding information about poor care to become a criminal offence as would failing to adhere to basic standards that lead to death or serious harm
- A statutory obligation on doctors and nurses for a duty of candour so they are open with patients about mistakes
- An increased focus on compassion in the recruitment, training and education of nurses, including an aptitude test for new recruits and regular checks of competence as is being rolled out for doctors
In addition, you can read what The King’s Fund has identified as factors that characterise a good culture of care by clicking here.
NHS Chief Executive David Nicholson has commented on the Inquiry, in a video which you can see here.
You can also read here a response to the Inquiry from the Royal College of Nursing.
New Clinical Leadership books and Framework
Many of you will be familiar with the NHS Leadership Framework, published fairly recently by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, which, in the III’s own words, “provides a consistent approach to leadership development for all staff in health and care irrespective of discipline, role, function or seniority and represents the standard for leadership behaviours that all staff should aspire to”.
In this light, the OUH NHS library has purchased a considerable number of new books addressing the new emphasis on Clinical Leadership within the NHS. We have made one copy available at both of our library branches, at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre Library and the Horton General Hospital Library.
You can download a list of these books by clicking here.
You can also download a copy of the Leadership Framework here, the Framework’s Self assessment tool here, and the Health & Care Professions Council’s statement on the Framework by clicking here.
Some further reading options have been made available at the NHS Leadership Academy, which you can find here.
New junior doctors to shadow colleagues to improve patient safety
In order to prevent the (previously known, but not officially admitted) rise in patient deaths which occurs every August as a result of mistakes by poorly-trained new junior doctors, the Department of Health is to ensure that all junior doctors dpend four days shadowing experienced colleagues.
The BBC says that “the new system will be introduced in England this August when the new intake of junior doctors is taken on. NHS medical director Professor Sir Bruce Keogh said the move would help improve patient safety. Research shows that death rates go up at the start of August when the new cohort of doctors start work. The shadowing period will be paid and spent mainly with the junior doctors who are already doing the job.”
You can read comment about this from the BBC, from the Telegraph, from Dr Foster Intelligence and the official news report from the Department of Health.
New platform for literature searching
Those of you who perform your own literature searches using the NHS databases (HDAS) will notice that as of today, the feature has been substantially revamped.
The changes are designed to ensure:
- Clearer screen designs and styles
- Advanced search – search screen
- Improved thesaurus layout and functions
- Advanced search – search preview.”
A concise but informative pdf document describing the changes and how to use the new service can be found here.
For more information about literature searches and training, please contact our outreach librarian.
Better integrated care could save the NHS millions
Involving more Allied Health Professionals in patient care could help save the NHS millions and provide better care. The SHA AHP leads for England have compiled a new series of online tools that will help the NHS identify how therapists can intervene at different stages of a patient’s condition to improve patient care whilst saving on costs.
Physiotherapists, dietitians, podiatrists, speech and language therapists and other AHP’s can have a dramatic impact on care for people with diabetes, cancer, musculoskeletal problems and stroke survivors. Using podiatrists to help treat patients with diabetes can lead to a drop in foot ulcers – a serious complication for diabetics – and distressing foot amputations. There are almost 5,000 leg, foot or toe amputations in England every year – each one costs the NHS around £65,000. Investing in providing integrated foot care and bringing this number down could save the NHS almost £300 million.
By working together as a team, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists and dietitians can help stroke survivors regain independence faster and leave hospital and go home sooner. This could save the NHS over £7 million every year.
Online access to The Lancet means new NOC publication freely available
As some of you will know, access to the journal The Lancet has been purchased nationally, and so is now freely available to all NOC users, both in print and online.
You can consult print copies of the Lancet by dropping by to the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre Library. The online version can be accessed from any computer, providing you have signed into an NHS Athens account. For more information about this, please contact the library.
The online version of The Lancet features e-pubs – content which has been accepted for publication by the journal but not yet assigned to a print issue. An article reviewing the current situation and predicting future trends of knee replacement surgery has been recently published in this way, authored by several members of the NDORMS department at the NOC hospital.
You can read the article by clicking here. Please contact the library if you have any problems accessing the material.
Medical opinion about the metal-on-metal hip replacements furore
Much has been written in the press lately about the safety and longevity of metal-on-metal hip replacements.
You can read the latest professional medical opinion on the matter here from the British Medical Journal.
You can also download the advice issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) by clicking here. An introduction by the MHRA to the document can be found here; as you will have heard, it is advised that “patients with a particular type of metal-on-metal hip replacement should be monitored annually for the life of the hip replacement”.
NHS leadership academy to support an increase in women in leadership roles
The NHS leadership academy is pledging to launch a drive to get more women in leadership roles in the NHS.
From the NHS’s Institute for Innovation and Improvement: “This pledge is part of the Academy’s commitment to cultivate inclusive and representative clinical leadership in the NHS. Although women have made up the majority of medical school entrants (on average 60 per cent) for more than two decades, relatively few achieve leadership positions at board level, and this is now mirrored in the emerging Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).
The commitment was made this week at a ‘call to action’ event held by the Academy’s Leadership for Equality team in response to a recent study into the lack of women doctors in clinical leadership roles. The report – called Releasing Potential: Woman Doctors and Clinical Leadership – explores the reasons for the underrepresentation, the implications this may have on emerging CCGs and recommends steps that can help women doctors overcome the challenges they face in achieving leadership roles. It compares the NHS to the private sector where considerable effort is being made to get more women on corporate Boards.”
You can read about the rest of the article here, and comment from the Guardian newspaper here.
GMC produces “Leadership and management for all doctors” guidance document
From the General Medical Council’s website:
“Leadership and management for all doctors (2012) sets out the wider management and leadership responsibilities of all doctors in the workplace, including:
-responsibilities relating to employment issues
-teaching and training
-planning, using and managing resources
-raising and acting on concerns
-helping to develop and improve services.
The guidance comes into effect on 12 March 2012 and will replace Management for doctors (2006).”
You can read further information about, and download, the document here at the GMC’s website, and read further comment here from the BMJ.
Health and Social Care Bill explained
From the Department of Health: “The Health and Social Care Bill is now in its Report Stage in the House of Lords. The Bill is a crucial part of the Government’s vision to modernise the NHS so that it is built around patients, led by health professionals and focused on delivering world-class healthcare outcomes.
“The Department has published a series of factsheets on the Health and Social Care Bill to explain particular topics contained in the Bill, including its key themes.”
You can download documents pertaining to the Bill’s Overview, Key policy areas and Cross-cutting themes by going to this page at the DoH.
