WGPlus Archive Newsletter Section

OFT:  Healthy profits when drugs are up to ten times more expensive - The OFT has recommended that the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) should be reformed, to ‘deliver better value for money from NHS drug spend and to focus business investment on drugs that have the greatest benefits for patients’.

 

The NHS spends about £8 billion a year on branded prescription medicines and the OFT's study identifies a number of drugs where prices are significantly out of line with patient benefits, including treatments for cholesterol, blood pressure and stomach acid.

 

Specifically, some drugs currently prescribed in large volumes are up to ten times more expensive than substitute treatments that deliver very similar benefits to patients.

 

The OFT estimates that it would release in the region of £500 million of expenditure that could be used more effectively, giving patients better access to medicines and other treatments which they may currently be denied for conditions such as cancer.

Press release ~ Market Study Report ~ OFT ~ Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) ~ Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry ~ Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) ~ The NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices ~ PPA -Drug Tariff Guidance ~ 'Better care, better value' indicators

 

DH:  More care promised but not until later this year - Formally launching details of the Government's New Deal for Carers, Ivan Lewis announced a range of measures (previously outlined in the Our Health, Our Care, Our Say White Paper launched in January) designed to recognise the essential work that carers carry out across the country, including:

·         providing short-term home based respite care for carers in crisis or emergency situations in every council

·         establishing a national helpline for carers

·         a review of the 1999 national carers strategy

·         support for the development of an experts carers programme

 

The Department of Health is currently working up a specification for the helpline with carers organisations and will let the contract later this year.

 

The Expert Carers programme (which will also be launched later this year) is intended to provide a service to meet the personal needs of carers, including; carers rights, stress management, services for carers, information for carers, communication skills and advocacy.  It will also provide skills to care as safely & effectively and possible, such as; moving & handling, first aid and medication.

Press release ~ Our Health, Our Care, Our Say White Paper  ~ Carers UK ~ Carers Rights Day ~ DH: Caring about Carers ~ Caring for someone : Directgov ~ Carers Information ~ Disabled Children (Short Breaks) Bill ~ Powys Carers Service ~ DWP: Caring for someone? ~ Carer's Allowance ~ The Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act ~ Counsel & Care: Help and Advice for Older People ~ National strategy for Carers ~ Strategy for Carers in Scotland ~ BBC Moneybox item on need for joined-up approach for Carers Allowance

 

NAO:  Another ‘not fit for purpose’ crime-fighting organisation? - A report published by the National Audit Office found that the Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) was set up without a feasibility study and has failed to achieve its targets for the recovery of criminal assets & for becoming self financing by 2005-06. However, the Agency has met its target for disrupting criminality.

 

The Agency has spent £65 million and recovered assets worth £23 million.  Although the Agency now expects to become self-financing by 2009-10, on current performance it is in danger of missing that target too.

 

The data the Agency collects & uses on cases is incomplete and held across several disparate databases and, as a result, the Agency could not conclusively say how many cases had been referred to it.  Case management is informal, with no targets for the completion of tasks and there is no time recording in place to assess the staff resources spent on each case.

 

Between September 2005 and September 2006 a quarter of the staff who had worked for the Agency had left.  In some specialist disciplines this figure was higher: in the same year, almost 50% of legal staff and 40% of training & development staff had left.

NAO press release ~ ARA press statement ~ NAO Report on Asset Recovery Agency ~ Executive Summary ~ Asset Recovery Agency ~ Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ~ Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) ~ National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) ~ Written Ministerial Statement on proposals to merge ARA with SOCA and the NPIA

 

NAO:  Will City Academies provide the best chance for a ‘Blair legacy’? - A NAO report to Parliament concludes that if the trends in raising attainment continue, the Academies programme will meet its objective of raising attainment in deprived areas, as some of the main findings include:

·         Most academies have made good progress in improving GCSE results and the programme is on track to deliver good value for money

·         Performance is rising faster than in other types of schools although results in English and maths are low

·         Academies have cost more to build than other schools, but most academy buildings are high quality

 

The full impact of the first academies will not be known for several years because all pupils who have taken GCSEs in academies have spent time in other secondary schools, but evidence so far indicates that performance is improving compared with the predecessor schools.

 

Most academies’ results remain well below the national average, but good progress is being made towards that target and Academies are raising the achievements of pupils from deprived backgrounds.  Taking account of pupils’ personal circumstances and prior attainment, academies are performing substantially better than other schools.

 

Two thirds (17 out of 26) of the first academy buildings have suffered cost overruns averaging £3 million (the other nine were within their original budgets) and academies have cost an average of £24 million (£27 million for those that are entire new buildings) which makes them more expensive than other secondary schools.

Press release ~ NAO: The Academies Programme ~ Executive Summary ~ NAO:  Improving poorly performing schools in England ~ The Standards Site: Academies ~ Partnerships for Schools - Academies ~ NUT on the Web ~ Report on Secondary Education Fifth Report of Session 2004-05

 

DCLG:  Planning to watch an appealing movie tonight? - A new short film about the processing of planning appeals is now available to view on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.  It highlights to Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) & developers that the Inspectorate aims to fix all inquiry & hearings dates within targets set by Ministers and, over the last year, has more than halved the period within which typically such events are arranged.

 

It also reveals that the registration of new appeals is now up to date and the Inspectorate is on track to meet Ministerial targets for the current financial year, with the substantial backlogs of previous years behind it. 

 

Other key points are:

·         developers should avoid submitting appeals until they are ready with all necessary information

·         developers are urged to avoid "case creep": i.e. submitting major amendments to the appeal scheme at or close to the opening of the inquiry

·         appellants and LPAs are encouraged to fully agree Statements of Common Ground and submit them well before the start of the inquiry

·         parties should ensure that their Rule 6 Statements of case contain all of the required detail to inform the inquiry process

·         appellants and LPAs are advised to comply with the appeals timetable or face the Inspector determining the appeal on the material available

Press release ~ The Planning Inspectorate's film ~ Local Government Channel website  ~ Local Government Association Urban Conference and Exhibition ~ The Planning Inspectorate ~ Planning Portal – Appeals ~ National Standard Planning Application form  ~ DCLG – Reform of the planning system ~ Statements of Common Ground

 

CRC:  The Future Roles of Social Housing in England - The Commission for Rural Communities (CRC) has welcomed publication of the findings of the independent review of social housing by Professor John Hills.  Rural communities just like others need a blend of social, intermediate and market housing, in order to support mixed & sustainable communities.

 

In this context, the CRC support the need for a re-assessment of the role of social housing in the 21st century and it is right that policy seeks to make sure that social tenants are not left behind by other asset owning members of society.

 

Where rural communities, particularly smaller villages and hamlets, do differ from towns & cities is that their stocks of social housing are significantly smaller.  In addition, housing in many rural areas is unaffordable and completely inaccessible to would-be first time buyers.

 

CRC research shows that, over the coming years, we can expect that some 45% of newly forming young rural households will not be able to access their local housing market.  In the most desirable communities, where in-migration and second home ownership are at their most significant, this figure is worse still.

Press release ~ Hills Review of social housing ~ CRC research - Calculating housing needs in rural England ~ CRC - Housing in Rural Areas ~ Affordable Rural Housing Commission ~ Taking forward the recommendations of the ARHC ~ Rural Services Review 2006 ~ Rural White Paper Our Countryside: the future ~ Rural Services standard ~ Affordable Rural Housing website ~ Planning for Sustainable Communities in Rural Areas ~ Report of the ARHC ~ Guardian article ~ Speech by Ruth Kelly

 

Home Office:  Government shoots from the hip at gun crime - The Home Secretary has announced a three-point plan following a gun crime summit at 10 Downing Street that is intended to:

·         ensure ‘tough’ punishments for those who use other people to look after weapons

·         improve technology for linking weapons to incidents and

·         increase funding for community groups

 

Alongside the measures outlined above, the Home Secretary announced a review of the legislation on gangs, guns & knives, focussing in particular on gangs.  The review will cover; sentencing policy generally, including in relation to juveniles, gun supply issues, gang membership and what new powers might be needed.

 

The Government will now focus on three main areas for action:

·         Policing - ensuring the police are equipped to tackle gun crime

·         Powers - giving the police and courts the powers to deal with offenders

·         Prevention - empowering communities to take action themselves to prevent gun crime & gang culture and offering support to parents to challenge their children's behaviour

 

In April the government will introduce a new offence of 'using someone to mind a weapon', meaning that people who pass weapons to girlfriends, younger siblings or other gang members will still face prosecution.

 

The Home Secretary also confirmed that he would lay a Parliamentary Order to ensure 18-20 year olds are subject to mandatory minimum five year sentences in the same way as over-21s and implement a ban on the sale, manufacture and importation of realistic imitation firearms later this year

Press release ~ Home Office - Community safety ~ Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs) ~ Youth Justice Board ~ The Safer London Foundation ~ Met Police – Operations Tiger and Trafalgar ~ Met Police crime figures ~ MPA: Issues - Gun crime ~ Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) ~ The Connected Programme ~ The Connected Fund ~ The second Connected conference: Building on our work together to tackle guns, knives and gang-related crime in England and Wales

 

DH:  Trust me, I’m a health professional - The Government has published proposals - Trust, Assurance and Safety, The Regulation of Health Professionals in the 21st Century - on how to regulate health professionals and ensure patient safety in the UK and, as part of this all health professionals will be required to prove their fitness to practice every 5 years.

 

Patricia Hewitt also announced her intention to consult on proposals for an overhaul of the processes for death certification, a key recommendation of the Shipman Inquiry in order to ensure a unified system of death certification that provides much more effective scrutiny & stronger safeguards for the public.  A national advisory group will be set up to oversee the implementation of the White Paper and Shipman response. 

 

Proposals such as the development of standards and testing methods for revalidation, work to develop 360⁰ feedback tools, and secondary legislation to change the governance of the regulators will be implemented immediately.

 

Other areas such as the establishment of the General Pharmaceutical