Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides

AcasAcas has launched a new guide to help make businesses less vulnerable to equal pay claims through the use of job evaluation.  The guide, which considers the benefits & risks of undertaking job evaluation, explains how a job evaluation risk analysis should be established and implemented.
 
Job evaluation - which determines the relative importance of a number of different jobs whilst avoiding prejudice or discrimination - can be a complex process.  This guide will help managers and employee representatives decide whether introducing a job evaluation structure is feasible and appropriate for their business.
Press release ~ Advisory booklet - Job evaluation: considerations and risks ~ CIPD – Job Evaluation ~ Unite - JE
 
HEFCE: A national credit framework and associated guidance for its implementation across higher education in England has been published.  It establishes an agreed set of specifications for describing and comparing learning achievement using credit.
 
Using the guidance, higher education institutions are encouraged to engage with the framework and to include a description of the credits associated with their programmes by the start of the 2009-10 academic year.
Press release ~ Further information about the framework and guidance
 
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), in collaboration with the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), has issued guidance to improve the safety of patients in the NHS in England & Wales by reducing the risk of pneumonia in patients aged 16 years and older who are on a ventilator.

Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) can occur as a complication of mechanical ventilation, particularly when ventilation is required for a prolonged period of time and in patients who are critically ill.  VAP is a significant problem - data from the USA suggests that it represents 31% of all intensive care unit (ICU)-acquired infections and that it occurs in 9–27% of all intubated patients.
Press release ~ Technical patient safety solutions for ventilator-associated pneumonia in adults ~ National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA)
 
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently published final guidance on the use of Entecavir and Telbivudine for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B.  This guidance does not apply to people with chronic hepatitis B who also have hepatitis C, hepatitis D or HIV.
Press release ~ Entecavir for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B ~ Telbivudine for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B
 
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently published guidance on the use of routine antenatal anti-D prophylaxis for rhesus D negative women in the NHS in England and Wales.
 
Women who are rhesus negative are missing a substance called D antigen on their red blood cells.  Most of the time this is not an issue, but if they become pregnant and their baby is rhesus positive (has the D antigen on their blood cells) it may cause problems.
Press release ~ Pregnancy - routine anti-D prophylaxis for rhesus negative women (review of TA41)
 
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently published its final guidance on the use of ranibizumab (Lucentis) and pegaptanib (Macugen) for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
 
Ranibizumab is given by injection into the eye and works by blocking a substance that causes new blood vessels to grow in the eye (known as vascular endothelial growth factor or VEGF), thereby stopping the bleeding at the back of the eye which causes the wet form of AMD.
 
Pegaptanib is not recommended for people with wet AMD.  Healthcare professionals should not immediately stop prescribing pegaptanib for people who were already taking it when the guidance was issued.  These people should be able to carry on taking pegaptanib until they and their healthcare professionals decide that it is the right time to stop treatment.
 
Lucentis is an expensive drug, costing more than £10,000 for each eye treated, but it has been estimated that the costs related to sight impairment for patients treated with Lucentis are around £8,000 cheaper than for patients who receive best supportive care over a 10 year period.
 
As part of its interventional procedures (IP) work programme NICE has also issued guidance on the implantation of miniature lens systems for advanced age-related macular degeneration this month.
Press release ~ Pegaptanib and ranibizumab for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration ~ Implantation of miniature lens systems for advanced age-related macular degeneration
 
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the National Collaborating Centre for Primary Care have recently  published a guideline on the care & treatment of adults and children/young people with familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH), a type of high cholesterol that is caused by an inherited genetic mutation.
 
The condition is estimated to effect 1 in 500 people – as common as type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes - and the severely raised cholesterol levels, if undetected, often result in unnecessary illness and early death from coronary heart disease.  The use of DNA testing and cholesterol testing will help to ensure that children, young people and adults with this condition are identified and offered timely advice and treatment.
Press release ~ Identification and management of familial hypercholesterolaemia ~ National Collaborating Centre for Primary Care
 
HO: New advice for parents on preventing their children from becoming involved in gangs has been published by the Home Office. The 8-page booklet - Gangs: You and Your Child - details practical steps parents and carers can take if they suspect their child may be involved with gangs and who to contact for help & support.
 
It was developed with the help of the Association of Chief Police Officers, local authorities, parenting organisations like the Family and Parenting Institute and community groups such as Mothers Against Violence.
Press release ~ Gangs: You and Your Child ~ Association of Chief Police Officers ~ Family and Parenting Institute ~ Mothers Against Violence ~ Tackling Knives Action Programme ~ It doesn’t have to happen ~ From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing Our Communities Together ~ Tackling Gangs Action Programme ~ Talk about Knives
Spotlight on women at Serco – Anita’s story