Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides
DCSF: New advice on how to get young people involved in their school and learn important citizenship skills, for example through 'buddying' younger pupils and encouraging them to study or improve behaviour has been published.
The revised guidance looks at best practice from schools and local authorities across the country who have involved students in decisions which affect them, resulting in a positive impact on local schools and communities. It also provides advice on the principles and practice that support such involvement.
DH: Nurses could double the amount of time they spend on direct patient care and slash unnecessary paperwork thanks to £50m investment in a project to improve efficiency on wards, Health Secretary Alan Johnson has claimed.
The Productive Ward programme, designed by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, has been piloted in 4 trusts and there are 10 learning partners, one in each SHA. Evidence from the pilot sites shows the Productive Ward can:
* Double the amount of time nurses spend on patient care
* Cut handover time by a third
* Reduce medicine round time by 63%
* Cut meal wastage rates from 7% to 1%
Press release ~ NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement ~ Releasing Time to Care Productive Ward programme ~ Pilot in Yorkshire and Humber
CLG: Peer mentoring has made a difference in preventing homelessness by providing support at a crucial time for young people who may be experiencing personal difficulties or family breakdowns. Family intervention and mediation can also be key in stopping young people at risk from making the step to leaving home by working together to identify the problems and move together to a solution.
The Government now wants to encourage all local authorities to offer these services as part of a new strategy to drive down youth homelessness, alongside other approaches such as supported lodgings.
Press release ~ National Youth Homelessness Scheme ~ Strategy in practice - joint work with Housing and Children's Services ~ Targeted Youth Support ~ On the Right Track? - Consulting young people about the National Youth Homelessness Scheme ~ Tackling Youth Homelessness - Policy Briefing 18
HSE: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has issued a safety alert aimed at homeowners, tenants, landlords and heating professionals following five incidents in the last 5 years, where redundant solid fuel back boilers exploded. A number of these incidents led to injury and sadly in one case a fatality.
The risk can arise when a disused boiler has been left at the back of a fireplace and a coal or wood fire is lit in front of it. This can mean the boiler heats up causing the boiler casing to explode. If you have a redundant back boiler you should not light an open fire in front of it.
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