Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides

Newswire – FC: New advice for woodland owners worried that their oak trees might be suffering from acute oak decline disease has been published by the Forestry Commission. The condition can kill a tree in as little as 4 or 5 years and it has been found affecting hundreds of trees across central & south-east England and parts of Wales.
 
In response to increasing public concern, they have written a guide, entitled ‘Managing Acute Oak Decline’, which gives advice, based on the knowledge they have gained so far, on how to recognise the disease, what to do about it, and how to minimise the risk of spreading it.
Press release ~ Managing Acute Oak Decline ~ Forest Research’s Disease Diagnostic & Advisory Service
 
MCA: A consortium led by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has launched - The Human Element: a guide to human behaviour in the shipping industry - a major new Guide for the shipping industry which explains how human behaviour lies at the centre of both the profits & the losses of the shipping industry – and what companies can do about it.
 
Put together by organisational psychologists, the Guide shows how human behaviour is at the heart of the shipping industry, generating its successes & its failures.  The Guide provides insight, explanation & advice to help everyone involved in the global shipping industry manage the human element more safely, more effectively, and more profitably.
Press release ~ The Human Element: a guide to human behaviour in the shipping industry (5.8Mb)
 
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance on mental wellbeing in the workplace could help to keep employees healthy, as latest figures from MIND reveal that the recession has left British workers stressed & depressed. 
 
Additionally, NICE has published guidance on the management of long-term sickness absence and incapacity for work, on promoting physical activity in the workplace, and on workplace interventions to promote smoking cessation that could help to improve the health of workers affected by the recession.
Press release ~ Promoting mental wellbeing at work: Full Guidance ~ Promoting mental wellbeing at work: Quick reference guide ~ Promoting mental wellbeing at work
 
NICE: NICE has recently announced that it has recommended 2 treatments (infliximab & adalimumab) for people with severe Crohn’s disease.  The guidance approves use of the drugs for people who have not responded to, who are intolerant of, or are unable to take more commonly used therapies to treat the condition. This final guidance now replaces local recommendations across the country; the NHS has 3 months to start implementing this new guidance.
Press release ~ Use of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF a) inhibitors (adalimumab, and infliximab review) for Crohn's disease (review of TA40)
 
Ofcom: If you’re confused by call charges or don’t know your 03 from your 0845 numbers, then Ofcom have the perfect guide for you. Their guide looks at some of the common numbers in use today, what they are used for and how much it costs to call them from a BT landline.
Press release ~ Guide to telephone numbering
 
Newswire – ROSPA: The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is leading a new initiative which will reduce employers’ confusion about which H&S qualifications workers need to hold and which training courses they need to undertake.
 
Unveiled at Safety and Health Expo, the National Core Competence Benchmark (NCCB) is a collaborative initiative supported by a wide range of trade associations and is open to any training course provider.  One of its innovative elements will be a website which lists courses and qualifications that are accredited by trade, safety or examination bodies and ranks them against recognised training frameworks.

Legally, employers are wholly responsible for judging who is, or is not, competent.  This is an onerous duty that is hampered by the lack of any clear standards.  The website will include a tool for establishing development needs for employees holding specific positions, and it benchmarks the relative level of courses.
Press release ~ National Core Competence Benchmark (NCCB) ~ Safety and Health Expo
 
ScotGov: New guidance is being issued to Scotland’s health boards which will bring in a uniform national policy on introducing newly-licensed medicines. All boards will have to follow the same guidance when considering whether to make drugs available on the NHS.
 
The guidance covers all medicines, including drugs which have either not been approved or not yet considered by the Scottish Medicines Consortium - which approves drugs for general use on the NHS.  

The guidance will apply wherever a clinician makes an individual request to a board for a drug not approved by the SMC to be used for a patient.  Health boards will also be expected to make their policies public and to help patients through the process on request.
Press release ~ Introduction and availability of newly licensed medicines in the NHS in Scotland ~ Scottish Medicines Consortium
 
CRC: Last week saw the publication of the National Association of Local Councils’ (NALC) new communications toolkit aimed at local (parish & town) councils. Supported by the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), the toolkit offers local councils a wealth of information on which to base their communications strategies.
Press release ~ National Association of Local Councils (NALC) ~ Please click here for the toolkit ~ Commission for Rural Communities (CRC)
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