Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides
Newswire – GC: The Gambling Commission (GC) recently published advice for gambling operators and a short leaflet aimed specifically at small businesses to enable them to comply with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA). It is a requirement of POCA that all gambling businesses identify, assess & minimise the risk of customers using money obtained illegally (the proceeds of crime) to gamble in their business.
Where such activity is suspected, operators must report their concerns to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) via a Suspicious Activity Report. Failure to report known or suspected money laundering activity may result in prosecution.
Press release ~ Duties and responsibilities under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 - advice to operators (excluding casino operators) - September 2009 ~ Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 - Information for small businesses - September 2009 ~ Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) ~ Gambling Commission
FSA: The Food Standards Agency recently updated its fish & shellfish advice to help consumers make informed, sustainable choices, as part of its commitment to taking sustainability into account in all of its policy making. As the evidence for the health benefits of fish consumption remain clear, Agency advice is unchanged: people should be eating at least 2 portions of fish a week, one of which should be an oily fish.
But the advice is being set more firmly in the wider sustainability context and consumers are now being asked to think about the choices they make when they choose which fish to eat by, for example:
* trying to choose fish that has been produced sustainably or responsibly managed
* looking for assurance scheme logos
* being adventurous & eating a wider variety of fish species
Press release ~ Fish and shellfish ~ Advice on fish consumption: benefits and risks ~ Sustainable development ~ Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) ~ Sustainable Consumption Roundtable
CQC: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has urged healthcare organisations to make better use of the patient information that they collect, so care can be shaped to the individual needs of each patient. A CQC study looked at how healthcare organisations manage personal data and found that healthcare organisations generally did not systematically use the non-clinical information they collected on patients to tailor healthcare services to the needs of individual patients.
The notable exceptions were found in mental health providers. Deficiencies in the way in which personal information is handled can result in poor patient care, including delays in access to care (through missed appointments), loss of privacy and independence.
The report says that sharing personal information effectively is a fundamental part of an integrated healthcare system. The study found that healthcare organisations supported this in principle, but there were technical & cultural barriers to sharing patient information between healthcare and social care settings.
Press release ~ The right information, in the right place, at the right time: A study of how healthcare organisations manage personal data ~ Making a difference: Safe and secure data sharing between health and adult social care staff ~ Information Governance
LSIS: The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) has launched a new online Self-assessment & Improvement Planning guide, to support providers to build their capacity to improve. Self-assessment is critical to evaluating & improving the quality of learning provision and organisational development. It also informs the thinking of funding bodies and Ofsted inspection teams.
Although the Guide should save practitioners time, its main purpose is to provide them with tools to carry out self-assessment and improvement planning. The guide provides up-to-date references to current policy (including changes to inspection), useful links to information and examples of effective practice.
The Guide is relevant to all types of post-16 provision. It is principally for LSC funded providers, but there are tools & links which may be of use to Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) funded providers who need to check that their self-assessment meets DWP requirements.
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published final guidance on the use of pemetrexed for the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The guidance recommends pemetrexed in combination with cisplatin as an option for the first-line treatment of patients with NSCLC that has spread to the surrounding tissues or other parts of the body and if it has been confirmed as being a type of tumour known as an adenocarcinoma or large-cell carcinoma.
People who are currently being treated with pemetrexed for NSCLC, but who do not meet this criteria, should have the option to continue their therapy until they and their clinicians consider it appropriate to stop.
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published final guidance recommending the use of ustekinumab as a treatment option for adults with severe plaque psoriasis. It is recommended if the person is assessed as having severe disease that has not responded to standard systemic therapies including ciclosporin, or for adults who cannot use those therapies.
Treatment with ustekinumab should stop if an adequate response has not been achieved by 16 weeks (after the start of treatment) as defined by assessment based on severity of the psoriasis and quality of life.
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued guidance on promoting the social & emotional wellbeing of young people in secondary education. Between the ages of 11 & 19 years, young people undergo numerous physical & emotional changes which will help shape their adult life.
Recent reports suggest that one in ten young people are unhappy at school and over a third are worried about being bullied. The new guidance on social & emotional wellbeing in secondary education outlines how secondary education providers and service commissioners can help protect & nurture young people by providing a friendly, supportive environment that meets their social and emotional needs.
Press release ~ Promoting young people's social and emotional wellbeing in secondary education ~ Top teen concerns are losing weight and fitting in
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published guidance on the use of sunitinib for gastro-intestinal stromal tumours (GISTs).
The guidance recommends sunitinib as a possible treatment for people with unresectable (non-operable) or metastatic (where the cancer has spread) GIST if they have already tried imatinib treatment but it has stopped working, or was not suitable. Sunitinib is recommended on the basis that the cost of the drug for the first treatment cycle is covered by the manufacturer.
Press release ~ Sunitinib for the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumours ~ Imatinib for gastrointestinal stromal tumours
NICE: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has published guidance on the uptake of immunisations (including targeted vaccines) in people younger than 19 years. The guidance aims to tackle inequalities across England by offering practical recommendations to increase the number of children & young people who are up-to-date with their vaccinations.
Evidence shows that groups of children and young people who are at particular risk of not being fully immunised include, those who have missed previous vaccinations (whether as a result of parental choice or otherwise), looked after children, those with physical or learning disabilities, those from non-English speaking families and younger children from large families.
Press release ~ Guidance on differences in the uptake of immunisations (including targeted vaccines) in people younger than 19 years ~ Department of Health’s ‘Green book’ ~ NHS immunisation website
LDA: Londoners are being given a helping hand to access jobs & training opportunities linked to the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games. Podium Skills London is offering sector specific jobs & training information in areas such as construction, creative media, and hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism (HLTT) by working closely with colleges & universities.
The website includes an innovative employment forecast providing users with information about the types of skills needed to deliver the 2012 Games, a course search selection, which enables users to link into training courses related to key sectors and information, plus case studies relating to the sector specific skills needed by the 2012 Games.
