WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

HSE:  Might come in handy for Party Political Leaders - Line Managers play a vital role in the identification & management of stress within the organisation.  They are likely to see the problems causing the stress first hand, will be in the best position to notice changes in staff behaviour that may indicate a stress-related problem and will often be the first point of contact when an individual feels stressed.

It is essential that line managers are equipped with the correct skills & behaviours to be able to manage these situations.  The Health and Safety Executive, in association with the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development and Investors in People, has designed a tool to allow managers to assess whether they currently have the behaviours identified as effective for preventing & reducing stress at work; its aim is to help managers reflect on their behaviour & management style.

The HSE, with colleagues from CIPD and IiP, is currently developing a suite of tools for both line-managers and those who train & support them in that role.  Part of this development will include testing them with potential users. You can get involved in developing and refining these tools.  
Press release ~ Line Manager Competency Indicator Tool (Interactive spreadsheet) XLS, 496KB ~ Line Manager Competency Indicator Tool PDF, 98KB ~ More information on developing other tools and to register your interest ~ More tools and templates ~ CIPD: Stress at work ~ DH – Mental Health ~ National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health ~ Mental Health, The Last Workplace Taboo ~ Depression Alliance – Depression Awareness Week ~ Acas advice leaflet – Stress at work ~ NHS Choices: Stress at work is a risk factor for depression ~ HSE - Stress: Why tackle work-related stress? ~ HSE: What are the Management Standards for work related stress? ~ TUC: Stress

WAG:  Welsh Youngsters MEND their ways - A FREE healthy lifestyle course for Welsh youngsters will open its doors shortly across Wales.  With 1 in 3 children in Wales above a healthy weight, the MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition...Do it!) programme aims to help local children become fitter, healthier & happier, whilst having fun.

At the 10-week after school programme, children aged between 7 & 13 and their parents will learn about healthy eating and how to enjoy physical activity.  The FREE course, which was devised by child health experts at Great Ormond Street Hospital and is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government, also includes a visit to the local supermarket where the children & their parents will learn how to read food labels.

The MEND Programme consists of 2 hourly sessions twice a week over a 10 week period.  Each session includes a one hour interactive workshop for children & parents, and a one hour fun physical activity session for the children whilst the parents have an adult discussion.

An independent study published in Obesity Journal found that children who attended the MEND Programme experienced long-term health benefits, including sustained weight loss and improvements in cardiovascular fitness & self-esteem – See also Newswire – CUK item in ‘General Reports and Other Publications’ section.
Press release ~ WAG: Child obesity  ~ NICE: Preventing obesity: a whole-system approach: call for evidence form ~ Final scope ~ BBC: 2,000 obese children offered help ~ WAG – Health and social care ~ Mind, Exercise, Nutrition... Do It! or MEND for short ~ Healthy and Active Lifestyles in Wales ~ Appetite for Life ~ Climbing Higher - creating an active Wales ~ WAG – Sport and recreation ~ WAG – Health improvement ~ Wales Active ~ NICE - Promoting physical activity for children and young people ~ 'Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives toolkit: A Toolkit for Developing Local Strategies' ~ Active Lifestyle Project - Phase 1 Fact Sheet (R/KS1) ~ Healthy Child Programme ~ Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: A Cross-Government Strategy for England (scroll down for report: Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: Two Years On) ~ Walk Once a Week (WoW) ~ NAO: Tackling Child Obesity - First Steps ~ Information Centre for Health and Social Care - Obesity ~ Child Health - obesity ~ Swim4Life ~ NICE - Obesity: guidance on the prevention, identification, assessment and management of overweight and obesity in adults and children ~ Foresight Tackling Obesities: Future Choices Project ~ Physical Activity and Nutrition Networks Wales

Newswire – KF:  Emphasis on ‘Quality’ of Local Services in future - Ahead of this month’s deadline for NHS trusts to submit draft quality accounts, The King’s Fund has published; Accounting for quality to the local community.  This new research highlights the potential of quality accounts to improve local public accountability, but only if scepticism about their value can be overcome through genuine public involvement.

With the main parties’ election manifestos emphasising stronger local accountability and public involvement in health, the report suggests that existing mechanisms for achieving these aims have so far had limited impact.  Quality accounts – reports for the public on the quality of NHS services – aim to increase public accountability on quality and encourage NHS boards to focus on improving quality.

With all NHS trusts due to submit draft quality accounts by 30 April 2010, the research identified 3 key challenges to ensure their success: Involvement, Trust and Presentation. 

The pilot quality reports used for the research were heavily criticised, emphasising the need for quality accounts to be readable, provide relevant contextual and comparative information, explain data clearly and avoid the use of jargon. The report contains a number of recommendations for trusts in preparing quality accounts.
Press release ~ Accounting for quality to the local community: findings from focus group research ~ SHA: Democracy Involvement and Accountability in Health ~ 'NHS Autonomy and Accountability: Proposals for Legislation' ~ Health Foundation: Response to 'NHS Autonomy and Accountability: Proposals for Legislation' ~ Total Place approach ~ Overview and Scrutiny Bill ~ Centre for Public Scrutiny ~ CLG: Strengthening Local Democracy ~ 'Strengthening Local Democracy' ~ CRC response to 'Strengthening Local Democracy' ~ CRC ~ CRC briefing

Newswire – IDeA:  Poor health restricts ability to join mainstream society? – Lack of access to co-ordinated healthcare services within prison & on leaving prison can significantly increase the likelihood of re-offending & further imprisonment.  A half of those imprisoned are not registered with a GP prior to being sent to prison.  This is one of the findings in a new case study report from the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA).

Prison can exacerbate the factors that affect re-offending.  Mental & physical health can deteriorate.  A third of prisoners lose their house.  Two-thirds lose their job. More than a fifth experience increased financial problems and over two-fifths lose contact with their family.

The report highlights Tower Hamlets which achieved Beacon status for its work on re-offending.  Its strategy aims to facilitate a reduction in re-offending at a local level. It draws together & builds on the knowledge & expertise of those already engaged in resettlement work. Its key theme is ‘addressing need through partnerships’.
Press release ~ Offender and ex-offender health ~ TH: Reducing re-offending ~ NOMS: Reducing Re-offending Pathways - Health~ Lets talk about it - A review of healthcare in the community for young people who offend ~ 'The Bradley Report - Lord Bradley's review of people with mental health problems or learning disabilities in the Criminal Justice System' ~ Written ministerial statement ~ DH: Offender Health ~ Lord Carter's Review of Prisons ~ Reducing Re-Offending through Skills and Employment: Next Steps ~ RCN: Young offenders and mental health ~ Mental Health as a Risk Factor ~ Developing oral communication and productive thinking skills in HM Prisons ~ Straight talking: citizenship and offender learning ~ NAO: Managing offenders on short custodial sentences ~ NOMS Alliances  ~ NOMS: Education, training and employment ~ NOMS: Accommodation ~ Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) ~ EDM - Communication Difficulties and Young Offenders ~ BBC NEWS - Communication skills 'cut re-offending' ~ Working with employers to Reducing Re-offending – A Practitioners’ Toolkit ~ Locking up or giving up? Why custody thresholds for teenagers aged 12, 13 and 14 ~  Reducing Re-offending Pathways ~ Toolkit: Local Solutions to Reduce Re-offending by Adult and Young Offenders ~ Read the former Chief Inspector of Prisons, Lord Ramsbotham’s, statement to the House of Lords on the value of speech and language therapy in prisons (scroll down to column 1447)

Newswire - UNICEF:  No hope of improvement unless this most basic of needs is met - Countries with the greatest unmet sanitation & water needs most often receive little or no aid. 

Between 1997 & 2008, aid commitments for sanitation & water fell from 8% of total development aid to 5%, lower than commitments for health, education, transport, energy & agriculture, according to the latest UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) report, launched by UN-Water and the World Health Organization (WHO).

This drop occurred despite compelling evidence that achieving the water & sanitation target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) would lower health-care costs, increase school attendance and boost productivity. Despite these clear benefits for human & economic development, many countries & donors are still not allocating sufficient attention and resources to water & sanitation.
Press release ~ UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation & Drinking-Water (GLAAS) ~ Discover more about World Water Day ~ UN-Water Global Annual Assessment of Sanitation & Drinking-Water (GLAAS) ~ LIFT case Studies ~ DFID: Water & sanitation target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ~ UN: Water Activities ~ UKaid’s work on water & sanitation in developing countries ~ Meeting the MDG drinking water & sanitation target : the urban & rural challenge of the decade ~ Water Aid ~ World Commission on Water ~ BBC Analysis: Why water can be a path to peace rather than wars

Gain greater visibility into where funding is spent using Dashboards - With today’s focus on financial management, public sector organisations are facing increased pressure to be accountable for taxpayers’ money. That means greater transparency into where funding is being spent, whether spending is effectively aligned with strategy and how shared services can be exploited to best effect.

Dashboards from SAP BusinessObjects lend themselves readily as a performance management tool that can be used to track the effectiveness of services and hold managers responsible for service delivery. Performance targets can be established and progress reviewed against them on an ongoing basis, with operational corrections made as needed.

Visit the SAP BusinessObjects dedicated dashboards resource centre and interact with real-life examples of public sector dashboards. Discover how accessing real-time information through dashboards can empower a more active style of leadership, promoting scrutiny, ownership and prioritisation and a more collaborative approach to improving public services.

Click here to find out more.

For information on forthcoming public sector events please click HERE to visit the WGPlus Events Calendar
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