WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE

HSO:  A sacred cow which is in danger of losing its sanctity? - In a new report, Health Service Ombudsman, Ann Abraham says the NHS is failing to treat older people with care, compassion, dignity & respect.  The report - Care and compassion? - is based on the findings of 10 independent investigations into complaints about NHS care for people over the age of 65 across England.

It serves to illuminate the gulf between the principles & values of the NHS Constitution and the felt reality of being an older person in the care of the NHS in England.  Her investigations highlight common failures in pain control, discharge arrangements, communication with patients & their relatives and ensuring adequate nutrition.

The Ombudsman concludes: ‘These often harrowing accounts should cause every member of NHS staff who reads this report to pause and ask themselves if any of their patients could suffer in the same way.  I know from my caseload that in many cases, the answer must be “yes”. The NHS must close the gap between the promise of care and compassion outlined in its Constitution and the injustice that many older people experience.'
Press release ~ Care and compassion? ~ NHS Confederation comment ~ Patients Association comment ~ CQC comment ~ Patients Association: Listen to patients, Speak up for change ~ PA: Patients Rights ~ NHS Constitution ~ King’s Fund: Enhancing the Healing Environment ~ KF: The Point of care ~ DH: Enabling Excellence ~ Spotlight on Complaints report ~ NAO: Feeding back? Learning from complaints handling in health and social care ~ NHS complaints procedure ~ Good practice ~ Is anyone listening? A report on complaints handling in the NHS ~ The Complaints Toolkit – Handling Complaints in NHS ~ Hit squads of matrons to probe patient care ~ Better communications can aid patient care ~ National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death ~ NCEPOD press release ~ CMO(2009)08,CNO(2009)05: All Wales food record chart and nutritional care pathway ~ Free to Lead, Free to care ~ DH – Better Hospital Food programme ~ Improving Nutritional Care: A joint Action Plan ~ Council of Europe Alliance (UK) ‘10 Key Characteristics of Good Nutritional Care’ ~ ScotGov: Hospital nutrition care standards ~ National Patient Safety Agency: Patient care and treatment (including nutrition) ~ NPSA: Other Patient safety topics ~ CQC calls for better patient care by ensuring the right patient information is in the right place, at the right time ~ Scottish Patient Safety Programme ~ National review of hospital standardised mortality ratios (HSMR) ~ Rehabilitation after critical illness guideline ~ Dignity in Care Campaign ~ Design Bugs Out ~ The Healthcare Quality Strategy for NHSScotland ~ DH – Older People’s Services ~ Patient Environment Action Teams (PEAT) ~ A taste for improving patient safety and quality of life ~ What's food got to do with it? - the Dewsbury Link Nurse Project ~ Listening, learning, working together?: A national study of how well healthcare organisations engage local people in planning and improving their services  ~ NHS never events list extended to 25

Newswire – CBI:  Waste not, want not in a world of increasingly scarce (& more expensive) resources - The CBI is urging the Government to be bold in its approach to waste policy and recognise its potential to deliver easy wins on a number of big policy areas from meeting climate change targets and bolstering energy security, to helping unlock infrastructure investment. 

Launching a new report (Making Ends Meet: Maximising the value of waste), the CBI highlights the benefits of moving to a zero-waste economy.
Press release ~ CBI: Making Ends Meet – Maximising the value of waste ~ Local Authority Recycling Committee (LARAC) ~ Defra: Waste and Recycling ~ Valpak Retail WEEE Services ~ Distributor Take-back Scheme (DTS) ~ WEEE advisory body ~ Designated collection facilities (DCFs) ~ Enforcement bodies ~ Draft Recycling, Preparation for Re-use and Composting Targets ~ WAG: Towards Zero Waste ~ Energy from Waste Potential in Scotland ~ ScotGov Waste Policy ~ Zero Waste Scotland ~ Masdar City, the world's first zero carbon, zero waste, car-free city ~ Press release ~ Masdar City initiative ~ The Environmental Industries Commission ~ Environmental Industries - BIS ~ UK CEED ~ UKFEI - UK Forum for Environmental Industries ~ Scottish Environmental Industries Association ~ The Environmental Industries Federation ~ Zero Waste Places Initiative ~ Reverse Vending Systems ~ Household Waste Prevention Action Plan (Scotland) ~ Waste Aware Scotland ~ Finding Useful Raw Materials From Recycling Waste ~ Resourcities ~ Recyclenow: Why recycling matters ~ Construction waste recycling in London ~ Waste: recycling product-by-product guide ~ Building low carbon homes from recycled waste press release ~ Affresol: Thermo Poly Rock (TPR) ~ EILT website ~ Biomass Energy Centre ~ Carbon Trust - Biomass Heat Accelerator ~ ScotGov – Review of Flanders ~ Public Waste Agency of Flanders (OVAM)

DfT:  Councils get new powers to give fraudulent disabled parking abusers the ‘Blues’ - The Government is implementing major reforms to crack down on drivers who abuse the disabled parking system as part of the a comprehensive changes to the Blue Badge scheme.  The Government estimates that badge fraud is now costing the UK an estimated £46m a year and is giving Councils new powers to tackle this growing issue.
Press release ~ Reform of the Blue Badge Scheme ~ Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) ~ National Fraud Authority Blue Badge report ~ DfT: Blue Badge Scheme ~ A Modern Blue Badge Scheme for Wales: Action Plan for key stakeholders ~ WAG: Blue Badge Scheme ~ Directgov – Blue Badge Map ~ Office for Disability Issues ~ National Association for Disabled Supporters (NADS) ~ Blue Badge on your mobile demonstration video ~ Motability ~ Leonard Cheshire Disability ~ Blue Badge scheme ~ Rob Smith’s review of the Blue Badge Scheme ~ Blue Badge Network ~ Mobilise

DWP:  Applying the ‘KISS principle’ to welfare payments - The Welfare Reform Bill has been launched.  Central to the Bill will be the introduction of Universal Credit, which is intended to ‘simplify a benefits system that has become unmanageable, make work pay and help release millions of people from the misery of welfare dependency and break intergenerational cycles of worklessness’.

Alongside the publication of the Bill, the Prime Minister and Secretary of State announced a review into the sickness absence system.  With 300,000 people off work every year claiming sickness-related benefits, the Government has asked David Frost and Dame Carol Black to consider whether with the right & and support more people could stay in work in some form.
Press release ~ Welfare Reform bill ~ Explanatory notes ~ ScotGov response ~ Comment from Wales Office ~ CSJ comment ~ CAB response ~ The Work Foundation comment ~ Policy Exchange whether it is fair to leave government debts for our children to pay and other related ‘fairness’ issues ~ CIPD comments on Absence Management aspect of reform ~ TUC comments on reform of Disability Living Allowance ~ Health, Work and Wellbeing ~ Details of speech by PM ~ DWP’s call for Sickness Absence review ~ ‘KISS principle’

DUK:  With growing obesity rates the need for this service can only get bigger - Diabetes Week takes place from 12–18 June 2011, and this year Diabetes UK is asking its supporters to hold a Big Diabetes Week Quiz to raise money for their Careline service.  The Diabetes UK Careline is one of the ways the charity talks with people about diabetes. The service currently receives over 30,000 calls, letters and emails each year.

You can help us to reach this target by holding your own Big Diabetes Week Quiz, either in your workplace, local school, pub, or community centre. We have all the materials you need available on our website, including promotional posters, quiz sheets, quiz questions and template press releases to send to your local media.
Press release ~ Diabetes Week Events Diary ~ Diabetes UK Facebook page ~ Diabetes Week web pages ~ Register for and view the 'How To Why To Guide for Insulin Pump Therapy' ~ What is Type 1 Diabetes ~ Find out more about insulin pump therapy ~ Artificial pancreas ~ NHS atlas ~ Guide to diabetes ~ How Diabetes UK helps ~ How to get involved ~ Diabetes in care homes – Awareness, screening, training ~ Good Clinical Practice Guidelines for Care Home Residents with Diabetes ~ More information on diabetes care in care homes ~ Scottish Diabetes Research Network ~ Diabetic foot problems - inpatient management of diabetic foot problems ~ Type 2 diabetes: prevention and management of foot problems ~ The National Diabetes Audit ~ NICE: Type 2 diabetes - the management of type 2 diabetes (partial update)

HO:  This year has already shown what ‘people power’ can do - The coalition government has launched the first stage of plans to give members of the public the right to comment on every aspect of new legislation.  People can now comment on the government's Protection of Freedoms Bill by visiting a new website.  This new pilot public reading stage means your comments will be factored into MP's considerations of the legislation as part of its parliamentary passage.
Press release ~ Protection of Freedoms Bill - have your say

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