NICE: Standards are essential, but ensuring people abide by them is the ‘hard bit’ - NICE's first quality standards for social care will help support people with dementia to live well, and improve the health & wellbeing of looked-after children & young people.
The standards launch as NICE becomes the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and officially takes on the work of bringing evidence-based guidance & standards to the social care sector, as outlined in the Health & Social Care Act 2012.
The dementia quality standard contains 10 statements which are high-priority areas that will help people with dementia to live well. Statements include ensuring that people with dementia, with the involvement of their carers, have choice & control in decisions affecting their care & support, and that they can participate in a review of their needs & preferences when their circumstances change.
NICE's second quality standard for social care contains 8 statements that will improve the health & social, educational & emotional wellbeing of looked after children & young people in care. 9 other social care topics are currently in the pipeline with the Department of Health consulting on a further 15 topics.
HO: Giving them ‘Something to do´ - Community projects aimed at getting youngsters off the streets and into sport have been recognised at the football industry’s annual Kickz Awards. Policing Minister Damian Green attended the event at Stamford Bridge last week to present the Outstanding Kickz Delivery award to Portsmouth FC’s Kickz Team.
Under the scheme, local projects run sport, arts, media & youth work sessions, which aim to break down barriers between the police & young people. Some areas have seen up to a 60% reduction in anti-social behaviour as a result of the scheme.
PC&PE: At last it will ‘pay’ to save even a little bit for your old age - In a report published last week, the Work and Pensions Committee welcomes the improvements in retirement income that the new Single-tier State Pension will bring. The Committee warns, however, that the key to the policy’s successful implementation lies in the Government informing the public as soon as possible about how it will affect individuals.
The Report notes that the Government not only imposed an extremely tight timetable, but brought forward the implementation date by a year, after the Committee had completed taking evidence. It highlights that the change in the implementation date has significant implications, particularly for pension schemes & employers, who now have 1 year less to prepare for the ending of contacting-out.
DH: It is meant to provide a ‘dignified end’, not ‘cost savings’ - The independent review of the Liverpool Care Pathway (LCP) for dying patients is holding sessions for families & carers. The sessions, in which the review panel will listen to families’ & carers’ experiences of the LCP, are taking place in London on 7 May, Preston on 16 May and Bristol on 20 May 2013. Please email the review if you wish to attend.
In addition to the sessions, the public was asked to send details of their experiences of the LCP, both good & bad. Views are also wanted from professionals, either as individuals or on behalf of organisations. The deadline for written comments was 5 April 2013.
FCO: The problem is it is a very profitable crime - On 31 January 2013, the British Embassy in partnership with Save the Children Lithuania, launched a campaign against human trafficking ‘Two Little Girls’. The short animated film, made in consultation with 5 Albanian women who were trafficked into the UK and rescued by Poppy project, aims to warn young women of the dangers of being trafficked.
CQC: Let us hope that they are up to the task - From 1 April 2013, NHS GP providers in England are being regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) for the first time. Changes to regulations mean primary medical care services including GP providers are required to register with the CQC. Of the 7,607 providers that applied, 99.4% (7,563) have been registered in time for the April deadline. To date, CQC has proposed to refuse to register a total of 8 GP providers.
FCO: Another mass invasion? - The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) report ‘Potential Impacts on UK of Future Migration from Bulgaria and Romania’ was published recently. The report, commissioned by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, draws together existing research on the potential impacts on the UK of future migration from Bulgaria & Romania after the lifting of EU transitional controls on 31 December 2013.
HSE: Some people will use any excuse to stop other people enjoying themselves - A panel set up to expose ‘health & safety’ excuses has clocked up 150 cases in its first year – helping the public fight back against ‘jobsworths’ who use safety laws as a convenient ruse to ban legitimate activities. Among the more crackpot cases exposed as myths by the panel in 2013 alone were:
* The bars that refuse to pull pints in glasses with handles
* The burger that could not be cooked rare
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Out with the Old and in with the Cloud - A Public Sector Transformation Case Study - With an annual budget exceeding £300 million and 7,500 staff, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the UK’s largest teaching Trusts.
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