WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
We should reward those who speak up and reprimand those that ‘hide’ issues |
CQC have announced the appointment of Dame Eileen Sills, the Chief Nurse at Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, as the first National Guardian for speaking up safely in the NHS. As the National Guardian, she will help to lead a cultural change, initially within NHS trusts & NHS foundation trusts, so that healthcare staff always feel confident & supported to raise concerns about patient care. The need for an independent National Guardian for the NHS was highlighted in Sir Robert Francis’s Freedom to Speak Up review in February 2015, which found that patients could be put at risk of harm because vital information about mistakes & concerns was not being raised by NHS staff routinely. As part of her role, Dame Eileen will lead, advise & support a network of individuals within NHS trusts, appointed as ‘local freedom to speak up guardians’, who will be responsible for developing a culture of openness at trust level. She will also share good practice, report on national or common themes and identify any barriers that are preventing the NHS from having a truly safe & open culture. |
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CQC appoints first National Guardian for the freedom to speak up in the NHS Cover-ups in ‘bad practice’ lead to repeated mistakes in NHS treatments We seem to have been talking about this for decades Duty of Care to ‘client/patient’ NOT irresponsible managers Remember Staffordshire Hospital Yet again we find the NHS cannot investigate itself Achieving the best outcomes for the NHS requires ‘highlighting the worst’ |
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Many jobs do not require ‘perfect health’ |
With nearly half of disabled people not in work, the TUC has published its manifesto to ‘promote equality for disabled people and challenge discrimination against them’. For some disabled people it is particularly hard to get a job – just 20% of those with learning difficulties, 22% with mental illness or phobias, and only 33% of those who suffer from depression or anxiety are in work. |
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TUC calls for practical action to implement disability equality in new manifesto ‘Disability’ does not mean ‘inability’ in a work situation Like many other medical conditions, epilepsy does not preclude having a successful career Can your design skills help others to help themselves? WAG: Support to work for almost 6,000 people thanks to £7.2m EU-backed programme |
‘Frailty’ may be inevitable with age, but its ‘management’ can still allow an ‘active’ lifestyle |
The concept of frailty as a long-term condition brings with it the opportunity to adopt a much more proactive, person-centred, community-based approach to care. Achieving this requires a new approach to care, particularly through supporting self-care. This new approach will be enabled through a wider awareness of frailty and a greater shared understanding of the condition. The ‘frailty fulcrum’ is an animated model for frailty that has been developed with these opportunities in mind. This model aims to provide a ‘common language’ for frailty that can be shared between individuals, carers and professionals. It offers an interpretation of frailty that is meaningful, relevant & sustainable for people living with the condition, throughout their journeys of care. |
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NHS England: The Frailty Fulcrum Patients are more likely to initially fall after treatment Longer independent living is vital for the NHS funding ‘crisis NICE: Leading a healthier lifestyle can delay dementia, disability and frailty in later life Elderly will reap the benefits of partnership working – Katie Walkin Minister meets award-winning falls prevention nurse Take the frailty challenge! – Professor John Young Robin the robot helps take care of 94 year old Italian Grandma Lea |
Evidently it’s not just little girls that are made of ‘sugar & spice and all things nice’ |
A new campaign has launched encouraging parents to get “Sugar Smart” and take control of their children’s sugar intake. The Change4Life campaign follows revelations that 4-to-10 year olds consume over 5,500 sugar cubes a year, or around 22kg - the average weight of a 5-year-old. A new Sugar Smart app has been launched to help parents see how much sugar there is in everyday food & drink. The free app works by scanning the barcode of products and revealing the amount of total sugar it contains in cubes and grams. Change4Life has created an eye-opening short film to warn parents about the health harms of eating & drinking too much sugar, including becoming overweight and tooth decay. |
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DH: 5 year olds eat & drink their body weight in sugar every year LGA: Bottles & cans of alcoholic drinks should include calorie count signs Make children exercise at school? Childhood obesity demands bold Government action committee report finds New evidence review of measures to reduce sugar consumption Introduce sugar tax to combat obesity crisis, says Unite PHE urges parents to cut sugary drinks from children’s diets New drive to cut the amount of sugar Welsh children eat and drink LGA: Cost of tackling obesity set to rise by tens of millions for councils |
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Project management is not an ‘optional extra’ for successful delivery |
A third of major government projects due to deliver in the next 5 years are rated as in doubt or unachievable unless action is taken to improve delivery. Greater transparency on project performance is required. |
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NAO: Delivering major projects in government: a briefing for the Committee of Public Accounts HMRC 'Aspire' to unachievable transformation HMT: Consultation on National Infrastructure Commission launched |
Another attempt to ‘kick start’ house building |
The PM has announced that the government is to step in and directly commission thousands of new affordable homes. |
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PM: the government will directly build affordable homes LGA: 475,000 homes with planning permission still waiting to be built CLG: Shared ownership boost for budding homeowners CLG: Tens of thousands of homes supported by Housing Zone funding |
Looking down for a better way |
On 20 November 2015, the Space for Smarter Government Programme (SSGP) on behalf of the Earth Observation (EO) Working Group hosted a Discovery Day to explore how EO could transform UK public sector policy delivery. |
techUK: Can Earth Observation (EO) transform UK public sector policy delivery? |
There’s not enough ‘downside’ for management failure |
By the end of the first Tuesday in 2016, Britain’s top bosses will have made more money in 2016 than the average UK worker earns in an entire year. |
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High Pay Centre: Fat Cat Tuesday 2016 Adam Smith Inst - Fat Cat Tuesday is pub economics, not serious analysis TUC: Fat cat pay shows the government is making wrong choices for a fair economy But what do many of them actually ‘do’ that justify such rewards? Have Hedge funds and ‘corporate raiders’ moved into the charity sector? |
Looking for ‘brightest & best’ |
The Civil Service have announced their 2nd round application window for the Government Economics Service, Government Operational Research Service and the Government Statistical Service will open on 1 February 2016. The Fast Stream programme offers talented & ambitious graduates an accelerated route to leadership. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to take on some of the biggest social, economic, political & security challenges facing the UK today and the chance to make a real difference in people’s lives. |
Civil Service Fast Stream second round application window opens 1 February 2016 |
July Shell closure was just a precaution |
The FSA has published 4 investigative reports commissioned following an event that occurred in July 2015 where exceptionally high levels of E.coli were recorded at shellfish beds along the South and South West coasts of England. |
FSA: Shellfish official controls: high E.coli event along South & South West coasts of England |
Everyone must follow the rules |
With reports suggesting the UK could go to the polls this year for the EU referendum, campaign groups are already starting to mobilise support. The ICO’s therefore wants to remind campaigning groups & political parties that they must comply with data protection & electronic marketing rules in the lead up to the referendum. |
ICO: 9 points EU referendum campaign groups should remember if they don’t want to break the rules |
30% of £bns is not small change |
Public procurers will be more able to spot & prevent bid-rigging and save taxpayers’ money with the launch of a new e-learning package. The CMA and the CCS have worked together to create the e-learning module which will help more than 4,000 central government procurers root out attempts to win contracts through anti-competitive conduct. In 2013/14 the UK public sector spent £242bn on procurement of goods & services. Evidence suggests that cartels – of which bid-rigging forms a part – overcharge by up to 30%, costing taxpayers millions of pounds and leading to poor service. |
CMA: Public procurers learn how to spot bid-rigging |
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