WIREDGOV NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE
| The size of the problem will increase |
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This year’s State of Care CQC report shows that, thanks to the efforts of staff & leaders, the quality of health & social care has been maintained despite very real challenges and the majority of people are getting good, safe care. But future quality is precarious as the system struggles with complex new types of demand, access and cost. However, the changing nature of demand (increasing numbers of older people who are physically frail, many with dementia, more people with long term complex conditions) is placing unprecedented pressure on the system. In acute hospitals, this means more people waiting over 4 hours at A&E; more planned operations cancelled, and people waiting longer for treatment. And in adult social care, the number of beds in nursing homes has decreased across most of England and domiciliary care contracts are being handed back to councils because providers say the funding is insufficient to meet people’s needs; estimates show that one in eight older people are not receiving the help they need. A very small minority of care was found to be failing people (between 1% & 3% of providers across the services CQC regulates) were rated inadequate. There is also much care that needs to improve: 19% (2016: 26%) of adult social care services; 37% (2016: 39%) of NHS acute core services; 24% (2016: 33%) of NHS mental health core services; and 6% (2016: 10%) of GP practices were rated as requires improvement. |
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CQC: Most people are getting good, safe care LGA responds to CQC ‘State of Care’ report LGA responds to ADASS social care budget survey If social care goes down, we all go down, warns NHS Confederation in response to CQC report Patients Association response to CQC State of Care report The King’s Fund comments on the CQC’s annual State of Care report Social Care Ombudsman welcomes strong leadership in CQC State of Care report techUK: Are you an industry leader in health & social care? We want to hear from you Care shouldn’t end at the hospital exit Presumably Public Health spending is being ‘robbed’ to help fill the social care 'black hole' This problem is not going to be solved by taxing a few people a lot more With medical staff costs continually rising, we need other alternatives |
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| ‘Catching’ it early can be beneficial |
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A new £15m programme will see up to 1m people trained in basic mental health “first aid” skills. The programme will improve personal resilience and help people recognise & respond effectively to signs of mental illness in others. The campaign - designed & delivered by Public Health England (PHE) - will help people assess their own mental wellbeing and learn techniques to reduce stress. There will be an online learning module designed to improve the public’s knowledge, skills & confidence on mental health. These are skills for life, as most of us will at some point either experience poor mental health or care for a loved one trying to cope. The campaign will aim to build resilience and give people advice, based on what has been shown to work, so that we can all be better at supporting people experiencing poor mental health. |
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DH: New £15m programme to help train 1m in mental health first aid PM: mental health training for teachers will "make a real difference to children's lives" |
| Don’t ‘feel like death warmed up’ |
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NHS England, Public Health England, the Department of Health and NHS Improvement have revealed measures to boost the uptake of flu vaccinations along with package of new contingency actions to respond to pressures on frontline services this winter. Many people with flu show no symptoms, meaning healthcare workers who feel fit & healthy can unwittingly infect vulnerable patients. Getting vaccinated is the best way to stop the spread of influenza and prevent deaths. It can also ease pressures that a heavy flu outbreak would place on services such as doctors’ surgeries & busy hospital wards, like those seen recently in Australia and New Zealand. NHS staff are already offered the vaccination for free to protect patients and the public. This winter, in recognition of how important this is, NHS England will extend free jabs to up to more than 1m care home workers and has set aside £10m to fund it. |
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NHS England: NHS leaders unveil action to boost flu vaccination and manage winter pressures DH: PHE urges those at highest risk of flu to get vaccinated |
| SME Supplier Locator update... |
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UK Government and public sector spend with SME’s is continually on the increase and by 2020, it is the stated intent of Cabinet Office that £1 of every £3 spent on government contracts goes to SME’s. The past 5 years have seen government make a priority of getting money through its supply chain into the hands of SMEs, by both setting targets and introducing new procurement mechanisms. Against this backdrop, the WiredGov Supplier Locator service has been developed specifically to embrace the SME Agenda and provide the ideal platform for SME’s to promote their services, solutions, accreditation and success stories directly to our ever increasing audience across all government and public sector verticals and Tier 1 suppliers. |
| £50,000 per year |
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The Local Government Association, which represents 370 councils in England & Wales, said official figures show the total number of looked after children reached a new high of 72,670 in 2016/17 - up from 70,440 the year before (a rise of 90 per day). This also represents the biggest annual rise of children in care in 7 years, as stretched children’s services continue to face increasing pressure. The LGA said the figures highlight the urgent need for the Chancellor to use his Autumn Statement next month to address the £2bn funding gap facing children’s services by 2020. |
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LGA: 90 children a day entering care - urgent cash injection needed for children's services Children in care - National Audit Office Children's homes 'cost three times Eton College fees' - BBC News |
| Lies, Dammed Lies and Statistics |
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Policy Exchange welcome the government’s interest in keeping a close watch on ethnic outcomes in the UK - it is what PX have been doing for the past 3 years at the Integration Hub, now based at Policy Exchange. But it is important that their new initiative, the Race Disparity Audit, pinpoints real & not imaginary problems and does not fuel division based on selective analysis of statistics. For instance, the Audit has found that 2 in 3 white British are homeowners compared to just 2 in 5 for ethnic minorities. This finding has been widely published across the media. It is a good example of how what appears on the surface to be a problem recedes when you dig a bit deeper. Once we control for potentially relevant variables (being an immigrant, age, occupational class, region, English proficiency) then a completely different picture emerges: all Asian groups (including Chinese) are now more likely than the white British to own homes. |
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PX: Welcome for government’s ethnic outcome audit — but a warning too Cabinet Office: PM launches world-leading project on impact of ethnicity on everyday life CBI response to the Government's race disparity audit CBI: Attracting & encouraging talent from all backgrounds builds inclusive workplaces Provides a break from the cyber world too! DfE: Plans launched to drive social mobility in Opportunity Areas Social Mobility Commission: Government housing schemes have little impact on social mobility NCFE: Study finds young people are disillusioned by social mobility NIESR: Inequality Social Mobility and the New Economy Ban unpaid internships that last longer than four weeks - IPPR Social Mobility Commission: First-time buyers relying on parents to get onto housing ladder |
| Do you have the expertise & time? |
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The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) is looking to appoint 2 new expert members specialising in climate science and the power sector. Committee on Climate Change seeks new members |
| Remember the cruelty involved in creating these objects |
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The UK will impose a ban on ivory sales to help bring an end to the poaching of elephants, under plans announced by Environment Secretary Michael Gove. The proposals will protect elephants & help combat poaching by removing opportunities for criminals to trade illegally-poached ivory. These plans will be subject to a 12-week consultation and cover items of all ages, not only those created after a certain date. |
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Defra: Government sets out plans for ivory ban WWF: UK ivory trade ban must be confirmed within a year EU News: Ending poaching and trade in raw ivory |
| Another small step into the Solar system |
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The UK Space Agency has awarded more than £3m to UK researchers to support the exploration of life on Mars and examine the polar regions of the Moon. A further £230,000 of funding has been awarded to studies into experiments that could be built & flown to the International Space Station (ISS), which could potentially support future human exploration of space. |
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UK Space Agency: More than £3m invested in space exploration Dstl is looking for out-of-this-world space scientists to join its programme STFC: Bringing Mars down to Earth The amount of data to be gathered is unlimited POST: Risk Assessment of Nanomaterials STFC: UK to design new instrument to measure climate change and study star formation in space |
| Unfortunately the ‘goalpost’ is continually moving |
| Britain is to become the safest place in the world to be online thanks to new government proposals. The Internet Safety Green Paper aims to tackle the growing dangers, while continuing to embrace the huge benefits & opportunities the Internet has brought for British citizens |
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DCMS: Making Britain the safest place in the world to be online CBI: "Digital levy could end up being a blunt instrument to promote online safety" They know ‘How to’, but many lack judgement/knowledge of the risk & dangers |
| Help is available |
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UK small businesses can shield themselves from potential online attacks thanks to a new guide created by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). NCSC: Small business urged to follow five simple steps to thrive online |
| Celebrating the ‘heroes’ of the Back Office |
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The best in public sector ICT were recognised at the gala evening for the Socitm Awards 2017. Presented at the annual Socitm conference dinner, these awards recognise professional technology members who have demonstrated outstanding excellence, innovation, improvement and service to the public sector. |
| Michael Fish remembered |
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While the ‘Great Storm’ of 15 & 16 October 1987 is still one of the most talked about weather events in living memory it was also a wake-up call for the Met Office and other organisations. It helped identify gaps in severe weather forecasting capability and highlighted the need for better communication with partner organisations such as emergency services and the public in general. |
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Met Office: 30th Anniversary of the 1987 Storm BBC weatherman Ian McCaskill dies aged 78 | Television & radio ... |
| Several £10k prizes to be won |
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The ESRC is pleased to launch the 2018 Celebrating Impact Prize. The Prize is an annual opportunity to recognise & reward the successes of ESRC-funded researchers and other ESRC associates who have achieved, or are currently achieving, outstanding economic or societal impacts. Application deadline is 16:00 on 23 November 2017. ESRC launches 2018 Celebrating Impact Prize |
| A safer solution |
| A remotely operated machine has been sent into Sellafield’s most hazardous nuclear waste store for the first time. The ‘Avexis’ will help dislodge & clear waste from the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo. |
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NDA: The new robot helping clean up Sellafield BEIS: Nuclear Safeguards Bill introduced NAO: The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Magnox contract |
| Honour their Sacrifice |
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On Sunday 12 November 2017, the National Service of Remembrance will be held at the Cenotaph on Whitehall, London. Starting at 11am, the service will commemorate the contribution of British & Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen & women involved in the 2 World Wars and later conflicts. No tickets or passes are needed for the event and the public are welcome to watch the ceremony from the pavements along Whitehall and Parliament Street. There will be video screens north of the Cenotaph, near the green outside the main Ministry of Defence building & mounted outside the Scotland Office and south of the Cenotaph on the corner of King Charles Street. |
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DCMS: Find out how you can join the commemorations on Sunday 12 November |
| Getting technical post-Brexit |
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The Education Secretary, Justine Greening, has announced the first 3 T levels, in Digital, Construction, and Education & Childcare, which will help deliver a generation of home-grown talent post-Brexit. The first of the new qualifications, with content developed by leading industry professionals from companies including Rolls Royce, Fujitsu and EDF, will be taught from 2020, with the full set of T levels introduced by 2022. First announced in 2016 and backed by £500m every year in additional funding, the qualifications are a key milestone in transforming technical education in the UK and extends the offer for young people to study a technical qualification at level 3 - equivalent to A levels. |
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| An improved service at a sad time |
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The Probate Service is now accepting online applications from personal applicants. HM Courts & Tribunals Service: Personal applicants can now apply for probate online |
| It’s ok to ‘Dip soldiers’ again |
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The Food Standards Agency has announced a change to its advice about eating eggs - infants, children, pregnant women and elderly people can now safely eat raw or lightly cooked eggs that are produced under the British Lion Code of Practice. Food Standards Agency: New advice on eating runny eggs |
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