General Reports and Other Publications

NAO: According to the National Audit Office, the reorganisation of neonatal services in England has helped improve care for premature and low birth weight babies with fewer babies travelling long distances for suitable treatment.  However, further improvements to the service are being limited by:
* shortages in nursing staff
* a lack of cots in the right place at the right level of care and
* a lack of widespread specialist 24 hour transport
 
Few transport services have separate staffing arrangements from the clinical inpatient services meaning that staff have to leave the unit to accompany a baby on a transfer.  Three quarters of units experienced delays in moving babies and 44% believed that care was compromised as a result.
 
The report concludes that the cost of neonatal services as a whole are not fully understood and there is a mismatch between costs & charges.  Charges per day for an intensive care cot varied from £173 to £2,384.
Press release ~ Caring for Vulnerable Babies: The reorganisation of neonatal services in England ~ Executive Summary ~ RAND Europe: The provision of neonatal services ~ Survey of Neonatal Units in England by the National Audit Office ~ British Association of Perinatal Medicine (BAPM)
 
Cabinet Office: Analysis published by the Strategy Unit (SU) in the Cabinet Office, as part of a project looking long-term at UK food policy, finds that improving our diet could save 70,000 lives a year – 10% of deaths.
 
With a third of cardiovascular cases and a quarter of cancer deaths already thought to be diet-related, raising the amount of fruit and vegetables people eat to at least five a day could have the biggest impact in tackling the problem. In addition, eating more whole grains and oily fish, and consuming less salt, saturated fat and sugar, would all help reduce the impact on our long-term health.
Press release ~ Food: an analysis of the issues ~ Tackling Obesities: Future Choices' Foresight project ~ National Obesity Forum - Care pathway & toolkit ~ BHF National Centre for Physical Activity and Health ~ Useful factsheet ~  NICE: Four commonly used methods to increase physical activity ~ Useful resources ~ Useful publications
 
Socitm:  The NI 14 indicator, even in its revised version published towards the end of the consultation period, fails to follow advice set out in the Varney report on the role of the web in reducing ‘avoidable contact’ with citizens and businesses.

This one of three key points made in the response by Socitm (the Society of IT Management) to the CLG consultation on NI 14, one of 198 new national indicators for local authorities & local area partnerships announced as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review. 
Press release ~ Socitm response to N14 Consultation ~ The New Performance Framework for Local Authorities and Local Authority Partnerships: Single Set of National Indicators ~ NWeGG ~ Website Take-up Service
 
DCMS'Supporting Excellence in the Arts - From Measurement to Judgment' by Sir Brian McMaster sets out new ways to recognise & reward high-quality work in the arts and in museums & galleries, and place risk-taking & innovation at the centre of the funding framework for every cultural organisation, large & small.
 
Specific recommendations in the report include that:
* the board of every cultural organisation should contain at least two artists and or practitioners,
* the ten most innovative cultural companies receive ten-year funding packages to support their ambition, and
* all publicly funded cultural organisations remove admission charges for everyone for one week each year to address the endemic 'it's not for me' syndrome
Press release ~ 'Supporting Excellence in the Arts - From Measurement to Judgment' ~ Arts Council England
 
HMRC: An HMRC-led report on how revenue bodies across the world can achieve a more effective relationship with major taxpayers and their advisors has been published by the OECD. The report has been formally discussed by more than 30 heads of tax administrations at the Forum on Tax Administration meeting in Cape Town on 10 and 11 January 2008.
 
Countries attending have endorsed the Cape Town Communique, which sets out the report's key conclusions & recommendations, as well as broader FTA issues. The meeting will hopefully help African countries develop their capacity to raise revenues, supporting the development of capable governments and making them more accountable to their citizens.
Press release ~ Cape Town Communique ~ HMRC
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