Guidance Notes and Best Practice Guides

ICO: A report released last week aims to help schools ensure they are handling pupils’ personal information in-line with the law. The report has been written by the Information Commissioner’s Office, and gives practical advice on how to comply with the Data Protection Act.
 
It was prompted by a survey of 400 schools across 9 local authority areas that showed that whilst awareness of data protection laws was generally good, schools need to pay more attention to complying with data protection law.
Press release & links
 
LGA: Councils will now be able to gauge their residents' perception of their local area, crime & community cohesion and compare satisfaction rates directly with other local authorities, thanks to new guidance.   The Local Government Association have launched ‘Are you being served?', a guidance document containing a standard set of resident satisfaction questions and outlining the steps that should be taken to ensure the results can be compared with those of other local authorities.
 
The guidance is designed to suit local circumstances and minimise the cost to councils of collecting the data.  It does this by allowing councils to use only those questions that are of interest locally, and fit these questions in with existing survey plans.
Press release & links
 
NICETaking medicines such as painkillers over a prolonged period of time to relieve headaches can actually make symptoms worse, according to latest guidelines from NICE.   Headaches are one of the most common complaints presented to GPs & neurologists, with more than 10m people in the UK experiencing them frequently or at regular intervals. 
 
NICE's first clinical guideline on headaches says GP and other healthcare professionals should consider ‘medication overuse headaches' as a possible cause for worsening symptoms among patients who have been taking such drugs for three months or more. It defines medication overuse headaches as when certain drugs are taken up to 15 days per month for three months or more.
Press release & links
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