Policy Statements and Initiatives

DH: An extra £2m funding, announced during World Breastfeeding Week (1-7 August), will hopefully help improve the UK's breastfeeding rate which is among the lowest in Europe.
 
The £2m will help support hospitals in disadvantaged areas to achieve Unicef Baby-Friendly Status, a set of best practice standards for maternity units & community services on improving practice to promote, protect and support breastfeeding.  Progress will be monitored through measuring the prevalence of breastfeeding at 6 to 8 weeks in all Primary Care Trusts as a key indicator of Child Health & Wellbeing PSA target.
Press release ~ NHS - Breastfeeding ~ Breast Buddy ~ National Breastfeeding Week ~ DH – Maternal and Infant nutrition ~ Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition ~ SACN position statement 2008 on the ‘Infant Feeding Survey 2005: A commentary on infant feeding practices in the UK’ ~ Unicef Baby-Friendly Status ~ Antenatal care: routine care for the health pregnant woman ~ National Collaborating Centre for Women’s and Children’s Health ~ Guidance for midwives, health visitors, pharmacists and other primary care services to improve the nutrition of pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and children in low income households ~ Healthy Start scheme ~ Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) report 'Update on Vitamin D' ~ Draft Agency Guidance Notes on the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula (England) Regulations 2007Draft Agency Guidance Notes on the Infant Formula and Follow-on Formula (Scotland) Regulations 2007 ~ Food Standards Agency - Babies ~ Directive 2006/141/EC
 
DWP: ‘New’ research concludes that more than 90% of people with health problems can be helped to return to work by following a few principles of good health care and work place management.  Simple measures, alongside structured support for those who need extra help, could reduce long term sickness absence and the number of workers going on to long term incapacity benefits by up to 60%.
 
The review - Vocational Rehabilitation: What works, for whom, and when? - shows effective return to work depends on two key strands:
* Healthcare which includes a focus on work - this means early intervention which is tailored to meet the individual needs
* Workplaces that are accommodating - incorporating a proactive approach to supporting return to work and the temporary provision of modified work (The government have proposed doubling the amount of money they make available to employers to adapt the workplace to accommodate employees with specific needs)
 
The recent Green Paper No One Written Off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility included proposals to give people more support through a personalised back to work programme to address their health & skills needs precisely to address these issues.
 
In addition, further independent research from the Social Policy Research Unit at the University of York and the Institute for Employment Studies in Brighton has shown with the right support people with mental health problems can get back into work and for many having a job may actually help with their recovery.
Press release ~ Vocational Rehabilitation: What works, for whom, and when? ~ Research Report No 513: Mental health and employment ~ Healthy Working Lives: Vocational Rehabilitation Standards ~ DWP – Health and Work ~ Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) ~ Green Paper No One Written Off: reforming welfare to reward responsibility ~ Experiences and Expectations of Disabled People ~ Evidence on the effect of Pathways to Work on existing claimants ~ The Pathways Advisory Service: Placing employment advisers in GP surgeries ~ Pathways to Work ~ Employ ability ~ DWP – Employ ability ~ Employers' Forum on Disability ~ Intervention guidance on workplace health promotion with reference to physical activity ~ Promoting physical activity in the workplace: business case ~ Guidance on the promotion and creation of physical environments that support increased levels of physical activity ~ Stress: Why tackle work-related stress? ~ Line Managers' Resource ~ HSE - Managing sickness absence & return to work ~ Workplace Health Connect ~ Managing sickness absence in the public sector ~ Seven steps to managing absence in the workplace ~ New approaches to cutting staff absence ~ Rehabilitation: the missing link in workplace safety and sickness absence ~ Health, work and well-being – Caring for our future A strategy for the health and well-being of working age people ~ HSE – Back pain in workplace ~ Institute for Employment Studies in Brighton
 
BERR: A new Government drive to crack down on rogue employers who abuse vulnerable workers and undercut honest businesses has been unveiled, along with the final report of the Vulnerable Workers Enforcement Forum. The strategy includes:
* a single telephone helpline for vulnerable workers to report abuses to enforcement agencies
* breaking down barriers so agencies can share vital information to catch rogue employers and
* a £6m information campaign to raise awareness of employment rights and how to enforce them
 
The crack down will be overseen by a new Fair Employment Enforcement Board which will co-ordinate the work of the government enforcement agencies covering minimum wage, health & safety, employment agencies and gangmasters.
Press release ~ Vulnerable worker enforcement forum: final report and Government conclusions ~ Interim report ~ Vulnerable Worker Enforcement Forum ~ Working in the UK: Know your rights and where to get help and advice ~ BERR - Employment Bill
 
ScotGov: Improving dental facilities across Scotland will be a top priority for health boards who have just been allocated £75m of capital funding (split £35m for 2009-10 and £40m for 2010-11), which represents an increase of more than 17% over the two years on 2008-9's baseline target funding of £32m.

Following the funding announcement, NHS boards across Scotland must now prepare detailed proposals on how they wish to spend their allocations, for ministerial approval.  Plans must be submitted early in October.
Press release ~ ScotGov – Health and Community care ~ ScotGov - NHS Dentistry and Oral Health ~ Scottish Dental
 
DH: People with learning disabilities are to benefit from £96m in Government funding that will help provide them with better healthcare, community support and employment prospects. The revenue funding (ring-fenced for three years from 2008/09 until 2010/11) is intended to payfor costs incurred as a result of people with learning disabilities moving from ‘campuses’ to ‘housing in the community’.
 
This will include:
* support for health action planning
* workforce training & development
* advocacy support for more inclusive community based activities and
* help to get people into employment
 
This follows on from the £175m announced last year for Primary Care Trusts to help with the capital costs of closing institutional NHS accommodation and providing what the government claims is ‘more appropriate community arrangements for those with learning disabilities’, which is intended to give people the opportunity to develop important social skills and the freedom to make everyday decisions.
Press release ~ Valuing People ~ Our Health Our Care Our Say ~ MENCAP ~ Mansell Report ~ Healthcare Commission – Learning Difficulties information ~ Protection of Vulnerable Adults protocols
 
WAG: Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones has confirmed that the government will back the work of the 'dotCYM' campaign in bidding for a national domain name for Wales on the world-wide web.  Provision of £20,000 is being made to develop the campaign during this financial year following a decision by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in June to admit a range of new names to the internet addressing system.
 
Success for the campaign would mean that people in Wales could chose to have a Welsh internet domain address .cym as well as .uk, .eu, .com or .org.  This would give organisations, companies and individuals the option of a distinctive address on a par with those of other nations, including Catalonia, which gained a domain after a campaign led by puntCAT, an umbrella organisation representing 98 language and cultural movements.
Press release ~ WAG - ICT ~ dotCYM cyf ~ Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) ~ One Wales programme ~ puntCAT
 
HO: People who take drugs to enhance their physical appearance, including those who aspire to take part in the 2012 London Olympics, are being warned against using anabolic steroids as the Government announced its intention to add a further 24 anabolic steroids and two growth promoters to the list of those already classed as Class C drugs.
 
These drugs are already banned by sports authorities but they are not illegal at present. The Government recognises the harms associated with the use of anabolic steroids and the move is to ensure that its drug controls are up to date, with the latest evidence of harms and availability of this group of drugs.
 
The Government also announced its intention to consider controls for the chemical precursors Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL) and 1,4 butanediol (also known as 1,4-BD).  When ingested rapidly, they convert to gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), which is a Class C drug and has been cited in cases of date rape.
Press release ~ Talk to Frank ~ World Anti-Doping Agency ~ ACMD report on gamma-butyrolactone (GBL)ACMD advice on steroids to ministers ~ Drug Use, Smoking and Drinking Among Young People in England 2007
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