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Policy Statements and Initiatives
DH: The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Professor Sir John Tooke have launched recommendations on how the NHS can ensure that more patients receive the most effective treatments. According to them, by better harnessing the expertise of medical staff & relevant bodies, the NHS will be able to enhance & incentivise more effective and efficient clinical care.
These recommendations come from the Report of the High Level Group on Clinical Effectiveness, which the CMO asked Professor Sir John Tooke to set up following on from his 2005 report Waste not Want Not.
Sir John and the group found that there is no single solution to address the issue of clinical effectiveness, but that national co-ordination of activityand support for sharing of activity & information at local level are both vital.
The Department of Health is announcing a call for proposals to pilot 'National Institute for Health Research Academic Health Centres of the Future'. These are intended to bring together academia and the NHS across the health community covered by the Centre, in order to develop innovative models for conducting research and also translating research into practice and improving outcomes for patients.
Press release ~ Report of the High Level Group on Clinical Effectiveness ~ Waste not Want Not 2005 ~ Lord Darzi’s interim report on Our NHS, Our Future ~ NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement
BERR: Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks has commented on the security of energy supplies, as a new report - The Energy Markets Outlook - provides energy market information on security of supply, looking forward over a fifteen-year time span.
The intention is to help develop a shared understanding of the longer-term outlook for energy supply and demand, and to help understand emerging risks that could affect security of supply.
Press release ~ The Energy Markets Outlook ~ Security Of Energy Supply - BERR ~ Joint Energy Security of Supply (JESS) working group report ~ National Grid ~ Energy Intensive Users Group ~ Ofgem ~ Oxford Institute for Energy Studies ~ Association of Electricity Producers
DCSF: Ed Balls, Children, Schools and Families Secretary, has launched the National Year of Reading by urging employers to be creative and turn their old smoking rooms into 'mini libraries.' He also wants parents to spend ten minutes a day reading to their children to inspire a love of reading.
Starting in January 2008, the National Year of Reading is a campaign that encourages everyone of any age to discover the pleasure of reading. It will be run by the National Literacy Trust .and it will involve a series of national & local level events focused around themed months, such as 'father to son', 'alternatives to books' and 'classics and modern literature'.
From January to March organisations and authorities will be asked to take up the Reading Challenge, to pledge & plan their support with activities beginning in April 2008.
Press release ~ National Literacy Trust ~ Reading Challenge ~ Bookstart ~ Teachernet - Every Parent Matters ~ Reading Connects ~ MLA - Reading ~ Quick Reads ~ BBC - RaW ~ SLA – Boys into Books ~ Reading Agency
ScotGov: A £25m aid package to help Scottish farmers and crofters recover from the recent F&M outbreak has been announced. The main elements of the package cover:
* Scottish Ewe Scheme
* Sheep dip disposal
* Funding for the Sheep Welfare Scheme
* Marketing and promotion
* Help for farmers and other members of rural communities who have suffered
* Crofters
Press release ~ ScotGov F&M update ~ Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institute ~ Royal Highland Education Trust ~ Sheep Welfare Scheme ~ Quality Meat Scotland ~ Scottish Crofting Foundation
DH: The Department of Health has introduced the new Contract Research Organisation model Clinical Trial Agreement (CRO mCTA), which replaces the many different contracts companies had to negotiate with individual hospital trusts.
The new contract is a tripartite agreement between the pharmaceutical company sponsoring the trial, the contract research organisation managing it and the NHS Trust where the trial takes place. It will complement the bipartite agreement model used by pharmaceutical companies and NHS Trusts published in 2006.
