NHS Institute Alert to the dangers of ineffective change programmes

The NHS Institute for Improvement and Innovation has launched a monthly service on its website to provide evidence reviews on various aspects of NHS procedure and practice. Called Alert, the service is based on research from a wide range of sources.

Swine flu clinical package

This clinical package is a set of tools for use in a pandemic situation by frontline healthcare professionals. The tools have been designed to be used during the phase of a pandemic when there is increased demand for clinical care.

Review of patient safety for children and young people

This review highlights some of the patient safety issues for children, young people and their families, outlines current National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) partnership work streams, and identifies key actions for stakeholders.

Access to IVF increases as new guidance makes system fairer

The NHS is taking a step closer to ending regional variation in the provision of IVF to couples who are unable to conceive naturally, public health minister Gillian Merron has announced.

The number of local health services offering three cycles of IVF treatment has increased by 22 percentage points in the past year, according to a new survey Now, 27 per cent of primary care trusts offer three full cycles of treatment - up from just five per cent in 2007. The full story is on the Department of Health website.

Transforming health and social care: the Social Enterprise Investment Fund

This document contains information and guidance about the Department of Health's Social Enterprise Investment Fund and how the fund supports social enterprises in health and social care.

World-class commissioning data packs coming soon

NHS Information Centre is to provide data packs on behalf of the Department of Health to support commissioners throughout the commissioning cycle, and also during the world-class commissioning (WCC) assurance process.

This online resource will bring together data from multiple sources to provide a profile of your organisation with benchmarking against national averages to help monitor trends and make comparisons.

Regulated fertility services: a commissioning aid

An expert group on commissioning NHS infertility provision was established by the Department of Health at the beginning of 2008, with the aim of identifying the barriers to the implementation of the NICE fertility guideline and helping PCTs move towards the implementation of the guideline. This guidance was produced by the expert group.

SFE amendment DDRB

The Statement of Financial Entitlements has been amended to take account of increases to certain fees and allowances from 1 April 2009, linked to the recommendations in this year's Doctors' and Dentists' Review Body report.

Directed enhanced services (DES) payments for learning disabilities

This new paper provides four examples using different possible scenarios of how payments for the learning disabilities directed enhanced service should be calculated.

An FAQ on the learning disabilities DES is also available.

Easy to read guide to 2009 changes to QOF rulesets

This document is in an easy to read format and is designed to help individuals working with the QOF rulesets to track the changes made from version 13 to 14. The changes listed are not exhaustive and users are reminded to refer to version 14 of the QOF rulesets when implementing any of the rules

Health Checks from Community Pharmacy

Dr Keith Ridge has written to all pharmacy stakeholders, outlining the significant opportunity for community pharmacy to help tackle inequalities and play a major role in preventing ill health. A copy of the letter can be found here. The template is designed to help PCTs commission health checks from community pharmacy.

New regulator for pharmacy announced

Health minister Mike O'Brien has announced that a new, independent regulator for pharmacy professionals and pharmacy premises in Great Britain will be set up in spring 2010. The new General Pharmaceutical Council will develop new standards to provide a clearer framework within which to work to ensure that public health, safety and wellbeing continue to be at the centre of pharmacy services.

General Pharmaceutical Council: response to consultation

On behalf of the Secretary of State for Health and Scottish Ministers, the DH has published the response to consultation on proposals in the draft Pharmacy Order 2009 to establish a General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) in Great Britain. The response outlines key decisions on the establishment of the GPhC, the new regulatory body for pharmacy, in 2010.

Written ministerial statement 18 June 2009

In a written ministerial statement given on 18 June 2009, health minister Mike O'Brien outlined progress made on some of the proposals contained within last year's Pharmacy White Paper, 'Pharmacy in England: Building on Strengths - delivering the future'. A summary is available on the PCC website.

Steele review findings announced

Earlier this week Andy Burnham issued a written ministerial statement announcing the findings of the Steele review. The review concluded that dentists must be given clearer incentives for preventing ill health, improving access and raising quality of care standards.

Key recommendations from the review team are:

• a national set of quality measures will be developed to ensure that all dentists provide the same high standard of patient care
• dentists will have to provide a guarantee on work and pay for replacement treatment should it fail
• the dental contract will reward dentists for compliance with a nationally agreed set of clinical guidelines
• a per patient annual payment will become part of the contract to encourage dentists to take on more patients
• dentists will be paid for preventative care as well as for more invasive treatment
• patients will have a right to register with an NHS dentist for both emergency work and continuous care
• the local NHS will give patients a much clearer understanding of what they are entitled to expect from NHS dentistry and how to access it

The review acknowledges that access to NHS dentistry is improving. Further recommendations from the report will be piloted in existing dental practices next year.

Last call for salaried dental services data

The salaried dental benchmarking project is now in its final week of data collection. The deadline for submissions is Friday 26 June. The FAQ has been updated. Further details from elizabeth.stopp@pcc.nhs.uk.

Which? dental survey published

A survey by consumer organisation Which? illustrates the problems some patients are facing in accessing NHS dental care. The research shows that, while nine out of ten people who tried to see an NHS dentist in the last two years were successful, three million people still could not get an appointment.

Emergency prescribing - a change for dentists

The General Dental Council (GDC) has welcomed a change in the law that regulates who can and can not request an emergency supply of a prescription-only medicine in the UK.

General Ophthalmic Services - payments for continuing education and training (2008 CET)

On 17 June, a 'dear colleague' letter was issued by Derek Busby, DH policy lead for eye care services, detailing arrangements of payments for loss of earnings in respect of continuing education and training undertaken by optometrists and ophthalmic medical practitioners on PCT lists. The letter also set out payment levels for 2007 CET, which is payable this year.

PCT chief executives will be reminded to ensure that appropriate payments are made to ophthalmic contractors as outlined in the letter.

Deputy Director of Primary Care Commissioning - Brent tPCT

Subscriber only events

Other

Event open to all NHS

June 2009

• 25th: Urgent care: a practical guide to transforming same-day care in general practice - King's Fund, London W1A 0AX
• 25th: YH: Primary Care Dental Network - Holiday Inn Wakefield, WF5 9BE
• 25th: WM: QOF Changes 09/10 - Crowne Plaza Birmingham, B1 1HH
• 25th: YH: Primary Care Optometry Network - Holiday Inn Wakefield, WF5 9BE
• 26th: EoE Primary Care finance leads network - Hilton Stansted Airport, CM24 1SF
• 26th: WCC Competencies - Personal Development Awareness (Midlands) - Crowne Plaza Birmingham, B1 1HH
• 30th: World Class Commissioning of Pharmacy Services and Pharmaceutical Needs Assessments - Millennium Gloucester Hotel, SW7 4LH
• 30th: NW: Primary Care Leads Meeting - Radisson SAS Manchester Airport, M90 3RA
• 30th: NW: Primary Care Steering Group Network - Radisson SAS Manchester Airport, M90 3RA

July 2009

• 2nd: EM: World Class Commissioning - Village Nottingham, NG9 6DL
• 2nd: London: GOS Network - Hilton Kensington, W11 4UL
• 3rd: WM: Workshop led by Mark Wilson (Whole System Reform & Medical Services Contract Management) - Lakeside Centre, Aston Business School, Birmingham B4 7ET
• 6th: NW: GOS Network Meeting - City Inn, Manchester, M1 3DG
• 6th: SEC: World Class Commissioning - Sofitel London Gatwick, RH6 0PH
• 6th: Leeds: WCC Best Practice: Engagement & Investment Prioritisation - Hilton Leeds, LS1 4BX
• 7th: Building Foundations Towards World Class Commissioning for Primary Care - Pharmacy Level 2 - York Racecourse, YO23 1EX
• 8th: EoE Regional Dental Network - Hilton Stansted Airport, CM24 1SF
• 8th: Bristol: WCC Best Practice: Assessing Needs & High Quality Services - The Grand (formerly Thistle Bristol), Bristol BS1 2EL
• 8th: EM; Eye Care Network - Holiday Inn Derby / Nottingham, NG10 5NJ
• 8th: YH & NE: QOF Changes 2009/10 - Park Inn York, YO1 6JF
• 9th: WM: Primary Care Leads Meeting - Maple House, Birmingham B4 6TB
• 9th: WCC Competencies - Personal Development Awareness (South) - Hilton Kensington, W11 4UL
• 9th: WM: EAPC Meeting - Maple House, Birmingham B4 6TB
• 10th: North: Equitable Access to Primary Medical Care Lessons Learned Event - Hilton Leeds, LS1 4BX

For further event dates please see www.pcc.nhs.uk/events

Other events

Introduction to predictive modelling for health and social services

This one-day course sets out to provide an overview of predictive modelling technologies and their application in identifying patients at high risk. It is run by the University of Westminster and takes place on 30 September 2009. Further details can be found at www.healthcareinformatics.org.uk or by contacting Dr Eren Demir or Dr Salma Chahed at 020 7911 5000 ext 2842 (Email: demirer@wmin.ac.uk or chaheds@wmin.ac.uk)