Call for physical activity to be cornerstone of 21st century health

The UK must move from 'relegation candidates to play-off contenders' in the international physical activity league tables to improve health and cut costs - that's the message from health secretary Andy Burnham as he set out his vision for a fitter England. In his speech, the health secretary called on the NHS to make the promotion of active lifestyles 'core business and not a peripheral concern'. Health professionals should see improving activity rates and getting their patients moving as central to their work.

Priority groups for swine flu vaccination

This letter from Sir Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer, supports the announcement of the priority groups for the swine flu vaccination programme.

Future of nursing and midwifery consultation response

NHS Employers has submitted its response to the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery, which sought views on three key questions about nursing and midwifery in England.

Your chance to promote a healthier website

PCC has had a good response so far to its survey about the website, but we're keen to cast as wide a net as possible so please take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire. To encourage participation and candid responses, submission of personal details is no longer a requirement.

London procurement network meeting

The London procurement network meeting will take place on 4 September. This meeting is an opportunity to share experiences and learning on all stages of the procurement of GP practices and GPLHC from advertising and public engagement plans through MOI and PQQ to ITT and mobilisation. The event is open to subscribing PCT staff only.

Commissioning teams to get virtual seats at WCC board event

The world-class commissioning assurance process for 2009/10 will be launched at the Brewery, London on 16 September. The day will focus on the refined framework for WCC assurance year two, and the economic climate in which the NHS now needs to operate. Although attendance at the event is limited to SHA and PCT chairs, chief executives and board-level executives, there are plans to allow wider participation of PCT commissioning teams via a live web-cast. Further details will be sent to PCTs shortly. Meanwhile, check out the short video of acting director general of commissioning Gary Belfield setting the scene for WCC 2 on the PCC home page.

Consultation on the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Code of Practice

The Department of Health is consulting on two separate but linked publications - a draft 'Health and Social Care Act 2008: Code of Practice for health and adult social care on the prevention and control of infections and related guidance', and a draft supporting document 'Prevention and control of infection in care homes'. This consultation is required due to changes introduced under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 involving the recent establishment of the Care Quality Commission and the introduction of a new registration framework for all providers of regulated activities in health care and adult social care in England. Responses are required by 6 November 2009. Full details are available on the DH website.

Last few places for commissioners at analytical fair

Places are still available for commissioners and analysts at the NHS Information Centre's free analytical fair on 9 September 2009 at the Queens Hotel, Leeds.

This event offers an opportunity for commissioners of NHS funded care to share their experiences of using information in decision making. The event will include a variety of speakers from across the service, who will be examining the strategic and local solutions to improve the delivery of world-class commissioning.

Study deems LIFT a qualified success

A recent study by the York Management School, part of the University of York, concludes that Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) has fulfilled many of the goals set for it, including the procurement of modern, fit-for-purpose premises, but also highlights concerns about bureaucracy, flexibility and cost. It goes on to call for studies of other European programmes in the quest for low-cost local approaches to procurement and regeneration.

Tough times make balanced scorecard more important than ever

Economic pressure on PCTs is increasing the need for quality and efficiency measures to be applied to contractors, according to an article in the current edition of the HSJ, which refers to PCC's guidance on the use of balanced scorecards as a highly effective tool for managing GP practices.

Building Foundations events live for booking

The second set of Building Foundations medical events are now live for booking. These will take place on 24 September in London and 21 October in Manchester. The events will cover:

• Market management
• Patient and public involvement
• Procurement
• System management
• Ensuring best value in medical contracts

Royal Pharmaceutical Society calls for parity in controlled drug prescribing

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) has called on the prime minister to introduce parity between nurses and pharmacists in the prescribing of controlled drugs.

In its evidence to the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery, the RPSGB points to the existing discrepancy between the ability of nurses to prescribe controlled drugs in certain conditions as independent prescribers, when pharmacist independent prescribers cannot so prescribe, even when the medicine in question is a controlled drug which they can sell as ingredients in over-the-counter medicines.

August Community Pharmacy News is now on-line

The latest edition of the PSNC's monthly publication features news on supply shortages, use of the NHS number as a national patient identifier and implementation of EPS release 2. There is also the inevitable coverage of pandemic flu.

Oral health toolkit reissued

A second edition of 'Delivering Better Oral Health: An evidence-based toolkit for prevention' has been published almost two years after its predecessor.

The fundamental messages of the first edition have not been changed, but there have been updates to the lists of toothpaste fluoride content and sugar-free medicines. There are also amendments to the dietary and alcohol sections. The second edition will be sent to all general dental practitioners to share with the wider dental practice team.

GDC adds online CPD tracking

The General Dental Council has added an online facility to track and record CPD hours over the five-year cycle. The site shows how many hours they have to complete, and re-calculates this when further hours are added.

Dental publications from the NHS Information Centre

Two new reports from the Information Centre are due today.

NHS Dental Statistics 2008/9 provides an annual picture of dental workforce, activity, patient charges and patients seen. The NHS IC has been able to take account of feedback and include patients seen information for Q1 of 2009/10 in this publication. The SHA dental summary flyers have also been updated.

A clinical dental report for Q3, 2008/9, shows provisional, experimental statistics from the clinical data now submitted to NHS Dental Services. This report includes information at England and Wales level. The NHS IC would welcome feedback on this first report before exploring PCT level figures.

GOC consults on investigation committee guidance

The General Optical Council (GOC) has this week launched a consultation on the guidance to be used by its investigation committee (IC), when deciding what action to take in respect of fitness to practise complaints against GOC registrants.

GOS activity statistics 2008/9

The NHS Information Centre is due to publish GOS activity statistics for 2008/09 today.

Assistant Director of Commissioning Adults & Paediatrics - NHS Bristol

Subscriber only events

Other

Event open to all NHS

September 2009

• 3rd: WM: Primary Care Leads Meeting - Maple House, Birmingham B4 6TB
• 3rd: WM: Steering Group Meeting - Maple House, Birmingham B4 6TB
• 4th: Ldn: Procurement Network Meeting - De Vere 17 Portland Place, London W1B 1PU
• 8th: EM: Dental Network - Holiday Inn Derby / Nottingham, NG10 5NJ
• 10th: WM: QOF Leads Network - Maple House, Birmingham B4 6TB
• 10th: YH: Primary Care Dental & Optometry Network Meetings (Inc Lunch) - Holiday Inn Wakefield, WF5 9BE
• 10th: EM: Community Pharmacy Network - Springfield House Business and Conference Centre, Grantham NG31 7BG
• 14th: SW: Dental Network Meeting - Holiday Inn Taunton, TA1 2UA
• 15th: EoE Regional Dental Network - Hilton Stansted Airport, CM24 1SF
• 15th: NW: Primary Care Leads (AM) & Steering Group Meetings (PM) - Holiday Inn Bolton, BL1 2EW
• 15th: WM: Dental Access Programme Workshop 3 - St John's Hotel, Solihull B91 1AT
• 16th: World Class Commissioning Assurance Launch of Year Two - The Brewery, London EC1Y 4SD
• 16th: NW: Dental Access Programme Workshop 3 - Park Inn Manchester, M4 4EW
• 18th: SEC: Dental Access Programme Workshop 3 - Sofitel London Gatwick, RH6 0PH
• 21st: YH: QOF Assessor Training - Hilton York, Y01 9WD
• 22nd: WM: Finance Leads Network - Aston Business School, Birmingham B4 7ET
• 22nd: SW :QOF Assessor training - Lyngford House Conference Centre, Taunton, Somerset TA2 8HD
• 23rd: EM: Primary Care Quality Network - Springfield House Business and Conference Centre, Grantham NG31 7BG
• 24th: Building Foundations for World Class Commissioning of Primary Care: Medical Level 2 - Hilton Kensington, W11 4UL
• 24th: YH: Primary Care Policy Leads Network (Inc Lunch) - Holiday Inn Wakefield, WF5 9BE
• 24th: YH: Primary Care Pharmacy Network (Inc Lunch) - Holiday Inn Wakefield, WF5 9BE
• 24th: London: Finance Network - Friends House, London NW1 2BJ
• 24th: SC: Dental Access Programme Workshop 3 - De-Vere Wokefield Park, Reading RG7 3AH
• 25th: South Central : GOS/POS network meeting - Shaw House, Newbury RG14 2DR
• 25th: SC : QOF assessor training - NHS Milton Keynes, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK3 6RT
• 29th: NE: Dental Access Programme Workshop 3 - Radisson SAS Durham, DH1 5TL

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