"Safety First" report says that national patient safety systems are not improving safety

This report was commissioned by Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer, to reconsider the organisation arrangements currently in place to ensure that patient safety is at the heart of the healthcare agenda. The review explicitly aimed to address issues raised by the National Audit Office in its report, A Safer Place for Patients, as well as to look at the NHS approach to patient safety more widely. The report makes a number of key recommendations to build on the progress already achieved in embedding patient safety in the NHS. These include establishing a national patient safety forum to oversee the design and implementation of a national patient safety initiative; simplifying the reporting of adverse effects to make it easier for clinical staff to report on a confidential basis without the fear of retribution; and establishing Patient Safety Action Teams to support frontline staff in delivering the national patient safety agenda. To download the report, please click here (pdf format - 2.8 Mb)

Handling concerns about the performance of healthcare professionals: principles of good practice

This best practice guidance has been developed by the Department of Health on handling concerns about professional practice has been developed collaboratively by senior individuals of all healthcare professions, regulators, commissioners and patient groups. It may be useful in all settings where healthcare is offered and encompasses everyone whatever their position in the organisation. To download the guide, please click here (pdf format - 1.23 Mb)

The true cost of NHS Management Consultancy

The imposition of turnaround teams on cash-strapped trusts has cost the NHS more than £22m, new figures reveal. Three of the trusts with the worst financial problems have each paid out over £1m to finance the management consultants. Surrey and Sussex Healthcare trust came out on top with a £1.5m bill. The Department of Health contributed just £93,000 towards the costs.

The figures were revealed in a 300-page memorandum from the Department of Health to the Commons health select committee's annual inquiry on public expenditure. The response was one of the answers to over 140 questions posed by MPs contained in the dossier. In the document, the DoH admitted the accuracy of HSJ's revelations on the estimated redundancy costs of the current NHS restructuring (news, page 5, 24 November 2005). The evidence said the cost of payments to staff who lost their jobs under the reconfiguration of primary care trusts and strategic health authorities has been projected at 'around £325m', assuming an average age profile. And the report showed that the DoH spent a massive £133m on management consultants last year -more than the £94m projected net deficit for the NHS next year.

The £21.1m turnaround bill comprises only 97 trusts and PCTs. Since the figures were compiled for MPs in May, the number of turnaround teams has risen to 143. Turnaround trusts have had to fund their own support; the DoH only contributed £93,000 towards the first three months of the 23 turnaround trusts with the deepest problems.

To download the full report, click here (pdf format - 1.8 Mb)

Fit to lead: a review of the Primary Care Trust Professional Executive Commitee

"Fit to lead: a review of the Primary Care Trust Professional Executive Commitee" has been published by the Department of Health and is a consultation document on the future of PCT's committee. It includes proposals to reduce the number of Executive Committee members and remove the need for a nurse on the Committee. To read the review, please click here (pdf format - 1.5 Mb)

To respond to the the consultation, please click here

QNI Social Enterprise Briefing

The Queens Nursing Institute has just published a briefing guide to Social Enterprises which can be downloaded here (pdf format - 133 Kb). There is also an excellent collection of resources on the Social Enterprise page of the NHS Networks site

10 High Impact Changes

The NHS Modernisation Agency, through its work with thousands of NHS clinical teams, has identified ten high impact changes that organisations in health and social care can adopt to make significant, measurable improvements in the way they deliver care. The changes draw on the learning from our work and build on the successes already achieved. They are rooted in the day-to-day experience and achievements of thousands of frontline clinical teams right across the NHS. The high impact changes are evidence based. They have been field tested and evaluated in real life NHS settings and developed and adapted to have the best chance of success. These can be accessed here (pdf format - 489 Kb)

Getting on against the odds - developing black and minority ethnic nurse leadership

Getting on Against the Odds is a practical learning resource aimed at managers and clinical professionals. It supports the development of nurses, midwives and health visitors from black and ethnic communities and features the triumphs, successes and struggles of black and ethnic nurses, midwives and health visitors. It offers solutions, options and a way forward. This can be downloaded here (pdf format - 1.5 Mb)