28/06/2019
Bevan Brittan provides high quality, comprehensive advice to the NHS and independent healthcare sector. This update contains brief details of recent Government publications, legislation, cases and other developments relevant to those involved in health and social care work, both in the NHS and independent sector which have been published in the last month.
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If someone forwarded you this email you can sign up for your own free copy here delivered directly to your inbox.
Bevan Brittan Free Training Events
Bevan Brittan Events
Healthcare Estates Breakfast Briefings. Throughout 2019 and 2020, we are running a series of Breakfast Briefings focusing on key themes affecting healthcare estates. Our specialist lawyers will be joined by guest speakers at these engaging and interactive sessions, designed to explore issues of relevance to those involved in healthcare estates, whether in acute settings, in the community or in the provision of mental health or primary care and whether in the NHS or private sector.
Digital Health Forum - Regulation of Digital Healthcare – The Opportunities and Challenges for Healthcare Providers and Innovators. 9 July London
Medical Workforce Toolkit Bevan Brittan has developed an innovative improvement led approach to medical workforce management which provides your Medical Director and Clinical Leads with the expertise, time and space to lead.
Clinical Risk Webinars
Bevan Brittan Clinical Risk/Medical Law Training - These are internal hour long lunch time training sessions that are attended by our team of solicitors. If your organisation is a Bevan Brittan client you can sign up to watch the training sessions remotely via our webinar facility. The next sessions coming up are:-
23 July - Special Education Needs and Disability Issues
6 August - Quantum - Hot topic update. A review of important recent clinical negligence quantum decisions and how to put helpful developments into practice.
If you would like to receive more information about the webinars just ask Claire Bentley.
Knowledge Transfer
Training. In addition to our free training programme for 2019, we also provide bespoke knowledge transfer sessions on a range of healthcare law topics. If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around training or webinars please contact Claire Bentley.
Early Intervention Scheme and Triage. Our EIS allows us to help commissioners, providers and care co-ordinators identify packages of care and treatment interventions, for people who lack capacity, that need an appropriate legal framework. If you would like more information click here.
Acute and emergency care
Publications and guidance
Achieving a digital NHS: lessons for national policy from the acute sector As a new body, NHSX, becomes established to lead national policy for technology, digital and data, and with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care firmly behind plans to create a fully digital NHS, this report seeks to understand how national policy for digitisation is working from the perspective of acute trusts. Do digital leaders feel the commitment to digital over the past two decades is helping to move things forward? And what could be done differently to support digitisation on the ground?
Volunteering in ambulance services: developing and diversifying opportunities Commissioned by the Office for Civil Society, this report explores the role and value of volunteering within ambulance services in England and identifies examples of different ways in which volunteering opportunities are being developed.
Driving improvement: Case studies from eight independent hospitals. The CQC has published a report on hospital improvement programmes which presents eight case studies based on interviews with staff from eight independent hospitals.
News
CCGs with highest rates of lung cancer detected in A&E The latest National Lung Cancer Audit shows three CCGs in Hampshire and another three in Lincolnshire have more than a third of lung cancer detections revealed in an emergency department. This can often mean the cancer is at a later and less curable stage. The data, collated by the Royal College of Physicians, shows Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group as the worst performing area, with 47.1 per cent of lung cancer detections in 2017 discovered after an unplanned visit.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around acute and emergency care please contact Claire Bentley.
Children
Publications/Guidance
The health effects of Sure Start. A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies concludes that there is little evidence of health benefits on children who took part in the Sure Start programme, which started in 1999 by the then Labour government and reached its peak in the late 2000s before its funding was reduced.
Depression in children and young people: identification and management This NICE guideline covers identifying and managing depression in children and young people aged 5 to 18 years. Based on the stepped-care model, it aims to improve recognition and assessment and promote effective treatments for mild and moderate to severe depression. The guideline is for health care professionals, commissioners and providers, and children and young people with depression and their families and carers. The guideline replaces CG28.
RCPCH prevention vision for child health In advance of the Department of Health and Social Care's Prevention Green Paper, this strategy paper from the RCPCH sets out its proposals for how to transform the health and wellbeing of children and young people in the UK. It states that the amount of free sugar in baby food should be reduced and the government should place a 'moratorium' on public health funding cuts.
Statutory funding for children's hospice and palliative care charities in England 2018/19 This survey of 27 children’s hospices in England shows that NHS and local council cuts are hitting lifeline care for seriously ill children. The report calls on NHS England to keep its promise to protect the Children’s Hospice Grant – and go further by increasing it to £25 million per year.
Reducing the need for restraint and restrictive intervention: Children and young people with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum conditions and mental health difficulties in health and social care services and special education settings The Government has published guidance for health services, social care services and special education settings on how to support children and young people with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum conditions and mental health difficulties who are at risk of restrictive intervention. A summary of responses and outcome to the November 2017 consultation has also been published.
Flu vaccine for children: best practice guide for GPs Leaflet for GPs and practice staff to support the nasal spray flu vaccination programme for children in 2018 to 2019.
International comparisons of health and wellbeing in early childhood. How do health outcomes for babies and young children in the UK compare with other similar countries on key measures such as immunisation, birth weight, mortality rates, breastfeeding and obesity?
Bevan Brittan Updates
Webinars
Bevan Brittan Clinical Risk/Medical Law Training - These are internal hour long lunch time training sessions that are attended by our team of solicitors. If your organisation is a Bevan Brittan client, you can sign up to watch the training sessions remotely via our webinar facility. If you would like to receive more information about the webinars just ask Claire Bentley. The next sessions coming up are:-
23 July - Special Education Needs and Disability Issues
6 August - Quantum - Hot topic update. A review of important recent clinical negligence quantum decisions and how to put helpful developments into practice.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around children please contact Deborah Jeremiah.
Clinical Risk/Patient Safety
Publications/Guidance
Independent review of gross negligence manslaughter and culpable homicide Leslie Hamilton and his working group have published their independent review into how the laws on gross negligence manslaughter and culpable homicide are applied to medical practice. The working group’s final report includes 29 recommendations for us and a range of organisations across the UK, covering local, coronial, criminal and regulatory processes. An independent review, commissioned by the General Medical Council (GMC), considers how the laws on gross negligence manslaughter and culpable homicide are applied to medical practice. The review followed the death of Jack Adcock and the prosecution and conviction of Dr Hadiza Bawa-Garba for gross negligence manslaughter. Recommendations in the report include: following an unexpected death, there should be close adherence to the professional and statutory duty of candour to be open and honest with the family of the deceased; the GMC should work with healthcare service providers, national bodies and representatives of overseas doctors to develop a suite of support for doctors new to UK practice; and the Crown Prosecution Service should consider what measures it could take to enhance the transparency and understanding of its decision-making process (including how experts are recruited and the use and disclosure of expert evidence) so as to provide reassurance about how decisions are made.
Independent investigation of historic patient safety incidents at Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust. An independent inquiry has been launched into the failings of Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust between 2010, when it was formed, and 2014, after it was reported that 150 deaths and 17,000 patient safety incidents were not properly scrutinised. The Trust was replaced by the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust in 2018.
Response of the Law Society to the consultation on Extending Fixed Recoverable Costs in Civil Cases: Implementing Sir Rupert Jackson's proposals. The Law Society responds to the Ministry of Justice consultation on extending fixed recoverable costs (FRCs) in civil cases, concluding that it is not opposed to the principle of FRCs on the basis of several conditions but that it does not support the extension of FRCs in civil litigation at this time because the proposals pose a substantial risk to access to justice.
Ministry of Justice: Extending Fixed Recoverable Costs in Civil Cases: Implementing Sir Rupert Jackson's proposals - A response by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers In its response to the consultation on extending fixed recoverable costs in civil cases, the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers argues that the proposal to extend fixed recoverable costs to civil cases valued between £25,000 and £100,000 will tilt the balance of power even further in favour of defendants. It urges ministers to consider a dedicated "intermediate track" for a limited amount of cases that meet a clear set of criteria - as originally proposed by Sir Rupert Jackson.
Patient safety toolkit US body the Institute for Healthcare Improvement has published a “toolkit” for improving patient safety. It includes documents on improving teamwork and communication, tools to help health practitioners understand the underlying issues that can cause errors, and guidance about how to create and maintain reliable systems.
NHS waiting times for elective and cancer treatment The NHS treats more and more people each year, and patients have a right to expect to receive treatment within the timescales set out by the NHS Constitution. This report finds that increasing numbers of patients are being let down by the NHS’s failure to meet deadlines for waiting times. The percentage of patients treated within waiting times standards continues to get worse for both elective (non-urgent care) and cancer treatment. The report finds that less than half of trusts meet the 18-week waiting times standard for elective treatment, and only 38 per cent meet the 62-day standard from referral to treatment for cancer patients.
Webinars
Bevan Brittan Clinical Risk/Medical Law Training - These are internal hour long lunch time training sessions that are attended by our team of solicitors. If your organisation is a Bevan Brittan client you can sign up to watch the training sessions remotely via our webinar facility. If you would like to receive more information about the webinars just ask Claire Bentley. The next sessions coming up are:-
23 July - Special Education Needs and Disability Issues
6 August - Quantum - Hot topic update. A review of important recent clinical negligence quantum decisions and how to put helpful developments into practice.
If you wish to discuss any clinical risk or patient safety issues please contact Joanna Lloyd or Penelope Radcliffe.
Commissioning
Publications/Guidance
Commissioning guidance for fertility treatment The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has published new guidelines for CCGs to support them in commissioning fertility services for their local population and implementing the NICE guidelines on fertility treatment. A benchmark price for IVF has been published in 2019 by NHS Improvement which will help to guide how much commissioners are spending on IVF treatment in their areas.
Specialised health services recommendations. Annual recommendations by the Prescribed Specialised Services Advisory Group (PSSAG) to ministers on services that NHS England should commission.
Assurance Engagement of the Mental Health Investment Standard – briefing for Clinical Commissioning Groups. This document outlines how the validation process should be commissioned and carried out for CCGs to validate their 2018/19 year-end position on meeting the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS).
Sexual health: Fourteenth Report of Session 2017-19 A Health and Social Care Committee paper on sexual health recommends the adoption of a new sexual health strategy and sets out the key areas that it should focus on: funding and commissioning; services; prevention; and workforce.
NHS long term plan. The newly published NHS long-term plan has emphasised the need to accelerate the development of integrated care systems, changing the way services are commissioned and delivered in future. Those organisations that prepare for change will be in a position not only to survive it but to get the best possible outcomes for their populations.
News
Government review confirms local authorities will continue to commission public health services Review recommends that councils and the NHS work more closely to co-commission public health services, including sexual and reproductive health services.
CCGs with highest rates of lung cancer detected in A&E The latest National Lung Cancer Audit shows three CCGs in Hampshire and another three in Lincolnshire have more than a third of lung cancer detections revealed in an emergency department. This can often mean the cancer is at a later and less curable stage. The data, collated by the Royal College of Physicians, shows Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group as the worst performing area, with 47.1 per cent of lung cancer detections in 2017 discovered after an unplanned visit.
If you wish to discuss the issue of commissioning please contact David Owens.
Digital Health
Publications/Guidance
Portal promises fast-track to NHS Apps Library. NHS Digital has launched a digital assessment portal for developers hoping to get their products included in the NHS Apps Library.
Digital lessons for national policy from the acute sector In the wake of the creation of NHSX, the new body that will lead national policy for digital technology, the Nuffield Trust has published a report on lessons from the acute sector.
Digital health and care congress 2019 This annual event brought together leading NHS and social care professionals to discuss how data and technology can improve the health and wellbeing of patients and the quality and efficiency of services. Catch up with recordings from the link.
Digital-First Primary Care Policy: consultation on patient registration, funding and contracting rules NHS England An NHS England consultation invites views on proposals to reform patient registration, funding and contracting rules to ensure patients have both choice and access to integrated care, and to harness the potential of digital providers to help with workforce shortages in a way that helps the most under-doctored and deprived communities. Comments by 23 August 2019.
News
There is world-class innovation in the NHS – we’re not starting from scratch. The first of July marks the official launch of NHSX, a new unit which brings together teams from the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement. To mark the launch, NHSX CEO, Matthew Gould, has penned an exclusive piece for Digital Health where he speaks about what he has been up to in the last month and what his aims are in the role.
Bevan Brittan Events
Digital Health Forum - Regulation of Digital Healthcare – The Opportunities and Challenges for Healthcare Providers and Innovators. 9 July London
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around Digital Health please contact Daniel Morris.
Employment/HR
Publications/guidance
Learning lessons to improve our people practices. Baroness Dido Harding(Chair NHS Improvement) has written to trust chairs and chief executives detailing the findings of an independent analysis by an advisory group following the very tragic death of Amin Abdullah in 2016.The letter includes guidance relating to the management and oversight of local investigation and disciplinary procedures, prepared based on the advisory group’s recommendations. Trusts should review the guidance against their current procedures and make adjustments to ensure the organisation is in line with best practice.
Greater flexibility for doctors in training Expanded opportunities for training less than full time, flexible portfolio training and the development of a Out of Programme Pause (OOPP) initiative which allows doctors the chance to take time out from their training, are just some of the achievements highlighted by Health Education England (HEE) as it sets out progress made with its Enhancing Junior Doctors’ (JDs) Working Lives programme in the annual update report
Sickness absence and health: employer behaviour and practice This research was commissioned to understand employer behaviours and practices relating to sickness absence and the health in the workplace.
DHSC non-consolidated performance-related pay for 2017 to 2018 Non-consolidated performance related pay for the Department of Health and Social Care and its agencies between 2016 and 2017.
Enhancing Junior Doctors’ Working Lives: annual progress report 2019 The Enhancing Junior Doctors’ Working Lives programme was established in March 2016 to address a range of issues that were having a significant negative impact on the quality of life of doctors in training. This progress report outlines the expanded opportunities for training less than full time, flexible portfolio training and the development of Out of Programme Pause, which cement the flexible training agenda at the forefront of this programme.
Women and Equalities Committee report on non-disclosure agreements in discrimination cases. The Women and Equalities Select Committee (WESC) has published a report addressing what it describes as the 'widespread and commonplace' use of non-disclosure agreements in the settlement of discrimination cases. It expresses concerns about the tendency for employers to use such agreements routinely to cover up allegations of unlawful discrimination or harassment rather than investigate them, and makes recommendations to the Government aimed at discouraging such practices.
The best job in the world? The views of first-time NHS chief executives This report contains the observations of nine new NHS chief executives, with tenures from 18 months to 2.5 years. It outlines the views of the new NHS chief executives on the changes in leadership approach and culture that they believe will be required if the NHS is to meet the ambitions of the long-term plan.
Diversity in NHS senior leadership A report from the NHS Confederation examines the arrangements for the recruitment and appointment of chairs and non-executive directors in the NHS
Is staff retention an issue in the public sector? Exploring the rate of retention in public sector occupations, including teaching, social work and nursing, using the Annual Population Survey.
Work schedule for internal medicine stage one training. This work schedule aims to assist employers to deliver training to doctors entering the new internal medicine training programme in August 2019. Trainees and trainers should use the work schedule to ensure they are accessing the training outcomes required under each curriculum. The work schedule was developed by NHS Employers, the Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians Training Board and Health Education England.
Interim NHS People Plan This interim plan, developed collaboratively with national leaders and partners, sets a vision for how people working in the NHS will be supported to deliver care and identifies the actions that NHS England will take to help them.
Virtual reality helps new recruits prepare for move to England A new virtual reality app - developed in partnership by the GMC and NHS England - is giving international doctors a taste of work inside an English GP practice, without having to catch a flight.
News
Referendum results on improvements to junior doctors contract. The British Medical Association (BMA) has voted in favour of the proposed deal which will see investment over a four-year period in the contract for doctors in training.
Top NHS doctors to be given more flexible pensions. The government has launched proposals to make pensions more flexible for senior clinicians delivering frontline care.
New campaign to lure nurses back to the profession. Health Education England has launched a new marketing campaign to encourage former registered nurses to return to the profession.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Where are we on holiday pay? Following the recent Court of Appeal decision in Flowers and others v East of England Ambulance NHS Trust, Sarah Lamont summarises the important case law on the calculation of holiday pay.
Recording Working Time Julian Hoskins reports on the case of Confederación Sindical de Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) v Deutsche in relation to recording working time.
Pensions update - more local government pension scheme consultation Philip Woolham reports on a major consultation which could affect all employers with exposure to LGPS.
Bevan Brittan Events
Medical Workforce Toolkit Bevan Brittan has developed an innovative improvement led approach to medical workforce management which provides your Medical Director and Clinical Leads with the expertise, time and space to lead.
If you wish to discuss any employment issues generally please contact Jodie Sinclair, Alastair Currie or James Gutteridge.
Finance
Publications/Guidance
Investing in the NHS long term plan This briefing analyses the challenges now facing health and social care and looks at the implications of the plan for activity levels and workforce in the NHS in England. It sets out funding scenarios for areas of health spending outside NHS England’s budget (including NHS workforce, capital investment, the prevention agenda and adult social care) and examines the potential impact on wider public spending. The findings of this analysis are supported by a separate survey of NHS frontline leaders carried out by NHS Confederation.
Changing Places capital funding for NHS hospitals: prospectus NHS trusts in England can now bid for funding to install Changing Places toilet facilities for severely disabled people in NHS hospitals. The prospectus sets out: how the funding can be used; eligibility; the application process; and requirements for Changing Places facilities.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around finance please contact Claire Bentley.
Foundation Trusts
Publications/Guidance
QAD reviews of 2017-18 audits of NHS Foundation Trusts NHS Improvement. An NHS Improvement report summarises the findings of its 2017/18 review of NHS Foundations Trust audits.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around foundation trusts please contact Vincent Buscemi.
Housing and property
Publications/guidance
Figures published on surplus land in the NHS estate NHS Digital has published a report on the sale of land and buildings by the NHS, including land that has been retained but developed for housing.
News
NHS land ‘sold off to build unaffordable homes’ Only 5% of homes built on land sold by the NHS will be for genuinely affordable social rent, according to a report from the New Economics Foundation, an independent think tank.
Bevan Brittan Updates
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around housing please contact Julia Jones.
Independent Health
Publications/Guidance
Driving improvement: Case studies from eight independent hospitals. The CQC has published a report on hospital improvement programmes which presents eight case studies based on interviews with staff from eight independent hospitals.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around independent health please contact Vincent Buscemi.
Information sharing/data
Publications/guidance
Adult Social Care Data and Cyber Security Programme: final report The Adult Social Care Data and Cyber Security Discovery Programme was funded by the national cyber security programme to explore how the adult social care sector uses technology and to identify good practice, as well as security risks, prevalent in the sector. This report identifies the common key risks that provider services face. In addition, it considers the effectiveness of existing support for providers and the changes needed nationally and locally to systems and support in order to maintain cyber security and good information governance.
Consultation on the data and analytics statement of intent. NICE is proposing to extend its use of data, from sources including: hospital records of operations; registries that collect data on how particular treatments are used; surveys of people using services; and data collected on national trends, such as how many people have a condition. NICE believes this will help us to further improve its guidance, update it more quickly, and have a better understanding of the impact it has for people accessing health and social care services. The proposals are open to consultation, and the deadline for comments is Friday 13 September 2019.
Bevan Brittan Updates
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around information sharing please contact Will Pickles.
Mental Health
Publications/Guidance
Interim report publication: Review of restraint, prolonged seclusion and segregation for people with a mental health problem, a learning disability and or autism. This report gives the interim findings from the CQC review of the use of restrictive interventions in places that provide care for people with mental health problems, a learning disability and/or autism.
Liberty Protection Safeguards Department of Health and Social Care. The Government intends to bring the Liberty Protection Safeguards system into force on 1 October 2020, following Royal Assent of the Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2019 in May 2019. The Liberty Protection Safeguards will replace the current Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards system. The 1 October 2020 start date is subject to the Government's ongoing implementation planning with delivery partners and the Welsh Government and the progress of its work on developing the code of practice and statutory instruments for the reform.
Ignoring the Alarms follow-up: Too many avoidable deaths from eating disorders - Seventeenth Report of Session 2017-19 A Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee report into the progress made with respect to the recommendations made in the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO)'s December 2017 report "Ignoring the Alarms: How NHS eating disorder services are failing patients". The Committee welcomes the steps a number of organisations have taken in response to the report, but concludes that further action needs to be taken under each recommendation. Findings include: a serious lack of training for doctors about eating disorders; and a shocking lack of precise information about the prevalence of eating disorders. Recommendations include that: the General Medical Council use its influence to ensure medical schools improve outcomes in relation to eating disorders; and NHS England should commission a national population-based study to properly assess how many people have an eating disorder.
Ignoring the alarms: NHS eating disorder services are failing patients. A Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) report of an investigation that found that Averil Hart's tragic death from anorexia would have been avoided if the NHS had cared for her appropriately. The report highlights five areas of focus to improve eating disorder services.
Assurance Engagement of the Mental Health Investment Standard – briefing for Clinical Commissioning Groups. This document outlines how the validation process should be commissioned and carried out for CCGs to validate their 2018/19 year-end position on meeting the Mental Health Investment Standard (MHIS).
Position statement on antidepressants and depression The Royal College of Psychiatrists has published a “position statement” setting out its view on optimal use and management of antidepressants. It discusses the challenges with prescribing antidepressants, including considering the evidence around efficacy, benefits and harms, ensuring they are used when clinically indicated and managing withdrawal. The statement includes a range of recommendations aimed at the UK health departments, national bodies and commissioners.
Celebrate me: capturing the voices of learning disability nurses and people who use services The purpose of this initiative was to engage with nurses and people using services to gather evidence and demonstrate the impact of learning disability nursing, from experience, to help sustain its future. The outcomes from the extensive engagement initiative have highlighted everything that can be celebrated about learning disability nursing (the impact) and what needs to be championed for the future (to sustain it), from the voices of learning disability nurses and those of people with a learning disability and their families.
Reducing the need for restraint and restrictive intervention: Children and young people with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum conditions and mental health difficulties in health and social care services and special education settings The Government has published guidance for health services, social care services and special education settings on how to support children and young people with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum conditions and mental health difficulties who are at risk of restrictive intervention. A summary of responses and outcome to the November 2017 consultation has also been published.
Mental Health Act Code of Practice 2015: An evaluation of how the Code is being used. This report looks at how well the Mental Health Act (MHA) Code of Practice is being used across mental health services since it was updated in 2015. The Mental Health Act (MHA) Code of Practice is not being used as it was intended due to a lack of awareness and understanding of the statutory guidance amongst providers and staff.
NHS pays firms £181m to care for patients with serious mental illness The NHS is paying private firms an “eye-watering” £181m a year to look after people with serious mental health problems in units often hundreds of miles from their homes.
STOMP and STAMP: patient leaflet. This leaflet has been produced for families of children and young people with a learning disability, autism or both who may be prescribed (or are prescribed) psychotropic medication, to help them ask questions about their care and be more involved in discussion.
News
PM launches new mission to put prevention at the top of the mental health agenda
A mental health trust has been fined £200,000 for breaching the Care Quality Commission’s fundamental standards
Investigation launched into safeguarding at psychiatric unit.
Judge rejects application by Official Solicitor for council to pay costs in s.21A proceedings. The Official Solicitor's application for a local authority to bear the costs of proceedings brought under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 s.21A has been rejected by the Court of Protection.
Appeal court overturns forced abortion ruling A court ruling that a woman with learning disabilities must have an abortion against her wishes has been overturned on appeal. The decision came after the woman’s mother, a former midwife, challenged a court order issued on Friday.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Liberty Protection Safeguards to come into force on 1 October 2020
Capacity and sexual relations. Laura Pearce and Hannah Taylor explore how the courts seek to strike the right balance between promoting autonomy for this basic human right and protection in the face of a potentially very vulnerable context.
Webinars
Bevan Brittan Clinical Risk/Medical Law Training - These are internal hour long lunch time training sessions that are attended by our team of solicitors. If your organisation is a Bevan Brittan client, you can sign up to watch the training sessions remotely via our webinar facility. If you would like to receive more information about the webinars just ask Claire Bentley. The next session coming up is:-
23 July - Special Education Needs and Disability Issues
How can we help?
Fixed fee training packages. We have devised a two-part fixed fee training package to ensure mental health professionals are up to speed with their duties and to enable key managers to proactively manage caseloads. We regularly deliver these sessions to provider and commissioner organisations, including their partner agencies. If you would like more information click here.
Early Intervention Scheme and Triage. Our EIS allows us to help commissioners, providers and care co-ordinators identify packages of care and treatment interventions, for people who lack capacity, that need an appropriate legal framework. If you would like more information click here.
Bevan Brittan Mental Health Extranet
Would you like to access the Bevan Brittan Mental Health Extranet? - It is a secure online resource containing a discussion forum, knowledge bank and information about training events. If you would like access please contact Claire Bentley.
If you wish to discuss any mental health issues please contact Hannah Taylor, Simon Lindsay or Stuart Marchant.
Primary Care
Publications/guidance
Digital-First Primary Care Policy: consultation on patient registration, funding and contracting rules NHS England An NHS England consultation invites views on proposals to reform patient registration, funding and contracting rules to ensure patients have both choice and access to integrated care, and to harness the potential of digital providers to help with workforce shortages in a way that helps the most under-doctored and deprived communities. Comments by 23 August 2019.
Reminder to GP practices about duty to register ex-prisoners The NHS England standard GMS contract 2017/18 (page 64) sets out information for GPs on registering individuals prior to their release from prison. This has now been implemented and is intended to help these individuals maintain continuity of care, avoid unplanned emergency admissions to hospital, and support their rehabilitation. Such individuals can also be initially reluctant to register with their GP practice post-release. To support with registering patients prior to leaving prison, practices are asked to update their procedures and follow this improved process by autumn 2019.
Primary care networks: A briefing for pharmacy teams. This briefing document provides information on supporting primary care network for pharmacy teams.
Supporting carers in general practice: a framework of quality markers. This document offers a series of practical ideas that have been developed in partnership with carers, primary care teams and other key stakeholders. Collectively, these provide a framework for improving how general practice can better identify and support carers of all ages.
Getting community pharmacies involved with primary care networks NHS England has issued a briefing for local pharmaceutical committees (LPCs) to involve contractors in primary care networks.
Flu vaccine for children: best practice guide for GPs Leaflet for GPs and practice staff to support the nasal spray flu vaccination programme for children in 2018 to 2019.
Virtual reality helps new recruits prepare for move to England A new virtual reality app - developed in partnership by the GMC and NHS England - is giving international doctors a taste of work inside an English GP practice, without having to catch a flight.
Induction template for general practice nurses NHS England and the Queen’s Nursing Institute have launched an induction template for general practice nursing. The template enables employers to ensure that nurses new to general practice are well supported, whether primary care is their first career destination or they have moved from a hospital or other community role.
If you wish to discuss any issues involving primary care please contact Vincent Buscemi.
Providers
Publications/Guidance
NHS hospitals in England provided more urgent treatment and routine operations than ever before last year. Despite the pressure of demand, the provider sector continued to improve quality and achieved one of the best financial performances in recent years.
We still need to talk about boards This briefing sets out NHS Providers' rationale for board leadership now and in the future. It argues that board leadership and sound local accountability are critical in managing risk, and must remain a key component of system working. The briefing is a revised version of a paper published by NHS Providers in 2015.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around providers please contact Vincent Buscemi.
Public Health
Publications/Guidance
Rise in sexually transmitted infections Sexually transmitted infections are on the rise, according to Public Health England which has produced data showing 448,000 cases were diagnosed in 2018, an increase of 5% from 2017.
Government review confirms local authorities will continue to commission public health services A review conducted by the Department of Health and Social Care recommends: that the NHS work much more closely with local authorities on public health so that commissioning is more joined-up and prevention is embedded into a wider range of health services; and a shift towards councils working jointly with the NHS to co-commission services specifically for sexual health. The Department of Health and Social Care will be seeking views in a forthcoming prevention green paper about how action can be taken forward.
Sexual health: Fourteenth Report of Session 2017-19 A Health and Social Care Committee paper on sexual health recommends the adoption of a new sexual health strategy and sets out the key areas that it should focus on: funding and commissioning; services; prevention; and workforce.
NHS to launch young people's gambling addiction service The NHS is to launch a gambling clinic for children as part of a new network of services for addicts being rolled out as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. The Gambling Commission estimates that around 55,000 children have a gambling problem and that 450,000 are gambling regularly, which is more than those who have taken drugs, drunk alcohol or smoked. Up to 14 new clinics will be opened, starting with the NHS Northern Gambling Service in Leeds in summer 2019.
Holidaymakers urged to put MMR checks top of any travel plans PHE and travel industry call on holidaymakers and other travellers to check their MMR vaccinations are up-to-date, as measles outbreaks continue across Europe.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around public health please contact Claire Bentley.
Regulation
Publications/guidance
Medicines in health and adult social care: Learning from risks and sharing good practice for better outcomes. This report describes lessons for better medicines optimisation across health and social care providers and the positive impact of involving pharmacy professionals in health and social care settings
Benefits of becoming a reflective practitioner. A joint statement of support from Chief Executives of statutory regulators of health and care professionals.
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around regulation please contact Stuart Marchant.
Social Care
Publications/Guidance
Sleeping in, losing out: a survey of care staff on sleep-in shifts This report on care staff on overnight shifts looks at ‘sleep-in’ conditions and finds that some staff were abused physically and verbally, including being punched and threatened with knives. The findings are based on a survey of more than 3,000 people UK-wide who care for the vulnerable and elderly by staying overnight, including in residential homes, in the accommodation of those living independently, or at the properties of those receiving home support. The report reveals the extent of their heavy workload, and that the vast majority are not allowed to leave their place of work while on a shift.
Integrated care research and practice This new digital resource aims to support the planning, commissioning and delivery of co-ordinated person-centred care. Based on the integration logic model, it brings together the evidence base and practice guidance on what good integrated care looks like. Funded by the Department of Health and Social Care, it is designed as a practical, digital tool and will be updated regularly in order to support the drive towards improvement and innovation.
Investing in the NHS long-term plan A briefing from think tank the Health Foundation analyses the challenges now facing health and social care and looks at the implications of the plan for activity levels and workforce in the NHS in England. It sets out funding scenarios for areas of health spending outside NHS England’s budget (including NHS workforce, capital investment, the prevention agenda and adult social care) and examines the potential impact on wider public spending. The findings of this analysis are supported by a separate survey of NHS frontline leaders carried out by NHS Confederation.
Adult Social Care Data and Cyber Security Programme: final report The Adult Social Care Data and Cyber Security Discovery Programme was funded by the national cyber security programme to explore how the adult social care sector uses technology and to identify good practice, as well as security risks, prevalent in the sector. This report identifies the common key risks that provider services face. In addition, it considers the effectiveness of existing support for providers and the changes needed nationally and locally to systems and support in order to maintain cyber security and good information governance.
Personalised care: giving people more choice and control. This guidance document gives information on why a ‘what matters to you’ approach should guide conversations, and suggests some straightforward conversation starters.
Personal social services survey of adult carers in England (SACE): England 2018-19 The survey covers informal, unpaid carers aged 18 or over who care for a person aged 18 or over, where the carer has been assessed or reviewed, either separately or jointly with the cared-for person, by social services during the 12 months prior to the sample being identified. Carers were sent questionnaires, issued by councils with adult social services responsibilities (CASSRs), to seek their opinions on a number of topics that are considered to be indicative of a balanced life alongside their caring role.
Reducing the need for restraint and restrictive intervention: Children and young people with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum conditions and mental health difficulties in health and social care services and special education settings The Government has published guidance for health services, social care services and special education settings on how to support children and young people with learning disabilities, autistic spectrum conditions and mental health difficulties who are at risk of restrictive intervention. A summary of responses and outcome to the November 2017 consultation has also been published.
ADASS budget survey 2019. This annual budget survey of ADASS members reveals how the failure of successive governments to address long-term funding for adult social care is negatively affecting the people who rely on these essential services, their families and those who work in arranging and delivering care.
Caring about complaints. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has issued a good practice guide which shares lessons from complaints to help adult social care providers improve their services.
Increase in adult carers feeling stressed or depressed. 60.6% of carers reported feeling stressed in 2018-19 (up from 58.7% in 2016-17)2, according to a survey of 50,800 adult carers in England, published by NHS Digital.
Carers’ breaks: guidance for commissioners and providers New guidance from SCIE and Carers UK sets out how social care and health commissioners and providers can extend and improve regular breaks for carers and the family and friends they support.
Adult Social Care Data and Cyber Security Programme Report. This report identifies the common, key risks that provider services face. In addition, it considers the effectiveness of existing support for providers and the changes needed nationally and locally to systems and support in order to maintain cyber security and good information governance.
Smiling matters: oral health care in care homes This report shows what CQC found from a review on the state of oral health care in care homes across England.
Bevan Brittan Updates
Safeguarding Partners: Are you ready for 29 June 2019?
If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around social care please contact Stuart Marchant.
General
Publications/Guidance
Penalty charge notices in healthcare inquiry House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts. Following a National Audit Office report which found that the rules around entitlement to free prescriptions and dental treatments were complicated and caused people to make incorrect claims and potentially incur penalties, the Public Accounts Committee is to challenge the Department of Health and Social Care on the complexity of the eligibility rules for penalty charge notices (PCNs) and the impact on vulnerable people.
Planning for a possible no-deal EU Exit: information for the health and care sector Guidance for industry and organisations involved in health and care about contingency plans for a no-deal Brexit.
Bevan Brittan Updates
A virulent disease? What healthcare professionals need to know about knife crime Claire Bentley reviews what healthcare professionals need to know about knife crime, recent knife crime data and a government consultation on serious violence.
When to charge overseas visitors for hospital care? The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015 are increasingly keeping Trust legal teams busy. In two recent High Court cases, Bevan Brittan successfully defended Trusts whose decision-making around charging was being challenged by way of judicial review. Susan Trigg examines the learning points for Trusts which arise from these cases.
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