Health and Care Update - May 2024

Bevan Brittan provides high quality, comprehensive advice to the NHS, independent healthcare sector and local authorities. 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, independent sector and local authorities which have been published in the last month. 

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Training Events	Independent Health
Acute and emergency care	Information Sharing/data
Children/young people	Inquests and Inquiries
Clinical Risk/Patient Safety	Mental Health
Digital Health	Primary Care
Employment/HR	Regulation
Finance	Social Care
Health Inequalities	General

 

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Bevan Brittan Free Training Events 

There is no charge for any of the events listed below

Thursday 6 June. Naughty, naughty – breaching orders in the Court of Protection Join us for this webinar that will consider what happens when orders in the Court of Protection are breached.

Tuesday 11 June Assistive Technology: Optimising independence for people with neurological and other injuries. Join us for this webinar with Donna Cowan who will discuss advances in assistive technologies, aimed at maintaining or improving function and independence of those with neurological disability.

Thursday 4 July Perplexing Presentations and Fabricated and Induced Illness in children and adults. Katie Phillips will give a legal overview on the main features of Fabricated and Induced Illness; the RCPCH guidance on this and the practical aspects of the safeguarding response where Fabricated and Induced Illness is suspected. Dr Sheila Fish will explore operational challenges with reference to the BASW practice guidance for social workers on FII and other perplexing presentations, as well as findings from a recent Safeguarding Adult Review she conducted.

Webinars  
These are internal hour long lunch time training sessions.  You can sign up to watch the training sessions remotely via our webinar facility. Please contact Claire Bentley.  

Please note that registration for each webinar will close one hour before the webinar starts, so please do ensure you have booked your place in advance to guarantee attendance.  

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Acute and emergency care

Publications/guidance

Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care: progress update and next steps The Delivery plan for recovering urgent and emergency care was published in January 2023. Setting out a two-year action plan from April 2023, it is backed by a £1 billion improvement package and £200 million ambulance fund, with the ambition of reducing the time people spend in A&E or waiting for ambulances to arrive. This update highlights the progress made over 2023/24 in delivering the actions set out in the delivery plan. 

If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around acute and emergency issues please contact Claire Bentley.

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Children and young people

Publications/Guidance

Children in care. The Department for Education (DfE) has published statistics on children in secure children’s homes in England and Wales. New data shows the number of children accommodated in secure children’s homes on 31 March 2024 was up 12% from the previous year, from 139 to 156.

Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse: Government response. Following consultation on proposals for a mandatory reporting duty in child sexual abuse cases, a Home Office post-consultation report notes the Government's announcement that the duty will be brought forward as an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill 2023-24. The Home Office will consider implementation aspects of the mandatory reporting duty, drawing on the outcomes of the consultation, to ensure an effective and consistent roll-out. It will also evaluate the operation of the duty after a specified period following its commencement, which will consider the impact of the duty on outcomes for children and young people, as well as system operations. 

Reverse the trend: reducing type 2 diabetes in young people. This report reveals a 40% rise in type 2 diabetes diagnoses in younger people between 2016-17 and 2022-23. There are now almost 168,000 people under 40 years in the UK who live with type 2 diabetes, an increase of more than 47,000 since 2016-17. Diabetes UK is calling on all political parties to commit to tackling the alarming rise in cases of type 2 diabetes among people aged under 40 years.

News 

New restrictions on puberty blockers. The Government has introduced the Medicines (Gonadotrophin-Releasing Hormone Analogues) (Emergency Prohibition) (England, Wales and Scotland) Order 2024, which will restrict the prescribing and supply of puberty-suppressing hormones, known as "puberty blockers", to children and young people under 18 in England, Wales and Scotland. The emergency ban will last from 3 June to 3 September 2024. It will apply to prescriptions written by UK private prescribers and prescribers registered in the European Economic Area or Switzerland.

Bevan Brittan Events 

Thursday 4 July Perplexing Presentations and Fabricated and Induced Illness in children and adults. Katie Phillips will give a legal overview on the main features of Fabricated and Induced Illness; the RCPCH guidance on this and the practical aspects of the safeguarding response where Fabricated and Induced Illness is suspected. Dr Sheila Fish will explore operational challenges with reference to the BASW practice guidance for social workers on FII and other perplexing presentations, as well as findings from a recent Safeguarding Adult Review she conducted.

If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around children please contact Deborah Jeremiah. 

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Clinical Risk / Patient Safety

Publications/Guidance 

NHS Resolution's response to the Department of Health and Social Care's Duty of Candour Review 2024. 
In its response to the Department of Health and Social Care's Duty of Candour Review 2024, NHS Resolution suggests there is a mixed level of understanding and awareness of the statutory duty of candour amongst healthcare providers, and a tendency to focus on the minutiae of the statutory duty rather than recognising the important, overarching purpose. It advises that not only is "saying sorry" when an incident has taken place the morally right thing to do, it is also a statutory, regulatory and professional requirement, but not an admission of liability.

Infected Blood Inquiry publishes final inquiry report. This is the report of the independent public statutory inquiry established to examine the circumstances in which men, women and children treated by National Health Services in the United Kingdom were given infected blood and infected blood products, in particular since 1970.

Infected blood scandal: Background, impacts, interim compensation and inquiry outcomes: In Focus. A House of Lords Library article looks at the infected blood scandal including: what was infected blood and how was it used; the impact; the Infected Blood Inquiry and its aims; the Inquiry's interim and final reports; and how the Government responded. It summarises the measures called for in the final report, including: immediate compensation, public memorials, and for lessons to be learned in medicine, government and the civil service.

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Birth Trauma (APPG Birth Trauma). Listen to mums: ending the postcode lottery on perinatal care. On 9 January 2024, the APPG Birth Trauma set up an inquiry to investigate the reasons why women experience birth trauma, how the condition affects them, the wider social impact, and the steps that can be taken to prevent birth trauma. The picture that has emerged is one of a maternity system where poor care is all-too-frequently tolerated as normal, and women are treated as an inconvenience. This report makes a set of recommendations that aim to address these problems and work towards a maternity system that is woman-centred, and where poor care is the exception rather than the rule.

National learning report: factors affecting the delivery of safe care in midwifery units. This report looks at common themes of 92 maternity investigation reports, where the safety incident under investigation included care provided in a midwifery unit. It identifies four main themes and findings, which include issues relating to: work demands and capacity to respond; intermittent auscultation; how prepared an organisation is for predictable safety-critical scenarios; and telephone triage.

Quality and safety of maternity care (England): Research Briefing. A House of Commons Library briefing outlines Government and NHS policies on the quality and safety of maternity care in England.

Thakkar v Mican [2024] EWCA Civ 552 In personal injury cases, there was no presumption or reversal of the ordinary burden of proof where allegations of fundamental dishonesty failed. The default position was always that standard costs would be assessed and paid, unless the party seeking indemnity costs could demonstrate why they were appropriate in all the circumstances.

Consultations

Fixed recoverable costs in lower damages clinical negligence claims – a supplementary consultation on disbursements The Department of Health and Social Care has published the response to the supplementary consultation on disbursements within the fixed recoverable costs regime for clinical negligence claims up to a value of £25,000 in England and Wales. The outcome covers a range of areas including expert report fees and ‘after the event’ insurance premiums, Lower Damages Clinical Negligence Fixed Recoverable Cost scheme claims involving protected parties or children and the proposed next steps of the government.

News

NHS announces 143 hospitals to roll out "Martha's Rule" in next step in major patient safety initiative. The NHS has announced the 143 hospital sites that will test and roll out Martha's Rule in its first year. Confirmation of the first sites to test implementation of Martha's Rule is the next step in the major patient safety initiative, following the announcement in February of NHS England funding for this financial year. The purpose of Martha's Rule is to provide a consistent and understandable way for patients and families to seek an urgent review if their or their loved one's condition deteriorates and they are concerned this is not being responded to. 

Victims of infected blood scandal to sue Government. About 500 people in the UK infected with contaminated blood and relatives of those infected are proceeding with plans to sue the Health Secretary for damages, having been left dissatisfied with the Government's announcement on compensation made in response to the Infected Blood Inquiry report published on 20 May 2024. The group's claim, alleging the Government breached a duty to take reasonable care to prevent personal injury or loss, amounting to misfeasance in public, began in 2017 but was paused pending the Inquiry and its outcome. Separately, survivors and relatives of people who died in the infected blood scandal are suing Treloar college where they contracted hepatitis and HIV after being given experimental treatment without informed consent.

Faster resolution for small claims as mediation baked into courts process. More small claims will be resolved faster and away from court following new rules requiring mediation. 

We are working with clients on formulating policies and making it easier to balance treatment with finite resources. We are helping with social care policies and day to day activities such as contact and isolation, human rights issues and life/death decisions. We are working on notifications of harm and death, RIDDOR, CQC compliance, judicial review, infection control law and grappling with the new regulations and guidance. For more information click here. If you wish to discuss any clinical risk or patient safety issues please contact Joanne Easterbrook or Tim Hodgetts.

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Digital Health

Publications/guidance

What could 'personalised prevention' mean for our health? Personalised prevention has become more widespread in political, clinical and public discourse in England due to the growth of technology and AI. This article shares how opportunities for personalised approaches could help tackle current demands in the NHS by improving patient outcomes and health care.

How would clinicians use time freed up by technology? This report examines the evidence on how technology has freed up clinicians’ time in the NHS and its effect on clinical practice. This analysis will help support stakeholders to develop more proactive approaches using health care technologies to maximise clinicians’ time and improve productivity.

Which technologies offer the biggest opportunities to save time in the NHS? This analysis looks at clinician views on which technologies offer the biggest opportunities to support staff capacity and release time. It sets out challenges and priorities for realising this vision, including actions for key stakeholders such as policy-makers (the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and arm’s length bodies, and their equivalents in the devolved administrations), providers and industry. 

Contextualising remote fall risk: video data capture and implementing ethical AI. Video-enabled glasses have the potential to support patients at risk of falls by allowing medical staff to monitor how they move around their homes and their community. However, with privacy concerns at the forefront of this new technology, academics at Northumbria University have carried out a cutting-edge study into the ethical use of AI to ensure that video footage can be obscured to ensure patient privacy.

Getting the best out of the new world of remote and digital general practice. The Remote by Default research collaboration, conducted by a team of academics and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, asks whether remote consultations should really be the default option. This briefing investigates when remote consultations are safe and what they mean for different patient groups trying to get treatment as well as for doctors and their colleagues. It summarises key findings, and the actions required from government and the NHS.

Balancing the risks and benefits of AI in the production of health information. Developed in collaboration with the Patient Information Forum's artificial intelligence (AI) working group, this position statement aims to help people understand the AI landscape and how to manage it. It defines what AI is, explores the risks and benefits of AI, provides a glossary of terms, and makes a case for developing AI use policies.

Building an integrated, rules-based medical technology (medtech) pathway: engagement on proposals. An NHS England and National Institute for Health and Care Excellence consultation sets out proposals for moving towards a more rules-based, integrated, and predictable pathway for the evaluation, funding, and commissioning of medical technology (MedTech) in the NHS. Comments by 15 August 2024.

MHRA launches AI Airlock to address challenges for regulating medical devices that use Artificial Intelligence. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has launched its new regulatory sandbox for AI as a Medical Device (AIaMD), the AI Airlock, designed to assist in safe development and deployment of AIaMDs. The MHRA will work with the NHS AI Lab and the Department of Health and Social Care to ensure AIaMD products are deployed via NHS infrastructure. AI Airlock aims to enhance the relationship between developers and manufacturers and the MHRA.

Making prevention everyone's business: a transformational approach to personalised prevention in England. An independent report from Professor John Deanfield, Government Champion for Personalised Prevention, summarises his vision for a personalised prevention service that could address all major health conditions and prove transformational for health and the economy. It claims that digital technologies are the key to delivering personalised prevention at scale, and should be harnessed to create a digital-first National Prevention Service. A new "prevention portal", developed as part of the NHS App, would allow people to: access and interact with their health data; make and receive assessments of their health and personalised prevention plans; and be signposted to the services they need, both digital and face to face.

Bevan Brittan Updates 

The revolution of AI in Healthcare 

Bevan Brittan Events 

Assistive Technology: Optimising independence for people with neurological and other injuries. Join us for this webinar with Donna Cowan who will discuss advances in assistive technologies, aimed at maintaining or improving function and independence of those with neurological disability. 

If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around Digital Health please contact Daniel Morris.

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Employment/HR  

Publications/guidance

Pay setting for doctors and nurses: what can the NHS learn from other countries? Industrial action has been a feature of the NHS in England since 2022. Although consultants have recently accepted a new pay deal, nurses remain officially in dispute and there has been no conclusion for junior doctors. This long read explores how the pay-setting process works in a selection of different health systems across the world and whether there are any lessons for England.

Improving workforce wellbeing through a staff-led approach The 2021 NHS Staff Survey showed that while staff at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust were passionate about delivering the best care for patients, they reported high levels of burnout and exhaustion and there were significant absences related to mental health. To help staff better prioritise self-care, the trust has worked to improve its health and wellbeing package, engaging with staff to update and co-produce its offer. This staff-led approach has brought improvements in results across a number of measures for workforce wellbeing.

Medical Training Initiative. The Medical Training Initiative scheme provides an entry route for overseas doctors wishing to train and develop their skills in the NHS before returning to their own country, with the aim of improving the quality of health care in lower-income countries. This guidance describes the scheme and how it fits into the points-based immigration system and the NHS.

Using flexible retirement to support retention. This guidance outlines how to support staff to work flexibly towards the end of their career using the flexible retirement options available through the NHS Pension Scheme. The guidance aims to: support employers to understand, promote and discuss flexible retirement options with staff to encourage retention; ensure that employees approaching the end of their career feel rewarded and recognised for their experience, service and commitment; and help employers to develop effective flexible retirement policies.

International recruitment to adult social care: a guide for councils. International recruitment can help to boost workforce capacity, bring in additional skills and expertise, and provide a more diverse workforce. However, international recruitment to adult social care also creates the conditions that can enable exploitation of social care staff. The purpose of this guide is to provide an overview of the international recruitment process as it relates to adult social care. It sets out the role of the council as a key stakeholder within this process and signposts to resources that are available to support councils.

NHS strike action in England. Strikes have been taking place across the NHS in England. This briefing looks at when and why some NHS workers are striking and explains the latest pay deals.

Organisational anxiety and what leaders are (or aren’t) doing about it. Working with others in any context can be stressful. For many people, though, anxiety is likely to increase when there is a lot at stake – for example, if people are working in a health care setting where other human beings may live or die. There are lots of ways that leaders in health and care organisations can try to manage organisational anxiety. To explore this in more depth, The King’s Fund is looking for people to join a year-long learning group to help us find out what taking a holistic view of organisational anxiety actually involves. 

News

Behind-scenes NHS problems leave new doctors without jobs

Bevan Brittan Updates

Employment Eye

Bevan Brittan Events - Listen Again 

Talking Heads: Business Immigration Series - Part one

Talking Heads: Business Immigration Series - Part two

How we can help

We can offer support and advice on managing many workforce issues including flexing your workforce to respond to the pandemic, managing bank staff, redeployment, vulnerable groups, sick pay, leave options, supporting staff well-being, presenteeism, remote and home working, through FAQs, helpline or policy guidance and practical day to day advice.  

Take a look at our Prevention of Sexual Harassment Employer's Toolkit

If you wish to discuss any employment issues generally please contact Jodie Sinclair, Alastair Currie, Oonagh Sharma, James Gutteridge or Andrew Uttley.

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Finance  

Publications/guidance

The past and future of UK health spending. Health spending, and the performance of the NHS, will feature prominently in the upcoming general election campaign. Many different factors matter for NHS performance and for the wider health of the population, but one important factor is the level of spending on health services. This pre-election report examines UK government health spending over the past seven decades. It then discusses the outlook for health spending over the years to come. 

If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around finance issues please contact Claire Bentley 

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Health Inequalities 

Publications/Guidance

Inequalities in healthcare and employment for people with a learning disability and autistic people: Sixth Report of Session 2023-24. A Women and Equalities Committee report calls on the Government to make more progress in reducing the number of people with learning disabilities and/or autism detained in mental health settings, arguing it needs to learn from previous lessons and increase support for community-based alternatives to detention and do more to stop people reaching crisis in the first instance. It suggests that the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England work with national and local learning disability organisations and charities and the Royal College of General Practitioners to investigate why eligible people are not on the learning disability register and take appropriate action to increase registration. It also calls for the publication of a new disability employment goal based on relative measures, and the reestablishment of a national board with a focus on improving health inequalities for people with a learning disability and autistic people across all health and social care services.

United against health inequalities: moving in the right direction. This report shares the results of a recent NHS Providersmember survey, providing an update on the progress members have made in tackling health inequalities in the past three years.

MatDAT: maternity disadvantage assessment tool – assessing wellbeing and social complexity in the perinatal period. With a growing number of pregnant women experiencing more social complexities, the RCM has developed MatDAT – a tool that not only ensures women receive the right care, but also the right support from other agencies. There is a growing body of evidence demonstrating the impact of disadvantage, such as poverty and poor housing, on pregnancy and birth outcomes, which means a multi-agency approach is needed more than ever. 

Rapid evidence review: tackling inequalities through the regulation of services and organisations. One of the Care Quality Commission (CQC)’s strategic aims is to tackle inequalities in health and care. CQC have invested in an ambitious research programme to support its strategy. CQC commissioned SQW to deliver a rapid evidence review, supported by the King’s Fund Library Service and Dr Tammy Boyce. The review explored how regulators can tackle inequalities experienced by those using services. It identified lessons from other sectors and countries. The study reviewed 46 documents. These documents were identified through a literature search and a call for evidence. A total of 12 interviews took place to add to the findings from the review.

Co-production and engagement with communities as a solution to reducing health inequalities. This report outlines the principles and benefits of co-production, exploring the actions trusts can take to put this into practice.

How we can help

We have a multidisciplinary team advising NHS commissioners and providers on all aspects of tackling health inequalities, ranging from:

• advising on the new legal framework and compliance with the relevant statutory duties, particularly in the context of service reconfiguration;
• addressing workforce inequalities;
• taking action on patient safety to reduce health inequalities;
• the role of the Care Quality Commission in tackling health inequalities; and
• lessons to be learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic.

If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around health inequalities please contact Julia Jones.

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Independent Health 

Publications/Guidance

How has the role of the private sector changed in UK health care? This long read reveals that since the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a 30% increase in the number of people paying out of their own pocket for hospital care across the UK’s four countries. The authors warn that this may be being forced by a lack of timely access to NHS provision rather than a planned extension of the self-pay private sector.

News

Patients to benefit from largest expansion of choice in a decade. Patients requiring treatment outside of hospitals will be able to choose between multiple providers across the NHS and independent sector, under proposals announced by the Government. Patients could benefit from a wider range of healthcare services, giving them access to faster, more convenient treatment. Services that could be offered under the expansion include some diagnostic tests, such as endoscopy; hearing aid care; dietetics and nutrition; ambulatory ECG; and podiatry. NHS England will be engaging with integrated care boards with a view to launching pilots in local areas from autumn 2024. 

For more information contact Tim Hodgetts or Julie Charlton. 

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Information sharing/data 

News

ICO publishes guidance to improve transparency in health and social care. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is supporting health and social care organisations to ensure they are being transparent with people about how their personal information is being used. The UK data protection regulator has published guidance to provide regulatory certainty on how these organisations should keep people properly informed.

For more information contact Jane Bennett. 

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Inquests and Inquiries  

Publications/Guidance

Statutory public inquiries: the Inquiries Act 2005. What 'statutory public inquiries' are, how they operate and summary details on the progress of active statutory inquiries.

An overview of the death certification reforms. An updated Department of Health publication provides guidance on how the death certification process in England and Wales will change from 9 September 2024, including the introduction of medical examiners.

Charlie Millers: Prevention of future deaths report.  A prevention of future deaths report has been sent to the Department for Health and Social Care following the death of Charlie Millers by suicide at a mental health unit at Prestwich Hospital. The coroner expressed concern that deaths of patients detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 are not subject to any independent investigation in the same way as deaths in police custody or in prison, adding that, as a result, investigations are not effective, and no single body has oversight of previous concerns and how these were going to be rectified by the organisation. She also stated that the investigations which are currently being undertaken are ineffective either due to a lack of trained, investigators who conduct internal reviews or a lack of understanding of complex health processes and procedures. Recipients must respond by 24 June 2024.

Coroners statistics 2023. Annual data on deaths reported to coroners, including inquests and post-mortems held, inquest conclusions recorded and finds reported to coroners under treasure legislation.

News

Appointment of new Chief Coroner. Her Honour Judge Alexia Durran has been appointed as Chief Coroner of England and Wales in succession to His Honour Judge Thomas Teague KC. The appointment started on 25 May 2024 for a three-year term.

The announcement that a general election will be held on 4 July means that the work of all Select Committees ceased on Friday afternoon when Parliament was prorogued. This means that the Justice Committee will not be able to publish its report with formal recommendations to the Government on the follow-up inquiry into the Coroner Service. The Chair, Sir Bob Neill KC (Hon), wrote a letter to the Minister of Justice summarising the Committee’s findings to date. 

Inquiry update: New investigations announced; Module 8 "Children and Young People." The Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Baroness Hallett, has opened the Inquiry's eighth investigation examining the impact of the pandemic on children and young people and has set out plans to open two further investigations in 2024. Module 8 will focus on the impact on children and young people including those with special education needs and/or disabilities. Module 9 will focus on the economic response to the pandemic and open in July 2024 and Module 10, later in autumn, will explore the impact of the pandemic in various ways, including the mental health and wellbeing of the population.

Bevan Brittan Updates

2023 statistics on Prevention of Future Death reports released - Sam Minchin 

If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around inquests, please contact Amanda Wright- Kluger or Claire Leonard. 

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Mental Health 

Publications/Guidance

Reducing out-of-area placements: Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Trust. Avon and Wiltshire Partnership Trust reduced the number of out-of-area placements for patients receiving mental health services to ensure that all patients across its large footprint could receive care close to home.

Adult mental health social care: report from the findings of the 2023 insight survey. This survey, completed by just under half of all directors of adult social services, in September 2023, aimed to find out about current practices in mental health social care. It focused on: engagement in the Community Mental Health Transformation Programme; assessment and care planning; and arrangements for the commissioning and delivery of adult mental health services. 

Cases

University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v HER & Anor [2024] EWCOP 25 Best interests decision concerning HER's medical care where he sister, SR, was opposed to the Trust's recommended treatment.

P (Application to Withhold Closed Material: Concurrent Civil Proceedings), Re [2024] EWCOP 26. Application by the Official Solicitor, who represents the protected party, to withhold material - closed material - from the Protected Party's parents.

Swansea Bay University Health Board v P & Ors [2023] EWCOP 67. Decision around whether to discharge a deputyship which had been made by a district judge in favour of P's mother, C, which the health trust felt was not in P's best interests.

ZZ (Capacity), Re [2024] EWCOP 21 Appeal by the local authority against a decision that ZZ has capacity to make decisions about residence, engage in sexual relations and marriage.

Bevan Brittan Events

Thursday 6 June. Naughty, naughty – breaching orders in the Court of Protection Join us for this webinar that will consider what happens when orders in the Court of Protection are breached. 

Thursday 4 July Perplexing Presentations and Fabricated and Induced Illness in children and adults. Katie Phillips will give a legal overview on the main features of Fabricated and Induced Illness; the RCPCH guidance on this and the practical aspects of the safeguarding response where Fabricated and Induced Illness is suspected. Dr Sheila Fish will explore operational challenges with reference to the BASW practice guidance for social workers on FII and other perplexing presentations, as well as findings from a recent Safeguarding Adult Review she conducted.

How we can help

We are experts in advising commissioners, providers and care co-ordinators on the relevant legal frameworks. We deal with complex issues such as deprivation of liberty, state involvement, use of CCTV monitoring, seclusion, physical restraint and covert medication. We can help providers with queries about admission and detention, consent to treatment, forensic service users, transfers, leave, discharge planning and hearings. We can advise commissioners on all matters concerning commissioning responsibility, liability and disputes. For more information click here

If you wish to discuss any mental health issues facing your organisation please contact Simon Lindsay or Hannah Taylor. 

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Primary Care 

Publications/Guidance 

Primary care services in a nutshell. Primary care services are the ‘front door’ of the NHS and the main way that people access NHS services. But what does 'primary care' include, how do people use these services, and how are they changing? 

If you wish to discuss any issues in primary care then please contact  Joanne Easterbrook or Ben Lambert. 

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Regulation 

Bevan Brittan Updates

A new CQC Fundamental Standard. Visiting and accompanying in care homes, hospitals and hospices

Consultation on Changes to CQC Regulations

CQC Single Assessment Framework Implementation – an Update.  

If you wish to discuss any issues in regulation then please contact Stuart Marchant 

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Social Care  

Publications/Guidance 

International recruitment to adult social care: a guide for councils. International recruitment can help to boost workforce capacity, bring in additional skills and expertise, and provide a more diverse workforce. However, international recruitment to adult social care also creates the conditions that can enable exploitation of social care staff. The purpose of this guide is to provide an overview of the international recruitment process as it relates to adult social care. It sets out the role of the council as a key stakeholder within this process and signposts to resources that are available to support councils. 

What health and care need from the next government: adult social care. This briefing series challenges the NHS and social care manifesto commitments of UK political parties in advance of the general election. The second in the series looks at adult social care and sets out some possible criteria, such as funding and workforce, aiming to support long-term social care reform. It is based in part on research into other countries, such as Germany and Japan, which have carried out comprehensive and politically successful reforms.

How we can help

For ways in which we can help with Social Care issues click here.

If you wish to discuss any queries you may have around social care please contact Siwan Griffiths.

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General 

Publications/Guidance

Prevent duty: guidance for healthcare professionals. Practical information for healthcare professionals about the Prevent duty, part of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy.

Organisational anxiety and what leaders are (or aren’t) doing about it. Working with others in any context can be stressful. For many people, though, anxiety is likely to increase when there is a lot at stake – for example, if people are working in a health care setting where other human beings may live or die. There are lots of ways that leaders in health and care organisations can try to manage organisational anxiety. To explore this in more depth, The King’s Fund is looking for people to join a year-long learning group to help us find out what taking a holistic view of organisational anxiety actually involves. 

Productivity of the English National Health Service: 2021/22 update. This report finds that NHS productivity grew substantially between 2020/21 and 2021/22 (14% to 15% depending on the method used). However, when compared to 2019/20, productivity in 2021/22 remains substantially lower (by about 13%). This suggests that despite a substantial recovery, there remains a considerable gap between NHS productivity before the pandemic and in 2021/22.

Medicines shortages Pharmacies in the UK dispense millions of prescription items each year. Since 2021 there have been reports of increasing supply problems affecting medicines. Recent media coverage has highlighted shortages of medicines used to treat diabetes, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and epilepsy, as well as hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and others. This briefing provides information on the causes and consequences of medicines shortages in the UK and internationally, and the UK government’s approach to addressing supply problems.

Legacy - Parliament 2019-24: Fourth Report of Session 2023-24. With the end of the 2019-24 Parliament, the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee takes the opportunity to look at its work, progress and impact during this Parliament and sets out areas that may be of interest to its successor committee. It discusses its work, key themes, Government progress on implementing recommendations, and recommendations for future work in the following areas: health-related inquiries and COVID-19; artificial intelligence; digital and the cyber resilience of critical national infrastructure; energy; life sciences; scientific research environments; space; and technology, including blockchain.

Independent Commission on UK Public Health Emergency Powers: Report May 2024. The final report of the Independent Commission on UK Public Health Emergency Powers outlines the findings of its review of the emergency public health laws and parliamentary procedures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The report makes recommendations to better protect the rule of law and good governance in future public health emergencies, relating to the design of primary and secondary legislation (including the protection of human rights), the enhancement of parliamentary procedures, the improvement of legal certainty, and the appropriateness of enforcement action.

People with HIV can now donate eggs or sperm to start a family. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 is to be amended via a statutory instrument to allow people with non-transmissible HIV to donate eggs or sperm as part of fertility treatment to their partners. The law change will also eliminate extra screening costs for female same-sex couples undertaking reciprocal IVF treatment. It is part of wider work to improve access to IVF for everyone and ensure same-sex couples have the same rights as a man and woman when trying to conceive.

Making prevention everyone's business: a transformational approach to personalised prevention in England. An independent report from Professor John Deanfield, Government Champion for Personalised Prevention, summarises his vision for a personalised prevention service that could address all major health conditions and prove transformational for health and the economy. It claims that digital technologies are the key to delivering personalised prevention at scale, and should be harnessed to create a digital-first National Prevention Service. A new "prevention portal", developed as part of the NHS App, would allow people to: access and interact with their health data; make and receive assessments of their health and personalised prevention plans; and be signposted to the services they need, both digital and face to face.

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