WCET July 2011 newsletter
Published: 17 December 2011
WCET UK Monthly Briefing – JULY 2011
WCET UK Activity
In healthcare this month, the most significant event has been the publication of the Dilnot Review on Funding Care and Support. Considering the tremendous challenges ahead, notably an ageing population and the strain on NHS finances, stakeholders have welcomed the long-awaited review in the hope it would provide a blueprint for a fairer, a more affordable and a more sustainable social care system. An inquiry on the future of social care has also been announced by the Heath Select Committee.
The Government has made additional announcements on its plans for NHS reforms and the Health and Social Care Bill has begun its second passage through Parliament. In addition, the Government has unveiled this month its White paper on Public Services reform designed to decentralise public services including healthcare and open up their provision to a wide range of providers from the public, voluntary and private sector.
The Royal College of Nursing has expressed concerns regarding the government‟s alleged plans to cut nurses‟ pensions by £67bn over the next fifty years and to reduce the NHS nursing workforce by 28% in the coming decade, with potentially harmful outcomes for patient care.
Parliamentary Activity
House of Commons
Committees
Health Select Committee: Inquiry announced - The future of adult social care
The Health Committee has agreed today that it will conduct an inquiry this autumn to follow up the work of the Dilnot Commission on Funding of Care and Support. The principal focus of the inquiry will be how to develop and implement a long term approach to funding the provision of care and support. The inquiry may also examine alternative models of commissioning and provision across the health and social care sectors. Link
Written statements
Health – Government Response to NHS Future Forum
The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Andrew Lansley): As I informed the House on 14 June 2011, the Government has accepted the core recommendations of the NHS Future Forum‟s report. A list of the key changes the Government intend to make as a result has already been placed in the Library. I have today laid before Parliament “Government Response to the NHS Future Forum”, Cm 8113, a detailed explanation of how the Government plans to implement improvements to their plans for NHS modernisation. Some, but not all, of these changes require amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill. On 16 June the Government tabled a motion to recommit the relevant parts of the Health and Social Care Bill to a Public Bill Committee. Link
Parliamentary Questions
Colorectal Cancer: Screening
James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of bowel cancer were detected as a result of the bowel cancer screening programme in each year since its inception; and what estimate he has made of the number of additional cases which would have been detected if the age limit for screening had been reduced to 50. Link
Home Care Services
Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to monitor changes in the number of domiciliary care packages offered by local authorities in England. Link
NHS: Pay
John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will estimate the average hourly cost of employing a member of staff in the NHS. Link
NHS: Reorganisation
Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effects on commissioning decisions of the incentives of staff of health providers who are also members of commissioning boards, following the implementation of the provisions of the Health and Social Care Bill. Link
NHS: Standards
Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether his Department has conducted research on levels of confidence among NHS staff in the adequacy of future care to be delivered by the NHS. Link
Health and Social Care Bill
Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what legal advice they have sought regarding the reduction in capacity at strategic health authority and primary care trust levels in advance of the Health and Social Care Bill. Link
Diabetes: Nurses
Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will consider measures to improve recruitment levels for diabetic specialist nurses in the NHS. Link
NHS Nurse
Hugh Bayley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the starting salary of an NHS nurse was in cash and real terms in May 1997 and May of each subsequent year. Link
Clinical Nurse Specialist
Andrew Stephenson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to maintain or increase the number of clinical nurse specialists working in breast care. Link
NHS Specialist Asthma Nurses
Mary Scanlon: To ask the Scottish Executive how many specialist asthma nurses are employed by each NHS board. Link
Government News
Department of Health
Department of Health: Safeguarding the future of the NHS
The Government today set out further details of the improvements it will make to its plans to modernise the NHS and put patients at the heart of the health service. Last week the Government accepted the core recommendations of the independent NHS Future Forum. Their report confirmed that there was considerable support for the principles of reform but that some of the ways in which we were putting those principles into practice could be improved. Today we have set out in more detail the substantial changes we will make to strengthen our plans in the interests of patients. Today‟s publication remains true to the core principles of modernising the NHS, to create a stronger health system for the future:
that‟s led by frontline professionals;
where patients and the public have a stronger voice and more control;
where people‟s health and social care needs aren‟t treated separately;
where local councils have a real say over decisions in the NHS;
that‟s focused on the causes of health problems as well as treating them; and
that‟s judged on the quality of care and results for patients it provides - Link
Department of Health: Government response to the NHS Future Forum report
In April, the Secretary of State announced the start of a listening exercise, to pause, listen, reflect on and improve the Government's proposals for modernising the NHS. The listening exercise was led by the independent NHS Future Forum, which published its report on 13 June. The Government announced its initial response on 14 June. This document sets out the Government's detailed response to the Forum's report. It explains how we will make significant changes to improve our plans, in line with the Forum's recommendations. Parliamentary scrutiny of the Health and Social Care Bill will now follow – Link
Department of Health: NHS staff to lead the NHS of the future Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has marked the 63rd birthday of the NHS by announcing plans to help all NHS staff lead the service to become truly world class. Speaking at „Change through Leadership,‟ the Health Secretary will announce plans for a new national Leadership Academy. This means for the first time all NHS staff will have access to the same opportunities for developing their leadership skills, putting nurses, doctors and other clinicians on an equal footing with non-clinical managers. Developing clinical leadership is crucial in giving frontline staff the skills they need to take advantage of their role in taking the driving seat in shaping a modern NHS for the future. Link
Department of Health: Creating a fair and sustainable care and support system
The Government has welcomed the report from the independent commission chaired by Andrew Dilnot as a valuable contribution to meeting the long term challenge of an ageing population. The Commission on the Funding of Care and Support, established by the Government last July, has set out a number of important recommendations about how, as a society, we organise and fund social care. Link
Department of Health: Andrew Lansley - Moving forward on modernising the NHS
Now is the time to move forward and get on with the job of modernising the NHS to improve services for patients, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said today. In his speech to the NHS Confederation‟s annual conference in Manchester, the Secretary of State underlined that message by announcing another group of GPs and front-line clinicians coming forward to lead the way in modernising the NHS. Link
Department of Health: King’s Fund claims NHS funding increases are affordable
Professor John Appleby, chief economist at the King‟s Fund, has said in an article for the British Medical Journal that the argument that reform is essential if the NHS is to survive financially is based on a flawed analysis. Link
Department of Health - The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care July 2009 (revised)
DoH has published a report titled „The National Framework for NHS Continuing Healthcare and NHS-funded Nursing Care July 2009 (revised)‟ today. Link
Department of Health: Chief Nursing Officer Bulletin - Issue 98, June 2011
In this issue:
CNO June Voice piece
Government accepts core Future Forum recommendations
NHS Kidney Care helping kidney patients grow up
Celebrating the roles of nurse commissioners
Key Stakeholders
Royal College of Nursing (RCN)
Nurses express concern over yet another pensions hit
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has expressed concern that nurses‟ pensions have once again been put under threat. RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said: “In 2008, our members agreed to increase their contributions and to limit the money paid in by the taxpayer. These reforms are still sufficient and will result in the cost of public sector pensions falling by £67bn over the next fifty years - as recognized by Lord Hutton, The National Audit Office, and the Parliamentary Accounts Committee. There is no need for a second fundamental change in almost as many years. Link
RCN warns of nursing workforce crisis
The Royal College of Nursing has warned that the NHS in England could lose nearly 100,000 nurses over the next 10 years, with potentially disastrous consequences for patient care. An independent report commissioned by the RCN has examined eight possible scenarios for the number of NHS nurses in England during the next decade, taking into account training places for nurses and midwives, rates of retirement and overseas recruitment. It found that in the worst case scenario, 28 per cent of the nursing workforce (99,000 out of a current workforce of 352,104 registered nurses) could be lost during the next 10 years. Link
Other Stakeholders
The King's Fund responds to the Dilnot report Responding to the Dilnot Commission report, Senior Fellow at The King's Fund, Richard Humphries, said: „In establishing the Dilnot Commission, ministers challenged it to produce a blueprint for a care system that is fair, affordable and sustainable. Today‟s report delivers on that challenge
Department of Health: Chief Nursing Officer Bulletin - Issue 98, June 2011
In this issue:
CNO June Voice piece
Government accepts core Future Forum recommendations
NHS Kidney Care helping kidney patients grow up
Celebrating the roles of nurse commissioners
Key Stakeholders
Royal College of Nursing (RCN)
Nurses express concern over yet another pensions hit
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has expressed concern that nurses‟ pensions have once again been put under threat. RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, Dr Peter Carter, said: “In 2008, our members agreed to increase their contributions and to limit the money paid in by the taxpayer. These reforms are still sufficient and will result in the cost of public sector pensions falling by £67bn over the next fifty years - as recognized by Lord Hutton, The National Audit Office, and the Parliamentary Accounts Committee. There is no need for a second fundamental change in almost as many years. Link
RCN warns of nursing workforce crisis
The Royal College of Nursing has warned that the NHS in England could lose nearly 100,000 nurses over the next 10 years, with potentially disastrous consequences for patient care. An independent report commissioned by the RCN has examined eight possible scenarios for the number of NHS nurses in England during the next decade, taking into account training places for nurses and midwives, rates of retirement and overseas recruitment. It found that in the worst case scenario, 28 per cent of the nursing workforce (99,000 out of a current workforce of 352,104 registered nurses) could be lost during the next 10 years. Link
Other Stakeholders
The King's Fund responds to the Dilnot report Responding to the Dilnot Commission report, Senior Fellow at The King's Fund,
One in 10 NHS hospital beds should be removed in order to free up an extra £1billion to help dementia sufferers, leading politicians say. MPs and peers say that up to a quarter of beds are taken up with people who have degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer‟s, even though it is costly for taxpayers as well as traumatic for patients. Link
BBC News: Long hospital waits 'on the increase'
The number of people facing "long waits" for hospital treatment in England is rising, NHS figures show. Under the NHS Constitution, patients have a right to be seen in 18 weeks. Link
The Telegraph: Unnecessary A&E visits costing £100m+ a year
Accident and emergency departments are being "unnecessarily burdened" with millions of people visiting for minor ailments like stubbed toes and nose bleeds, according to research. Link
Upcoming Events
14 Sep 2011 - 15 Sep 2011 - RCN Long Term Conditions conference and exhibition, RCN, London
20 Sep 2011 - Nursing in Practice Event, Business Design Centre, London
4 Oct 2011- 5 Oct 2011 - WCET UK Conference, Liverpool.
We welcome your questions and comments. Please contact Richard Robinson Richard.robinson@fleishmaneurope.com
Fleishman-Hillard, 40 Long Acre, London, WC2E 9LG - 020 7395 7119 Richard Humphries, said: „In establishing the Dilnot Commission, ministers challenged it to produce a blueprint for a care system that is fair, affordable and sustainable. Today‟s report delivers on that challenge