Staff focus updates - 21 February 2013

New policy, guidance and initiatives from across the UK which focus on staff issues and professional development. For more information about this theme see Quality and Safety e-Bulletin: staff focus.

Some of the resources linked to are in PDF format - see how to access PDF files.

Centre for Workforce Intelligence (CFWI): (2013) Big picture challenges for health and social care: Implications for workforce planning, education, training and development. As part of their horizon scanning programme, the CfWI has a project to identify the big picture challenges facing health, social care and public health and draw out their workforce implications. In this report, the CFWI used the five domains of the Education Outcomes Framework (EOF) as a template to put forward thought-provoking questions to encourage readers to consider how Health Education England (HEE) and partners could help to address these challenges.

DH: Patients to get better care from healthcare assistants. A new independent review which will look at how the training and support of healthcare and care assistants can be strengthened so they give better care to patients has been announced by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The review will be led by Times journalist Camilla Cavendish who will report back to Government at the end of May. It will look at how healthcare assistants can have the training and support they need to provide essential services to the highest standards, and how recruitment can be strengthened to place the right people, with the right values and behaviours, in the right settings.
RCN: HCA regulation and improved training is essential for HCAs. “The RCN has worked closely with organisations such as Skills for Health and Skills for Care to set out training standards that are needed; but without mandatory regulation to support this, there is a danger that those staff who are found to be unsuitable could move from one employer to another unchecked. We believe that Francis' recommendation on HCA regulation must be implemented if care is to be safe and of a consistently high standard."

DH: Responses to consultation on future of audit staff in trusts. The 66 responses to the consultation on future of audit staff in trusts are now available. There were 66 responses in total. Views were sought from a wide range of people with an interest in the future of quality assessment and quality improvement of health care.

Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC): Survey for education providers. In 2013-14 the HCPC will be undertaking a comprehensive review of their education activities. To help in this review the HCPC have created a survey for existing education providers to feed back on ways in which they engage with the HCPC as part of the approval and monitoring processes. The survey closes on 1 March 2013.

General Medical Council (GMC): The Impact of the Working Time Regulations on Medical Education and Training. Research commissioned by the GMC has found some doctors may still be working nearly 100 hours a week during their busiest shifts - increasing the potential for mistakes. The research was aimed at understanding the impact of the Working Time Regulations which are intended to promote health and safety by restricting the hours doctors work. The study, based on the views of 82 trainee doctors, found that while the regulations had led to fewer hours, it had also produced more shift work, leaving some doctors suffering fatigue and acknowledging that there were times when they performed poorly.

Health Foundation: PhD Awards for Improvement Science funding announced. The Health Foundation has funded eight universities through the PhD Awards for Improvement Science. Each organisation will support two PhD students in the long-term development of improvement science.

Life Associates Consulting: Mentoring apprentices: Do you have the skills? Apprentices are employed throughout the NHS and are an invaluable resource for many trusts. If you are interested in developing your mentoring skills, Life Associates are running a “mentoring your apprentice” course on 20 March 2013. 

National Nursing Research Unit, King’s College London: Can health visiting make the difference expected? (PDF 610KB). Evidence suggests that the first few years of life is a critically important time that affects individuals’ future health and social well-being. The Government’s response to this evidence has been to plan to increase by 50% the size of the health visiting (HV) workforce and to provide a new vision about how services should be delivered. The NNRU were asked to review the research evidence about the impact of health visiting practice on families. In this Policy+ the findings of the review address: can health visiting make the difference expected, and what does it take to get the most out of this workforce?

National Nursing Research Unit, King’s College London: Why Health Visiting? A review of the literature about key health visitor interventions, processes and outcomes for children and families (PDF 1.4MB). “This large scoping review incorporated a narrative study about the key components of health visitor interventions, within the context of the Health Visitor Implementation Plan, and relationships between the current health visiting service, its processes and outcomes for children and families.”
Appendices.
Press release: More support needed for health visitors.

NHS Employers: Putting the patient first: issues for HR from the Francis Report. This discussion paper asks views from the HR community in response to the Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry, chaired by Robert Francis QC (The Francis Report). The responses to the questions in the paper will help inform and shape the format of forthcoming listening workshops for HR directors, which will provide the content of NHS Employers' response to specific recommendations in the Francis Report.

NHS Employers: BME trailblazer February 2013 - Barbara Burford. This issue looks at Barbara Burford, who was a lifelong champion of equality and diversity in the health service and has directly inspired hundreds of health professionals and managers through her work. She was presented with an honorary doctorate in 2001 from Middlesex University in North London, in recognition of her national achievements in the equality and diversity field.

NHS Employers: Leaders and Reservists in the NHS - In Focus: Sir Andrew Cash. Sir Andrew Cash, Chief Executive of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation, explains why he has publicly pledged his support of the Armed Forces and the positive experience and skills Reservists bring to the NHS.

Picker Institute Europe: Understanding public protection: exploring views on the fitness to practise of health and care professionals (PDF 863.6KB). In September 2012, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) commissioned Picker Institute Europe to explore public and professional views and understandings of public protection. “Key findings of the research shows that there is no consensus on what members of the public might want to be protected from, and no appetite to create an explicit list of actions that would trigger investigation by the regulator. It also found that there was a concern that professionals be honest and trustworthy, both on and off duty”. The research has assisted in the ongoing work of the HCPC Fitness to Practise Committee.
Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC): Fitness to Practise Committee 14 February 2013: Executive summary and recommendations (PDF 1.1MB)

Queen’s Nursing Institute (QNI): QNI news, Winter 2013. This issue features news about 10 new nurse-led projects; new guidance from Opening Doors and a QN perspective on the 'District Nursing Vision' report. 

RCN: Caring for people with liver disease: a competence framework for nursing (PDF 4.7MB).
Liver disease is emerging to become the fifth most common cause of death in the UK and its prevalence has risen year on year in recent times. Public awareness of liver disease needs to be raised, and nurses are key to its prevention. This competence framework describes the professional standards expected of practitioners when caring for people with liver disease - adults and young people - across England.

Royal College of Surgeons (RCS): Acting on concerns: your professional responsibility. The Royal College of Surgeons has published a comprehensive manual that advises clinicians on how to act if they consider patients are receiving poor care. The manual guides surgeons on how best to collaborate with colleagues to monitor performance and quality of care, deal with problems, raise concerns and support others to do the same.
News: RCS guidance on raising concerns and whistleblowing.