Staff focus updates - 27 September 2012

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.

Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS): Bursary Announcement – Amendment for 2012 Students. Health Minister Edwin Poots has announced reinstatement of the Book and Uniform Allowance for Nursing and Midwifery Students.

DH: Health staff urged to get flu jab. Health staff are being urged to get vaccinated against flu to cut the risk of it spreading to patients and colleagues this winter. Frontline healthcare workers are more likely to be exposed to the influenza virus, particularly during winter months when some of the people in their care will be infected. It has been estimated that up to 1 in 4 healthcare workers may become infected with influenza during a mild influenza season, a much higher incidence than expected in the general population. 
RCN: Protect yourselves with the flu jab.

DH: National awards frequently asked questions. The published national awards frequently asked questions aim to cover a number of questions that were asked over the period that the award scheme was open. The 2012 award scheme opened for online submissions between Monday 28 May and closed on Friday 17 August 2012.

General Medical Council: The state of medical education and practice in the UK report: 2012. This is the second annual report on the state of medical education and practice which aims to promote discussion and debate on issues and trends that require attention or further analysis, to improve standards of medical practice. The findings include a record increase in the number of complaints made against doctors.

HSCIC: GP earnings and expenses 2010/11. New figures show average income for contractor GPs, who form the majority (around 80 per cent) of the GP workforce, fell 1.5 per cent in 2010/11 from £105,700 the previous year. .
News: GPs' incomes down £6,000 from their peak five years ago.

NHS Diabetes: Evaluating the role and perceived impact of the Regional Paediatric Diabetes Network Coordinator in Yorkshire and the Humber. Each NHS region now has a dedicated paediatric network and NHS Diabetes has funded nine regional paediatric network coordinators (PNCos). This report describes how the network coordinator post has helped the Yorkshire and the Humber Paediatric Diabetes Network deliver its objectives by providing effective and efficient administrative and communication support, and by facilitating discussions between the network and key internal and external stakeholders, and how the role has been the driver for many projects.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES): Dementia Supporting Change Programme. NES are advertising an opportunity to participate in this Dementia Standards-Supporting Change Programme which has been designed to support continuing care staff and services to implement Promoting Excellence: A framework for all health and social services staff working with people with dementia, their families' carers and Standards of Care for Dementia in Scotland.

NHS Employers: Workforce QIPP Community. NHS Employers has created a dedicated space for NHS managers with a responsibility for delivering the workforce productivity element of QIPP. It provides discussion forums, an events calendar and resource library to share best practice, pose questions, and see what others from across the NHS are doing to improve productivity. A user guide is also available.

NICE: Become a fellow or scholar at NICE. Applications are now open for NICE Fellowships and Scholarships, as the programmes enter their fourth year. The positions, starting in April 2013, are unique opportunities to learn about and get involved in the inner workings of NICE, network with likeminded advocates of evidence-based practice, and promote NICE's guidance and other products to peers and colleagues.

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC): NMC Council votes to put details of nurses and midwives struck off the register online indefinitely to ensure the protection of the public. From January 2013 details of nurses and midwives struck off the register will be available on the NMC online register. The Council’s decision comes following recommendations from the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence.

NMC: NMC annual report and accounts 2011-2012 and annual fitness to practise report 2011-2012. The NMC’s annual report and accounts 2011- 2012 and annual fitness to practise report 2011-2012 have now been presented to parliament. “Our clear focus now is on delivering our fundamental duty – protecting the public.”

Queens Nursing Institute (QNI): Nurse First celebrates a year of community nurse innovation. Twenty-four nurses from across the UK celebrated the completion of the first year of the ‘Nurse First’ programme in London last week. The event, held on 19 September at The King’s Fund, allowed the nurses and allied health professionals to showcase their achievements over the past year.

RCN: RCN condemns reduction in nursing numbers. The Royal College of Nursing says it will continue to oppose the “slash and burn” approach being taken to job cuts and will work to keep RCN members in their posts and patients safe. The comments were made as NHS Information Centre workforce statistics released revealed that the number of registered nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff in England has fallen by 5,780 since April 2010.
Health and Social Care Information Centre HSCIC: Monthly NHS Hospital and Community Health Service (HCHS) Workforce Statistics in England - June 2012, Provisional Statistics.

RCN: Local pay a “recipe for disaster”. The Royal College of Nursing welcomed the vote taken at the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton calling on the Government to rule out any further expansion in regional or local pay. Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the RCN, said the result was another sign of the growing opposition to localised pay in the NHS.

RCN: Safe staffing for older people: RCN full report and recommendations (PDF 718KB). This report, from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), sets out guidance and recommendations for the provision of good quality, compassionate and safe nursing care for older people in hospital. The report builds on the existing RCN guidance and the series of recommendations published earlier this year to address issues such as diluted skill-mix on older people's wards. It draws on further evidence from the RCN safe staffing for older people survey 2011, nurse focus groups, a panel of expert nurses from across the UK, stakeholder consultation and a literature review.

RCN: Competences: orthopaedic and trauma practitoners (PDF 670.3 KB).The framework aims to provide clarity for o rganisations as to what they can expect from orthopaedic and trauma care practitioners and can also be used as a benchmark for organisations to use in recruitment and selection of practitioners The four key competences identified are: the relationship between patient and health care professional and the unique role the health care professional plays in guiding the patient through their journey in orthopaedic and trauma health care; comfort during orthopaedic and trauma care; assessment and management of risks in the delivery of care; and the technical aspects of orthopaedic and trauma care, for example the knowledge, understanding and skill required for specialised devices used to treat patients.

RCN: Apply now for bursary schemes. Two bursaries under the RCN Foundation are currently accepting applications. The Professional Bursary Scheme provides individual bursaries of up to £5,000 to support recipients to develop their practice and provide them with the skills to deliver the very best possible advice, support and care to patients. Applications for The Professional Bursary Scheme close on 9 November. Applications for the Kershaw Educational Bursary close on 1 November.

Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP): General practice 2022 – a call to action. The RCGP is encouraging as many people as possible to contribute to its vision for the future of general practice – with GPs at the heart of a transformation of health services to deliver the best possible patient care over the next ten years. This consultation will run from 14th September until 8th October 2012, and the College is asking respondents to complete an online questionnaire or to submit views via email to policy@rcgp.org.uk.

Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG): Tomorrow's specialist. This working party report argues that delivering high quality health care for women will require a different kind of doctor in the future. It calls for a radical rethink of training and the future role of the specialist doctor and that in future, specialists will need to work more flexibly and in different locations, not only in hospitals but in the community. Full report and summary of key messages available.
News: Education and training of specialists to radically change as report calls for a different kind of doctor.

Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) Child Health Reviews:  Nurse recruitment -  case assessors. The RCPCH is recruiting nurses to work as case assessors, to perform criterion-based and holistic assessments of clinical care received by children and young people with epilepsy, who have died or been admitted to hospital for intensive or high dependency care following a prolonged seizure. Successful applicants will be paid an honorarium for each day of assessment which they complete. Appointments will be until 30 April 2013. 

Royal College of Psychiatrists: Delivering quality care for drug and alcohol users: the roles and competencies of doctors. This report – which constitutes official guidance from the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Royal College of General Practitioners, and which reflects changes in processes and the profile of drug use, aims to help commissioners, providers, regulators, policy makers, doctors and those seeking recovery from drug or alcohol use to ensure that drug and alcohol services make the best use of resources to deliver the highest possible standard of care across the entire pathway and that all doctors working with people using drugs and alcohol have the right level of competency for the roles and responsibilities they undertake.