Staff focus updates - 8 November 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.

Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence: NHS Board standards. Standards for board members and members of Clinical Commissioning Group governing bodies in the NHS in England. The Standards, which apply to NHS England, cover three domains: personal behaviour, technical competence, and business practices, and put compassion and respect at the heart of NHS leadership.

Fair Route to Revalidation: A fair route to revalidation. This guidance provides an easy-to-follow checklist that encourages reflection on where equality and diversity issues may arise in preparing for and implementing the appraisal process that will support a doctor’s revalidation. It offers examples and signposts to more detailed information. It is aimed primarily at responsible officers who will be making recommendations about revalidation.

Healthcare Financial Management Association: Leadership Magazine, Fall-Winter 2012. This issue includes articles on innovation and standardisation. (American).

Journal of Medical Internet Research: Evaluation of end-user satisfaction among employees participating in a web-based health risk assessment with tailored feedback. This study undertaken in the Netherlands concludes that most people were satisfied with web-based HRA with tailored feedback. “Sources of dissatisfaction were limited opportunities for providing additional health information outside of the predefined health and lifestyle assessment questionnaire and insufficient transparency on the generation of the feedback.”

National Skills Academy: Launch of Leadership Qualities Framework for adult social care. The Framework is the first of its kind in social care. "It describes, in a clear and accessible way, what good leadership looks like in different settings and situations, illustrating the attitudes and behaviours needed for high quality leadership at every level of the sector" [ you need to register to access the framework in full].
News: LQF launch a great success.

NHS Education for Scotland (NES): NES 2011-2012 Annual Report. The NES 2011-2012 Annual Report is now available. It summarises key achievements during the year and uses case studies from throughout NHSScotland and beyond to demonstrate the impact of our education and training on improving the quality of NHSScotland services.

NHS Employers: Mitigating equal pay risks following the end of the Computer Aided Job Evaluation system (CAJE). This guidance describes the equal pay risks for organisations, and how to mitigate these risks, once CAJE provision comes to an end on the 31st December 2012. It sets out what employers should seek from any replacement computer aided job evaluation tool, sign posts specific advice about consistency checking of job matching and evaluation outcomes and advises on how to manage the data currently within the CAJE system once it has been returned to employers. It is aimed mainly at English employers, but its principles apply to all NHS employers in the UK.

NHS Employers: BME trailblazer October - Dame Karlene Davis. Part of a series, and marking the 65th anniversary of the NHS, NHS Employers is saluting the achievements of Dame Karlene Davis this month. Dame Karlene Davis is a  lifelong champion of midwifery and passionate about quality of care.

Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC): NMC accepts government contribution to costs of public protection. The Council of the NMC today (25 October 2012) welcomed and accepted the government’s offer to support the costs of regulation with a grant of £20m, and took a difficult decision to raise registration fees to £100 a year.
RCN: RCN condemns NMC fee decision.

RCN: Attacks on trade union facilities time are self defeating. The Cabinet Office has outlined plans to curb facilities time in the civil service.  This is the time off from normal roles that workplace representatives are entitled to for trade union duties.  These restrictions may well be extended to the NHS. These developments have been supported the Tax Payers’ Alliance which has challenged how union representation in the public sector is funded. The Royal College of Nursing has said that restricting facilities time would harm partnership working between employers and their staff and unions. 

Queen’s Nursing Institute: QNI News Autumn issue published. Features a two page special on the QNI Healthcare at Home conference and the Opening Doors’ new guidance on mental health and homelessness. 

RCN: Welfare reform: prepared by the Welfare, Rights and Guidance Service (PDF 138.4KB). This briefing looks at the changes that have been introduced by the Welfare Reform Act and their impact on RCN members.

RCN: “Unacceptable” low pay of minimum wage HCAs. The Royal College of Nursing has said that it is “unacceptable” that health care assistants are often paid below the living wage – forcing them to claim benefits to make ends meet. Marking Living Wage Week, Dr Peter Carter, RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary, said the issue particularly affected the RCN’s HCA members who are often paid less than the living wage for the important work they do.

RCN: Regional pay debated by MPs. The Royal College of Nursing has said it is encouraged that the issue of regional pay is being given the attention it deserves by MPs.There was a Westminster Hall debate on regional pay in the south west, which gave MPs the opportunity to debate and receive a response from a Government minister. There was also an Opposition Day debate on regional pay in the NHS which culminated in a House of Commons vote.

SCIE: Research Mindedness. Being research-minded has become an essential skill for students and practitioners in social work and social care. For social work students and practitioners, research mindedness is integral to demonstrating the ways that knowledge and practice are built into the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) and other forms of professional appraisal. SCIE has developed this learning resource to allow students, academics and practitioners to get a quick overview of research mindedness, and also to explore the topic in more depth.

Willis Commission on Nursing Education: Quality with compassion: the future of nursing education. Report of the Willis Commission 2012 (PDF 1,007KB). In response to reports of poor nursing care the Royal College of Nursing asked Lord Willis of Knaresborough to lead an independent inquiry into what excellent pre-registration nursing education in the UK should look like and how it should be delivered. This is the final report from the inquiry, the Willis Commission on Nursing Education.   Part 1 describes the background to the Commission’s work. Part 2 provides an overview of nursing education – history, current and future plans. Part 3 describes what the Commission learned from the evidence gathered including evidence from patients, academics, students and other experts. Part 4 addresses each of the report’s themes in turn setting out the main issues, solutions and recommendations. The themes are: the future nursing workforce; degree-level registration; learning to nurse; continuing professional development; patient and public involvement in nursing education; and the education infrastructure.
See also: Executive summary (PDF 699KB).
The Willis Commission website. The website also includes the Technical papers cited in the report.
RCN: RCN welcomes Willis Commission recommendations.
BBC Health: Don’t forget tomorrows nurses. The BBC reports on the Willis Commission findings.