Current Awareness Bulletin Archive: 2010

Best value toolkits [Toolkit]
We have a new series of toolkits for use by auditors when carrying out Best Value (BV) audits or in a range of other work. These include: challenge & improvement, community engagement, equalities, governance & accountability.

[Links to external webpage]

Centre for Health Economics

Workshop on methods of economic evaluation in public health research [Presentations]

[Links to external webpage]

Cochrane Collaboration

PAHO’s policy on research for health

[Links to external webpage]

Commonwealth Fund

The Triple Aim Journey: Improving Population Health and Patients' Experience of Care, While Reducing Costs [Case-studies]

[Links to external webpage]

Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence

Power to the people in healthcare [Viewpoint]

[Links to external webpage]

Department of Health

Manual for cancer services 2008: psychological support measures

Early experiences of implementing personal health budgets
Twenty pilot sites have been selected from the personal health budgets pilot for an in-depth study, as part of a wider evaluation exploring the potential of personal health budgets to benefit different groups of people. This report is based on interviews with project leads and highlights some of the challenges the pilot sites face and how they are beginning to overcome these.

Liberating the NHS: report of the arms length bodies review

[Links to external webpages]

E-watch on Innovation in Health Services

Does dissemination extend beyond publication: a survey of a cross section of public funded research in the UK

Healthcare transformation in Canada

[Links to external webpages]

Health Information and Quality Authority (Ireland)

Catalogue of national health information sources in Ireland

[Links to external webpage]

Health Professions Council

Consultation on proposed changes to the generic standards of proficiency
The full standards for consultation are available here.

[Links to external webpages]

INAHTA

Reassessment of health technologies: obsolescence and waste

Development and testing of search filters to identify economic evaluations in MEDLINE and EMBASE

Patient involvement: between ideals and reality [Summary]

[Links to external webpages]

Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Co-ordinating care for patients with complex needs [Web-based training]
Over the course of three web-based sessions, our expert faculty will address the following:

• Identifying opportunities to better coordinate care for patients with complex needs

• Allocating resources to better meet the range of needs in this population

• Testing new ways to streamline care for patients with complex needs

• Partnering with community organizations to address social determinants of health

• Tracking the impact on health, costs, and patient experience

[Links to external webpage]

Joint Commission

Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient- and Family-Centered Care: A Roadmap for Hospitals

[Links to external webpage]

King's Fund

Referral management: lessons for success
This report found that NHS referral management centres (RMCs) and some other interventions to manage GP referrals into secondary care are failing to improve quality and deliver cost savings.

[Links to external webpage]

Mental Welfare Commission

Where do I go from here? Report from our visits to people admitted to mental health assessment wards for older people in Scotland

[Links to external webpage]

MHRA

The Medicines for Human Use (Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2010

[Links to external webpage]

National Academic Press

Transforming clinical research in the United States: challenges and opportunities [Workshop report]
The prevention and treatment of missing data in clinical trials

[Links to external webpages]

National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia)

Emergency department stroke and transient ishaemic attack care bundle [Multiple downloads]

[Links to external webpage]

NHS Complaints

Data on written complaints in the NHS 2009-10 [Statistics]

[Links to external webpage]

NHS Employers

NICE publishes QOF indicators for 2011/12 [News]

[Links to external webpage]

NHS Evidence

2010 Annual evidence update on Hepatitis B and C

[Links to external webpage]

NHS Information Centre

A summary of public health indicators using electronic data from primary care 2001-2007 [Statistics]

[Links to external webpage]

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement

Medical leadership competency framework: enhancing engagement in medical leadership, 3rd edition

NHS live project directory [Database]
The NHS Live project directory is a great source of local improvement stories, and is searchable by keyword and region.

Creating the culture for innovation: a practical guide for leaders

[Links to external webpages]

NICE

NICE announces development of further quality standards [News]

NICE guideline set to transform cancer care for thousands of patients [News]

[Links to external websites]

Nursing and Midwifery Council

Review of pre-registration nursing education phase 2: report of consultation findings on proposed new standards for pre-registration nursing education

Review of pre-registration nursing education: stakeholder engagement and outcomes

Safeguarding adults [News]

New hub for resources on the role of nurses and midwives in safeguarding adults.

[Links to external webpages]

OECD

OECD ministerial meeting (October 2010): health priorities in the aftermath of the crisis

At a meeting in Paris on 7-8th October, Ministers will discuss how to enhance quality, reduce waste and promote healthy lifestyles – this webpage links to the topics and questions to be discussed at the meeting.

[Links to external webpage]

RCN

Pillars of the community: the RCN’s UK position on the development of the registered nursing workforce in the community

[Links to external webpage]

Scottish Government

Delivering quality in primary care national action plan: implementing the healthcare quality strategy for NHSScotland

Hospital superbugs [News]

Information governance records management guidance for NHS boards [multiple documents]

Consultation on regulation of independent healthcare in Scotland

[Links to external webpages]

World Health Organization

WHO urges countries to take measures to combat antimicrobial resistance [News]

Conceptual framework for the international classification for patient safety: version 1.1

[Links to external webpages]

Friday 23 July 2010

AHRQ

Coping with medical error: a systematic review of papers to assess the effects of involvement in medical errors on health professionals’ psychological well-being

The power of safety: state reporting provides lessons in reducing harm, improving care

AHRQ Innovations Exchange: featured topic – hospital transparency in reporting medical errors (webpage)

Accountability measures: using measurement to promote quality improvement

Patient safety: what can medicine learn from aviation?

National action plan to improve health literacy

[Links to external webpages]

Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare

The proposed national safety and quality framework: safe and high quality health care for Australia

[Links to external webpage]

Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health

Using evidence in the real world (Presentation)
Presentation now available from a free educational program for pharmacists and other health care professionals that examined evidence-based medicine and how to apply critical appraisal skills in daily practice.

[Links to external webpage]

Centre for Health Economics

Health systems performance: how can we secure robust international comparison?

[Links to external webpage]

Cochrane Collaboration

Evidence and Policy special issue: evidence and policy in six European countries

EQUATOR seminar. Reporting your randomized trial: CONSORT 2010 and other reporting guidelines (Event, Oxford, UK)

[Links to external webpages]

Commonwealth Fund

Blueprint for the dissemination of evidence-based practices in healthcare

Carolinas Medical Center: deomonstration high quality in the public sector

Mirror, mirror on the wall: how the performance of the US health care system compares internationally

International profiles of health care systems

[Links to external webpages]

Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence

Managing extended practice: is there a place for ‘distributed regulation’?

CHRE viewpoint: regulation and managing risk

Fitness to practice audit report: audit of health professionals’ initial decisions

[Links to external webpages]

Department of Health

Equity and excellence: liberating the NHS (government White paper)

Liberating the NHS: provisional timetable July 2010 – June 2012

Department of Health draft structural reform plan
Information on the quality of services: final report

Building the evidence base in pre-hospital urgent and emergency care: a review of research evidence and priorities for future research

National Quality Board: NICE quality standards

[Links to external webpages]

E-watch on Innovation in Health Services

Basing healthcare on impirical evidence

The impact of competition on management quality: evidence from public hospitals

Quality of life returns from basic research

Mobilizing knowledge about the development of children, youth and families: focus on knowledge transformation and learning

Health information technology to facilitate communication involving health care providers, caregivers and paediatric patients: a scoping review

Evidence 2010: transforming healthcare (Event, London)

Selecting quality and resource use measures: a decision guide for community quality collaboratives

Knowledge brokering: exploring the process of transferring knowledge into action

[Links to external webpages]

Health and Safety Executive

Health surveillance: a time for change? Workshop proceedings 07/08

[Links to external webpage]

Health Information and Quality Authority (Ireland)

Public poll: opinions on safer better care

[Links to external webpages]

Health Foundation

Stephen Thornton’s speech at the NHS Confederation: does better quality save money?

The patient will see you now: rebalancing relationships between people who use services and those who provide them

[Links to external webpages]

Health Protection Scotland

The 2009 influenza pandemic: an independent review of the UK response to the 2009 influenza pandemic

Quarterly report on the surveillance of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (S. aureus bacteraemia) in Scotland January - March 2010

Quarterly report on the Surveillance of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in Scotland, January 2010-March 2010

[Links to external webpages]

INAHTA

INAHTA briefs compilation volume 10, 2009-2010

Strategies for diffusion and dissemination of health technology assessment (HTA) products

[Links to external webpages]

NHS Information Centre

Health survey for England: 2008 trend tables

[Links to external webpage]

Information Commissioner's Office

European data protection Commission’s call for the UK to strengthen the powers of its national data protection authority

Poor data security in the NHS

[Links to external webpages]

Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Conflict engagement training for health professionals: recommendations for creating conflict competent organizations (Free registration required)
Helping leaders blink correctly: split second decisions have patient safety implications

Patient and family centred care organizational assessment tool (Free registration required)

[Links to external webpages]

James Lind Alliance

James Lind Alliance guidebook

[Links to external webpage]

Knowledge Network

Information governance newsletter – issue 25

[Links to external webpage]

King's Fund

Putting quality first in the boardroom: improving the business of caring
[Links to external webpage]

MHRA

New physiotherapy and occupational therapy pages launched (Website)

MHRA enforcement strategy

[Links to external webpages]

Monitor

The role of boards in improving patient safety

[Links to external webpage]

OECD

Growing health spending puts pressure on government budgets, according to OECD health data 2010

[Links to external webpage]

NICE

Public consultation on Evaluation Pathway Programme process guide and methods guide

[Links to external webpage]

NHS Confederation

Where next for health and social care integration?

[Links to external webpage]

NPSA

10 years after To err is human: are we listening to patients and families yet? Focus on patient safety newsletter, volume 13, issue 1, 2010.

Medical error: what to do if things go wrong: a guide for junior doctors

[Links to external webpages]

Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority

Reducing the risk of hyponatraemia when administering intravenous infusions to children
[Links to external webpage]

Scottish Government

Realising potential: an action plan for allied health professionals in mental health

Superbug rates at all-time low (News item)

Reduction in hospital mortality (News item)

[Links to external webpages]

UK Statistics

Social trends 40, 2010 edition

QOF prevalence rates for Scotland

Tuesday 8 June 2010

AHRQ

Effectiveness of interventions designed to promote patient involvement to enhance safety: a systematic review. Quality in Health Care, 2010.

Standing Up for Doctors, Speaking Out for Patients: Final Report.
This report summarizes findings from a survey querying physicians about United Kingdom National Health Service whistleblowing policies.

10 years after To Err Is Human: are we listening to patients and families yet? Focus on Patient Safety Newsletter. 2010;13:1-3.

Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture: 2010 User Comparative Database Report (United States)

2009 National Healthcare Quality Report (United States)

[Links to external webpages]

Cochrane Collaboration

The James Lind Alliance announces the launch of online Guidebook for priority setting in research
The James Lind Alliance has announced the launch of the Guidebook - an online resource designed to enable patients and clinicians to set the medical research agenda.

[Links to external webpage]

Commonwealth Fund

Enhancing the Capacity of Community Health Centers to Achieve High Performance: Findings from the 2009 Commonwealth Fund National Survey of Federally Qualified Health Centers
Federally Qualified Health Centers are community-based health centers that provide comprehensive primary care and behavioral and mental health services to patients regardless of ability to pay. This report highlights methods for strengthening FQHCs’ ability to provide care. These include formalizing partnerships with hospitals, improving office systems, adopting the medical home model, and increasing use of HIT.

Blueprint for the Dissemination of Evidence-Based Practices in Health Care
Aimed at fostering the broad adoption of effective health care interventions, this report proposes a blueprint for improving the dissemination of best practices by national quality improvement campaigns.

Evidence-Based Health Care for Children: What Are We Missing?
With the enactment of comprehensive health reform, reimbursement for a variety of health care services will likely depend on evidence to support that provision. Understanding what constitutes "evidence" will have a profound effect on the range of clinical care provided.

[Links to external webpages]

E-Watch on Innovation in Health Services

Who needs what from a national health research system: lessons from reforms to the English Department of Health's R&D system. Health Research Policy and Systems, 2010;8:11.

Introduction to Evidence-Informed Decision Making (e-learning course)

The 32nd Annual Meeting of the Society for Medical Decision Making. "Evidence, Economics, and Ethics: The Future of Health Technology Assessment", October 24 - 27, 2010, Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel, Toronto, Canada (Conference)

Healthcare systems: efficiency and institutions

SIIRen: system integration and innovation research network (website)

Building a 21st century primary health care system: Australia’s first national primary health care strategy

Changing Management Cultures and Organisational Performance in the NHS (OC2)

[Links to external webpages]

Health Foundation

Sharing our ideas and learning: The Health Foundation at the The International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare
Presentations and posters prepared by The Health Foundation for the International Forum but never delivered due to the Iceland volcano.

[Links to external webpage]

Health Protection Scotland

Hand hygiene - seventh bi-monthly audit report

Guidelines for the investigation, control and prevention of spread of group A streptococcal (GAS) infection in acute healthcare settings in the United Kingdom (Draft for consultation)

Scottish Mycobacteria Reference Laboratory - audit-study day (Course)
The Scottish Mycobacteria Reference Laboratory will be holding its biennial audit-study day on Tuesday 15 June 2010 at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. It will include updates on current laboratory techniques and epidemiology of mycobacterial infections. For more details or to register please contact Mrs Shona Hannan at: shona.hannan@luht.scot.nhs.uk or telephone 0131 242 6016.

Quarterly report on the Surveillance of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) in Scotland, October 2009-December 2009

[Links to external webpages]

Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Conflict Engagement Training for Health Professionals: Recommendations for Creating Conflict Competent Organizations
This resource presents an overview of current "best practices" for creating conflict competent organizations, and includes a review of the literature and input from experienced professionals who provide training to health care organizations.

$10 Million in Savings: Reducing Hospital Operating Expenses While Improving Quality July 2010 (Conference)
This two-day seminar will take place in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on July 27-28, 2010.

Helping leaders blink correctly: Split-second decisions have patient safety implications (Part 1)
This article describes two of four necessary skills health care leaders need to develop in order to "blink" appropriately (i.e., make decisions based on robust analysis and interpretation of data): understanding the messiness of improving health care, and determining why you are measuring.

International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare 2011 (Conference)
The 2011 International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, co-sponsored by IHI and the BMJ Publishing Group, will be held April 5-8, 2011, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Partnership for Healthcare Excellence (Website)
The Partnership for Healthcare Excellence offers numerous resources (e.g., fact sheets, posters, videos) for patients, physicians, hospitals, employers, and community organizations to educate and engage patients more directly in their own care. Example resources include questions to ask at a doctor's appointment, medication safety, infection prevention, comparing hospitals, and end-of-life planning.

[Links to external webpages]

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Involving users in commissioning local services

[Links to external webpage]

King's Fund

Patient choice: how patients choose and how providers respond

[Links to external webpage]

MHRA

Medical Device Technology Forum: Report on registers of devices

[Links to external webpage]

Monitor

Measuring Monitor’s impact: economic evaluation report
This report highlights improvements in performance at NHS foundation trusts as a consequence of both Monitor’s assessment process for applicant trusts, and its risk-based approach to regulation. It was produced with support from Frontier Economics and the research methodology was independently validated.

NHS Foundation Trusts: clinical quality and service performance
This document is the outcome of a consultation which aimed to develop how the Compliance Framework addresses clinical quality and service performance in NHS foundation trusts.

Service-line management
Toolkits and guides for managing service lines in the healthcare setting.

[Links to external webpages]

Tuesday 27 April 2010

AHRQ

Patient safety research: an overview of the global evidence

Safe Patients, Smart Hospitals: How One Doctor's Checklist Can Help Us Change Health Care from the Inside Out.

Improving America's Hospitals: The Joint Commission's Annual Report on Quality and Safety 2009.

Creating champions for health care quality and safety

New Approaches to Researching Patient Safety

[links to external webpages]