Plan launched to keep us healthy this winter

The Cold Weather Plan for England is part of the wider suite of measures which the DoH and NHS are taking to protect individuals and communities from the effects of severe winter weather. The Plan provides advice for individuals, communities and agencies on how to prepare for and respond to severe cold weather.

Sharing learning among pathfinder groups

There are 266 pathfinder clinical commissioning groups working together with patients, other NHS colleagues and local authorities to help manage local budgets and design services. The DoH has published a number of case studies and best practice examples on topics such as governance, leadership, partnership working and service redesign.

Supporting foundation trust governors

Foundation Trust governors will play an important role in holding the chair, chief executive and trust board to account for their actions and decisions. The DoH has commissioned proposals for a national learning and development programme to help reduce variance in the level of knowledge and skills of governors. It will also run a series of provider landscape readiness seminars to give chairs and chief executives of NHS trusts and foundation trusts an opportunity to discuss the issues surrounding the creation of the future provider landscape.

Get in SHAPE

The North East Public Health Observatory has developed a free tool to support the strategic planning process. SHAPE (Strategic Health Assets Planning & Evaluation) is an evidence-based application that links national clinical, public health, primary care and demographic data sets with information on NHS healthcare estates or facilities.

Supporting Informed NHS Customers for Information Technology

A joint initiative with eHealth Insider (EHI) will give NHS local commissioners and Trusts free access to information on the systems and suppliers installed across the NHS, providing details of: key clinical and administrative systems used within all Trusts; system conformance against NHS standards; PC, laptop, notebook and smartphone device quantities in use by individual NHS organizations; a facility to allow users to rate systems and suppliers.

Comparative audit of independent sector centres and NHS hospitals

The Patient Outcome in Surgery [POiS] Audit looking at four common procedures – hip replacements, knee replacements, varicose vein treatment and inguinal hernia repair reports that NHS patients these operations in dedicated independent sector units report better outcomes than those seen by NHS Hospitals treating emergency and elective patients, according to a major new study

Guidance on choice of named consultant led team

This document provides guidance to providers and commissioners on implementation of the Government commitment to introduce choice of named consultant-led team for a first outpatient appointment for elective care where clinically appropriate.

New hospital mortality indicator to improve measurement of patient safety

New information on mortality rates in NHS hospitals has been published. The new Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) compares the actual number of patients who die following treatment at a trust with the number who would be expected to die, given the characteristics of the patients treated there.