Resources
Web scan New ways of thinking The Top Leaders Programme, delivered by the NHS Leadership Academy, is designed for leaders who already have some complex leadership skills but who want to be challenged and are open to new ways of working and thinking. Applicants should have at least two years’ experience at director level and must be prepared to attend two residential placements in Leeds over the course of a year. For more information visit www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/grow/topleaders-programme or email francesca.taylor@ leadershipacademy.nhs.uk Complaint summaries Service providers and members of the public can, for the first time, read online summaries of complaints investigated by the parliamentary and health service ombudsman. Users can search by organisation, for example by hospital, government department or agency, by city or county, by complaint handling issue such as unnecessary delay, or by what the complaint is about such as sepsis. Cases available at present are from March and April 2014 and do not include those that complainants have asked not to be published. Further summaries will be added. Go to www.ombudsman.org.uk/makea-complaint/case-summaries to search the database.
Raising concerns NHS Employers has developed a flowchart for staff who want to raise concerns in the workplace. The flowchart, which can be downloaded and adapted to reflect individual organisations’ policies and processes, and other resources relevant to creating an open and transparent culture in health services are available at tinyurl.com/o2qeao6 Healthcare innovation An online portal to help healthcare innovators, including front line clinicians and service managers, turn ideas into tangible service improvements has been launched by NHS England. Innovation Exchange, at tinyurl.com/ nob5hpy, brings together networks, ideas and resources on a single web platform to support the development, implementation and dissemination of ideas in health and care.
It is underpinned by Innovation Connect, at www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/innovation/ innovation-connect, a gateway to support and advise health innovators and entrepreneurs from the private, public and voluntary sectors. Innovation Exchange gives users access to, among other things: a range of tried and tested innovations to improve patient treatments, forums and resources that encourage collaborative networks, and signposts to funding and investment opportunities. Pay progression and performance Last year, amendments made to Agenda for Change required that progression through all pay points is conditional on meeting required local levels of performance. NHS Employers has launched an online toolkit to help employers decide how to link pay progression and performance in a way that is appropriate to their organisations, guide users through the relevant processes, and offer examples of where they have been linked already. Go to tinyurl.com/pzq2ktz to download the toolkit. Web scan and Out for consultation are compiled by Ruth Williams
Out for consultation Service-user information NHS England is developing a new ‘accessible information standard’ to ensure that people understand information given to them about their health and care. All organisations will need to find out if patients have extra communication needs because of a disability or sensory loss, and take steps to meet these needs by, for example, providing documents in large print and Braille or via a British Sign Language interpreter. They will also be obliged to record, update through re-assessment and share this information. The document and response form are available at tinyurl.com/ny2pcbx until November 9. NURSING MANAGEMENT
Benchmark of good care An updated set of 49 minimum standards for nursing homes in Northern Ireland has been published by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. The standards are to be used by providers to set a benchmark of good care, and by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority when registering and inspecting care homes in Northern Ireland. The standards are intended to improve quality across a range of settings regardless of: trust area, whether they are run by the voluntary or independent sector, the category of care they provide, and whether they provide long- or short-
term care. Information and the online response form are at www.dhsspsni.gov. uk/showconsultations?txtid=71624 The deadline is October 23. Standards of practice A code of conduct for healthcare support workers and adult social care workers was published in March 2013. Although its intended audience was healthcare support workers who report to nurses and midwives, Skills for Health (SfH) says it applies much more broadly in the health sector. Therefore SfH has opened an online consultation to test this theory, which you can access until October 31, at tinyurl.com/n56ykul October 2014 | Volume 21 | Number 6 17
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Web scan New ways of thinking The Top Leaders Programme, delivered by the NHS Leadership Academy, is designed for leaders who already have some complex leadership skills but who want to be challenged and are open to new ways of working and thinking. Applicants should have at least two years’ experience at director level and must be prepared to attend two residential placements in Leeds over the course of a year. For more information visit www.leadershipacademy.nhs.uk/grow/topleaders-programme or email francesca.taylor@ leadershipacademy.nhs.uk Complaint summaries Service providers and members of the public can, for the first time, read online summaries of complaints investigated by the parliamentary and health service ombudsman. Users can search by organisation, for example by hospital, government department or agency, by city or county, by complaint handling issue such as unnecessary delay, or by what the complaint is about such as sepsis. Cases available at present are from March and April 2014 and do not include those that complainants have asked not to be published. Further summaries will be added. Go to www.ombudsman.org.uk/makea-complaint/case-summaries to search the database.
Raising concerns NHS Employers has developed a flowchart for staff who want to raise concerns in the workplace. The flowchart, which can be downloaded and adapted to reflect individual organisations’ policies and processes, and other resources relevant to creating an open and transparent culture in health services are available at tinyurl.com/o2qeao6 Healthcare innovation An online portal to help healthcare innovators, including front line clinicians and service managers, turn ideas into tangible service improvements has been launched by NHS England. Innovation Exchange, at tinyurl.com/ nob5hpy, brings together networks, ideas and resources on a single web platform to support the development, implementation and dissemination of ideas in health and care.
It is underpinned by Innovation Connect, at www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/innovation/ innovation-connect, a gateway to support and advise health innovators and entrepreneurs from the private, public and voluntary sectors. Innovation Exchange gives users access to, among other things: a range of tried and tested innovations to improve patient treatments, forums and resources that encourage collaborative networks, and signposts to funding and investment opportunities. Pay progression and performance Last year, amendments made to Agenda for Change required that progression through all pay points is conditional on meeting required local levels of performance. NHS Employers has launched an online toolkit to help employers decide how to link pay progression and performance in a way that is appropriate to their organisations, guide users through the relevant processes, and offer examples of where they have been linked already. Go to tinyurl.com/pzq2ktz to download the toolkit. Web scan and Out for consultation are compiled by Ruth Williams
Out for consultation Service-user information NHS England is developing a new ‘accessible information standard’ to ensure that people understand information given to them about their health and care. All organisations will need to find out if patients have extra communication needs because of a disability or sensory loss, and take steps to meet these needs by, for example, providing documents in large print and Braille or via a British Sign Language interpreter. They will also be obliged to record, update through re-assessment and share this information. The document and response form are available at tinyurl.com/ny2pcbx until November 9. NURSING MANAGEMENT
Benchmark of good care An updated set of 49 minimum standards for nursing homes in Northern Ireland has been published by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety. The standards are to be used by providers to set a benchmark of good care, and by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority when registering and inspecting care homes in Northern Ireland. The standards are intended to improve quality across a range of settings regardless of: trust area, whether they are run by the voluntary or independent sector, the category of care they provide, and whether they provide long- or short-
term care. Information and the online response form are at www.dhsspsni.gov. uk/showconsultations?txtid=71624 The deadline is October 23. Standards of practice A code of conduct for healthcare support workers and adult social care workers was published in March 2013. Although its intended audience was healthcare support workers who report to nurses and midwives, Skills for Health (SfH) says it applies much more broadly in the health sector. Therefore SfH has opened an online consultation to test this theory, which you can access until October 31, at tinyurl.com/n56ykul October 2014 | Volume 21 | Number 6 17
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 30, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
