A three-year study of London’s 30,000 National Health Service staff has shown a move towards improved working lives in spite of increased job pressures, new challenges and the cost of living in the capital. Figures published today show almost two thirds of staff felt their jobs were interesting and challenging and offered a feeling of accomplishment.”The Healthy Attitudes: Quality of Working Life in the London NHS” survey was conducted by leading independent employment research and consultancy body, the Institute for Employment Studies, on behalf of a consortium of NHS Trusts and Health Authorities.

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By Jill Gardiner Recruiting and retaining staff is high on the agenda of local councils and other public bodies. Private sector employers are able to offer benefits packages including gym discounts, company cars and private medical insurance, which put public sector organizations at a disadvantage. The author describes the benefits of a mutual friendly society, dedicated to the needs of the public sector, which can provide flexible healthcare benefits.

Hughes, J. and Settle, DThis audit offers a set of quality standards for inter-agency work. The guidance offered may apply to all involved in inter-agency work, and also inter-speciality and inter-disciplinary working. For example, the principles of this work could apply to multi-disciplinary health teams or area child protection committees. It explains issues around aims, commitment, management, communication, evaluation and accountability. The structure of inter-agency projects is highlighted through illustrations and guidance concerning the interactions between levels of strategic leadership, executive management and operational implementation. The document supports those involved in bringing together various agencies, specialists and disciplines as equal partners aligned to a common purpose, while at the same time acknowledging, maintaining and respecting their individual integrity.

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New guidelines have been introduced in the National Health service to reduce the risk to patients of being prescribed the wrong medication. It sets out ways of avoiding errors in prescribing, dispensing and administering medicines.The new guide follows an examination of the causes of most accidents involving medicines and it recommends changes in equipment and practices in an effort to cut the chances of harm to patients. In 2001 the government set a target of a 40 per cent cut in serious medication errors and the elimination of death or paralysis from wrongly administered spinal injections. That target recognised that the reasons for individual errors might be a complex mixture of human error and systems failure.

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New research has highlighted the need for the government to address the historic under funding of council services as part of its current review of the central-local balance within council funding. The Local Government Information Unit has been studying the long-term causes of the Government’s council tax crisis.

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Young people are alienated from politics but not apathetic, according to researchers from the University of Birmingham who say that the Government should pay more attention to what young people want and not take their views for granted.The ESRC-funded research, published today, found that young people feel politics is something that is done to them, not something they can take part in. That, the research team say, is a sign of alienation rather than apathy and if government wants to encourage young voters it must first listen to them.

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Head teachers are calling for a public sector solution to Local Education Authority and school improvement. In a paper published today the Secondary Heads Association says the government has frequently looked to the private sector to turn round schools and LEAs but the expertise for which the private sector is being given credit comes from people whose experience has been gained in the public sector.The Association believes that LEA and school improvement could be carried out more effectively and efficiently within the public sector. It points to a number of successful interventions by Chief Education Officers from other LEAs. This it says contrasts with the over-hyped and expensive involvement of private companies, whose success rate has not been good. The SHA cites the example of Liverpool LEA, now highly rated, which, it says, was put on the right track four years ago through the secondment of Bob Clark, then Chief Education Officer in Wigan.

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By Rosemary Crompton, Jane Dennett and Andrea Wigfield. The world of work is changing rapidly. Long-established job hierarchies have been swept away and more flexible ways of working have been widely adopted. More women with young children are remaining in employment and many employers are introducing flexible policies designed to improve work-life balance. The authors explore the tensions between career development and family life in the private and public sectors.

2Editors: Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith and Richard BeckhardThis collection of essays looks at leadership, management and strategy and is designed to help leaders prepare their organizations for the future. Topics include basic policies that can lead to high performance and maintaining the stability of the organization in times of massive change. Personnel issues such as, motivation and retention and supporting the work-life balance, received extensive coverage.

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Schools in Sheffield, Trafford and Glasgow are piloting a campaign aimed at cutting the number of deaths and injuries caused by falls in the classroom. There have been five deaths and more than three thousand injuries in the education sector in the last six years.The Health and Safety Executive is working with the three local education authorities and has produced posters and a guidance leaflet to raise awareness of safety in the classroom and the risks to teachers and classroom assistants of suffering injury as a result of a fall from height.

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