This programme is now available to view on egovtv.tv, the online television channel for public service modernisation. It describes how Portsmouth Grammar School and the Kings’ School in Winchester are harnessing the creative and entrepreneurial skills of their students and making huge savings on the cost of large-scale printing with an Eduprint and HP Designjet solution.
The Government has released details of its revamp of measures to vet adults who have contact with children and vulnerable adults.
Over the next five years the number of largely public service workers who will need CRB checks will rise from six to eleven million.
The checks required for those whose work brings them into contact with children or vulnerable adults are currently conducted by cross-referencing with three different lists of those considered unsuitable. One list is held by the Department of Health, and two by the Department of Children, Schools and Families.
Read more on NEW VETTING SCHEME FOR TEACHING AHD HEALTH PROFESSIONALS…
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) is to oversee the incentive scheme which provides extra payments for GPs providing extra or good quality services.
Following a 13-week Department of Health consultation it has been decided that NICE, with its experience of providing independent health advice, will run the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). The framework contains the clinical indicators that lead to extra payments.
By Chris Seeley and Sue Porter.
Communities can bring younger and older people together in ways that may be uncomfortable for both groups. Young people’s behaviour may be labelled ‘nuisance’, while older people’s views may be labelled ‘intolerant’. The authors describe how they developed intergenerational understanding in a neighbourhood, using the principles of ‘Community Philosophy’.
Read more on COMMUNITY PHILOSOPHY – PROMOTING UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN GENERATIONS…
The Health Secretary Alan Johnson has ordered an independent review of accident and emergency care procedures at the trust which runs Stafford Hospital.
It follows a Healthcare Commission investigation into high mortality rates in patients admitted as emergencies to the hospital. These found deficiencies at virtually every stage of emergency care at the trust – from the time patients arrived at A&E, through to the emergency assessment unit, and subsequent admission to a surgical or medical ward.
Public bodies have been given a list of words to avoid if they want to communicate effectively with local people.
The Local Government Association list, which has been sent to councils across the country, sets out 200 words and phrases that all public sector bodies should avoid when talking to people about the work they do and the services they provide.
By Dr Lynne Friedli
Evidence released by the Mental Health Foundation shows the central importance of the poverty gap to both individual and collective mental health. At a time of public concern over excessive earnings and city bonuses, this report reveals how the gap between rich and poor affects the mental health of individuals by causing psychological and physiological changes. It also argues that mental health is key to understanding wider health and social issues and that poor mental health can lead to a ‘social recession’.
Read more on MENTAL HEALTH, RESILIENCE AND INEQUALITIES GAP…
The first review into how councils and primary care trusts commission services for people with a learning disability has called for better planning to ensure care is accessible, personalised and allows service users to lead as full and independent lives as possible.
Read more on COUNCILS AND PCTS TOLD TO ACCELERATE IMPROVEMENTS TO SERVICES…
A new agency – the National Mental Health Development Unit – will succeed the current National Institute for Mental Health in England as of April 1, it has been announced.
The change follows a review of mental health service delivery, which incorporated findings from Lord Darzi’s NHS Next Stage Review. From April, the ten strategic health authorities will oversee much of the regional and local delivery of new mental health policies, with support from the new development unit.
By Chris Leslie and Nick Hope.
The Government’s Regional Ministers should be given new powers and status according to a report from the New Local Government Network. It calls for Regional Ministers to be appointed full time Ministers of State. Currently Regional Ministers have no official support for their role and have to combine it with their other ministerial duties.
Read more on CHALLENGING PERSPECTIVES: IMPROVING WHITEHALL’S SPATIAL AWARENESS…
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