Download or read book House of Commons Health Committee 2013 Accountability Hearing with the Nursing and Midwifery Council HC 699 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-12-18 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this report the Health Committee welcomes improvements in the performance of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) over the last year, but expresses continuing concern that the progress made so far remains fragile. The Committee emphasises that it is important to ensure that the new challenges facing the NMC do not become a distraction from the continuing requirement to improve its performance of its core functions. The report is the first example of a Health Committee review of a professional regulator which builds on the work of the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). The length of time the NMC takes to conclude its fitness to practise cases has been an enduring concern for the Committee. From 2015, the NMC proposes to toughen the target period for resolving fitness to practise cases to 15 months (eventually to 12 months). The NMC has announced plans to introduce a system of revalidation by the end of 2015 which is welcomed. The Francis Report into the failings at Mid Staffs examined the role of regulators, including the NMC, in detail. The report stresses the importance of ensuring firstly that registrants understand their professional obligation to raise concerns when they see evidence of poor patient care, and secondly that patients and public are made more aware of the role of the NMC as the regulator of professional and clinical standards. The NMC should take urgent steps to raise the profile of the NMC both among its registrants and among patients and public.
Download or read book House of Commons Health Committee 2013 Accountability Hearing with Monitor HC 841 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-03-26 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This year's inquiry into the work of Monitor concludes that the model of care provided by the health and care system is not changing quickly enough with the result that pressures continue to build, threatening the financial stability of individual providers, and therefore the quality of care provided The pressures are likely to be particularly marked in the acute sector as plans are prepared and implemented to achieve the resource transfer required by the introduction of the Better Care Fund from April 2015. Continuing this theme, the Committee argues that as the NHS financial situation tightens, the challenge for Monitor in supporting trusts in financial difficulty is likely to increase. The MPs emphasise the importance of addressing pressures within individual providers in the context of the local health economy. The requirement for major change in the care model can only be delivered if individual providers, and Monitor as their regulator, look beyond preserving existing structures and address the need to develop different structures to meet changing needs. The Committee also expresses concern that Monitor has not done enough to reform the system of tariff payments for providers, arguing that the current tariff arrangements often create perverse incentives for providers and inhibit necessary service change. It recommends that Monitor and NHS England should initiate a formal joint process for a prioritised review of the NHS tariff arrangements with the objective of identifying and eliminating perverse incentives and introducing new tariff structures which incentivise necessary service change
Download or read book House of Commons Health Committee Appointment of the Chair of Monitor HC 744 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-10-24 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In April 2010 Dr David Bennett was appointed as interim Chief Executive of Monitor and then as Chair in March 2011. He was appointed permanent Chief Executive of Monitor with effect from 1 November 2012, while remaining as Chair pending a new appointment. On 10 October 2013, the Secretary of State proposed to appoint Dominic Dodd as Chair of Monitor. Dr Bennett has filled the roles of both Chair and Chief Executive - effectively Executive Chair - and has led Monitor through the whole process of change brought about by the Health and Social Care Act 2012. He has both shaped and interpreted the role that Monitor now plays in the system which makes the transition to another individual taking on the Chair an especially difficult one. On this basis the Committee did not endorse Mr Dodd's appointment
Download or read book House of Commons Health Committee Post Legislative Scrutiny of the Mental Health Act 2007 HC 584 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-08-14 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to the Health Committee, more needs to be done to protect the interests of patients who rely on mental health services. The Committee has undertaken a review of the 2007 Mental Health Act (ISBN 9780105412076). Many psychiatric wards are over capacity and there is huge pressure on beds, nevertheless, the Committee was shocked to learn that there is evidence that patients who need hospital treatment are being sectioned unnecessarily in order to access a bed. This represents a serious violation of patient's basic rights and it is never acceptable for patients to be subjected to compulsory detention unless it is clinically necessary. The 2007 Act contained important provisions which introduced Community Treatment Orders (CTOs). These orders allow for patients to be treated in the community whilst still being subject to recall to hospital if their condition deteriorates. The Committee is also concerned that pressure on hospital beds may be driving increased use of CTOs. MPs also examined the function of Independent Mental Health Advocates who help patients take advantage of their rights whilst in hospital. The Committee is in no doubt that a patient's primary advocate should be their clinician and independent advocates, ultimately, provide an important, but supplementary, service
Download or read book House of Commons Health Committee After Francis Making A Difference HC 657 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-09-18 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The NHS needs to be an organization in which an open dialogue about care quality is part of the natural culture of the organization, not a duty which only arises in cases of service failure. Robert Francis made 290 recommendations in his report, but in truth they boil down to just one - that the culture of 'doing the system's business' is pervasive in parts of the NHS and has to change. Many who raise their concerns in the NHS at present risk serious consequences for their employment and professional status. But disciplinary procedures, professional conduct hearings and employment tribunals are not the proper place for honestly-held concerns about patient safety and care quality to be aired constructively. The NHS standard contract imposes a duty of candour on all NHS providers. This is an essential principle, but it is not adequately understood or applied. It should mean that all providers create a culture which is routinely open both with their patients and their commissioners. The same principle should apply to commissioners so that they are routinely open and accountable to local communities. The Health Committee recommended this approach in 2011 and repeats that now. It should be a prime role of the CQC to encourage the development of this culture within care providers, and of NHS England to develop the same culture within commissioners. The Health Committee will in future work closely with the Professional Standards Authority to develop the accountability process for professional regulators in healthcare
Download or read book HC 244 National Health Screening written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The risks and benefits of participating in screening programmes, for conditions and diseases like cancer, are not consistently communicated by either the NHS or private health care providers, the Science and Technology Committee has warned in a new report. It is calling on the Government to ensure that a standardised process to produce screening information is introduced and that better communications training is provided to health care professionals. A recently revised breast cancer screening leaflet for the 50-70 age group - with its more explicit focus on helping women make an 'informed choice' about whether screening is right for them - marks a step in the right direction. However, the inquiry found that the principles followed to revise this leaflet have not been applied to the communications developed by other NHS screening programmes. The Committee recommends that steps are immediately taken by the Government's advisor on screening, the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), to devise and implement a standard process for producing information that facilitates informed choice. It also recommends a clarification of what 'informed choice' means for potential screening participants so that different screening programmes can be more effectively evaluated on their delivery of it. MPs are also calling on the Office for National Statistics to validate the statistics presented in NHS screening information to resolve disagreement and confusion over their accuracy.
Download or read book HC 350 Complaints and Raising Concerns written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most of those who complain about NHS services do not seek financial redress. They do so because they wish to have their concerns and experiences understood and for any failings to be acknowledged and put right so that others do not suffer the same avoidable harm. Where such errors occur, patients and their families deserve to be met with a system which is open to complaints, supports them through the process and which delivers a timely apology, explanation and a determination to learn from mistakes. The current system for complaints handling however, remains variable. Too many complaints are mishandled with people encountering poor communication or at worst, a defensive and complicated system which results in a complete breakdown in trust and a failure to improve patient safety. The Committee welcomes the progress made since their last report, but in this, the Committee's final report on complaints and concerns in this Parliament, an overview is set out of the developments and recommendations to date as well as those expected in 2015. The Committee also makes a number of recommendations where further action is required.
Download or read book House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee Twenty eighth Report of Session 2013 14 HC 83 xxv written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: European Scrutiny Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-01-02 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Health Inequalities written by Katherine E. Smith and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides wide-ranging anaylses and reviews of the UK's experiences of health inequalities research and policy to date, and reflects on the lessons that have been learnt from these experiences, both within the UK and internationally.
Download or read book HC 703 Government Horizon Scanning written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-05-04 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government launched its new horizon scanning programme last July, stating that 'in a tight economic climate, it is more important than ever to have the best possible understanding of the world around us, and how that world is changing'. However, as it stands, the new programme is little more than an echo chamber for Government views. The new bodies that have been created consist entirely of Civil Servants, effectively excluding the vast pool of expertise that exists outside of government. The new programme does not even have a dedicated web presence to keep interested parties informed. The programme's failings are partially attributed to a lack of ministerial oversight. The Government also needs to recognise the potential role to be played in the new programme by the Government Office for Science (GO-Science), specifically the Foresight Unit. The relative lack of impact that the Foresight Unit has historically had on policy is largely a result of its non-central location in government. GO-Science is located in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). In contrast, the new horizon scanning programme is located in the Cabinet Office. In choosing to situate the new horizon scanning programme in the Cabinet Office, the Government has recognised the importance of location and has thereby acknowledged the strength of this argument. GO-Science should be relocated from BIS to the Cabinet Office, where it can play a more central role in the new programme and more effectively fulfill its role of ensuring that the best scientific evidence is utilised across government
Download or read book HC 845 Impact Of Physical Activity And Diet On Health written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 69 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Diet, obesity, and physical activity all have important impacts on health. For too long however, physical activity has been seen merely in the light of its benefits in tackling obesity. A core message from this inquiry is the compelling evidence that physical activity in its own right has huge health benefits totally independent of a person's weight. The importance of this - regardless of weight, age, gender or other factors - needs to be clearly communicated. Interventions focused on encouraging individuals to change their behaviour with regard to diet and physical activity need to be underpinned by broader, population-level measures. Whilst both are important, population-level interventions have the advantage of impacting on far greater numbers than could ever benefit from individual interventions. The Committee recommends that the next Government prioritises prevention, health promotion and early intervention to tackle the health inequalities and avoidable harm resulting from poor diet and physical inactivity. The Committee regards it as inexplicable and unacceptable that the NHS is now spending more on bariatric surgery for obesity than on a national roll-out of intensive lifestyle intervention programmes that were first shown to cut obesity and prevent diabetes over a decade ago. All tiers of weight management services should be universally available and individual clinicians should use every opportunity to help their patients to recognise and address the problems caused by obesity and poor diet, and to promote the benefits of physical activity.
Download or read book 2013 Accountability Hearing with the General Medical Council HC 897 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-04-02 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: GMC's fitness to practise successfully produces outcomes that protect patients from sub-standard doctors but failures to communicate the reasons for decisions and poor investigative practices have undermined a small number on investigations. The GMC should review its fitness to practice procedures to prevent such mistake. The Committee also found that while it is still too early to judge whether revalidation has been effective there is a worrying approach to the oversight of revalidation. Each designated body has a responsible officer for revalidating their medical staff, but the degree to which the responsible officer will be held to account is unclear. It is imperative that the GMC clarifies the personal responsibility and accountability of responsible officers. There is also concern over the number of responsible officers available to oversee the revalidation of doctors working in primary care. GPs are revalidated not by their own employers but by one of the 27 NHS England local area teams that oversees Clinical Commissioning Groups in England. Just 27 responsible officers will be tasked with overseeing revalidation for approximately 45,0000 GPs in England. The Government's intention had been to give the GMC the power to allow it to appeal decisions made by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) in 2014 by using a mechanism in secondary legislation called a section 60 order. The Government now plans to introduce the reform in primary legislation as part of a proposed Law Commission Bill thus meeting with even further delay
Download or read book Communicating Climate Science HC 254 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-04-02 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Government is failing to clearly and effectively communicate climate science to the public. There is little evidence of co-ordination amongst Government, government agencies and public bodies on communicating climate science, despite various policies at national and regional level to mitigate and adapt to climate change. The mandate to act on climate can only be maintained if the electorate are convinced that the Government is acting on the basis of strong scientific evidence. Ministers therefore need to do more to demonstrate that is the case and consistently reflect the Government approach in all their communications, especially with the media. The report also criticises the BBC for its reporting on the issue. It points out that BBC News teams continue to make mistakes in their coverage of climate science by giving opinions and scientific fact the same weight. The BBC is called to develop clear editorial guidelines for all commentators and presenters on the facts of climate that should be used to challenge statements, from either side of the climate policy debate, that stray too far from the scientific facts. It is important that climate science is presented separately from any subsequent policy response. Government should work with the learned societies and national academies to develop a source of information on climate science that is discrete from policy delivery, comprehensible to the general public and responsive to both current developments and uncertainties in the science
Download or read book HC 734 Current and Future Uses of Biometric Data and Technologies written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In its broadest sense, biometrics is the measurement and analysis of a biological characteristic (fingerprints, iris patterns, retinas, face or hand geometry) or a behavioural characteristic (voice, gait or signature). Biometric technologies use these characteristics to identify individuals automatically. Unlike identity documents or passwords, biometrics cannot be lost or forgotten since they are a part of the user and are always present at the time of identification. They are also difficult, though not impossible, to forge or share. Three future trends in the application of biometrics were identified during the inquiry: (i) the growth of unsupervised biometric systems, accessed via mobile devices, which verify identity; (ii) the proliferation of "second-generation" biometric technologies that can authenticate individuals covertly; (iii) and the linking of biometric data with other types of 'big data' as part of efforts to profile individuals. Each of these trends introduces risks and benefits to individuals, to the state and to society as a whole. They also raise important ethical and legal questions relating to privacy and autonomy. The Committee are not convinced that the Government has addressed these questions, nor are they satisfied that it has looked ahead and considered how the risks and benefits of biometrics will be managed and communicated to the public.
Download or read book House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee Post Legislative Scrutiny of the Greater London Authority Act 2007 and the London Assembly HC 213 written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Communities and Local Government Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2013-10-16 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Assembly's main job is to hold the Mayor to account. But he can appoint Assembly Members to his cabinet while they continue to sit in the Assembly. The Report asks how the public are supposed to disentangle a situation in which an Assembly Member can hold the executive to account in one area while working on behalf of the executive in another. As a further example of inconsistency, the Report questions why Assembly Members can sit on some GLA London-wide executive bodies but not others. For example, eight Assembly Members can sit on the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority but no Assembly Member is entitled to join the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime. The Mayor must be held to account for the substantial powers invested in him and the London Assembly is the right vehicle to do this, but not in its current form. The Report recommends that the Assembly should be given the power to: call in mayoral decisions; amend the Mayor's capital budgets as it can his revenue budgets; reject the Mayor's Police and Crime Plan on the same basis as it can other mayoral strategies; review and, if necessary, reject the Mayor's appointment of any Deputy Mayor. In addition Assembly members who join the Mayor's cabinet or sit on GLA boards should be required to give up their Assembly membership and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority should be reconstituted along the lines of the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime
Download or read book HC 401 Managing the Care of People with Long Term Conditions written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Health Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2014-07-03 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 15 million NHS patients in England with long-term conditions such as diabetes, arthritis and asthma account for 70% of the annual expenditure of the NHS in England. One projection estimating that the bill for treatment of long-term conditions will require the NHS to find £4 billion more each year by 2016. Increasingly, patients do not have a single long-term condition but live with two or more conditions, complicating treatment and adding to its cost. The Committee strongly supports the development of individual care planning for people with long-term conditions, based on the principles successfully demonstrated in the NHS House of Care programme. Care planning approaches will involve GPs, community health services and specialists sitting down with the patient to draw up a personalised plan for the care required, which includes the support needed to help the patient manage his or her own condition. The challenge, though, of introducing personalised care planning for 15 million people is substantial. The Committee looked at the prevailing view that services to treat long-term conditions should be moved out of hospitals and into primary and community care. To provide effective care for these conditions, services have to be maintained across all settings, from support in the home through to acute specialist care, and many conditions will continue to require specialist services delivered in hospital. Effective management of long-term conditions also requires collaboration with other government providers, such as housing and transport services.
Download or read book HC 758 Legacy Parliament 2010 15 written by Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Science and Technology and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2015 with total page 73 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
