The latest health related updates from the Liberal Democrats annual conference and a round up of the rest of the day’s news and annoucements
5.54pm Candace Imison is acting director of policy at the King’s Fund writes exclusively for HSJ on seven-day working – a crisis brewing in the NHS workforce. You can see all HSJ’s seven-day working coverage here
4.53pm HSJ mental health reporter Shaun Lintern’s exclusive story that the mandatory rollout of a payment by results tariff for mental healthcare providers has been dropped by Monitor has generated healthy debate.
While one reader welcomed it as the “best news I have heard this year” another opined it was “an opportunity lost” which will lead to “mental health continuing to be ignored and money diverted into acute trusts”.
12.46pm All healthcare providers should review their complaints procedures to ensure they are child friendly, the Children Commissioner’s office has said.
The commissioner launched a set of Common Principles for a Child Friendly Complaints Process this morning, calling on organisations to make sure their procedures are accessible to children and young people.
The eight principles, which have been endorsed by HSJ as well as Monitor and a number of Royal Colleges, recommend organisations have a variety of ways in which children can make complaints and think about whether a young complainant needs an advocate to act on their behalf.
Commissioner director of policy Ross Hendry said: “We are asking organisations delivering health services to assess their complaints system and process against these principles.
“In health we found there was a reluctance to want to hear a complaint because there was an expectation it would lead to litigation or disciplinary processes. Professionals need to understand how to listen to children and young people… Children won’t necessarily make a complaint in the same way as an adult.”
12.09pm LAST CHANCE Today is the last day for you to nominate your top health innovators for HSJ’s innovation 50. Enter you suggestions here
11.45am EXCLUSIVE The Berwick review of patient safety in the NHS cost less than £100,000, HSJ can reveal.
International patient safety expert Don Berwick was commissioned by the government to look at making “zero harm care a reality” following the publication of the Francis report in February this year.
11.29am EXCLUSIVE Former health minister Paul Burstow has told HSJ he is concerned about the behaviour of the Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading following the Health Act 2012 coming into force.
Mr Burstow - the only Liberal Democrat health minister in post at the time the contentious legislation went through Parliament - said the system needed to be re-examined to ensure that Monitor, rather than the competition authorities, was “referee” in reconfigurations of NHS services.
10.47am Follow @ShaunLintern on Twitter for all the latest health related news from the Liberal Democrat annual party conference today.
10.33am The General Medical Council is consulting on proposals to strengthen its ability to ensure all licensed doctors have the necessary knowledge of English to practise safely in the UK.
It follows the Department of Health’s launching a consultation on the same subject on 7 September
10.32am Costing the NHS, a special two hour live programme was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 last night . You can listen to it here.
10.26am The Daily Mail carries a page four story headlined: “Women will be warned about breast screening false alarms.”
The paper reports that “starting today women eligible for NHS screening will be sent more detailed, balanced information” and that the leaflets that have been in use since 2010 “failed to make clear that some symptomless cancers would be detected and treated unnecessarily”.
A review by Sir Michael Marmot last year found that while screening saves 1,300 lives a year, it also leads to 4,000 women having unnecessary treatment.
10.25am Too many people who use community mental health services are not being involved in decisions about their own care, according to the Care Quality Commission.
The statement follows publication of its 2013 community mental health survey which gathered responses from 13,000 service users.
10.21am The mandatory rollout of a payment by results tariff for mental healthcare providers has been quietly dropped by Monitor, HSJ has learned.
The market regulator has confirmed it would not be setting a national tariff pricing structure for mental health services as part of its review of NHS payment systems.
10.19am The government will introduce a law to allow healthcare providers to be prosecuted for neglect and poor care, the care services minister Norman Lamb has indicated.
Speaking at the Liberal Democrat party conference, Mr Lamb said the government intended to attach new powers to prosecute providers who breach new fundamental standards.
Follow @ShaunLintern on Twitter for all the latest health related news from the Liberal Democrat annual party conference today.
8:38am: The debate continues in the media about the need for 24/7 working in secondary care. “Why can’t the health service be more like a 24/7 supermarket?” ask its critics. But what actually is required 24 hours a day? The key to a rational debate about resource allocation depends on understanding what work is generated out of hours.
Stories about the inefficiencies of out of hours care abound but there is little data to pinpoint the problem areas. Today on HSJ’s innovation and efficiency channel, Dominick Shaw and colleagues outline a project that attempts to delineate the type of work required for patient care all day, seven days a week.
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