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19 Handover standards An important part of discharge communication is the timely handover of information about diagnostic tests, as breakdown in this aspect of communication can contribute to unsafe patient care. NHS England has produced a set of standards to underpin the development of robust systems of care, policies and practice for the safe and high quality transfer of information about diagnostic tests and test results at discharge. The standards are governed by three overarching principles that have implications for nurses. They are that:
■■Clinicians who order tests are responsible for reviewing, acting on and communicating results and actions taken to GPs and patients, even if patients have been discharged.
■■Results received by GP practices should be reviewed and acted on by a responsible clinician even if they did not order the tests.
■■Reasonable adjustments should be made for people with learning disabilities and mental health problems and, where appropriate, families, carers, care co-ordinators and key workers should be invited to participate in handover processes and decisions about patients at discharge. The NHS England standards can be accessed at tinyurl.com/zxap3ra Scholarships The Florence Nightingale Foundation is seeking applicants for the chief nursing officer England black and minority ethnic leadership scholarships. Applicants might be those looking to move into a board position, or who are already directors or deputy directors of nursing, heads of midwifery, nurse or midwife consultants, modern matrons, or deans and deputy deans of schools of nursing. Up to £15,000 is available to successful applicants. The scholarships aim to develop and enhance people’s leadership skills, define their long-term career objectives, and work on patient care improvement projects. The closing date is August 15. Details and application forms can be accessed at tinyurl.com/qzwc2az Meanwhile, there is still time to apply for the Health Education England/National Institute for Health Research clinical doctoral research fellowship, which closes on May 19.
Applicants must be non-medical healthcare professionals, with statutory registration and based in England, with at least one year’s experience of clinical practice, and sufficient research experience or training to undertake a PhD. The fellowship funds salary costs, PhD tuition fees, and a research project and training and development programme.
Visit tinyurl.com/hruj2mx Health service reforms Major reforms to the structure of the health service in England were introduced by the Health and Social Care Act 2012, and many new organisations were established in April 2013. The House of Commons Library has produced an up-to-date briefing on funding and accountability relationships under the new system, the roles of the main organisations, and some of the main health policy issues for this parliament.
Further information at tinyurl.com/ptmj78j Good quality care The Picker Institute asked some of the UK’s most influential healthcare leaders how they know when they have provided good quality healthcare experiences for patients and clients, how they define good quality care, what healthcare excellence means and how achievable it is. To read their responses, and provide your own thoughts, visit tinyurl.com/godm585 Out for consultation Diabetes framework About 85,000 adults in Northern Ireland have type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and approximately 90% of these have preventable type 2 diabetes. To address this, the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety has published a diabetes strategic framework developed around seven main themes. These themes are: taking a partnership approach to service transformation; supporting self -management; prevention, early detection and delaying complications; using information to optimise services and improve patient outcomes; providing innovative patient services; enhancing front line staff skills; and encouraging innovation. To read and comment on the proposals go to tinyurl.com/jga9gl2 by May 31. Nutrition standard The Scottish Government is consulting on options to improve and assure nutritional standards of food and catering in NHS Scotland. The main proposals are: to define nutritional standards that would become legal minimum standards that every NHS board would have to achieve and maintain; to develop non-statutory standards and establish a new independent scrutiny regime that would monitor these; to strengthen existing audit and monitoring systems of nutritional standards of food served to patients, or to continue with the current system in which NHS boards self -assess adherence to existing guidance.
To read the proposals in full and respond online before June 13, go to tinyurl.com/glcews2 Carer strategy As part of its aim to develop a new strategy for carers, the Department of Health in England wants to hear about people’s experiences of caring, particularly carers and those cared for, but also from the point of view of health or social care professionals and other relevant groups. The department is particularly interested in the type of support, if any, that carers access, and whether or not it is helpful.
The online survey is at tinyurl.com/zl2fstc and closes on June 30. Webscan and Out for consultation are compiled by Ruth Williams NURSING MANAGEMENT May 2016 | Volume 23 | Number 2 Resources Webscan
