Weekly news
Released on 18/01/2010
Events Diary
28 January
IHM Scotland
Annual General Meeting + tour of new Victoria Hospital
4pm, New Victoria Hospital, Glasgow
All IHM members in Scotland are invited to attend. AGM takes place at 4pm followed by a tour of the new Victoria Hospital at 5pm.
Contact hilary.iannotti@btinternet.com.
2 March
NHS QIS
National Clinical Governance Conference: Tomorrow’s World
Glasgow Hilton
Conference programme will focus on HAIs and patient safety. Registration open January 2010. See flyer at www.nhshealthquality.org/nhsqis/files/Flyer_Conferenceabstract.pdf.
4 March
IHM Scotland
How to increase your power and influence
9.30am-4pm, Dunblane Hydro
Hilary Robertson of Double Loop Development presents a one day workshop aimed at
developing the skills and techniques required by managers to increase their power to affect decision-making and change in their
organisations and to improve the influence they have with colleagues and partners. Links directly to the IHM Milestone ‘Role of the
Enterprise Manager’. See attached flyer for full details.
This week in Parliament
Wednesday
10:00 Health & Sport Committee
The Committee will take evidence in its Inquiry into out-of-hours healthcare provision in rural areas.
17:00 Members’ Business – Jim Hume (LibDem, South of Scotland): Community Hospitals in Dumfries and Galloway - That the Parliament notes the contents of NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s consultation document, Your NHS - Your Future Care; believes that the preferred option, which would result in the closure of Moffat, Langholm, Kirkcudbright, Lochmaben and Thornhill community hospitals, is widely unpopular with the respective local communities and fundamentally disregards the rural remoteness of parts of the region and the invaluable and high quality of care provided by these facilities; ... and hopes that NHS Dumfries and Galloway’s preferred option for closures does not go ahead and, instead, that these vital, locally delivered community NHS services are redeveloped.
Thursday
11:40 General Questions
Richard Simpson (Lab, Mid Scotland & Fife): what action is being taken to address the issue of stolen and lost equipment from NHS sites; Stewart Maxwell (SNP, West of Scotland): which NHS boards have removed the monitoring of anticoagulation services from GPs and set up special anticoagulation clinics; Bill Wilson (SNP, West of Scotland): what is the Scottish Government’s position on the comments on the damaging effects of economic inequality on health in An Unequal Struggle for Health: Report of the Director of Public Health into the health of the Population of Greater Glasgow and Clyde.
17:00 Members’ Business – Nanette Milne (Con, NE Scotland): Childhood Cancer – More Than My Illness:
That the Parliament highlights a survey by children’s cancer charity CLIC Sargent that found that 97% of children and young people with cancer say that it is important for them to be able to return home during their treatment...welcomes CLIC Sargent’s report, More Than My Illness, published on 13 February 2009, proposing innovative ways of reaching families of sick children across Scotland; notes the success of the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital and the CLIC Sargent nurse in helping to coordinate and plan aspects of care and support for children in Aberdeenshire; further welcomes the commitment to both specialist and local support made by the National Delivery Plan for Children and Young People’s Specialist Services in Scotland, and highlights the need for key workers to better coordinate and plan all aspects of care and support for every child and young person with cancer.
A&E attendances
increased during
freezing weather
NHS Scotland Accident and Emergency Departments coped well during the cold snap of the past month,
despite a rise in attendances. ISD has brought forward publication of its regular A&E statistics from next month because of public interest due to the unprecedented
period of cold weather that Scotland experienced in late December and early January.
In the week ending 3 January, there were over 28,000 attendances at core A&E sites, a 7 per cent increase on the same period last year. 96.6 per cent of patients waited no more than 4 hours from arrival to admission, discharge or transfer for accident and emergency
treatment, falling a little short of the national target of 98 per cent but comparable with the same week last year, which saw 97 per cent performance.
In the week ending 10 January, there were just over 26,000 A&E attendances, an approximate 2 per cent
increase on the same week last year. 95.5 of patients waited no more than 4 hours from arrival to admission, discharge or transfer, again comparable with the same week last year, which saw 94.5 per cent performance. NHS Borders was the highest performing NHS board in both weeks, with 99 per cent or more patients being seen within 4 hours.
In the Scottish Parliament last week, Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon used the occasion of Health and
Wellbeing question time to thank all NHS staff for the “fantastic” way they responded to the cold snap. Making particular mention of A&E staff, Ms Sturgeon noted that, in the face of increased demand, national performance against the four hour target was broadly comparable to last year, adding, “That is a fantastic achievement, and every member of staff who has contributed to it
thoroughly deserves the congratulations that they have
received today.”
See www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2010/01/SevereWeatherAandEStats for full details.
Child health ‘Red Book’
The Public Health Minister has formally launched the new national child health record, or ‘Red Book’ which, from 1 January, will be given to the parents of every new born child in Scotland. It replaces a range of
documents previously used by different NHS boards. www.sehd.scot.nhs.uk/mels/CEL2009_49.pdf
The Healthcare
Management Code
All members of the Institute of Health
Management are asked to sign up to and abide by the IHM Management Code and to annually confirm their commitment to the principles it contains.
The Code enshrines the ethical and
professional principles that IHM believes all healthcare managers in the UK should measure their practice and development against. The adoption of the Code is
regarded as a key component of building confidence in the health management
profession, both amongst service users and fellow healthcare professionals.
For many IHM members, the Management Code is one of the major attractions of membership. It is regarded as signal of their seriousness of professional intent and commitment to the highest standards of practice.
Brenda Bellando, Business Manager for the West of Scotland Breast Screening Service and a member of the IHM Scottish Council, representing NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, describes what the Code means to her as a manager. She says, “The Code of Practice is very important generally as a rule for living but particularly so in a
management role where you are not only responsible for a 'service' but for the people delivering and using the service. The Code of Practice is a sign of members nailing their colours to the mast and declaring their fitness to do the job.”
To find out more about the Code, go to www.ihm.org.uk/about/code-of-conduct.
MSPs pass Public Service Reform Bill
The Scottish Parliament has narrowly voted to approve the Scottish Government’s Public Service Reform Bill at Stage 1. The Bill aims to streamline and clarify the role of a
number of public bodies and will create a new health scrutiny body called Healthcare Improvement Scotland.
