Spending Challenge

The Spending Challenge is an open invitation for public sector workers to contribute to the government’s Spending Review, helping to rethink public services to deliver more for less. It’s open initially to public sector workers between now and July 8th, when it will be opened to the wider public.
The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister have committed that the government will look at every single idea that comes in. All the suggestions will be considered by a team of officials at the heart of government. The final Spending Review, which will set out detailed spending plans for all government departments, will be published on October 20th.
Click here to find out more

Improving NHS productivity with the Horizon Enterprise Visibility tool

Improving productivity and performance and improving patient care is central to the future of the NHS. As NHS trusts face increasingly austere cost efficiency measures over the coming years, anything that helps them reduce long term cost, increase the efficiency and productivity of clinical staff and improve the quality of patient care can only be welcomed.
At Walsall Hospitals Trust in the Midlands and at London’s Kings College Hospital Foundation Trust, a new display system that gives staff access to real time data showing patient, bed and ward information is having such an effect. Click here to find out more

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Survey of access to online information and information sharing within the NHS

The NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement has asked the Institute for Employment Studies (IES) to carry out research to find out whether people working in the NHS would be in favour of development of an online 'ideas channel' to facilitate the sharing of ideas and good practices. As part of this work IES is conducting an online survey to help understand staff views about this. Click here for further information and to take part in the survey!

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Top ten networking tips

Ever find yourself standing at an event and everyone else is talking to someone? You go and mess about at the drinks table - so at least your hands are occupied - and then turn around to find everyone is still busy. As a pharmacist, Mark Duman feels he is supposed to be good at communicating, but sometimes it takes a little bit of cajoling and a lot of effort to get networking. Click here to read some of his top tips to initiate and hopefully maximise (chance) meetings.

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From the consulting room on the pareto principle

The pareto principle is more commonly known as the 80/20 rule. It says things like “20% of your patients cause you 80% of your work”.
It's often quoted in management books and advocates of ‘Lean’ and the Toyota production system use it as a mantra to speed up production. The theory is that concentrating on the 80% of stuff that is routine gets you a bigger overall win than concentrating on the 20% that causes you trouble. Click here to find out more and GP columnist Dr Neil Paul muses on the importance of dealing with routine – and wonders whether internet searches could be harnessed by the NHS.

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HealthCom’10 to take place in France

The twelth International Conference on e-Health networking, application and services, HealthCom ’10, will be held in Lyon, France at the beginning of July.
The conference aims to bring together clinicians, hospital administrators, IT professionals, researchers, healthcare system suppliers and consultants from across the world to collaborate, discuss health IT solutions and exchange ideas.
The conference, which will run from 1-3 July 2010, will provide a forum for discussions on e-Health projects supported by world bodies such as ITU, WHO and the EU, including FP6 and FP7 European projects. Click here for further information.

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PCT procurement guide for improving services for patients

This guide outlines the use of procurement to improve services for patients. It reflects the overarching principles of transparency, proportionality, non-discrimination and equality of treatment.

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New NHS Scotland 'knowledge bank' launched

An online database that will allow NHS staff to share information has been unveiled by Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon.
The Knowledge Network will include a "Google-style" search engine with access to a huge bank of educational resources as well as personal space for employees to gather information.
The network will be managed by NHS Education for Scotland (NES).
It aims to save staff time and bring online resources together in one place. Click here to find out more!

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NHS Institute’s Patient Experience Learning Programme

The NHS Institute’s Patient Experience Learning Programme is now into it’s 5th month, and the Patient Experience Online Network has been launched to support the programme delegates and also those working to improve patient experience in the wider NHS.

The online network offers tools and techniques, the sharing of learning using case studies highlighting best practice, a forum for challenges and solutions and the opportunity to connect to other related networks.

This is phase one of the online network and the site will evolve in response to the needs of those who use it.

You can access the network HERE! and please contact patientexperience@institute.nhs.uk for further information.


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Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: Profound Results, Profound Challenges

The public sector is facing increasing pressure to reduce costs, in this seminar you are shown how Vanguard’s pioneering work applying Systems methods in service organisations leads to dramatic improvements in service, cost, revenue and morale.
At the seminar you will learn why traditional approaches to change and improvement have made services worse and costs higher. You will be given advice on dealing with these key issues from a systems point of view focussing on value to design service systems against citizens’ demands, and to deliver financial savings and improved services at the same time.
The dates are Thursday 19th August – Leeds, Thursday 16th September - Manchester, Other dates to be announced.

The event is for public sector and government personnel, academics and journalists ONLY. This offer is limited and on a first-come first-served basis, so to reserve your place(s) please call 01280 822255 or email pr@vanguardconsult.co.uk for a booking form. The cost is £95 + VAT per delegate, to cover the event costs. Lunch is included, and delegates will also receive a free copy of John Seddon’s latest book.

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Health inequalities team publishes resource manual

The health inequalities national support team (HINST) has published a resource manual containing a range of information, resources and tools, including a series of 'how to' guides and 'masterclass' reports. The manual has been built around good practice identified from the visits undertaken so far, that are expected to make an impact on mortality in a short timescale if delivered at a sufficient scale. The manual can be downloaded from the DH website.

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primary care commissioning guide targets the socially excluded

The seventh in the series of guides from the Department of Health's primary care and community services team - entitled Inclusion Health: Improving Primary Care for Socially Excluded People - is now available. The full list of titles is here.

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How are you using social marketing to improve health and well-being?

Social marketing has become an important tactic for the NHS to get public health messages across more effectively and influence behaviour change.

What innovative and intelligence-led approaches has your trust taken to improve the spread of NHS information and enable result-driven interventions? How have you deployed digital technology and social media to engage the public in your campaigns?

Health Exec TV want to promote your stories or existing videos in their programme to showcase best practice examples to a national healthcare community.

Simply email geraldine.price@hetvonline.com with a brief outline of your work

Your stories might include, but are not restricted to:
• Targeted advertising campaigns
• Digital information kiosks
• SMS services
• Social media


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Commissioning for Sustainable Development

Commissioning for Sustainable Development is a how to guide for commissioners.
It provides guidance on how to commission sustainably and should be used in conjunction with Healthy Futures 9, Commissioning for Sustainable Development,1 published by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC).
The SDC report considers what sustainable commissioning is and its role as an integral part of NHS core business, whereas this document details how to commission sustainably.

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New guidance on end of life care launched

New guidance for doctors comes into effect on 1 July 2010.
Treatment and Care Towards the End of Life: Good Practice in Decision Making replaces the booklet Withholding and Withdrawing Life-prolonging Treatments (2002). It expands on the guidance in Consent: Patients and Doctors Making Decisions Together, which sets out the principles on which good clinical decisions should be based, and provides a framework for good practice when providing treatment and care for patients who are reaching the end of their lives.

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Be better eQIPPed with McKesson

McKesson are providing complimentary half day events where you’ll find out how quickly and easily you can significantly reduce your average length of stay; reduce your 4-hour A&E breaches by half, as well as the number of patients being assigned temporarily to a ward rather than a bed. Furthermore, discover how to almost stop surgeries from being cancelled and radically reduce your numbers of medical and surgical outliers. For further information and to book your place click here!

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Experience Based Design workshop for NHS staff

The ebd approach (experience based design) is an exciting new way of bringing patients and staff together to share the role of improving care and re-designing services. It is being developed by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement as a way of helping frontline NHS teams make the improvements their patients really want.
You have the opportunity to learn about the ebd approach through a one day workshop covering the essential aspects on 23 June from 9.30am until 3.30pm at the University of Warwick campus in Coventry. The event is open to NHS staff only. Click here for more details.

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QIPP and Establishing the Evidence project

The QIPP collection on NHS Evidence brings together 70 examples of quality and productivity in one place to support widespread adoption and to help others deliver successful improvements without having to re-invent the wheel. NHS Evidence is now calling for new examples would like to encourage you to get involved.
There is a new form, together with a user guide setting out the level of detail required on productivity, quality, implementation and effectiveness. Email your submission by 18 June 2010.

The QIPP collection will be re-launched this summer.

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Innovations in Healthcare - now recruiting

The NHS Institute's Board Development team is currently recruiting to Innovations in Healthcare - a nine month programme designed for senior multidisciplinary teams to tackle an important local problem relating to QIPP through facilitated action learning from our American partners and the NHS Institute. Click here for further information and to apply.

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Focus on: Emergency and Urgent Care for Children and Young People - best practice films launched

The NHS Institute has launched a series of 10 case study films focussing on different aspects of whole system working on the emergency and urgent care pathway for children and young people across primary and secondary care (including ambulance services and NHS Direct).
The NHS Institute has been working with 10 health systems nationwide to roll out the best practice set out in the Focus On: Children and Young People Emergency and Urgent Care document.

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FREE web seminar - Expert on Call featuring Paul Hodkinson

Expert on Call is a monthly online seminar and is part of the NHS Institute Alert service which is open to all NHS staff. The next session will feature Paul Hodkinson who will provide an introduction to systems thinking and how this can be used to influence strategy and other key applications of this technique. Click here for more details and to book your place

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NHS Confederation Annual Conference and Exhibition 2010

This year's event will be taking place from 23rd to 25th June 2010 at the ACC Liverpool. The event will attract over 1000 delegates, exhibitors and speakers for three days of information sharing, problems solving and networking.
Topics to be covered include:meeting the productivity and efficiency challenge, people management and policy into action. Click here for further information and to book your place.


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Yorkshire and Humber Improvement Partnership

The Yorkshire and Humber Improvement Partnership have produced a one page guide to their 2010 programme, which is intended to help PCT's within the region make best use of the projects.

*Unfortunately this link is only accessible for people accessing the blog from the NHS Leeds network. If you want a copy of the document then please send an email to share.learn@nhsleeds.nhs.uk.

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BDTA Dental Showcase 2010

The BDTA Dental Showcase 2010 will be taking place at ExCeL in London's Docklands this year from Thursday 14 October to Saturday 16 October 2010. For more details and to book your free ticket, click here.

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Commissioners and LINks: Effectively Engaging Communities for the 2011/12

This is a half day workshop on 16 June for NHS and social care commissioners within the Yorkshire & Humber region, aimed at providing:
An improved understanding of the role, powers and benefits of LINks specifically in relation to the core elements of the commissioning cycle
An improved understanding of how to work alongside and develop effective relationships/strategic partnerships with LINks in the context of world class commissioning and Putting People First - the adult social care agenda
An opportunity to ask questions and discuss LINks in the context of your role. Also to share experiences/practice with commissioning colleagues in your region.
Download flyer for more information and details of how to book.

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