DH: consultation on duty of co-operation

DH are consulting on draft regulations which will impose duties on health and social care organisations relating to sharing information about the conduct or performance of health care workers to protect patient safety. The regulations require appropriate safeguards in place when relevant information is shared. This is of interest particular interest to Accountable Officers because the duty of cooperation is something that has existed in your role since 2007. Broadening the duty to organisations will be of interest to you generally, but specifically you may wish to provide comment in response to this consultation from your experience. The consultation runs until 4 June 2010 and details on how to respond are provided in the link below.

Consultation on ‘The Health Care Workers (Duty of Co-operation) Regulations 2010’

Workshops hosted by NHS Prescription Services

Subject: Primary care medicine management and financial information systems
Several workshops from January 28 to February 23

NHS Prescription Services is hosting workshops across England to understand the views of stakeholders who use their primary care prescribing information systems and reports. We are seeking the views from a wide cross-section of Primary Care Trust (PCT) users, particularly medicines management and finance teams.

The workshops will be highly dynamic, and will include presentations and structured breakout sessions to elicit direct feedback from all participants across the range of systems and reports produced by NHS Prescription Services. The objectives are to:

- Define a comprehensive but realistic list of user needs
- Identify what works well and areas for improvement
- Help set the direction for any future development

Details of the event and registration: http://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/PrescriptionServices/2997.aspx

Contact organiser: Jennie Bardrick jebardrick@deloitte.co.uk

Safer management and use of controlled drugs (Diamorphine)

This note provides a reminder on previous messages issued by DH and NPSA relevant to the safe management and use of diamorphine to support  AOs deliver their legal responsibility to secure the safe management and use of controlled drugs in their organisation, and for those who deliver services on its behalf, with regard to best practice.

Letter issued by Keith Ridge, DH Chief Pharmaceutical Officer

This letter was issued by Keith Ridge, DH Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, to Trust CEs under the DH gateway reference: 13052. It highlights the recommendations in the recently published Care Quality Commission's Annual Report on the safer management of controlled drugs and the responsibilities of trust Chief Executives to support their Accountable Officers in their day to day role in delivering these recommendations.

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is investigating a number of issues relevant to the out of hours service provided by Take Care Now (TCN).

Download a copy of a letter from David Colin-Thome, DH's National Director of Primary Care.

This letter highlights the recommendation from CQC, strongly supported by DH, that PCTs should have robust performance management arrangements in place to ensure their out of hours service, like any other commissioned service, is delivering against contractual requirements. World class commissioning will support PCTs to achieve this.

From an AO perspective, the TCN experience highlights the particular risks associated with the management of medicines in an out of hours service, especially in respect of controlled drugs. Commissioners need to assure themselves that current arrangements are robust and safe. There is a wealth of guidance on the safe and effective management of medicines in an out of hours service and this is summarised at the end of the David Colin-Thome letter.

CQC are continuing their investigation and their final report is expected later this year. We will keep you advised of any further recommendations relevant to your role as AOs through this website.

The NPC hosted three national events to support the work of Accountable Officers in May and June 2009 entitled “Accountable Officers and Local Intelligence Networks - piecing the jigsaw together”. Download the PDF presentations.

CQC said that the majority of healthcare organisations comply with the regulations and that many of the problems experienced during the first year of the new system have been resolved. It said healthcare workers are now better trained to deal with concerns about controlled drugs and to identify problems sooner .But CQC said there are still important parts of the system that need to be improved

Click the link below to download the full PDF report.
The_safer_management_of_controlled_drugs
Annual_report_2008

Consultation on responsible officer regulations
The Department of Health are consulting on draft regulations and guidance relating to the roles and responsibilities of responsible officers. The draft regulations set out the legal framework for introducing responsible officers. The guidance expands on the regulations and describes the role that responsible officers will play in supporting organisations and doctors as they strive to improve quality of care. This consultation maybe of interest to AOs, particularly PCT AOs, as the role of the Responsible Officer will be, when introduced, a key partner for PCT AOs to work with to ensure the safe management and use of CDs.

The consultation runs from 25 August 2009 to 25 October 2009.
Any responses to the consultation should be directed by e-mail to: responsibleofficer@dh.gsi.gov.uk using the questionnaire at the back of the consultation document, or in writing completing the consultation response form in the document and returning it to:
Consultation on responsible officer regulations
Department of Health
Room 243
Wellington House
133 - 155 Waterloo Road
London SE1 8UG