The new North East School of public health website www.sphne.org.uk was launched on the 14^th February; it replaces the North East Teaching Public Health website.

The Vision for the School

"Every contact a health improvement contact & Every contract a health improvement contract".

What is the School?

The School of Public Health is the vehicle to deliver the education and development of the multi-disciplinary workforce essential if we are to be successful in implementing the North East strategy for health improvement.

 The web-site has 3 main areas;

Building Public Health Futures

Responsible for

·        Developing health improvement capacity through influencing teaching and learning

·        Influencing organisational development

·        Informing and influencing public health workforce planning

Public Health speciality training including Public Health Dentistry

Responsible for

·        The training of specialists who aim to be registered with the GMC or the UKPHR. This encompasses those on the formal training scheme and those using a portfolio route

North East Leadership for Improving Health and Well-being

Responsible for

·        The multi-disciplinary training and development programme aimed at  creating  a cadre of exceptional improvement leaders who will facilitate local rethinking of whole system public health

The website provides information for the whole public health community including

·        News and events

·        Publications and resources

·        Useful links

·        Opportunities to develop virtual discussion groups and consultation on key public health issues

To Visit the website please go to www.sphne.org.uk

This website gives the people of Gateshead and staff easy access to information which helps with their health, wellbeing and indepence. 

A presentation introducing NICE.  Gillian matthews Presentation 16 11 10.ppt

News from the Library - new resources:

Emerald Health Care Management journals collection (online full text)

Free Trials to Ebsco's Dynamed and Nursing Reference Center

Launch of PILLARS VLE - new website for e-learning information skills

Details here

National Primary Care Research and Development Centre
Working Conditions and Job Satisfaction of GPs: Findings from the Fifth National GP Worklife Survey

In the autumn of 2008, NPCRDC undertook the fifth in its series of national GP surveys examining working conditions and job satisfaction.
This report provides key findings on working conditions and job satisfaction from this survey and compares these to figures from the previous surveys, which span the last decade. The survey has both a crosssectional and a longitudinal element.

Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health has published Briefing 41:
Commissioning what works: the economic and financial case for supported employment
which shows that Individual Placement and Support (IPS), which helps people into paid competitive work, is effective, is good value for money and is affordable to the NHS.
Read the briefing here

The Picker Institute has produced a practical toolkit for gathering, understanding and using patient feedback to bring about improvements to healthcare services. The guide is based on what patients say is important, and what healthcare staff tell us works. Visit their website to download the publication www.pickereurope.org/usingpatientfeedback

To view more examples of good practice in using patient feedback to bring about improvements visit the Good Practice Database www.pickereurope.org/goodpractice/

Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, a new BioMed Central journal edited by Douglas Galasko, Todd Golde and Gordon Wilcock, has just been launched and the first online articles have been published.
All articles are free to access and you can also register to receive alerts.

The journal aims to be the major forum for translational research into Alzheimer's disease (AD) and will publish open access research articles of exceptional interest. Review articles and expert commentary will accompany key papers.

Journal website
Table of contents, vol.1, issue 1

Internet for Image Searching
http://www.tasi.ac.uk/training/tutorials/imagesearching/
is a new, free-to- use online tutorial to assist staff and students within the education sphere in locating images for use in both teaching and learning. The emphasis of the tutorial is on finding copyright cleared images which are available free; facilitating quick, hassle-free access to a vast range of online photographs and other visual resources.

New publications from King's Fund:

Top-up payments for drugs in England
Briefing at:
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/briefings/topup_payments_for.html

NHS spending. Local variations in priorities: an update
Report at:
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/kings_fund_publications/nhs_spending.html

A new open access journal for foot health professionals, available free fulltext online.

Journal of Foot and Ankle Reseach (JFAR) is the official journal of the Australasian Podiatry Council and the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists (UK). The journal encompasses all aspects of policy, organisation, delivery and clinical practice related to the assessment, diagnosis, prevention and management of foot and ankle disorders.

Tobacco Induced Diseases is now freely available fulltext online.

Tobacco Induced Diseases, the official journal of the International Society for the Prevention of Tobacco Induced Diseases, is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal that encompasses all aspects of tobacco induced diseases and their prevention.

The aim of the journal is to further the development of the scientific basis for the biological effects of tobacco smoke and its active components and to describe the distribution of tobacco diseases throughout the world.

Equality and Diversity in the North East : a statistical profile
NEEDP (North East Equality and Diversity Partnership)
August 2008

This report, prepared by the Centre for Public Policy at Northumbria University, provides an up-to-date and comprehensive statistical baseline of equality and diversity issues faced by different communities within the region. The full report, executive summary and appendices can be accessed on the NERIP (North East Regional Information Partnership) website at: http://www.nerip.com/reports_briefing.aspx?id=626

National Primary Care Research and Development Centre
The 28 reports, in areas already included and considered for inclusion
in QOF 2008, are available to read and download.

Each report was written by one or more academic experts often supported
by a group of academics and clinicians with a special interest in the
area. This report leads comprise the QOF Expert Panel, a group of senior
primary care based academics, working across the United Kingdom. The
academic process has been led by a collaboration between the
Universities of Birmingham and Manchester, the Society of Academic
Primary Care and the Royal College of General Practitioners.

Shifting the balance of care to local settings: the SeeSaw report
King' Fund, June 2008
Read or download the report here.

The Department of Health commissioned The King's Fund, in partnership with Loop2, to undertake a simulation-based project to understand how a shift in the balance of care from hospital to community settings could take place. This report shares the learning that emerged from this project.

Making it happen: next steps in NHS reform. Report of an expert working group
King's Fund, June 2008
Read or download the report here.

The King's Fund set up an expert working group to examine how effective the current systems and incentives are in improving the NHS, focusing on the role of PCTs as commissioners and practice-based commissioning. This paper outlines specific proposals for government and the wider health care world.

The King's Fund has launched a discussion paper entitled 'Improving choice at end of life'.

This paper provides a descriptive analysis of the Marie Curie Delivering Choice Programme. Delivery of care for patients at the end of their lives is becoming an increasing policy concern. Although the majority of people report that they would choose to die in their home, only a minority of patients achieve this wish.
The Delivering Choice Programme aims to develop and help provide the best possible service for patients at the end of their lives.

You can download the paper from the King's Fund website.

The National Library for Public Health (NLPH) is an online specialist library of the National Library for Health. It replaces the Public Health electronic Library (PHeL).
The NLPH was made available in mid-November 2007 with an initial focus on three key areas: Obesity, Alcohol, and Tobacco. The library was relaunched in April 2008.

The project is being directed by the North East Public Health Observatory on behalf of the Association of Public Health Observatories, as part of the Information and Intelligence Strategy published by the Department of Health.
The library can be accessed at: www.library.nhs.uk/publichealth

National Primary Care Research and Development Centre
The 2007 annual report it now available to download at:
http://www.npcrdc.ac.uk/PublicationDetail.cfm?id=247

OPERATING FRAMEWORK 2008/9
In December 2007, the Department of Health issued its third 'operating framework', which provides a set of priorities and guidance for the NHS for the next financial year. This briefing summarises the main points from both the operating framework and supporting documents and offers some analysis of their content.
Read the briefing

PATIENT CHOICE
This briefing looks at the development and impact of reforms to give patients a choice of provider for their planned hospital care. It is this aspect of choice that has received the most attention so far and has been a key part of the government's wider reform programme for improving quality and efficiency in the NHS in England.
Read the briefing

The King's Fund has launched a new paper called:
Governing the NHS: Alternatives to an independent board

An independent NHS board has been advocated by a number of commentators, who believe it will reduce both micromanagement and day-to-day political interference in the running of the health service. This paper argues that an independent board would be limited in its ability to achieve these aims and suggests a number of alternative options that build on the increasing operational independence the recent reforms have offered.

Visit the KF website to download the paper.

Recent King's Fund Information & Library Service reading lists on commissioning:

Commissioning for primary care trusts - December 2007
Practice based commissioning - November 2007
Commissioning new providers - September 2007

See the complete list at:
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/information_and_library_service/reading_lists/index.html

In 2006/07, the SDO Programme carried out an extensive review of research needs and priorities. The review began with an online survey that was completed by more than 1000 professionals and members of the public, and successfully captured a broad range of opinions on important issues relating to the delivery and organisation of NHS services and potential future research questions.

From Health Informatics Community e-bulletin 101:

NHS Connecting for Health have published a best practice standard for the development and management of elearning. In response to feedback from stakeholders in the NHS, the document has been developed and launched as part of NHS CFH's suite of Education, Training and Development (ETD) standards.

More information and link at:
http://www.informatics.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2442

From Health Informatics Community e-bulletin 101:T

The next instalment of Faculty management briefings covers benefits management.
This is the difference between what people expect the benefits of a project or service to be compared to what the outcome is in reality. The briefing looks at ways to overcome the benefits realisation gap, and gives examples of good practice.

Further background information and briefing to download at:
http://www.informatics.nhs.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=2449

The King's Fund has just launched a new report:
Realising the benefits? Assessing the implementation of Agenda for Change.

Agenda for Change is the most ambitious pay reform introduced into the NHS. The report examines the progress in implementation based on interviews with key national informants and on case studies in 10 NHS trusts.

Visit the King's Fund website to read/download the report or to purchase a print copy.

CHAINs - Contact, Help, Advice and Information Networks - are online networks for people working in health and social care. They are based around specific areas of interest, and give people a simple and informal way of contacting each other to exchange ideas and share knowledge. CHAINs are multi-professional and cross organisational.

The following PRODIGY guidance topics have been reviewed and converted into CKS Topic Review structure, and are now available on the CKS website:

Adverse drug reactions
Palliative cancer care — cough
Palliative cancer care — general issues
Roundworm
Threadworm

To view a summary of changes to the updated topics please visit the Latest changes to clinical topics page of the CKS website.

Two new publications from the National Co-ordinating Centre for NHS Service Delivery and Organisation Research & Development (NCCSDO):

The relative importance attached to cost-effectiveness, equity and access in the provision of health services
[Access to health care series]
Research summary of a study that looked at NHS decision-makers' understanding of the terms 'cost-effectiveness', 'equity' and 'access', and how they are prioritised and applied in the health services (Dolan et al).

The costs and benefits of managing low priority 999 ambulance calls by NHS Direct nurse advisors
[Evaluating models of service delivery series]
Research summary of a study that looked at an alternative method of responding to non-urgent 999 calls. The study found that the transfer of non-urgent 999 calls to nurse advisors for further advice may be an acceptable and cost-effective alternative to the current approach (Turner et al).

"On 1 June the Library & Information Service at the RCN launched an improved Elibrary for RCN members on our website. In response to members' requests for access to more full text information, we have significantly increased the number of full text resources available remotely.

Members and staff now have access to more than 400 full text journals from Proquest and Ovid together with more than 200 e-books from Proquest and Netlibrary."

Never had it so good?
The North East under New Labour, 1997 -2007
Researched and written by Professor Fred Robinson of St Chad’s College, Durham University, with Ian Zass-Ogilvie, Michael Jackson.
Published May 2007

This wide-ranging – and very readable - study assesses how the North East of England has changed over the last ten years. Supported by the Millfield House Foundation, the report aims to provide the basis for informed debate about the region and its future development.