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Other news
Mental Capacity Act
The Mental Capacity Act continues to require a review of
existing policy and practice to enable people who lack capacity to
be assisted to make decisions and access services. Hospitals and
care homes are making use of new measures designed to protect
people unable to give consent for their care.
National Confidential Inquiry’s
Annual Report 2010
Full report published on 7 July 2010.
Equality Act 2010: what do I need to
know?
The Equality Act brings together nine separate
pieces of legislation into one single Act simplifying the law and
strengthening it in important ways to help tackle discrimination
and inequality. Implementation of most of the Equality Act will
begin on 1 October 2010.
Equality Act 2010: What do I need to know? is a series of
summary guides and "Quick Start" guides to the key changes in the
law, produced by the Government Equalities Office in partnership
with the British Chambers of Commerce, Citizens Advice and the
Equality and Diversity Forum, to support implementation of the Act.
The guides set out clearly what the new laws will mean for
business, the public sector, the voluntary sector and the public,
helping people understand their new responsibilities and
rights.
Winning the war against
mental health discrimination
Figures released by the Institute of
Psychiatry at King's College London have shown that the anti-stigma
programme,
Time to Change, is helping to reduce discrimination towards
people with mental health problems. Overall levels of
discrimination reported by people who experience a mental health
problem has dropped by 4% in the past 12 months. The levels of
discrimination people face when searching for a job dropped 9% and
there was a 6% reduction in the number of people who reported
losing their job due to a mental health problem.
Publication of Time for Training
In June, Professor Sir John Temple, published
the report
Time for Training: a review of the impact of the European Working
Time Directive on the quality of training. Professor Sir
Neil Douglas, Chairman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges,
said: “The Academy welcomes the identification in the Temple
report that the training of doctors needs to improve and assume
greater priority as a key means to improve future patient care. The
Academy recognises the strong training and service needs for
increased consultant delivered patient care in many acute
specialties out of hours. We look forward to working towards
implementing these recommendations.”
GMC reviewing revalidation
proposals
The GMC is reviewing its revalidation proposals
following recent consultation. It received over 940 written
responses. A key theme running through many of these was the
importance of ensuring that revalidation is as streamlined, simple
and proportionate as possible.
GMC agrees way forward for
trainees on examinations
The GMC has reassured doctors they will be
flexible and pragmatic in applying rules on the issue of
examinations taken outside approved postgraduate training. The
promise is contained in a
joint statement from the GMC and a range of key organisations
which sets out an action plan for addressing a number of concerns
on this subject which have been raised by
trainees.
Dementia and veterans’
health announced as key challenges
A revision to the
2010/11 NHS Operating Framework sets out changes to priorities
for the NHS. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said, “The revisions
also ask the NHS to give greater priority to two important areas,
military veterans’ health and dementia. The NHS must ensure that injured
military personnel experience a smooth transition from military to
NHS care as well as receiving priority treatment for conditions
related to their service. On dementia, the NHS must work closely with partners
to implement the National Dementia Strategy and publish information
on how they are doing this so that people with dementia and their families have access to clear
information to help them understand local services.”
Roll-out of psychological therapies
across NHS
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley recently
outlined plans to continue to roll out psychological
therapies across the NHS by pledging £70 million over the next
year.
More power to the
patient
Care Services Minister, Paul Burstow, has
announced that patients will be offered more choice and control
over their healthcare with the launch of the first
direct payment scheme. Eight PCTs will begin to road test
direct payments for personal health budgets. This will allow PCTs
to give the money for someone’s care directly to them, allowing
individuals to decide how, where and from whom they receive their
healthcare, in partnership with the local NHS.
Munro review of child
protection – call for evidence
The Department for Education recently
announced Professor Eileen Munro will conduct an independent
review to improve child protection. A call for evidence of
local innovations and new approaches to child protection, as well
as improved frontline social work practice to help inform the
review, has now been published, along with the membership of
Professor Munro’s reference group.
News from other organisations and the
NHS
Robert Schumann – the Man,
the Mind, the Music
A conference on 2 and 3 October 2010 at St.
John’s Smith Square, London, by the Musical Brain, aims to bring
together artists, scientists, teachers, therapists and the public
to examine the effects of music and other art forms upon the human
mind, brain and body. In the 200th anniversary year of his birth,
Robert Schumann’s mind and his music will be centre stage.
Professor Nigel Osborne will lead a conference team of
neuroscientists, psychiatrists and musicians. BBC Radio 3 presenter
Stephen Johnson will speak on Schumann’s life and present studies
of his work, and there will be three concerts, programmed by The
Musical Brain’s Artistic Director, Ian Ritchie, and given by James
Gilchrist tenor, Anna Tilbrook piano, Ian Brown piano, and the
Sacconi Quartetis.
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