In this week's issue:

1.     Health White Paper out today

§  National Voices comments on the government’s Health White Paper

2.    National Voices in the news

§  National Voices’ interviews on the White Paper

§  Jeremy Taylor at the 2010 NHS Confederation conference

3.    Get involved

§  Future opportunities to respond to government consultations

§  NHS Local website goes live

4.    Health update

§  Nick Richards Award 2010 for improvement in patient care

§  HSJ supplement: ‘The patient will see you now’

§  NICE launch quality standards for Dementia, Stroke and VTE Prevention

§  NHS Confederation comments on the NAO health inequalities report

5.    Social care update

§  National Voices’ work to influence social care policy

6.    Members’ news

§  NACC rebranded with new name Crohn’s and Colitis UK

7.    Consultations

§  NICE opens its public consultation for new Evaluation Pathway Programme

§  The College of Social Work: consultation

§  General Optical Council public consultation

8.    Reports

§  Whose NHS is it anyway? Sharing the Power with Patients and the Public

§  Social Partnership Forum publishes guide on whistleblowing

§  Policy Press publishes Towards the emancipation of patients

§  INVOLVE: Examples of training and support for public involvement in research

§  Building high-quality commissioning: what roles can external organisations play?

9.    Conferences and events

§  INVOLVE 2010 Conference

§  HSJ Webcast – the government’s plan for the NHS: Health White Paper analysed

10.  Vacancies

§  The College of Social Work – interim board members

§  British Red Cross – media relations assistant

§  Mencap – marketing officer

§  NSPCC – campaign development advisor

§  NSPCC – public affairs advisor

1.  Health White Paper out today

National Voices has commented on the government’s Health White Paper which came out this afternoon.  National Voices’ chief executive, Jeremy Taylor said:  “National Voices welcomes the vision of patients and professionals driving change together but it mustn’t just become a charter for the most articulate. Everyone needs a voice”. He also outlined some key tests of the paper’s effectiveness. See our news release here.

The National Voices team will work to reflect members’ views on our detailed analysis of the government reforms. Please send comments to Matthew Charlton on matthew.charlton@nationalvoices.org.uk

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2.  National Voices in the news

National Voices’ interviews on the White Paper

National Voices’ chief executive, Jeremy Taylor, today gave two interviews on the White Paper;speaking live to the BBC News Channel and giving a pre-recorded interview to ITN. As above, we welcomed the vision of patients and professionals driving change together but stressed the need to include the most vulnerable.

Jeremy Taylor at the 2010 NHS Confederation conference

Jeremy Taylor spoke at the 2010 NHS Confederation conference on Friday 25 June. He discussed causes for concern in the current political landscape of uncertainty and opportunities for improving healthcare through patient involvement and shared decision-making. The video of speakers is available on the NHS Confederation annual conference webpage, called “Friday morning sessions” - Jeremy’s speech can be found at 18m20s within the video.

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3.  Get involved

Future opportunities to respond to government consultations

The Department of Health has said that:

            “Today’s White Paper is the start of an extensive consultation that will take place over the

            coming weeks.  The Department of Health will shortly be publishing a number of consultation

            documents to seek views on more detailed proposals.”

National Voices will update members when we have more details on opportunities for involvement.

NHS Local website goes live

The website for NHS Local, a digital service to engage staff, patients and the public in the West Midlands, has gone live. A video description can be found at http://maverick.box.net/shared/4vdak7tb1q (password: Maverick123).

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4.  Health update

Nick Richards Award 2010 for improvement in patient care

Picker Institute Europe is inviting healthcare staff to apply for their quality improvement award. Healthcare teams will need to provide evidence of: culture of working with patients; commitment to improving quality; support at executive level; nominated person to lead this work. This is open to all areas of healthcare, public, private and third sector. The deadline for applications is 30 July. See http://www.pickereurope.org/

HSJ supplement: ‘The patient will see you now’

The Health Service Journal (HSJ) and the Health Foundation have published a supplement, ‘The patient will see you now’, exploring how changing the interaction between patients and service providers can be a driver for improving quality. It presents research and evidence as well as showcasing good practice case studies. An online version is available on the Health Foundation webpage.

NICE launch quality standards for Dementia, Stroke and VTE Prevention

NICE has launched quality standards for Dementia, Stroke and VTE prevention. The quality standard for Specialist Neonatal Care will launch later this year.

NHS Confederation comments on the NAO health inequalities report

The NHS confederation has commented on the National Audit Office report on the need to embed health inequalities in NHS policies and planning frameworks. More information can be found on the NHS Confederation’s webpage.

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5.  Social care update

National Voices’ work to influence social care policy

National Voices has taken several opportunities to emphasise to ministers that reform of health and social care must join up.

Jeremy Taylor has joined the Social Care Reference Group chaired by the minister for care services, Paul Burstow, which first met on 22 June. The minister presented a positive vision of social care reform, including the intention that the new social care commission on future funding will report by July 2011. We emphasised the need for practical mechanisms to integrate health and social care.

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6.  Members’ news

NACC rebranded with new name Crohn’s and Colitis UK

The National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease (NACC) has rebranded with the new working name “Crohn’s and Colitis UK” to help them achieve better awareness for these inflammatory bowel diseases. More information on the rebrand is available in this online leaflet.

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7.  Consultations

NICE opens its public consultation for new evaluation pathway programme

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has opened its public consultation on the proposed process and methods guides for its new evaluation pathway programme for medical technologies. For more details and to comment, go to this webpage.

The College of Social Work: Consultation

The College of Social Work is running a consultation on its purpose and function. See the college website.

General Optical Council public consultation

The General Optical Council is running a public consultation on the accessibility of information about the fitness to practice of opticians. Both the consultation and a survey on registers can be accessed on theirwebpage. The consultation will run until late August.

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8.  Reports

Whose NHS is it anyway? Sharing the Power with Patients and the Public

Whose NHS is it anyway? Sharing the power with patients and the public, was launched on 30 June. In the report the NHS Alliance, National Voices, NAPP, NALM, PiF, Diabetes UK and AHPN call for:

1.     More shared decisions in the consulting room

2.     GP surgeries to be more responsive to their local populations

3.     More responsive and accountable commissioning

4.     A stronger push at national level to share power with patients and citizens

5.     Explore co-production of services

Social Partnership Forum publishes guide on whistleblowing

A new guide, ‘Speak up for a healthy NHS’, has been commissioned by the Social Partnership Forum and written by whistleblowing charity, Public Concern at Work.

Policy Press publishes Towards the emancipation of patients

The Policy Press has published Towards the emancipation of patients: Patients’ experiences and the patient movement, by Charlotte Williamson OBE, a patient activist. See Policy Press website.

INVOLVE: Examples of training and support for public involvement in research

The report from INVOLVE, Examples of training and support for public involvement in research: Sharing innovative practice workshop, from the workshop held in January is available here.

Building high-quality commissioning: what roles can external organisations play?

This new report published by The King’s Fund looks at how external support is being used by primary care trusts and strategic health authorities and whether it is helping them to develop more effective commissioning.

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9.  Conferences and events

INVOLVE 2010 Conference

Online registration is now available for the INVOLVE conference 2010 to be held 16-17 November in Nottingham. See the conference website.

HSJ Webcast – the government’s plan for the NHS: the Health White Paper analysed
The HSJ is hosting a free online webcast in association with UnitedHealth UK to get to grips with the government’s plans for the NHS.

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10. Vacancies

British Red Cross – media relations assistant. See webpage

Mencap – marketing officer. See website

NSPCC – campaign development advisor. See website

NSPCC – public affairs advisor. See webpage

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An archive of previous 10 Things bulletins has now been added on our webpage. This can be found hereunder ‘Membership’.