Month: July 2014

CQC has reduced its inspection targets for the rest of 2014-15 as it seeks to ease pressure on its workforce and struggles to recruit enough high calibre staff. David Behan speaking to HSJ, said that CQC’s original plan had been “recalibrated” because “we have not recruited the numbers of staff during the early parts of …

CQC reduced inspection targets due to staff pressure Read More »

Lord Warner’s Right to Die at Home Bill passed its first reading in the House of Lords on the 28 July. The Bill, if passed, would give people the right to choose to die at home, in order to allow them a dignified death. In 2012, 41% of individuals living in England passed away at …

Right to Die at Home Bill Passes First Reading in Lords Read More »

The UK Statistics Authority has warned Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt over false information he gave over accident and emergency waiting times in England. On 2 July David Cameron stated that the average wait time for an accident and emergency assessment had fallen from 77 minutes to 30 minutes since the coalition came into power. A …

Health Secretary Warned Over False Waiting Times Data Read More »

Lord Warner’s Right to Die at Home Bill passed its first reading in the House of Lords on the 28 July. The Bill, if passed, would give people the right to choose to die at home, in order to allow them a dignified death. In 2012, 41% of individuals living in England passed away at …

Right to Die at Home Bill Passes First Reading in Lords Read More »

The Law Commission is set to draft new laws which would allow deprivation of liberty to be applied to settings other than hospitals and care homes. Presently, the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) only covers hospitals and care homes, but the Commission’s review would widen the scope of DoLS to apply to other settings, specifically …

Deprivation of Liberty to Apply to New Settings Read More »

Guidance has been drafted by CQC for providers explaining how to meet the new ‘fundamental standards’ of care which are due to come into force in April 2015. The new fundamental standards include both the new “duty of candour” and the “fit and proper persons” requirements. These requirements have the purpose of ensuring accountability of …

CQC’s Guidance on meeting the ‘Fundamental Standards’ Read More »

A report published by think tank Civitas has found that Ofsted penalises the traditional “chalk and talk” methods used by English teachers. Citivas’ findings were based on two sets of Ofsted reports, each containing evaluations of 130 schools. The first set of Ofsted reports focused on secondary schools, and Civitas found that 18% of the …

Ofsted Criticise Traditional Teaching Methods Read More »

The Audit Commission has referred 19 NHS Trusts to the Secretary of State for Health following concerns about their financial health.  This demonstrates a three-fold increase as compared to the previous year.  A total of 98 NHS Trusts (excluding NHS Foundation Trusts) were reviewed for the period of 2013/14. The audits concluded that overall NHS …

Audit Commission reports increase in financial difficulties at NHS Trusts Read More »

On Friday, 18 July, Lord Falconer’s Assisted Dying Bill was officially debated in the House of Lords. The discussion lasted nearly 10 hours, and ultimately passed its second reading without a vote. Lord Falconer opened the debate, by emphasising the safeguards of his proposed law, as well as why the system needed to be changed. …

Assisted Dying Bill sparks 10-Hour Debate in Lords Read More »

The House of Commons Education Committee has published a report entitled “Into Independence, not Out of Care: 16 Plus Care Options,” which focuses on the inadequate accommodation young adults receive after leaving the care system in England. The report focuses on several core issues, and offers recommendations for each area including; The safety of ‘other …

Living-arrangements for young people leaving care “Inadequate.” Read More »