A report examined the scale and characteristics of health professional mobility in the European Union, and the resulting impacts on health system performance.
Source: Matthias Wismar, Claudia Maier, Irene Glinos, Gilles Dussault, and Josep Figueras (eds.), Health Professional Mobility and Health Systems: Evidence from 17 European countries, World Health Organisation (Regional Office for Europe)
Date: 2011-Oct
A report examined the changing relationships between doctors and evidence, society, patients, teams, regulators, and employers. It discussed the implications for medical professionalism.
Source: Simon Christmas and Lynne Millward, New Medical Professionalism: A scoping report, Health Foundation
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Oct
A report by a committee of peers said that patients were being put at 'unacceptable risk' because of European Union rules governing the movement of health workers. Regulatory bodies should be able to test the language skills of all doctors, nurses, midwives, dentists, and pharmacists wanting to work in the United Kingdom.
Source: Safety First: Mobility of healthcare professionals in the EU, Twenty-second Report (Session 2010-12), HL 201, House of Lords European Union Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | GMC press release | RCM press release | RCP press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2011-Oct
The report of an independent commission examined the role of 'medical generalism'. It said that a generalist approach was widely applicable across healthcare, from general practice through to highly specialized services in secondary or tertiary care. It recommended expanding the training time for new recruits to the discipline, to put them on an equal footing with those who trained as specialists; and that training in generalism, including experience of general practice, should be a core training requirement for specialists.
Source: Guiding Patients Through Complexity: Modern medical generalism, Royal College of General Practitioners/Health Foundation
Links: Report | RCGP press release | Health Foundation press release | RCP press release
Date: 2011-Oct
A new book examined professional deliberation and judgement in areas such as social work, teaching, nursing, ministry, and counselling. It considered the impact of official prescription and regulation on professional judgement; how conflicts between professional judgment and public/political accountability could be resolved; how to reconcile tensions between universal justice/equality and particular client need; and the role of emotion and/or affect in 'people professional' practice.
Source: Liz Bondi, David Carr, Chris Clark, and Cecelia Clegg (eds.), Towards Professional Wisdom: Practical deliberation in the people professions, Ashgate Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2011-Oct
A report said that doctors entering the National Health Service for the first time (particularly those from outside the United Kingdom) needed better support in order to practise safely.
Source: The State of Medical Education and Practice in the UK, General Medical Council
Links: Report | GMC press release | RCP press release | BBC report
Date: 2011-Sep
A study found that allied health professionals (such as occupational therapists) were being under-utilized in their role in health promotion. Gaps in their knowledge and skills meant that they were failing to deliver their full potential.
Source: Justin Needle, Roland Petchey, Julie Benson, Angela Scriven, John Lawrenson, and Katerina Hilari, The Allied Health Professions and Health Promotion: A systematic literature review and narrative synthesis, National Institute for Health Research (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine)
Links: Report | Summary | City University press release
Date: 2011-Aug
An article examined reactions by the medical profession to recent reforms in medical education. The 'Modernizing Medical Careers' programme 'struck at the very heart' of the medical profession by demystifying the process of forming, socializing, and initiating new generations of professionals.
Source: Sharon Bolton, Daniel Muzio, and Carol Boyd-Quinn, 'Making sense of modern medical careers: the case of the UK s National Health Service', Sociology, Volume 45 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2011-Aug
A study found that good management of National Health Service staff led to a higher quality of care, more satisfied patients, lower patient mortality, and significant financial savings.
Source: Michael West, Jeremy Dawson, Lul Admasachew, and Anna Topakas, NHS Staff Management and Health Service Quality: Results from the NHS staff survey and related data, Department of Health
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Aug
The government published its response to the recommendations in a report on the future of nursing and midwifery in England (published under the previous Labour government). It said that it would introduce a new contractual right for staff to raise their concerns over poor care directly with the health and social care inspectorate.
Source: The Government's Response to the Recommendations in 'Front Line Care: The Report of the Prime Minister's Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England', Department of Health
Links: Response | DH press release | Nursing Times report
Notes: Report (March 2010)
Date: 2011-Apr
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on a procedure for the revalidation of doctors.
Source: Government Response to the House of Commons Health Select Committee: Fourth Report of Session 2010-11 – The Revalidation of Doctors, Cm 8028, Department of Health, TSO
Links: Response | Hansard | DH press release
Notes: MPs report (February 2011)
Date: 2011-Mar
The government published plans for reforming the system of professional regulation of workers in health and social care. It set out proposals: to devolve power to the regulators, while enhancing accountability and sustaining effective national safeguards where necessary; to simplify the regulatory structure, and constrain the growth and costs of the regulatory system; for a system of 'assured voluntary registration' as a more 'proportionate' approach to ensuring high standards in the workforce.
Source: Enabling Excellence: Autonomy and accountability for healthcare workers, social workers and social care workers, Cm 8008, Department of Health, TSO
Links: White Paper | Analytical strategy | Equality impact assessment | Hansard | DH press release | HPC press release | In Control press release | UNISON press release | Community Care report
Date: 2011-Feb
A report examined employment and industrial relations in the healthcare sector in Europe. Social partners at both European and national level had recognized that the attractiveness of the sector needed to be improved to ensure high-quality care and medical treatment in the future. This was linked not only to wages and terms and conditions, but also to the ability to continuously improve and enhance skills and to develop career opportunities.
Source: Tina Weber, Employment and Industrial Relations in the Health Care Sector, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
Date: 2011-Feb
A report by a committee of MPs highlighted the 'slow progress' being made by the General Medical Council (the independent statutory regulator of the medical profession) in drawing up a procedure for the revalidation of doctors. It said that it intended to improve scrutiny of the GMC, and to exercise the accountability function nominally held by the Privy Council on behalf of Parliament.
Source: Revalidation of Doctors, Fourth Report (Session 2010-11), HC 557, House of Commons Health Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | GMC press release | NCAS press release | REC press release
Date: 2011-Feb
