Current Awareness Bulletin for Nurses & AHPs

The role of support workers in maternity services

2007-06-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

A King's College London study, on the role of support workers in maternity services in England has found that they make a key contribution to the care of women and babies. However a lack of standardisation in training and role could leave women and babies at risk from low standards of care in some Trusts. A national framework for training and competencies is recommended, with an urgent need to identify the skills and tasks that can and cannot be delegated to a support worker.Report: www.kcl.ac.uk/content/1/c6/02/16/41/SupportWorkersinMaternityServices.pdfBBC news report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6691787.stm

Clinical Knowledge Summaries site launched

2007-04-19T03:25:00.000-07:00

On 27th March a new CKS website was launched providing access to:
· Each month five Topic Reviews with their associated Clinical Summaries will be issued. The first of these are on emergency contraception; pruritus vulvae, boils and carbuncles, otitis media with effusion and hypothyroidism.
· Patient information from NHS Direct
· KnowledgePlus offering:
· Gems and facts from The Cochrane Library
· A weekly feature on the use of laboratory tests
· Medico-legal information around child protection and safeguarding children
· Regional information on the incidence of infectious disease
· My CKS providing the ability to personalize the site.
http://cks.library.nhs.uk

The Inflammatory bowel disease evidence update

2007-04-19T03:15:00.000-07:00

March 2007 sees the Annual Evidence Update for Inflammatory Bowel Disease go live on the Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Specialist Library. This update highlights knowledge published in the last two years in the diagnosis, treatment and management of IBD. www.library.nhs.uk/gastroliver

New – Kidney Diseases Specialist Library

2007-04-19T03:13:00.000-07:00

The Kidney Disease Specialist Library provides a wide variety of links to renal information. The focus is on kidney diseases affecting adults and children in the UK. However there is also basic information on renal tract cancer.This Specialist Library is funded by the National Library for Health and supported by the Renal Information Exchange Group (RIXG). www.library.nhs.uk/kidney/

Closure of the National electronic Library for Health (NeLH)

2007-04-19T03:07:00.000-07:00

NeLH will no longer available after Saturday 31st March. All NeLH content has been migrated to the National Library for Health (NLH) site: http://www.library.nhs.uk/

March 2007 Current Awareness Bulletin

2007-04-18T04:35:00.000-07:00

Closure of the National electronic Library for Health (NeLH)
NeLH will no longer available after Saturday 31st March. All NeLH content has been migrated to the National Library for Health (NLH) site: http://www.library.nhs.uk/

New – Kidney Diseases Specialist Library
The Kidney Disease Specialist Library provides a wide variety of links to renal information. The focus is on kidney diseases affecting adults and children in the UK. However there is also basic information on renal tract cancer.This Specialist Library is funded by the National Library for Health and supported by the Renal Information Exchange Group (RIXG). www.library.nhs.uk/kidney/

The Inflammatory bowel disease evidence update
March 2007 sees the Annual Evidence Update for Inflammatory Bowel Disease go live on the Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases Specialist Library. This update highlights knowledge published in the last two years in the diagnosis, treatment and management of IBD. www.library.nhs.uk/gastroliver

Clinical Knowledge Summaries site launched http://cks.library.nhs.uk/
On 27th March a new CKS website was launched providing access to:
· Each month five Topic Reviews with their associated Clinical Summaries will be issued. The first of these are on emergency contraception; pruritus vulvae, boils and carbuncles, otitis media with effusion and hypothyroidism.
· Patient information from NHS Direct
· KnowledgePlus offering:
· Gems and facts from The Cochrane Library
· A weekly feature on the use of laboratory tests
· Medico-legal information around child protection and safeguarding children
· Regional information on the incidence of infectious disease
· My CKS providing the ability to personalize the site.

DH publishes new strategy for maternity services
The Department of Health has published Maternity Matters: choice, access and continuity of care in a safe service for commissioners, service providers and other organisations involved in the provision of maternity services. It builds on the maternity services commitment outlined in Our Health, Our Care, Our Say and is another step towards meeting the maternity standard set out in the Children’s NSF, with the aim of ensuring that by the end of 2009, all women will have choice around the type of care that they receive.
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_073312

Peanuts and pregnancy
Latest research suggests that advice generally given to pregnant women and new mothers about avoiding peanuts should be reviewed.
www.bda.uk.com/Downloads/07-03-21_PregnantPauseForEatingPeanuts.pdf

Guidelines for physiotherapy management of persistent low back pain
have just been published by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Comprising an exercise and manual therapy section, a quick reference guide and an audit tool the guidelines offer information for physiotherapists, medical and health professionals, researchers, service managers and members of the public. FOR PURCHASE go to
http://www.csp.org.uk/director/libraryandpublications/publications.cfm?item_id=562CC348D28AC0F97B2AA357019A7C7C

Information Access Toolkit: long-term neurological conditions. The Toolkit is designed to help commissioners and providers of health and social care services to meet the information needs of people with long-term neurological conditions. The toolkit was developed over two years by the Information Access Project at the Brain and Spine Foundation, and was launched during Brain Awareness Week (12-18 March 2007) at Spinal Injury Association House in Milton Keynes. (Published March 2007) http://www.brainandspine.org.uk/information/information_access_toolkit/

Joint professional body statement on CPD
All the main nursing, midwifery and allied health professional bodies have signed up to a joint statement on Continuing Professional Development (CPD), aimed at influencing health and social care policymakers, commissioners and employers to provide enhanced CPD support for health and social practitioners.
www.rcn.org.uk/publications/pdf/cpd_health_and_social_care_practitioners.pdf