New England Journal of Medicine 2009 (Vol 361 No 20) Contents Page

Fade Fave: Cross-Reactive Antibody Responses to the 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza Virus

Fade Skinny: This article assesses the level of preexisting immunity in humans of the H1N1 virus and to evaluate seasonal vaccine strategies by measuring the antibody response to the pandemic virus resulting from previous influenza infection or vaccination groups.

(Print subscription held at Fade Library)

British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 2009 (Vol 3 No 11) Contents Page

Fade Fave: Causes and consequences of diabetes

Fade Skinny: Diabetes diagnosis in the UK has risen over the years reaching epidemic levels. This article aims to improve knowledge and understanding of diabetes, not only as a disorder of carbohydrate metabolism but as a chronic disease.

(Print subscription held at Fade Library)

British Journal of Hospital Medicine 2009 (Vol 70 No 11) Contents Page

Fade Fave: Slowing the progression of chronic kidney disease

Fade Skinny: Progression of chronic kidney disease can be slowed by careful management of risk factors. The article highlights the most important interventions that slow progression of chronic kidney disease, many of which will also reduce cardiovascular risk.

(Print subscription held at Fade Library)

International Journal of Health Technology Assessment 2009 (Vol 25 No 4) Contents Page

Fade Fave: How well do search filters perform in identifying economic evaluations in MEDLINE and EMBASE

Fade Skinny: Economic evaluations are used in order to assess the cost-effectiveness of healthcare technologies. This article assesses the role of MEDLINE and EMBASE in identifying economic evaluations.

(Print subscription held at Fade Library)

New England Journal of Medicine 2009 (Vol 361 No 19) Contents Page

Fade Fave: A Peptide-Based Erythropoietin-Receptor Agonist for Pure Red-Cell Aplasia

Fade Skinny: This article investigates whether a novel, synthetic, peptide-based erythropoietin-receptor agonist can stimulate erythropoisis in patients with anaemia that is caused by antierythropoietin antibodies.

(Print subscription held at Fade Library)

Title: Mental health and the economic downturn: National priorities and NHS solutions

The Skinny: Explores the impact the economic downturn is having on mental health as well as where some of the solutions may lie for those working at a local and national level in service provision and policy.  This report outlines the challenges facing the sector and sets out how policy makers, organisational leaders and health and social care professionals should respond.

Publisher: NHS Confederation

Size of Publication: 25p

Published: 12/11/2009

Title: Making clinical research less of a trial: EU consultation on the functioning of the Clinical Trials Directive

The Skinny: The European Commission has launched a public consultation seeking views on how to improve the functioning of the Clinical Trials Directive.  This NHS Confederation Consultation identifies the following key questions to be answered:

1. How could procedures for multinational trials be effectively streamlined?
2. What changes could improve processes relating to ethics committees’ assessments?
3. How could inconsistencies in the way the existing Directive is applied in different EU countries be overcome?
4. Should a more risk-based approach to clinical trials be introduced, and how could a system for differentiating risk operate?
5. How could the participation of non-commercial organisations as sponsors of clinical trials be promoted?

Publisher: NHS Confederation

Size of Publication: 6p

Published: 112/11/2009

Title: Maynard v Care Quality Commission [2009]

The Skinny: Appeal by Ms. Vida Maynard under Section 21 (1) of the Care Standards Act 2000 against the decision of the Respondent dated the 15th December, 2008, to refuse an application by Ms. Maynard for registration as a provider and manager of a domiciliary care agency.

Publisher: Bailii

Size of Document: Webpage

Case No.:UKFTT 268 (HESC) (09 November 2009)

Title: Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Ltd, R (on the application of) v National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence [2009]

The Skinny: Challenges of the decision of the defendant, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) refusing to recommend the use of abatacept (ABA) for treatment in connection with rheumatoid arthritis in the National Health Service in the United Kingdom.

Publisher: Bailii

Size of Document: Webpage

Case No.:EWHC 2780 (Admin) (06 November 2009)

Title: Medical Protection Society Ltd, R (on the application of) v HM Revenue & Customs [2009]

The Skinny: Judicial review of a decision by the Defendants (whom, together with their predecessors, H.M. Commissioners for Customs & Excise, I will call “HMRC”) to require the Claimant, the Medical Protection Society Ltd (“MPS”), to account for value added tax (“VAT”) for the period of three years prior to 14 January 2008.

Publisher: Bailii

Size of Document: Webpage

Case No.:EWHC 2780 (Admin) (06 November 2009)

Title: Nothing but the truth?

Skinny: Sets out important issues as the basis for discussion on how to ensure data about local public services is fit for purpose. It asks if citizens, along with frontline staff, managers, politicians, central government and local public service regulators, can have confidence in the data they rely on. And if not, what needs to be done about it?

Publisher: Audit Commission

Size of Publication: 40p

Published: 05/11/2009

Title: Dental commissioning data for quarter ending September 2009

Skinny: Information about the number of new NHS dental contracts signed and rejected and the approximate service value of these contracts expressed in units of dental activity. Also data on dental services commissioned. From June 2008 only the dental commissioning data has been collected.

Key findings this quarter:

• All 152 Commissioners (PCTs and Care Trusts) returned data.
• 86.9 million UDAs have been commissioned as at 30th September 2009.
• This represents an increase of 2.5 million (2.9 %) on the UDAs commissioned as at 30th June 2009.

Publisher: DH

Size of Publication: 17p

Published: 05/11/2009

Title: Wave 1 action and learning sites 2008-09 final report

Skinny: Sets out the work and progress made by the 12 user-led organisation (ULO) action and learning sites (ALS) funded as Wave 1 for the period April 2008 – March 2009.

Publisher: DH

Size of Publication: 17p

Published: 13/11/2009

Title: Response to the report and recommendations of the review of the conduct function of the General Social Care Council

Skinny: Government’s response to the report and recommendations of the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence’s (CHRE) review of the General Social Care Council’s (GSCC) conduct function. The review was commissioned following the discovery of a backlog of conduct cases at the GSCC.

Publisher: DH

Size of Publication: 15p

Published: 05/11/2009

Title: Report on the General Social Care Council

Skinny: Review of the conduct function of the General Social Care Council (GSCC), the social care regulator for England.

Publisher: Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence

Size of Publication: 40p

Published: 05/11/2009

Title: Neonatal services toolkit – updated 12 November 2009

Skinny: New guidance to help the NHS improve the care provided for premature and sick babies and their families.  NHS staff from across England and members of Bliss (the baby charity) have helped to develop the toolkit, which provides evidence based guidance for all neonatal services.  Neonatal care should be more family-centred ensuring that the psychological as well as physical needs of babies and families are considered.  The toolkit created by and for the NHS provides guidance on how to improve services in the areas that really matter to parents including:

• Communication and inclusion in decision making
• Access to psychological and social support
• Improved access to and availability of specialised transfer services
• Safe, effective and supportive transition from hospital to community

The toolkit includes a set of eight principles for high quality neonatal services and a framework to assist commissioners. The principles cover the major areas of activity within the neonatal care pathway and aim to provide standardisation in neonatal care:

• Organisation of neonatal services
• Staffing of neonatal services
• Care of the baby and family experience
• Transfers
• Professional competence, education and training
• Surgical services
• Clinical governance
• Data requirements

Publisher: DH

Size of Publication: 106p

Published: 05/11/2009

Title: Mortality target monitoring (life expectancy and all-age all-cause mortality, overall and inequalities): update to include data for 2008

Skinny: Key points from the latest release are:

• The overall life expectancy and all age all cause mortality (AAACM) trends for both males and females are broadly on course to deliver the target of 78.6 years for men and 82.5 years for women by 2010 (2009-11).
• In 2006-08, life expectancy at birth in England continued to increase for both males and females, and reached its highest level on record at 77.7 years for males and 81.9 years for females.
• Three-year average AAACM rates for England have fallen in each period since 1995-97.
• In 2006-08, average life expectancy at birth in the Spearhead Group was 75.8 years for males and 80.4 years for females, having increased in each period since 1995-97.
• However, England average life expectancy at birth has increased more quickly over this period, and, in 2006-08, the relative gap – i.e. percentage difference – in life expectancy at birth between England and the Spearhead Group was wider than at the baseline for the target (1995-97) for both males and females.
• For males the relative gap was 7% wider than at the baseline (compared with 4% wider in 2005-07), for females 14% wider (compared with 11% wider in 2005-07).  Therefore, the target to narrow the life expectancy gap between the Spearhead Group and the England average, by at least 10% by 2010, remains challenging.
• Three-year average AAACM rates for the Spearhead Group have fallen in each period since 1995-97 for both males and females.

Publisher: DH

Size of Publication: 17p

Published: 05/11/2009

Title: Call for evidence – review of restrictions on private patient income the NHS foundation trust private patient income cap

Skinny: Call for written evidence to inform a review of the ‘private patient income cap’ for NHS Foundation Trusts. The call for evidence invites submissions until Thursday 31 December 2009.

Publisher: DH

Size of Publication: 9p

Published: 05/11/2009

Title: Report from the Ministerial Summit on Dementia Research

Skinny: Independent report from the Ministerial Summit on Dementia Research.

Publisher: DH

Size of Publication: 63p

Published: 05/11/2009

Title: Choice at the point of referral

The Skinny: Survey from the King’s Fund on choice of hospital at point of referral, it aims to measure

• whether patients were offered a choice
• patients’ opinions on choice and awareness
• which patients travel away from their local hospital for treatment
• the information and support used by patients to help them choose
• factors that influenced patients choices.

Publisher: The King’s Fund

Size of Publication: 16p

Published: 04/11/2009

• SI 2010 No. 000. Health Care And Associated Professions. Pharmacy. The Pharmacy Order 2010

• SI 2009 No. 2862 (C. 126). Children And Young Persons, England. The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Commencement No. 12) Order 2009

Annals of Rheumatic Diseases 2009 (Vol. 68 No. 12) contents page

Fade Fave: Development of quality indicators for monitoring of the disease course in rheumatoid arthritis

Fade Skinny: Aims to develop a set of quality indicators to evaluate rheumatoid arthritis disease course monitoring of rheumatologists in daily clinical practice. Concludes this quality indicator set can be used to assess the quality of disease course monitoring of rheumatologists in daily clinical practice, and to determine for which aspects of disease course monitoring rheumatologists perform well, or where there is room for improvement. This information can be used to improve the quality of disease course monitoring.

(NHS Athens is required to access this article online)

Current Awareness Feedback Form

The Lancet 2009 (Volume 374 Issue 9702) Contents Page

Fade Fave: 10-year follow-up of diabetes incidence and weight loss in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study

Fade Skinny: In the 2·8 years of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) randomised clinical trial, diabetes incidence in high-risk adults was reduced by 58% with intensive lifestyle intervention and by 31% with metformin, compared with placebo. This 10 year follow-up finds that incidences in the former placebo and metformin groups fell to equal those in the former lifestyle group, but the cumulative incidence of diabetes remained lowest in the lifestyle group. Prevention or delay of diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin can persist for at least 10 years.

(Print Subscription Held by the Fade Library)

Archives of Internal Medicine 2009 (Vol. 169 No. 20) contents page

Fade Fave: Primary Care Visit Duration and Quality: Does Good Care Take Longer?

Fade Skinny: Aims to describe changes in the duration of adult primary care visits and in the quality of care provided during these visits and to determine whether quality of care is associated with visit duration. Finds that providing counseling or screening required additional physician time, but ensuring that patients were taking appropriate medications seemed to be independent of visit duration.

(NHS Athens is required to access this article online)

Current Awareness Feedback Form

Archives of Neurology 2009 (Vol. 66 No. 11) contents page

Fade Fave: Association of Muscle Strength With the Risk of Alzheimer Disease and the Rate of Cognitive Decline in Community-Dwelling Older Persons

Fade Skinny: Confirms a link between muscle strength, Alzheimers Disease, and cognitive decline in older persons.

(NHS Athens is required to access this article online)

Current Awareness Feedback Form

Annals of Clinical Biochemistry 2009 (Volume 46 Number 6) Contents Page

Title: Managing demand for pathology tests: financial imperative or duty of care?

Fade Skinny: Editorial identifying that demand management is an important component of clinical laboratory activity.

(Requires NHS Athens Password)

The Lancet 2009 (Volume 374 Issue 9701) Contents Page

Fade Fave: Autism

Fade Skinny: Seminar from The Lancet on Autism. It characterises autism, looks at screening and treatments.

(Print Subscription Held by the Fade Library)

Title: The new research governance landscape

The Skinny: NHS Confederation briefing on the changing research governance landscape.

• The Department of Health’s Best Research for Best Health strategy has made significant strides in modernising the research governance landscape.

• A single system for applying for the permissions and approvals required for research has been established.

• The NIHR Coordinated System for gaining NHS Permissions should make processes much faster and simpler.

• The National Research Ethics Service is currently piloting a scheme for proportional review.

• The research passport scheme has been rolled out across the UK and helps clarify NHS and higher education institution (HEI) responsibilities as employers.

Publisher: NHS Confederation

Size of Publication: 8p

Published: 11/11/2009

Journal of Medical Screening 2009 (Volume 16 No 3) Contents Page

Fade Fave: What now on screening for prostate cancer?

Fade Skinny: Editorial considering the contradictory evidence in favour and against mass screening for prostate cancer.   Concludes that the current evidence against mass screening marginally outweighs that in favour but identifies factors that may change this.

(NHS Athens is required to access this article online)

Postgraduate Medical Journal 2009 (Vol. 85 No. 1008) Contents page

Fade Fave: Factors that influence decisions about cardiopulmonary resuscitation: the views of doctors and medical students

Fade Skinny: Key factors identified were patient’s diagnosis, prognosis, age, quality of life, the opinions of doctors and other medical staff, and the wishes of patients and relevant others. The relative importance of each of these factors varied significantly and was influenced by the doctors’ own beliefs and values. Identifies the need for greater support for their decision making in relation to resuscitation to reduce variability in clinical practice and to promote appropriate patient care.

(NHS Athens is required to access this article online)

Title: More for less: Are productivity and efficiency improving in the NHS?

Skinny: Analytical briefing from the Audit Commission considering how NHS money has been spent, whether primary care trusts have been successful in keeping more patients out of hospital, and whether hospitals have become more efficient. Findings are that the NHS is treating more patients at lower cost and trusts are starting to meet the challenges of the future. It suggests NHS trusts are increasing productivity and reducing unit costs. But overall, there is no sign yet that primary care trusts have been successful in moving care from hospitals closer to patients’ homes.

Publisher: Audit Commission

Size of Publication: 12p

Published: 12/11/2009

British Journal of Healthcare Management 2009 (Volume 15 Issue 11) Contents Page

Fade Fave: Another word for efficiency

Fade Skinny: Discussion of  OECD findings of how well countries use their healthcare resources to produce good health outcomes

(Print copy held at the Fade Library)

The Lancet 2009 (Volume 374 Issue 9700) Contents Page

Fade Fave: UK to develop a national strategy for liver disease

Fade Skinny: In the UK, liver disease is the fifth largest cause of death after cardiovascular, cancer, stroke, and respiratory diseases. By 2012, the UK is expected to have the highest liver disease death rates in Europe, and without action to tackle the disease, it could overtake stroke and coronary heart disease as a leading cause of death within the next 10–20 years. Consequently this editorial announces the appointment a new Clinical Director to lead the development and implementation of a national strategy for liver disease.

(Print Subscription Held by the Fade Library)

Title: Young people’s sexual health: the National Chlamydia Screening Programme (Executive Summary)

Skinny: This report states that to have a significant impact on chlamydia requires overall testing levels of 26 per cent or above. Only half of Primary Care Trusts reached this level in 2008-09, six years after the Programme’s launch. Combined with the local inefficiencies and duplications, this shows that the delivery of the Programme to date has not demonstrated value for money.

In 2007-08, five years after the Programme’s launch, 4.9 per cent of under-25s were being tested under the Programme, against a target of 15 per cent.  In 2007, the Department made the Programme a priority for PCTs, which led to a significant increase in activity; and average testing levels rose to 15.9 per cent by the end of 2008-09, against a target of 17 per cent.  Combined with testing in GUM clinics and other settings screening has now reached 26 per cent.

Publisher: NAO

Size of Publication: 38p

Published: 12/11/2009

Fade Fave: Using interprofessional learning in practice to improve multidisciplinary working

Fade Skinny: This article looks at how an initiative using interprofessional practice learning teams helped multidisciplinary working as it enables students to understand each others’ roles.

Contact the library for a copy of this articles