The first is the publication by the General Medical Council (GMC) of Raising and acting on concerns about patient safety which reinforces that doctors have a duty to act when they believe patient safety is at risk or when a patient’s care or dignity is being compromised. The guidance explains when doctors need to raise concerns and advises on the help and support available to them. It also makes clear that doctors must not sign contracts that attempt to prevent them from raising concerns with professional regulators such as the GMC, and systems regulators such as the CQC, and that doctors in management roles should not promote such contracts or encourage other doctors to sign them. It warns that those who promote or sign such agreements are breaking their professional obligations and are putting their careers at risk.
Further guidance has also been issued aimed at helping doctors understand their wider management and leadership responsibilities. The guidance Leadership and management for all doctors sets out responsibilities in relation to employment issues, teaching and training, as well as planning, using and managing resources. The two documents will be sent to all doctors on the medical register and are available on the GMC website. The new guidance comes into effect on 12 March 2012.
To support you in promoting a climate of openness in which staff feel able to raise concerns in the workplace, we recently worked with the NHS trade unions through the Social Partnership Forum to produce a suite of communications materials. The communication toolkit, which is available on our website, includes posters, postcards and business cards that can be downloaded, customised and printed locally. In order to promote a culture where staff feel able to raise concerns appropriately, I know you appreciate the value of regularly communicating the type of support that staff can expect from their employer and so we hope that you find these materials useful.
You may also have seen advance reports about the proposed structure of the National Commissioning Board. According to the reports, as expected, the national board will be based in Leeds with a small presence in London. The commissioning board will consist of the chief executive, a medical director and a chief nursing officer and then several directorates or departments supporting the chief operating officer, commissioning development, finance, patient engagement, improvement and transformation, policy and a chief of staff's office. The reports also set out how many staff are expected to work in each of these areas. The national board will be supported by four regional offices headed by a sector director and each office will employ around 50 staff. There will also be around 50 local offices headed by a local office director with around 50 staff in each. The Board will be trying to run its functions with 50 per cent less resource than currently spent. The total running costs budget for 2014/15 will be £492m.
I also wanted to let you know that the Department of Health has just announced through a written ministerial statement that they have asked the Commission for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) to undertake a strategic review of the Nursing and Midwifery Council. The review will look at the NMC's organisational structure, resource allocation and operational management and is expected to report to ministers by early summer. The Department has also announced that they will consult on the reconstitution of the NMC's council to reduce its size and strengthen its leadership and governance. The ministerial statement can be read in full on the NMC's website.
This review is welcome and will provide us with an opportunity to feed in some concerns that I know you have around the delays in dealing with fitness to practice cases and the need for more engagement with employers. We will be working hard to ensure that the review looks at these areas and recommends greater involvement of employers in the work of the Council. If you have any particular comments that you would like us to feed into the review then please let me know.
Finally, I also attended the first meeting of the Health Education England (HEE) steering group this week, which will oversee the establishment of HEE. I will continue to keep you in touch with this and the development and authorisation of Local Education and Training Boards (LETBs).
As always, I'd welcome any comments or feedback on how we can help and support you. You can contact me at deanroyles@nhsemployers.org. You can also follow us on Twitter and join my LinkedIn page where I will be posting regular updates. For more information on this and similar issues, please see our workforce leader web pages.
With best wishes,
Dean
Dean Royles
Director, NHS Employers