An inquest into the deaths of two patients treated by Doctor Daniel Ubani, an overseas out-of-hours medic, began on 14 January. The inquest is due to sit for 10 days and will conclude early next month. The case raises questions about the use of overseas doctors for evening and weekend cover and the Department of Health has ordered a review to find out if extra steps could be taken to strengthen out-of-hours services in England. For advice on the current standards governing the appointment and use of locum doctors, please refer to our medical workforce web page.

The deadline for providing your feedback on the European Working Time Directive and its impact on the quality of postgraduate medical training has been extended to 30 January 2010. The NHS Medical Education England (MEE) review team has invited written evidence from health service managers, which we will collate on your behalf, to help inform the work. Please send your answers to six key questions to medicalworkforce@nhsemployers.org. For more information go to our EWTD policy web page. 

HR managers will this week receive a pack to promote the Health Learning and Skills Advice Line ahead of appraisal time. The free service offers support and advice to NHS staff on ways to learn and develop to make the most of an individual’s potential. Trained advisers also provide specific support for both staff and managers on the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (KSF). The promotional pack contains posters, flyers and business cards to place in staff rooms and on notice boards. For more information go to the NHS Careers web pages.

NHS Employers is keen to find out how NHS organisations use e-learning tools and social media such as Twitter and YouTube to communicate. We are also looking for examples of NHS organisations that use e-learning or social media to communicate with staff, so that other NHS organisations can learn from their experiences. Please complete our online survey on the NHS Employers website.

A free Social Partnership Forum event on 16 March in London will enable NHS organisations to hear first hand the outcomes and learning from some of the successful bidders from last year's NHS Partnership Fund. The fund encourages and develops partnership working at a local level within the NHS and is supported by the Department of Health. Representatives from both trust management and staff sides are encouraged to attend and bookings can be made via the Social Partnership Forum website.

The application process for Care Quality Commission (CQC) registration is well underway and all trusts must submit their applications by 29 January. The NHS Confederation will be contacting members to find out how the process is going, whether they feel they’ve had enough advice and information and what additional resources they’ve had to put in place. In the meantime, please email registration@nhsconfed.org with any queries and find out more on the NHS Confederation’s CQC registration web page.

NHS Confederation members have voted in favour of changes to strengthen its governance. The vote means that trustees will now be selected from the Confederation’s networks, NHS Employers and the other UK countries; a different role for the council; and that the NHS Confederation can appoint a part-time remunerated chair selected on the basis of skills and competencies. Read the detail on the NHS Confederation’s latest news web page.

We participated in a meeting with the Coalition for Better Health leadership group, which is a cross-government group to address better health. We were a member in the Q&A panel of the North East Medical Workforce Conference and discussed how the medical workforce will impact on future service needs. We also attended South West and Yorkshire and Humber HR directors meetings and held a Social Partnership Forum (SPF) national event to share good practice between regional SPF colleagues.