April 2009 | Volume 16 | Number 1 13NURSING MANAGEMENT
Resources
Sharing best practice
Experience Matters is a new online
community and discussion forum for people
who work in health care and are interested in,
or responsible for, improving the experience of
patients and the quality of health outcomes,
writes Ruth Williams.
The forum offers opportunities for practice
that benefits patients and organisations to be
shared and adopted in different settings.
Before initiating or responding to discussions,
participants must open a Google group
account at http://groups.google.com/group/
experience-matters by clicking on the `sign in'
link at the top right hand corner of the page.
Older people
New webpages containing material that
help local authorities and health partners
to implement prevention and early intervention
strategies for older people have been
posted on the Care Services Improvement
Partnership website. These offer good-practice
examples of the involvement of older people
in service design, links to relevant policies and
regular reports on the Partnerships for Older
People Projects. They also include a tool for
organisations to assess their strengths.
More information can be found at
http://networks.csip.org.uk/prevention
Communication technology
The RCN has developed a webpage in
recognition of the importance of health
information communication technology (ICT).
The e-health page, at www.rcn.org.uk/
development/practice/e-health, offers nurses
information and guidance on topics such
as electronic patient records, and electronic
education and training. It also includes links
to briefing documents about various aspects of
ICT and to RCN ICT specialist group members
and online communities.
Stroke awareness
The Department of Health's `Stroke: Act FAST'
awareness campaign, launched in February,
aims to educate healthcare professionals
and the public about the signs of stroke and
how prompt treatment can reduce the risk of
death and disability.
Campaign support materials, can be
downloaded from www.dh.gov.uk/en/
Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/
PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_094239
Social inclusion
An online resource to support staff who
work with `hard-to-reach' groups has been
launched by the RCN.
The RCN Resource for Socially Inclusive
Practice introduces staff to a broad range of
information about social inclusion, including
the RCN's principles of inclusive practice and
the four UK countries' social inclusion agenda.
The site describes the issues faced by
vulnerable groups, such as asylum seekers
and refugees, traveller communities, people
with learning disabilities or mental health
problems, offenders and sex workers.
It also offers information on relevant
policies and the guidance and tools needed
to implement them, as well as a list of
agencies that work alongside these groups
and good practice examples.
The site is at www.rcn.org.uk/
development/practice/social_inclusion
Patient information
Health Rights Information Scotland
aims to raise the quality of information
available to NHS patients.
The `health professionals' section of the
website includes case studies, resources
and links that can be used in producing
information for patients about their health
rights. For more details, go to www.hris.org.
uk/index.aspx?o=1012
Web scan
Have your say
Referrals and self-care
NHS Direct has launched an online
questionnaire for nurses and other care
practitioners to help assess the clinical
effectiveness of its referrals and self-care
advice processes.
The survey, which takes about
ten minutes to complete, uses anonymised
scenarios based on typical calls to
NHS Direct and asks what courses of
action should be recommended to patients.
The feedback will be used to ensure
that NHS Direct gives the right advice and
referral information to patients.
Those who wish to participate can go
to www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/nurses
Information sharing
The Department of Health has launched
a consultation document on proposals
to improve the sharing of information
on multidisciplinary assessments and
care planning.
The document, Common Assessment
Framework for Adults, outlines how
assessment and care planning should
be undertaken, what information should
be shared and with whom, and the
information technology approaches
that can enable information sharing
in the context of appropriate consent,
confidentiality and security.
The full document and executive
summary are available at www.dh.gov.
uk/en/Consultations/Liveconsultations/
DH_093438 and the closing date is
April 17.
Public health
A consultation on the unification of public
health services in Wales has been launched
by the Welsh Assembly Government.
The aim is to create a more efficient
and effective public health system through
the establishment of the Public Health
Wales NHS Trust.
The consultation document offers details
of the proposed public health model,
including membership, functions and
governance structure.
The relevant papers can be found at
new.wales.gov.uk/topics/health/news/
changes/?lang=en and the closing date
for responses is April 24.

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