Leadership

Financing health care in the European Union: challenges and policy responses
S Thomas, T Foubister, E Mossialos
European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, 2009
This report looks at the issue of financial sustainability of health systems, discussing the current situation and then suggesting practical ways forward.

Events/Calls of Interest

Event: Economic evaluations and economic evidence in healthcare: finding information to inform technology assessments and economic models
7th July 2009, University of York, UK
Health economics information is a key element in much health services research and particularly in health technology assessments. Identifying economic evidence to inform such research can involve searches in a range of databases and using a variety of strategies. This study day will demonstrate some useful resources and present the basics of health economics and economic models.

Event: Health Services & Policy Research Conference 2009
25th-27th November 2009 – Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Australia
This is the Conference of the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand (HSRAANZ). This year’s theme is ‘Health Services Research – Reforming, Responding, Rewarding’. In Australia, the Health and Hospitals Reform Commission is considering options for restructuring the Australian Health System. And in New Zealand, while there is a sense of reform fatigue, many incremental changes and innovations in health services are continually being introduced. The conference looks at how health service researchers should respond to these current needs for health care and health system reform, and aims to learn from good practice from around the world. The call for abstracts closes on 10th July 2009.

Service Improvement

Profiles in improvement
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement is producing an ongoing series of audio profiles of front-line improvers. This edition is by John Senders of the University of Toronto. Click here to read more about these profiles and to listen to them.

Planning for scale: a guide for designing large-scale improvement initiatives
CJ McCannon, MW Schall, RJ Perla
Institute for Healthcare Improvement, 2008
This white paper is a preparation tool which is meant to guide conversation and thinking prior to the launch of a large-scale improvement effort. Click here to access the white paper – free registration is required.

The NHS Constitution
Department of Health, 2009
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Events

Event: Evidence for policy, practice and personal decisions
March 2009 – 4 one-day workshops – EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London
This course will enable participants to conduct and use research collaboratively, in order to promote change for better health, education or well-being. This course is available as stand-alone or as part of the MSc in Evidence for Public Policy and Practice. Click here to read more.

Event: Methods for Research Synthesis
May 2009 – 4 one-day workshops – EPPI-Centre, Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education, University of London
This course will enable participants to learn methods for conducting academic or policy-relevant research. This course is available as stand-alone or as part of the MSc in Evidence for Public Policy and Practice. Click here to read more.

Event: 5th International Conference of Evidence Based Health Care Teachers and Developers: Models of practice in hospital and primary care
28th October – 1st November 2009 – Taormina, Italy
Meet teachers and developers from around the world in a 3-day program aimed at anyone involved in teaching or developing evidence-based health care. Click here for more information.

Event: Health impact assessment training course
8th – 12th June 2009 – Liverpool
This 5 day course is being run by the University of Liverpool and IMPACT – the international health impact assessment consortium, and costs £795 or £700 if received before 31st March 2009. Course content includes:

• Understanding HIA
• Methods
• Procedures
• Evaluation
• Prioritisation
• Making it happen

Click here for more information.

Event: International Forum on Quality and Safety in Health Care
17th – 20th March 2009 – Berlin, Germany
The International Forum on Quality and Safety in Health Care is now in its 14th successful year, with conferences held at different locations around the world since 1996. The forum is presented by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and BMJ Group. Major themes this year include:

• Patient safety
• Transforming whole health systems
• Improving both cost and quality
• Improvement methods
• Training young health professionals and existing staff in quality improvement

To view the full program and to register online, click here.

Patient Safety

Improving patient safety in the EU: Assessing the expected effects of three policy areas for future action
A Conklin, AM Vilamovska, H de Vries, E Hatziandreu
2008, RAND Technical Report
This report was prepared for the Health and Consumer Protection Commission in support of their Impact Assessment of the Patient Safety and Quality Legislative proposal for 2008. It presents the findings of a study in which was informed by existing European and international studies and evaluations on patient safety and related initiatives. Click here to read the full report.

Evidence Based Practice

Evidence-informed health policy
Implementation Science has published a themed issue on evidence-informed health policy. The issue includes:

• Synthesis of findings from a multi-method study of organizations that support the use of research evidence
  JN Lavis, AD Oxman, R Moynihan, EJ Paulsen
  Implementation Science 2008, 3:53
• Survey of organizations that support the use of research evidence
  JN Lavis, EJ Paulsen, AD Oxman, R Moynihan
  Implementation Science 2008, 3:54
• Interviews with the directors of organizations that support the use of research evidence
  JN Lavis, AD Oxman, R Moynihan, EJ Paulsen
  Implementation Science 2008, 3:55
• Case descriptions of organizations that support the use of research evidence
  JN Lavis, R Moynihan, AD Oxman, EJ Paulsen
  Implementation Science 2008, 3:56

Commissioning

“What’s New?” – newsletter for commissioners
The Care Services Improvement Partnership (CSIP) Better Commissioning network publishes a monthly newsletter, signposting commissioners to news on policy, publications, tools, and resources. Each newsletter contains information on:

• CSIP Better Commissioning news and publications
• Other CSIP programmes news and publications
• Other publications and products
• Queries from network members
• Policy news
• Policy briefings

Click here to find out more.

Evidence Based Medicine

Policy+: bringing evidence to policy makers
Policy+ is a new publication from the National Nursing Research Unit which aims to deliver brief overviews of evidence related to current policies affecting the nursing workforce in England, the wider United Kingdom and the rest of the world. Click here to see all the issues available.

Evidence based practice: the practicalities of keeping abreast of clinical evidence while in training
R Phillips, P Glasziou
Postgraduate Medical Journal, 2008, 84(995), pp450-453
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NHS Athens passwords may be required to access this resource, and can be obtained from the National Library for Health.

Events

Event: Public reporting on the quality of healthcare: emerging evidence on promising practices for effective reporting
26th November 2008 – 12:00 – 12:45pm Eastern Standard Time
Knowledge Exchange, Researcher on Call, is hosting a session to discuss how important it is for health system leaders and professions to demonstrate timely, meaningful ways to “account” for the quality and safety of their care. If you want to join the discussion (please note the time), click here to register.

Event: In sickness and in health – an international community of scholars and researchers focused on sickness and health in the 21st century
15th – 17th April 2009 – Fairmont Empress Hotel, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
This is the third international conference addressing issues of power, practice and ethics in health care. The conference is a forum for international researchers and practitioners from diverse disciplinary and professional backgrounds employing critical perspectives to investigate problems pertaining to sickness and health in the 21st century. To find out more about this event, click here.

Event: Mind the gap: policy making and research in health and social care
23rd January 2009 – Glamorgan Building, Cardiff University
Practitioners, academics and policy-makers may be interested in attending this free one day conference in Cardiff. It is organized by AWARD, the All Wales Alliance for Research and Development in Health and Social Care. Places are limited. Click here for more information.

Event: 4th European Conference on Management Leadership and Governance
27th-28th November 2008 – Whiteknights Park, University of Reading, UK
This event is taking place to find out who is doing the right thing in management, leadership and governance. Click here to read more.

Evidence Based Practice

Development of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines (CPGs): comparing approaches
T Turner, M Misso, C Harris, S Green
Implementation Science, 2008, 2:34
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The research to health policy cycle: a tool for better management of chronic noncommunicable diseases
Interdisciplinary Chronic Disease Collaboration
Journal of Nephrology, 2008, 21(5), pp621-631
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Critical appraisal for emergency medicine: 4 Evaluation of service organisation and delivery
S Goodacre
Emergency Medicine Journal, 2008, 25(11), pp762-763
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NHS Athens passwords may be required to access this resource, and can be obtained from the National Library for Health.

Are decision trees a feasible knowledge representation to guide extraction of critical information from randomized controlled trial reports
GY Chung, E Coiera
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 2008, 8:48
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Answers to questions posed during daily patient care are more likely to be answered by UpToDate than PubMed
A Hoogendam, AF Stalenhoef, PF Robbe, AJ Overbeke
Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2008, 10(4), e29
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Events

Event: 7th Canadian Cochrane Symposium
11th-12th March – Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
This is an opportunity to bring together health researchers, health policy decision makers, clinicians, and consumers to learn about the latest methodology in systematic reviews and inform on how to utilize systematic reviews in decision-making processes. Click here to find out more.

Event: EU Open Health Forum 2008: Developing and implementing health in the European Union
10th-11th December 2008 – Brussels
The conference aims to contribute and increase the profile of health in the EU policies through discussion between EU policy makers and stakeholders on pressing public health issues and their impacts on the Community. Click here to read more about this conference.

Public Health

Quality in and equality of access to healthcare services in England: CHE Research Paper 40
MK Goddard
August 2008, Centre for Health Economics, University of York, UK
The purpose of this report is to identify and analyse barriers to access in health care services, which are faced by vulnerable groups in society, and especially those most exposed to social exclusion.
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Quality in and equality of access to healthcare services: executive summary
2008, European Commission
The European Commission commissioned the European Health Management Association to undertake a study on “Quality in and equality of access to healthcare services: HealthQUEST”. The study has two key aims:
To identify and analyse barriers to accessing healthcare
To review policy initiatives taken by Member States to realize the objective of equitable access for all
Click here to read the executive summary of the report.

Health for all? A critical analysis of public health policies in eight European countries
C Hogstedt, H Moberg, B Lundgren, M Backhans
2008 Swedish National Institute of Public Health
This publication presents the situation 2006 concerning equity-oriented public health policies in eight European countries using a template for comparisons. Click here to read more.

Communication

Scientists and policy-makers at work: listening to epistemic conversations in a genetics science network
P Lehoux, G Daudelin, JL Denis, F Miller
Science and Public Policy, 35(3), pp207-220
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Evidence Based Practice

“Developing good taste in evidence”: facilitators of and hindrances to evidence-informed health policymaking in State Government
CJ Jewell, LA Bero
The Milbank Quarterly, 2008, 86(2), pp177-208
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Should we use large scale healthcare interventions without clear evidence that benefits outweigh costs and harms? Yes
B Crump
British Medical Journal, 2008, 336(7656), pp1276
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NHS Athens passwords are required to access this resource, and can be obtained from the National Library for Health.

Should we use large scale healthcare interventions without clear evidence that benefits outweigh costs and harms? No
CS Landefeld, KG Shojania, AD Auerbach
British Medical Journal, 2008, 336(7656), pp1277
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NHS Athens passwords are required to access this resource, and can be obtained from the National Library for Health.

Service Improvement

Is the treatment working? Progress with the NHS system reform programme
Audit Commission
June 2008
This report examines the implementation of key elements of the NHS reform programme, which began following the publication of the NHS Plan in 2000. The report discusses the findings of the implementation process, how the reforms have interacted with one another and the wider NHS and what the outcomes have been. It assesses the current situation and makes recommendations for the Department of Health and NHS bodies about the continued implementation of the reforms. Click here to read the report.

Tools

Impact Assessment Tools
IA TOOLS is an online platform that provides European Commission policy actors and impact assessment practitioners throughout Europe with a repository of guidance, information and best practices for the impact assessment of new policies and legislative measures. Click here to access the tools.

Tools

Rapid Evidence Assessment Toolkit index
Government Social Research has produced this toolkit for dealing with information overload on policy issue, as comprehensively as possible, within a set amount of time. This toolkit helps researchers to identify whether a Rapid Evidence Assessment is best for their needs and helps with the process of planning and carrying out a review. Click here to find out more.

Events

Event: Delivering better health services
4th-5th June 2008 – Manchester University Conference Centre
This is a joint conference with the National Institute for Health Research Service Delivery Organisation and Health Services Research Network. This conference will bring together all those engaged in promoting high quality healthcare through research and the use of research, ranging from health technology assessment, through service delivery and organization, to healthcare policy analysis. Click here to register.

Event: Evidence based policy making: international best practices in connecting science and policy
19-20 June 2008 – De Bazel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Click here to find out more.

Events

Event: The powers and perils of social networking
15th May 2008 – 9.30am – 4pm – London
Event exploring how NHS organisations can maximise the opportunities provided by social networking sites and reduce any associated risks. Click here for more information.

Event: International Forum on Quality and Safety in Health Care
22-25th April 2008 – Le Palais des Congres de Paris, France
This event is presented by the BMJ Group and the Institute for Health Care Improvement, and provides the opportunity for learning and networking, with high profile plenary speakers, chaired poster sessions, poster displays, and discussion groups. The Forum language is English, with some sessions being translated into French.
Click on the links below to access the timetables for each day of the event :
· Day 1 - Tuesday 22nd April 2008
· Day 2 - Wednesday 23rd April 2008
· Day 3 - Thursday 24th April 2008
· Day 4 - Friday 25th April 2008
Click here to find out more.

Event: The politics of health policy, organisation, community: changing contexts, managing relationships
25th – 27th June 2008 – Divani Caravel Hotel, Athens
This event is being organised by the European Health Management Association, and look at key issues for decision-makers in health systems, and suggest ways to deliver healthcare in the future. Click here for more information.

Quality Improvement

Beyond the limits of clinical governance? The case of mental health in English primary care
L Gask, A Rogers, S Campbell, R Sheaff
BMC Health Services Research, 2008, 8:63
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The Quality Improvement Demonstration Study: an example of evidence-based policy-making in practice
R Shimkhada, JW Peabody, SA Quimbo, O Solon
Health Research Policy and Systems, 2008, 6:5
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