In this update:

·         service delivery ·         shared services ·         UK service reform ·         government skills ·         building design ·         telehealth ·         ehealth competency ·         electronic records ·         patient transfer ·         healthcare integration

·         hospital autonomy ·         community care ·         personal budgets ·         nursing workforce ·         ATSI chronic illness ·         ATSI cancer services ·         ATSI employment ·         dementia services ·         organ donation ·         contaminated blood

·         youth suicide ·         UK child protection ·         changing casework ·         family reunification ·         transgender group care ·         vulnerable adults ·         housing affordability ·         locational disadvantage ·         social housing

	new website: Service Delivery in Government  an online resource providing easy access to  current information and resources on service delivery. It aims to keep you up to date with issues and trends across all jurisdictions in Australia and with key international developments... maintained by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) Library Services. Inquiry into the Benefits and Costs Associated with the Provision of Shared Corporate Services in the Public Sector The history of shared corporate services projects in the public sector in Australia shows that it is a complex process with uncertain and distant returns. While there is some evidence of successes in the corporate sector, there has not been one fully successful implementation in the public sector of any Australian jurisdiction...decommissioning DTFSSC represents the least cost and most certain option for delivering corporate services. While this option is not risk free, it represents the most likely way to minimise the cost to government. WA ERA (Jul 2011) The Open Public Services White Paper sets out how the Government will improve public services. By putting choice and control in the hands of individuals and neighbourhoods, public services will become more responsive to peoples’ needs. UK Cabinet Office (Jul 2011) Identifying and meeting central government's skills requirements Despite major expenditure by UK central government departments,weaknesses in departmental strategies and governance arrangements have limited the effectiveness of skills development activities....Key elements of success will be knowing what skills are needed and which staff have them, and then deploying those staff to where they are most needed. UK Audit (Jul 2011) Good design – it all adds up  This report provides evidence for how well designed buildings can deliver tangible social and economic benefits to those who use them and invest in them. It brings together research from the UK and abroad to illustrate the benefits that good design in housing, education, health, the workplace and public spaces can bring, and what happens if that investment is not made UK RIBA (Jul 2011) Better care for people with long term conditions: the quality and good governance of telehealth services 75% of NHS resources in England are dedicated to supporting over 15 million people with chronic conditions. This report provides guidance on implementing telehealth services to provide regular monitoring of long-term conditions, minimising emergency hospital admissions and delivering cost savings.  UK Good Governance Institute (Jul 2011) EHealth Competency Framework - Defining the Role of the Expert Clinician to define the knowledge, skills and behaviours that are required by practising clinicians who have a role in eHealth at a local, regional or national level. UK AMRC (Jul 2011) Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record System: Legislation Issues Paper covers issues such as participation in the system by individuals, healthcare providers and system operators, access controls, privacy, security and governance. Aus health (Jul 2011) Keeping patients safe when they transfer care providers – getting the medicines right  Research has consistently shown that there is a significant risk patients’ medicines will be unintentionally altered when they move care providers, with estimates for unintentional changes occurring in between 30 and 70 percent of patients UK AMRC (Jul 2011) Integration in action: four international case studies how people working in other health care systems, that face similar issues as the NHS, have tried to develop integrated care. (US, Holland, UK) UK Nuffield Trust (Jul 2011)
	Do hospitals respond to greater autonomy? evidence from the English NHS Despite not being able to identify a substantial positive “Foundation Trust FT  effect”, our analysis certainly does not suggest that FTs are doing any worse than non-FTs. So the issue perhaps is more one of whether the extra costs involved in setting up and regulating Foundation Trusts are justified. UK CHE (Jul 2011) Getting out of hospital?  The evidence for shifting acute inpatient and day case services from hospitals into the community ...The majority of the published evidence fails to contain robust cost information on infrastructure, planning and start-up costs. UK Health Foundation (Jun 2011) Case study: The personal touch The Dutch experience of personal health budgets While personal health budgets are popular among patients and their carers in the Netherlands, the Health Foundation’s research finds that so far: •there is little evidence that they improve clinical outcomes...their introduction has not sparked greater innovation among providers UK Health Foundation (Jun 2011) Workforce risks and opportunities: Nursing and Midwifery. A key risk with any service reconfiguration may be increased attrition, especially through retirements from the experienced portion of the workforce, if changes to terms and conditions within employment contracts impact negatively on salaries or pensions. UK CFWI (Jul 2011) “People I can call on”: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experiences of chronic illness Effective informal support through family, friends and community strengthens the capacity of people to manage chronic illness and benefits everyone. Action is needed to increase the capacity of people to provide effective support. Menzies Centre for health Policy (Jul 2011) "A whispered sort of stuff" community report about Aboriginal people's experiences of cancer and cancer services in Western Australia. WA Cancer WA (Jun 2011) Changes in Indigenous labour force status: Establishing employment as a social norm? an assessment of the extent to which Indigenous labour force status has changed over the period 1994 to 2008. It finds that over the period 1994 to 2008 the non-CDEP employment rate of the Indigenous population increased from 31.1% to 50.5%. There were increases for both Indigenous men and women. CAEPR (Jul 2011) The £20 billion question - An inquiry into improving lives through cost effective dementia services given the high costs of dementia and the human cost of failing to provide good quality care, service commissioners and planners must treat dementia as a priority area for improving cost-effectiveness. UK All Party Inquiry (Jul 2011) Achieving equality in organ donation and transplantation in the UK: challenges and solutions minority ethnic patients wait on average twice as long for some transplants as their white counterparts UK  Race Equality Foundation (Jul 2011) Documents relating to contaminated blood products: litigation over infection of haemophiliacs with HIV related to UK decisions on haemophiliacs / response to the haemophilia HIV litigation during the late 1980s. also HIV and Hepatitis C infection from contaminated blood and blood products UK Health (Jul 2011)
	Before it’s too late: Report on early intervention programs aimed at preventing youth suicide  Every year in Australia suicide claims the lives of around 2000 Australians placing it ahead of road traffic accidents and skin cancer as a cause of death. Aus House of Representatives (Jul 2011) A child-centred system : The Government’s response to the Munro review of child protection The Government will oversee a radical reduction in the amount of regulation, working with partners to see a corresponding reduction in locally designed rules and procedures. Revision of the statutory framework will enable the system to place greater emphasis on the value of direct work with children, young people and their families and for practice to draw on the latest research and evidence of what works. UK Education (Jul 2011) Unfreeze, transition, and refreeze One framework, called Getting to Outcomes (GTO), has been applied in a number of US states to support the adoption and implementation of a comprehensive casework practice model across child welfare agencies. GTO sets out 10 steps to help organizations “unfreeze, transition, and refreeze” as they plan for change, make changes, and evaluate the changes. US prevention action (Jun 2011) Family Reunification: What the Evidence Shows looks at the impact of meaningful family engagement, assessment and case planning, and service delivery on family reunification...Staffing problems that reportedly impede reunification efforts include high rates of staff turnover, inexperienced staff, and high caseloads. US Child Welfare (Jun 2011) "A Place of Respect: A Guide for Group Care Facilities Serving Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth," is the first to provide comprehensive guidance about the treatment of transgender and gender non-conforming youth in group care facilities, including detention centers, correctional facilities, and group homes US NCLR (Mar2011) Police interviews with vulnerable adult suspects this paper categorises adult vulnerability as physical disability, mental/intellectual disability, Indigenous status and NESB. AIC (Jul 2011) Housing Affordability briefing paper   Although there is no single agreed definition of housing affordability, the term refers broadly to a person's ability to pay for their housing. Housing affordability can be distinguished from the term "affordable housing". In Australia, "affordable housing" is often used as an alternative to terms such as "public", "social" or "low cost" housing.      NSW Parliament  (Jul 2011) Addressing locational disadvantage effectively how governments can intervene to improve the lives of disadvantaged residents in areas of concentrated poverty and disadvantage. AHURI (Jul 2011) Reasonable Preference in Scottish Social Housing Legislation requires that all local authorities and RSLs must give 'reasonable preference' to households and individuals seeking social rented housing who are within one or more of the following groups:are occupying houses which do not meet the tolerable standard;are occupying overcrowded houses;have large families;are living under unsatisfactory housing conditions;are homeless persons or persons threatened with homelessness. Scotland (Jul 2011)