Reports & Guidance

A systematic review of the mental health outcomes of induced abortion, including their prevalence and associated factors

Executive Summary of the final report from the UK Donation Ethics Committee

Final report from the UK Donation Ethics Committee

Defining the Role of the Clinician.

This framework was commenced under the auspices of the AKI delivery group led by the National Clinical Director for Renal Services, Dr Donal O’Donoghue. The Academy of Medical Royal  Colleges has developed the framework to promote better care of patients with, or at risk of, AKI by all members of the clinical team. The working group that developed the competency framework comes from a multi-professional background and has been sponsored by the Royal College of Nursing and the National Outreach Forum. These organisations have supported the framework
through its development, as have the Society for Acute Medicine and Renal Association and the Renal Pharmacy Group.

It is anticipated that the framework will be used to promote competence acquisition in the multi-professional team to improve care for patients suffering from AKI, recognising that only by good integrated teamwork can the best results be achieved.

Further to the MEE Evaluation of the Foundation Programme Curriculum, the Academy of Medical Royal College’s Foundation Programme Committee are revising the Foundation Programme Curriculum which will be in use for the 2012 cohort. 

 

Research has shown time and again that there is a significant risk that patients’ medicines will be unintentionally altered when they move care providers. The NHS outcomes framework has already recognisedthe significance of this to patient safety. All NHS providers, and commissioners of those services, are now charged with reducing harm to patients caused through medication errors.

Having safe systems in place for managing information and supply of medicines across care providers is also seen as central to safe, high quality care by the Care Quality Commission.

The development of this guidance was led by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, in collaboration with other royal colleges, patients, health and social care professionals, and is closely mapped to a range of related national initiatives and guidance. It gives organisations tools to develop their systems, and to help effect the culture change necessary in their organisations to raise this important patient safety issue higher up everyone’s agenda.

Research has shown time and again that there is a significant risk that patients’ medicines will be unintentionally altered when they move care providers. The NHS outcomes framework has already recognisedthe significance of this to patient safety. All NHS providers, and commissioners of those services, are now charged with reducing harm to patients caused through medication errors. 

Having safe systems in place for managing information and supply of medicines across care providers is also seen as central to safe, high quality care by the Care Quality Commission.

The development of this guidance was led by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, in collaboration with other royal colleges, patients, health and social care professionals, and is closely mapped to a range of related national initiatives and guidance. It gives organisations tools to develop their systems, and to help effect the culture change necessary in their organisations to raise this important patient safety issue higher up everyone’s agenda.

This framework has been developed by the Scottish Government and the Academy, 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. The framework covers abroad range of domains from generic competences required by all, such as the safe and secure management of health information, to areas of in depth informatics knowledge which may only be required by a limited number of individuals. It is hoped medical and dental practitioners can use the framework to demonstrate achievement of competences relevant for their roles within their own organisations at different stages of their professional careers.

Safe and efficient patient care relies on high quality data but a serious lack of clinical engagement over the accuracy of hospital data has been a major concern among Royal Medical Colleges and Directors of Trusts.

This report (produced by The NHS Information Centre and endorsed by the Academy) highlights how improvements to the collection and use of hospital data by clinicians can be made to secure good quality outcomes and inform patient choice.

The report stresses the need for more discussion within Trusts and colleges over the importance of:

• Clinician access to raw data
• Recording clinical terms
• Outpatient coding
• Clinicians working in teams
• Diagnoses present on admission
• Enhanced data linkage including primary care

Clinicians are encouraged to join the discussion and responded to the content of this report via this online survey

Seven medical specialties address how they can help tackle the NHS financial change.

A joint report from the NHS Confederation, AOMRC, JMCC and the BMA

A report prepared on behalf of the College of Emergency Medicine, Manchester Metropolitan University and the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians.Commissioned by the General Medical Council and Academy of Medical Royal Colleges.

This report is based on research carried out for a GMC study into the effectiveness of CPD. It has involved non-training doctors from staff grades to senior consultants, including those primarily involved in management, CPD provision and assessment; and institutional officials, such as in Deaneries and universities, across a range of specialties.

This report presents the results of a study of doctors who have become  chief executives of primary care trusts, NHS trusts (including Foundation Trusts) and strategic health authorities in England.
The study was commissioned by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement and the Academy, from the Universities of Birmingham and Warwick with the aim of learning about the career paths taken by medical chief executives. The NHS Institute and the Academy wanted to understand the facilitators and barriers facing doctors in becoming chief executives in the NHS in order to inform ways in which this transition might be supported. The work summarised in this report helps to explain why there are few medical chief executives at present and outlines what can be done to encourage more doctors to take on leadership roles in future.

Models for specialty including General Practice training.

Guidance regarding roles and components of external advice.

The Academy makes recommendations regarding SPA's in consultant job planning.

A report from the Academy’s Clinical Audit working group drafting a series of principles, criteria and key indicators for the use of clinical audit in revalidation. The content of this document was based as far as possible on existing research and evidence about clinical audit. However, in those areas where evidence was limited, the working group used a consensus approach.

A report from the Academy’s non-clinical working group identifying the different types of non-clinical work undertaken by doctors and developed generic cross-specialty standards for these mapped against Good Medical Practice.

A report from the Academy’s MSF working group reviewing existing research and findings around the use of MSF and PF in medicine, defining a series of principles, criteria and key indicators that should underpin any MSF or PF tools used for revalidation and make recommendations about the frequency of MSF and PF for revalidation.

A report from the Academy remediation working group that considers and describes how remediation and revalidation processes can interrelate, identifies a list of organisations that provide remedial support and identifies and define guidance and support processes that doctors can utilise when concerns are raised about their performance.

This report forms the core model for CPD and is the link between revalidation and the CPD schemes
which are in existence or in development across Colleges and Faculties. Despite a diverse range of CPD schemes, from medicine to surgery, from pathology to occupational health, we believe this document will provide a central model which will set a future standard for the purposes of revalidation, of which CPD is a major component.

The Common Competences Framework for Doctors was developed by the Academy Specialty Training Committee to help inform the development of core and specialty curricula of the Royal Colleges and Faculties. The Framework will supplement the specialty specific competences within the specialty training curricula.

The framework identifies the common competences that should be acquired by doctors in core and specialty training in the United Kingdom. It has been derived primarily from competences that were previously defined within the specialty training curricula and, where appropriate, the revised Foundation Programme Curriculum. It has been supplemented by information from additional curricula and frameworks that had been developed by other bodies.

This guide, jointly prepared by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and the Audit Commission, is aimed at medical students and doctors in the early stage of their training. It draws attention to the benefits that result for patients when clinicians get properly engaged in managing NHS money. All doctors should understand at least the basics of NHS finance. This is not about turning doctors into accountants; it is about enabling doctors properly to engage with finance colleagues so as to make the best use of NHS resources for patients.

There is a clear link between mental and physical health and an urgent need to strengthen both the provision of mental health care to people with physical illness and the quality of physical health care provided to people with mental health problems in general hospitals and primary care. This report provides a framework with a focus on improvement within the general hospital, which can be brought about at relatively little additional cost by focusing on five priority areas.

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges was asked by the four Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) to explore “a UK wide approach to assessment with common standards and common processes and instruments.” This report comprises the outcome of that project.

A report detailing the development and activity of the Academy between 2006 and 2009.

The aim of this document is to provide guidance on designing and implementing workplace based assessments (WPBAs) for all doctors. WPBA is an essential part of an assessment system, alongside traditional examinations. A comprehensive assessment system will collectively form an overall profile of an individual by testing their skills, knowledge and behaviours against those identified in a PMETB-approved curriculum.

This guidance is designed to highlight the advantages of WPBA and provide an overview for overcoming the potential difficulties that might be faced when introducing new methodologies alongside more traditional practice.

Developed jointly with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement as part of the Enhancing Engagement in Medical Leadership project. This Framework describes the leadership competences doctors need in order to become more actively involved in the planning, delivery and transformation of health services.

Developed jointly with the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement as part of the Enhancing Engagement in Medical Leadership project. This Curriculum describes the leadership competences doctors need in order to become more actively involved in the planning, delivery and transformation of health services.

The Academy's Intercollegiate Cancer Committee report recommends education and training initiatives which would improve the quality of multi-professional cancer care within the NHS in the United Kingdom. It also contains recommendations about the function of cancer MDTs, evidence about the effectiveness of MDTs and recommendations about the prerequisites for effective team working.

A report by the Academy Health Inequalities Forum. Equality in healthcare is an important factor in good patient care, and this project aimed to construct a set of competencies concerning health inequalities. Some of these are identified as core, applicable to all specialties, whereas others will be relevant to some specialties but not to others. The intention is that this set of competencies will serve as a resource on which Colleges can draw and integrate into their specialty curricula. A number of these competencies will also be applicable to the undergraduate curriculum, and to the curricula in other healthcare professions.

This revised Code builds upon the earlier Code published in 1998 and updates a number of important aspects. It provides clear, scientifically rigorous criterias for confirming death, both in clinical settings where confirmation of death by brain-stem testing is appropriate, and where confirmation of death following cardiac arrest is required.

A report by the Enhancing Engagement in Mecial Leadership project.

Shares findings from research into a link between medical engagement and Organizational performance, including a literature review, interviews with Chief Executives and medical directors, and development of a Medical Engagement Scale.

 

 

This document provides the background to the characteristics of a good acute mental health service. It sets out clearly and firmly the principles and standards that we expect to be applied to any acute medical and surgical service. These should be essential features of the psychiatric speciality service that supports the Emergency Department and the medical, paediatric and surgical wards. The input of mental health services to Emergency Departments and to acute hospitals is a vital element of the delivery of a modern, responsible and integrated service to patients.

This document describes the characteristics of a good acute mental health service. It sets out clearly and firmly the principles and standards that we expect to be applied to any acute medical and surgical service. These should be essential features of the psychiatric speciality service that supports the Emergency Department and the medical, paediatric and surgical wards. The input of mental health services to Emergency Departments and to acute hospitals is a vital element of the delivery of a modern, responsible and integrated service to patients.

Key points from two reviews commissioned in support of the Enhancing Engagement in Medical Leadership project, providing a systematic and research based overview of the evolution of medical leadership and the reasons why a concerted focus on the training and support for doctors taking on leadership roles is needed.

Decisions on the nature and shape of the medical workforce require clear understanding of the distinguishing roles of doctors and what is expected from them. The report identifies those roles and the added value, measured as improvements in quality and efficiency of care that doctors bring to the healthcare team.

This document explores options for the organisation of acute health care. In many areas, there will be little or no change, but in others change will be needed.

Electronic learning or more commonly, e-learning is an all-encompassing term to describe learning supported by the use of information and communications technology (ICT). This report outlines the major advances the Royal Colleges have made in this area. It will be important to maximise the gains from all that they have learned, and to minimise duplication. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges is taking a leadership role in co-ordinating the work of the colleges and helping to shape the national strategic direction for e-learning.

Appendices 1 to 9 of the MTAS Review Group report.

Appendix 10 of the MTAS Review group Report.

Guidance for Medical Royal Colleges on their invovlement in consultant appointments.

Guidance from the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges

The Academy had no part in negotiations or had any formal position in relation to the contract it has an important role in giving leadership and support to consultants. This guidance provides general advice on the implications of contracts for consultant job descriptions. It is based on a number of agreed principles. The constituent Colleges and Faculties provide fuller guidance on matters that are particular to each specialist field.

Published: May 2004

The Intercollegiate Service Specialties’ Committee (ISSC), of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, comprised the Royal College of Anaesthetists, the Royal College of Pathologists, and the Royal College of Radiologists. The purpose of this guidance was to advise commissioners and to ensure that NHS provider organisations have considered fully the service implications (anaesthesia, pathology and radiology) before contracts are agreed. Failure to do so could adversely affect waiting times and clinical outcomes.

Comments on the Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the Recognition of Professional Qualifications

The Academy of Royal Medical Colleges established a working group to consider the impact of Shifting the Balance of Power on the commissioning of specialist services. This was in response to discussions at Academy meetings that raised issues about the impact of new structural changes on the delivery of specialist services and the definition of just what these were. Particular concerns were raised about the learning curves and capacities of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) as well as their relationships with Strategic Health Authorities (StHAs) and clinical networks.