8th May 2009
A National Audit Office report on the green impacts of government procurement has commended Whitehall departments for producing more environmentally sustainable services. The NAO report, published on April 29, reviewed actions taken by the Office of Government Commerce and five of the largest spending departments. It found that some had introduced initiatives that were reducing environmental impact and, in a number of cases, saving money. The Department for Work and Pensions estimated that it saved £3.6m and 3,000 tonnes of CO2 in 2007/08 by reducing the business miles travelled by department staff in their own vehicles. But auditor general Tim Burr said: ‘Procurement decisions need to be supported by a more thorough understanding of environmental benefits and costs.’
A senior public services consultant will carry out an inquiry into Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council’s plans to close 11 public libraries to save £31m. Sue Charteris, founding director of consultancy Shared Intelligence, is due to report back to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in June. Culture Secretary Andy Burnham said: ‘The modernisation of our library service is at the top of my department’s agenda, but we also have a responsibility to ensure that local services are safeguarded from swingeing changes that could be potentially damaging to communities.’
The British Medical Association Cymru has warned that patient safety is at risk in Wales as the number of hospital beds decreases. Dr Stefan Coghlan, chair of the BMA’s Welsh consultants committee, said that the time patients were spending in hospital was increasing as the number of available beds was shrinking, despite managerial efforts to reduce it. ‘This is putting an intolerable strain on staff and causing a great deal of stress and confusion to patients,’ he said. BMA Cymru said moving people around wards could also increase the risk of contracting and passing on infections. Chief medical officer Dr Tony Jewell said: ‘It is not appropriate to judge the NHS simply on the number of beds available.’
Just one family had qualified for help under the government’s mortgage rescue scheme in England by the end of March, figures have shown. The Department for Communities and Local Government study showed that a total of 168 applications were received in March, compared with 284 over the two months of January and February. The £200m scheme was officially launched by ministers in mid-January, although it was fast-tracked by 80 councils from late December. To qualify for support, families must earn less than £60,000 per year. The largest number of applications received in March were by councils in the Southeast (34) and Yorkshire & Humber (30). During March, 1,104 households approached councils with mortgage difficulties. The single successful application was from the East, where local authorities received a total of 12 applications.
NHS staff have received financial awards totalling £1.5m to develop community services such as bi-lingual stroke rehabilitation programmes and diet and nutrition training. Nurses and other frontline health professionals are being encouraged to take a lead in transforming local services. This is in response to patient feedback calling for more services to be developed closer to their homes and in the communities where they live. Chief nursing officer Christine Beasley said: ‘It is really encouraging to see so many great examples of innovation, good practice and teamwork within community services.’ She said the proposals would give people more control over their own health care.
