European Antibiotic Awareness Day resources

18th of November

The European Antibiotic Awareness Day is an annual event, running on the 18th of November, designed to raise awareness of the threat of antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practice in antibiotic use (you can find the Department of Health's Antimicrobial Strategy 2013-2018 here).

The Department of Health has produced a number of resources for use in conjunction with European Antibiotic Day for both primary and secondary care.

Among the general items available are:

• A briefing with key messages
• Posters aimed at patients
• A leaflet
• Quizzes and crosswords
• Case studies in antimicrobal stewardship

There are also:

• Resources specific to secondary care including a prescribers check list and posters
• Resources specific to primary care including a web banner and the target antibiotics tool kit

You can also find a number of short videos on YouTube that could be used in waiting rooms and other public areas to deliver the message (the audio from these is also available for download as an MP3 file).

The Department of Health website has moved

The DoH is now on .GOV.UK

The Department of Health website has moved to GOV.UK.  The old web site address still works but will refer you to the new site.

However, links to DoH documents and other pages currently do not work (including those from the library catalogue), nor does there seem to be any content on the new site earlier than 2010. We'll update you when we know more about these issues.
  
Health content for the public will remain on NHS Choices.

There are new ways to search on GOV.UK including an advanced publications search that allows you to filter by keyword, publication type, topic, department and date. There is a similarly advanced announcements search that covers speeches, news and statements.

You can also sign up to RSS or email alerts on individual policies, across topics, or for a particular organisation.

So far 8 departments and 14 public bodies are live on GOV.UK. Several hundred arm’s length bodies will move their information to GOV.UK over the next year.

You can find out more about GOV.UK from the Government Digital Service here:

• Inside Government tour and introductory video
• Blog post: What is Inside Government?

Department of Health publishes ten year information strategy

Power of Information

The DoH has published its information strategy – The power of information – which sets a ten-year framework for transforming information for the NHS, public health and social care.

The focus of the strategy is on improving access to information, including a commitment that people will be able to access their GP records online by 2015.

Other ambitions are for test results to be available electronically and that people will be able to book or re-arrange their medical appointments online.

This one-page visual guide helps demonstrate the key benefits to people of having better access to their health and care records and to services online.

Within the strategy the Department has identified dozens of case studies from across the country where GPs, hospital trusts or suppliers are ahead of the game in delivering services in this new way. Examples include:

• a GP surgery that encourages patients to access their records online
• a new information service for parents from NHS Choices
• care homes in Bristol using barcodes to avoid medication errors

The strategy also commits to creating a new website, or portal, that will act as a single trusted source of information across the NHS, public health and social care.

To find out more go to the information strategy website where you’ll find a summary of what the strategy will mean for you, and related information.

You can find the full version of The Power of Information document here.

New DoH public health campaigns centre

The Department of Health have launched the Campaign Resource Centre, a new one-stop shop for all of their public health campaign information and resources for anyone who works directly with the public.

 If you want to start conversations with families and adults about healthier lifestyles, stopping smoking, the signs and symptoms of cancer or stroke, or you need trustworthy advice about the issues that affect young people, the Campaign Resource Centre can help.

Keeping you up to date with the latest campaign news, the Campaign Resource Centre will also give you access to the leaflets, posters, ads and toolkits available to support the campaigns.

Each campaign section offers a summary of the public health campaign together with all the resources available to support it. 

You can also find information about lots of other campaigns and both natioanl and international awareness days and events on the Equip Health Events calendar.