Queen’s speech
In her speech to Parliament on 3 December the Queen outlined measures to be included in a Health Bill that will create a constitution for the NHS and progress the use of personal budgets in areas of the health service. A briefing for members setting out the key points will be available soon. Read our statement in full

Haringey baby case investigation report
Responding to the Department for Children, Schools and Families Baby P investigation report on 1 December, NHS Confederation chief executive, Steve Barnett, said all those who work in health and social care understand the need to learn from the circumstances of this terrible crime. Read more

Equality in mental health one of biggest challenges
Some black and minority ethnic (BME) groups are three or more times more likely than average to be admitted as inpatients in mental health services, according to a recent Healthcare Commission census. Read our response

Response to Dame Carol Black’s report
NHS Employers has welcomed the Government’s response to Dame Carol Black’s recommendations for improving the health of Britain’s working age population. Beyond its role as a major employer, the NHS will have a key role to play in delivering the services that the report outlines. Read more

PFI reporting standards
We met with Department of Health (DH) officials recently to discuss problems related to the change in the accounting rules for the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) as a result of new International Financial Reporting Standards. Read a summary of the DH advice

Pharmacy consultation response
Read our response to the Government’s consultation, Pharmacy in England: Building on strengths - delivering the future

NHS Jobs wins prestigious award
NHS Jobs has won a prestigious Personnel Today award for its role in delivering ‘excellence in HR through technology’. The NHS Jobs project, managed by NHS Employers, was chosen for its strong commercial focus, the close involvement of key stakeholders and a commitment to ongoing service improvements. Read more

Contact programme
See details of key NHS Confederation meetings held recently. Read more

End-of-life quality markers
Contribute to our response to the Department of Health’s consultation on a range of quality markers, following its end-of-life strategy, published in July 2008. Read more

Future approach to QOF
Have your say on the Department of Health’s (DH) proposals for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to establish an independent, transparent and objective process for developing new Quality and Outcome Framework (QOF) indicators. Read more

Make a difference to NHS research
Join an advisory panel or commissioning board to help meet the challenges of commissioning quality research in areas of importance to the NHS and within the National Institute for Health Research Service Delivery and Organisation (SDO) remit. Read more

Conservatives announce research findings at MHN conference
Conservative shadow health secretary, Andrew Lansley announced analysis of the strong link between economic recession and mental health problems at our Mental Health Network conference on 21 November. He warned that there could be a 26 per cent rise in people suffering mental health disorders by 2010 as a direct result of Britain’s economic crisis, and that more than 1.5 million people could be affected. Read more

Evidence on the balance of power
Jo Webber, NHS Confederation deputy director of policy, gave evidence at the Communities and Local Government select committee recently as part of an inquiry into the balance of power between central and local government. Jo’s evidence explained how PCTs are working with local authorities with joint arrangements and overview and scrutiny committees while consulting regularly on the nature of local health services. Read our May 2008 Towards autonomy report