News in brief

Training for NIHR fellowships

The specialty training recruitment process for the National Institute of Health Research’s academic clinical fellowships in England is now open. The process will be run by postgraduate deaneries using a national application form. The closing date is Friday 5 December 2008 and interviews will be held in December 2008 and January 2009.

For details see www.nccrcd.nhs.uk/news/2009acftrecruitment.

Report on practice based commissioning

Clinicians should be at the heart of decision making in the health service, says a report from the NHS Confederation. Practice based commissioning has not been the “big bang” it could have been said David Stout, director of the PCT Network, which is part of the confederation. The report, Practice-based Commissioning: Thoughts for the Future, suggests that practice based commissioning should be considered core business rather than separate policy.

Developing a framework for quality measurement indicators

Local NHS organisations should engage with staff to help develop a framework for a new generation of quality measurement indicators, says the Department of Health. It wants staff to comment on the usefulness of existing indicators used by various parts of the NHS to measure performance.

See www.ic.nhs/cqi and respond before12 December 2008.

Foundation doctor wanted

The UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO) is looking for a foundation doctor to advise on a range of issues related to their experience of the programme. See www.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/news/story/are-you-a-foundation-doctor-who-wants-to-shape-policy