Guidance: Beyond reserves: how charities can make their reserves work harder [report]

Published in 2012, by Charity Finance Group, ACEVO, the Institute of Fundraising and Sayer Vincent, the report looks at the strategic management of charity reserves.  It challenges charity trustees and managers whether they are using reserves effectively – or if they could be made to work harder for the charity and its beneficiaries.  53 pages.

ACEVO, Charity Finance Group & The Institute of Fundraising. 2012.  Beyond reserves: how charities can make their reserves work harder.

Available on loan from the library or download here

Guidance: The tendering process for NHS services in England: a short guide for health professionals tendering for services [guidance]

This publication acts as a short guide for health professionals who are new to the process of tendering for services in the NHS. It explains the processes in each of the key stages and provides tips on what to consider at each stage.

Royal College of Nursing, 2013.  The tendering process for NHS services in England: a short guide for health professionals tendering for services.  RCN.

Available to download here

Guidance: Commissioning for children's palliative care: a guide for clinical commissioning groups (CCG's)

This is a concise, 5 page document for all CCG's describing the population of children who need palliative care; the services and professionals who provide it; and how children's palliative care shoudl be commissioned within the context of the 5 stages of commissioning set out by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement.

Together for Short Lives, 2013.  Commissioning for children's palliative care: a guide for clinical commissioning groups. 

Available to download here

Report: Shining a spotlight on children's hospice volunteers

Together for Short Lives commissioned a survey at the end of 2012 to find out the extent and nature of volunteering within children’s hospices. This report has been developed from the results – to shine a spotlight on the findings from the survey as well as to present some recommendations and next steps.

Together for Short Lives, September 2013.  Shining a spotlight on children's hospice volunteers.  Together for Short Lives.

Available on loan from the library or download here

Guidance: Protecting data, protecting people: a guide for charities [guidance]

Published in April 2013, the guide takes into account the different ways in which the charity sector works, and aims to help charities understand what the law on data protection means for their charity.  The guide explains each of the data protection principles and provides examples of the issues to be considered when creating or implementing a data protection policy.

 

Charity Finance Group, 2013.  Protecting data, protecting people: a guide for charities. 
Available to download here

Guidance: Protection of nurses working with children and young people [guidance]

This updated guidance from the Royal College of Nursing aims to raise awareness, among nurses and their managers, of the complex issue surrounding safeguarding in the context of relationships between nurses and children and young people. Although primarily aimed at nurses and the specific professional codes of practice they must adhere to and follow at all times, much of the content is relevant to other members of the health care team, including health care assistants and assistant practitioners.

Royal College of Nursing, 2013.  Protection of nurses working with children and young people: guidance for nursing staff.  RCN.

Available on loan from the library or download

Article: Employment myth-buster

Two page article providing an overview of the recent Employment Tribunal reforms - the author outlines some of the common myths about the reforms.

Burrows, E. 2013.  Employment myth-buster.  Charity Finance Magazine, October 2013 p 40-41

To request a copy, click here, fill in form and return to library.

Report: Defining staffing levels for children and young people's services [guidance]

Published by the RCN, the guidance sets out the minimum staffing levels of registered nurses required to provide health services for babies, children and young people. These standards are the minimum essential requirements to deliver safe care.  The guidance also includes a clear ratio for registered to unregistered nurses, and applies to all types of services and provision commissioned by the NHS, including community, acute care, third sector and independent sector providers.

Royal College of Nursing, 2013. Defining staffing levels for children and young people's services: RCN standards for clinical professionals and service managers.  RCN.

Available for loan from the library or download here.

Finance: Charity Reporting and Accounting: The essentials [guidance]

Updated in January 2013, Guidance from the Charity Commission for all who prepare charity accounts and Annual Reports. It applies to both company and non-company charities for financial years ending on or after 1 April 2009.

Charity Commission, 2013. Charity Reporting and Accounting: The Essentials.  Charity Commission.

Available on loan from the library or download here

Finance: Lost in the fog? [article]

Two page article from Charity Finance Magazine.   The author states that the sector needs strong financial accountability, but believes the format of the proposed new SORP is unlikely to deliver it.

Bawtree, D. 2013.  Lost in the fog. Charity Finance Magazine, October 2013 p 42-43.

To request a copy, click here, fill in form and return to library.

Guidance: Future ambitions for hospice care: our mission and our opportunity [report]

Part of a series of reports produced by Help the Hospice, this report sets out why hospices will need to change in the future.  It signposts some key principles to be adopted in the future, and provides 5 key steps to enable hospices to thrive.

Help the Hospices, 2013.  Future ambitions for hospice care: our mission and our opportunity.  Help the Hospices.

Available for loan from the library or download here

Education: Using action research to investigate and improve hospice staff participation in workplace education [article]

Finding ways to make good quality education available to all staff in an expanding and increasingly busy hospice organisation is a real challenge.  An action research project was undertaken to investigate the reasons for low attendance rates at learning events in one hospice. The project identified time and conflict with patient need as major issues.  As a result a virtual learning environment - ORACLE (Online Research and Care Learning Environment) - was created to augment the face-to-face sessions and provide staff with access to appropriate learning materials 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Although unique to this organisation, the authors consider ORACLE has potential application to any other work environment.

Griffith, S. Using action research to investigate and improve hospice staff participation in workplace education. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, Jun 2013, vol. 19(6), pp. 302-308.

To request a copy, click here, fill in form and return to library

Volunteers: The contribution of volunteers in the end of life care services [article]

This review explores the recent literature on end-of-life care volunteering and reflects upon the issues pertinent to current organisational challenges and opportunities.  The themes identified were individual volunteer factors (motivation, characteristics of volunteers, stress and coping, role boundaries and value) and organisational factors (recruiting for diversity, support and training and volunteers' place in the system).  The tensions involved in negotiating the boundary spaces that volunteers inhabit, informality and regulation, diversity issues and the cultural specificity of community models, are suggested as topics that merit further research and could contribute to the continuing development of the volunteer workforce.

Morris, S., Wilmot, A., Hill, M., Ockenden, N. & Payne, S. 2013. A literature review of the contribution of volunteers in the end-of-life care services. Palliative Medicine, 27(5), pp. 428-436

To request a copy, click here, fill in form and return to library

Commissioning: Hospices in the UK are losing out under complex new commissioning and contracting arrangement [article]

In April of this year the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into effect, leading to the abolition of Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities and the creation of a raft of new structures, including Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). Help the Hospices carried out a survey earlier this year to understand how the new structural changes bought in on April 1 2013 were affecting local charitable hospices.

Ellis, J. 2013. Hospices in the UK are losing out under complex new commissioning and contracting arrangement. International Journal of Palliative Nursing, 19 (7) p 318 - 319.

To request a copy, click here, fill in form and return to library

Report: Research in palliative care: can hospices afford not be be involved? [report]

This report explores the importance of hospices engaging and becoming active in research, evidence and data to prove the outcome of their work. It provides some recommendations for how the sector can improve in this regard.

Help the Hospices, 2013.  Research in palliative care: can hospices afford not be be involved?  Help the Hospices, London.

Available on loan from the library or download here
here

Article: Identical strategies for trustee and executive recruitment? [article]

The role of charity trustee in driving effective governance is significant.  This article looks at how charities recruit trustees and argues that a robust selection process for trustees recruitment is essential to maintaining a fit for purpose board.

Johnson, O. 2013.  Identical strategies for trustees and executive recruitment?  Governance Magazine, November p.10-11.

To request a copy, click here, fill in form and return to library

HR: Hold on to what you've got - how to retain staff [article]

From Charity Finance Magazine, the author looks at the key steps an organisation can take to ensure they retain their key resource - staff. 

Kingsley, H. 2013. Hold on to what you've got.  Charity Finance Magazine. November p 48-49.

To request a copy, click here, fill in form and return to library