Day: October 2, 2018

The Highways England Awards aim to showcase individuals, teams, projects and companies.

Nominations open today, and are invited from all Highways England employees, its suppliers and their supply chain (including extended supply chain and small and medium enterprises).

To recognise the very best of its suppliers and staff, Highways England has combined the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Awards and the Supplier Recognition Scheme.

Jim O’Sullivan, Highways England chief executive, said:

At Highways England we are constantly challenging ourselves and our supply chain to achieve more for our customers. We focus our efforts around our three imperatives – safety, customer and delivery – and seek out ways to improve and innovate in these areas.

The Highways England Awards allow us to reflect on our accomplishments, celebrate our achievements and share examples of excellence in our industry. These awards will continue the legacy of the Supplier Recognition Scheme and the Health Safety and Wellbeing Awards under a single event, which recognises the very best work of our company and its suppliers.

I encourage you to apply for these awards. I know we have committed, talented and motivated people in our company and supply chain. This is your opportunity to take pride in your achievements and allow Highways England to celebrate the contributions made by those who work with us and for us.

View a video by Jim O’Sullivan announcing the launch of the awards:

Highways England Awards 2019 launch

Judges will be looking for nominations that demonstrate clear outcomes and benefits and illustrate how these have been evaluated. The winners will reflect the very best of the business and demonstrate the highest standards for the industry.

The ten award categories are:

Safety

• Excellence in Occupational Health and Wellbeing
• Excellence in Safety for Road Users
• Championing Safety
• Leading Behaviour Change for Safety

Customer

• Excellence in Customer Service
• Improving Customers Journeys
• Improving Employee Engagement and Behavioural Change

Delivery

• Excellence in Environment and Sustainability
• Leading Efficiencies and Continuous Improvement
• Project of the Year

In addition, the Chairman’s Award for Excellence in Safety, which focuses specifically on excellence in safety and getting people ‘home safe and well’, will also be presented at the awards.

Previous Highways England award scheme winners include SafetyCam – a mobile road worker protection system that collects hard evidence of drivers entering roadworks to improve road worker safety. On average there are nearly 300 incidents a week of incursions and abuse reported by road workers. In 2016/17, a total of 31 fatal injuries to workers were caused by being struck by a moving vehicle. SafetyCam is tackling these issues, with 13 vehicles operational and another 10 due soon.

Darren Nelson, Chief Executive, Carnell Support Service Ltd said:

Winning a Highways England Health, Safety & Wellbeing Award provided us with a powerful endorsement of SafetyCam, our road worker protection system. This has not only raised awareness of our innovation, but also the dangers that site teams face every day on the strategic road network.

Since the awards success we have seen an increase in requests for long-term deployment from clients nationwide, which has led to us doubling our fleet. We are proud to have developed and shared a solution that has led to a demonstrable improvement in driver behaviour through road works.

The entry form is available on the awards website.

The closing date for entries is 5pm on Monday 3 December 2018 and a ceremony to present the awards will take place in Birmingham on 28 March 2019.

For any further information please email: HEawards@highwaysengland.co.uk.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.

This new functionality, enabled by risk management software supplier Ulysses, is a big step forward in making the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA’s) Yellow Card Scheme more accessible to healthcare professionals, especially those in secondary healthcare settings.

Reports of suspected side effects or ‘adverse drug reactions’ (ADRs) from medicines to the Yellow Card Scheme is vital in helping the MHRA monitor the safe use of medicines in the UK to ensure they are acceptably safe for patients and users.

The Ulysses risk management software allows healthcare providers’ clinical systems to integrate with the Yellow Card system for direct reporting, meaning adverse reaction or medication error reporting from hospitals and trusts is now easier than before.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust are the first to pilot this new integrated reporting across nearly 200 of their healthcare sites, where it is hoped the new software and increased accessibility will increase reporting of ADRs.

Implementing Yellow Card reporting functionality into clinical systems has previously resulted in increased ADR reporting, with over 37,700 suspected ADR reports from clinical systems received by the MHRA between 2010, when Yellow Card reporting of suspected ADRs was introduced into the first clinical system, and the end of August 2017.

Increased ADR reporting enables the MHRA to carry out one of its core functions of monitoring the safe use of medicines in the UK and is used alongside other safety information to identify possible drug safety issues promptly and protect public health.

MHRA’s Vigilance and Risk Management of Medicines’ Head of Pharmacovigilance Strategy, Mick Foy, said:

This is a great step forward for patient safety. Healthcare professionals, along with the public, provide us with important information on the safety and effectiveness of medicines and medical devices via our Yellow Card Scheme.

The more reports we receive the better, and we encourage anyone – patient, carer or healthcare professional – to report any suspected adverse reaction to our Yellow Card reporting system.

A good reporting culture is a sign of good patient safety practice within an organisation and we hope the pilot will encourage other healthcare providers to use our Yellow Card Scheme and contribute to improved UK drug safety monitoring.

Ulysses Director, Jenny Pearce, said:

With patient safety in mind, Ulysses is pleased to be the first and only supplier of local risk management software systems allowing healthcare professionals to report suspected ADRs directly to the MHRA.

Working very closely with the MHRA, we recognise the importance of reporting ADRs and how Ulysses makes it easier for busy healthcare professionals to report within the system they already use.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s Incident & Risk Systems Manager, Matthew Ellis, said:

We are pleased to be the first to pilot the reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions to the MHRA using this new software.

It means that for the first time we will be able to gain a better understanding of the extent of ADRs across our trust sites, take measures to prevent future harm to our patients, and share the information with MHRA promptly for national analysis of any potential issues.

Ends

Notes to Editor

• The Yellow Card Scheme collates and reviews reports of suspected adverse drug reactions on all licensed and unlicensed medicines and vaccines. It includes those issued on prescription as well as those bought over the counter from a pharmacist or supermarket. The Yellow Card Scheme is MHRA’s system of monitoring the safety of medicines in the UK and it acts as an early warning system to identify new and strengthen existing safety information about medicines. Yellow Cards are used alongside other scientific safety information to help MHRA to take action, if necessary, to make changes to the warnings given to people taking a medicine or review the way the medicine is used to maximise benefit and minimise the risk to the patient.
• The Yellow Card Scheme also collects information on suspected problems or incidents online for medical device adverse incidents, defective medicines (those that are not of an acceptable quality), counterfeit or fake medicines or medical devices and safety concerns for e-cigarettes or their refill containers (e-liquids).
• In 2017, 35% (7,564) of direct reports by healthcare professionals were received from clinical systems such as SystmOne and Vision for GPs, and via MiDatabank for hospital pharmacists. GP reports via clinical systems accounted for 72% (4,717 reports) of all reports from GPs and 27% (913 reports) of hospital pharmacy reports.
• As part of the requirements under the NHS GP Systems of Choice Programme (GPSoC), EMIS, the largest GP systems supplier, is also working with MHRA to integrate reporting this is anticipated to have a significant increase in ADR reporting.

In the latest measure to tackle the criminal kingpins who fuel drug dealing and violence in our jails, specially-trained prison and police officers will use intelligence to monitor bank accounts for signs of illicit transactions.

Bank accounts on the outside world are being used by inmates to pay for drugs. These are usually identified through paper notes found in cells which contain account details, or on phones seized from prisoners with instructions to make transfers.

Such transactions, which amount to money laundering, are to be targeted by the unit, who will be able to freeze bank accounts and initiate criminal proceedings against those involved.

This effort to disrupt the flow of illicit money from prisoners to criminal networks adds to existing measures designed to hinder their activity. As announced in July, a new £1 million digital tool is helping to identify, disrupt and disable gangs, with leaders being moved to different prisons if necessary to stymie their influence.

This formed part of an additional £40 million investment in prisons, announced over the summer, that will improve safety and security in prisons, as well as improving the fabric of the estate. Meanwhile more than 3,500 extra officers have been recruited and will have a central role to play in efforts to tackle gangs and contraband behind bars.

Justice Secretary David Gauke said in his speech to the Conservative party conference earlier today:

My message to kingpins is this: we are already blocking your phones, putting you in isolation and now we will make sure you can’t access your money.

Dealing drugs in prison will no longer be profitable because we will find your assets and we will seize them.

Money laundering in prisons is widespread, with much of the activity taking place through individual, low-value transactions between external bank accounts as offenders settle debts generated illicitly, such as through the supply of drugs.

The unit, which will become fully operational in October, will home in on this activity through the analysis of intelligence and work to quickly act against offenders suspected of involvement in criminal activity.

The unit has drawn on support from the police’s Eastern Region Special Operations Unit to develop strategies which will enable it to quickly identify and act against money laundering from the outset.

Data analysis of prison intelligence will be used to identify common or significant bank accounts being used to launder money, allowing the unit to build a profile of the prisoners connected to them.

The unit will then be able to act against those involved, with sanctions ranging from the closure of accounts, to freezing assets or more significant criminal sanctions such as Confiscation Orders and arrest.

Combined with other measures, this will disrupt the movement of illegal goods in prison and reduce the drivers of self-harm and violence. This will allow prisons to focus on becoming places of rehabilitation and reform where prisoners are given a genuine chance to turn their backs on crime for good.

During today’s speech, the Justice Secretary also announced the allocation of £5 million to create the first secure school in Medway, Kent. This new provision will place education and healthcare at the heart of youth custody and will be run by not-for-profit academy trusts with expertise in the youth custody sector.

The application and selection process for the provider of the first establishment will be launched later this month, with more purpose-built secure schools to be constructed in the coming years.

Also, over the next 2 years, the MoJ will provide up to £2.6 million for governors in the Youth Custody Service to purchase additional educational and vocational programmes. The highly successful Unlocked graduate scheme will also be expanded into the youth estate, bringing even more talented and motivated staff to our frontline.

The Justice Secretary added:

Together this package of reforms and investment will crack down on the drugs and violence in prisons, further support offenders in turning their backs on crime and, crucially, help young offenders find a path out of criminality into education and responsibility.

Notes to editors

• The unit will be based in Peterborough and will be operational from October.
• The team will investigate evidence of prisoners using external bank accounts to pay for drugs, something which we believe is common in prisons but has yet to be fully addressed given our focus up to now on more high-level organised crime in prisons.
• In summer we announced a £40 million prisons improvement package targeting crime in prisons. This included a £7 million investment in safety to fund a range of new security measures, including airport-security style scanners, improved searching techniques and phone-blocking technology.
• A £1 million digital tool is also enabling prisons to build a more detailed picture of the kind of risk an offender is likely to present, including the likelihood of involvement in organised crime. This intelligence is allowing police and prison staff to better target their activity to prevent, disrupt and disable criminal networks, including moving prisoners when necessary.
  • The Ministry of Justice outlined its vision for secure schools in June 2018

Tolls on the Severn Crossings will be abolished on Monday 17th December, just in time for the festive getaway, the UK Government has announced today (Tuesday 2nd October).

The move will mean those travelling between South Wales and the South West of England will save on journeys home and cross-border shopping trips throughout the holiday period.

This will generate annual savings for regular motorists of more than £1,000 per year and have an economic boost to the Welsh economy of an estimated £100m each year. Businesses will also benefit from the strengthened links between cities stretching from Swansea to Swindon, no longer burdened by the financial barrier between the communities.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said:

It has long been my ambition to see the tolls abolished, doing away with a barrier that has hindered Wales’ economic prosperity for more than half a century.

Today marks an important leap forward in Wales’ economic potential, increasing our appeal to external investors but also ensuring businesses, commuters and tourists on both sides of the border are no longer hampered by a fee restricting them from carrying out their everyday lives.

Removing the tolls will cement the already strong ties between the economies and communities of South Wales and the South West of England, creating a growth corridor for prosperity to flourish from Cardiff, through Newport to Bristol and beyond.

Secretary of State for Transport Chris Grayling said:

Removing the tolls from the Severn bridges will help transform the economy in South Wales and the South West, putting over £1,000 a year back in the pockets of hard-working families.

Abolishing these tolls will also cut costs for businesses on both sides of the river, giving them a huge boost to help create new opportunities and new potential for growth.

The decision comes after the move in January to reduce tolls on the two bridges that cross the Severn, meaning that commuters, drivers and businesses from both sides of the river started making savings earlier this year.

ENDS