IPC Guidance Update

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IPC Guidance Update

Government guidance on infection prevention and control for seasonal respiratory infections including SARS-CoV-2 was updated on 24th November 2021. The update includes significant changes to the guidance on PPE (Section 6.5), although chiropractors should continue to have robust, risk-assessed, infection prevention and control measures in place, and continue to monitor any updates to the IPC guidance.

NICE Publishes Workplace Health Quality Standard

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NICE Publishes Workplace Health Quality Standard

A NICE quality standard on Workplace Health (QS202) has been published on the NICE website.

This quality standard covers how to help people return to work after long-term sickness absence, reduce recurring sickness absence, and help prevent people moving from short-term to long-term sickness absence. It covers everyone aged over 16 in full-time or part-time employment (paid or unpaid), and describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement.

IPC Guidance

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IPC Guidance

Although infection prevention and control (IPC) guidance agreed by the four UK nations remains under constant review, it has not been updated following the lifting of legal restrictions around COVID-19 that commenced today, Monday 19th July 2021. This means that the guidance, as issued on 1st June 2021, is still current and that, to ensure patient and staff safety is maintained, practising Chiropractors should continue to have robust, risk-assessed, infection prevention and control measures in place. Chiropractors should also monitor any updates to the IPC guidance.

PPQM Applications for the Period 2022 – 2024

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Patient Partnership Quality Mark (PPQM) – The call for PPQM applications for the 2022-2024 period is now open.

The application form, conditions of award and detailed advice and guidance for producing a successful application (in the form of an online learning module), can be accessed here.

Clinical Management Quality Mark (CMQM) – The call for CMQM applications for the 2022-2024 period will open shortly.

Further details about the awards and list of current award holders are available here for the PPQM, and here for the CMQM.

For queries, email: admin@rcc-uk.org

Research Grant Awards 2021

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Research Grant Awards 2021

The RCC is pleased to announce the availability of a grant to support staff costs in relation to a research project commencing during 2021. Applications are invited from UK institutions to fund the costs of personnel undertaking research in the UK, but may relate to projects that involve collaboration with partner/s overseas.

Innovation Grant – £15k for 1 year:

Applications will be considered for projects in any area of research relevant to neuro-musculoskeletal health. Priority will be given to projects that adopt an innovative approach and attract matched funding.

[N.B. RCC Innovation Grant holders will be eligible for NIHR Clinical Research Network Support if their project is of clear and demonstrable value to the NHS.]

The deadline for receipt of applications for projects commencing in 2021 is Friday 23 July 2021.

Please visit this page for full details, including an Application Form and Conditions of Award.

RCC Research Committee Bulletin

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RCC Research Committee Bulletin

Global summit on SMT

A new RCC Research Committee Bulletin, available here, summarises a recent study that reviewed the evidence for the efficacy and effectiveness of Spinal Manipuative Therapy (SMT) for the treatment of non-musculoskeletal conditions. The findings and limitations of the study are discussed.

New Premises for The Royal College of Chiropractors

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New Premises for The Royal College of Chiropractors

Please be advised that the Royal College of Chiropractors will be operating from new premises w.e.f. Monday 9th November 2020.

Located at the heart of Henley-on-Thames, best known for its annual Royal Regatta, our new premises will provide a more modern office space that betters suits our current working needs and better supports our ability to provide an efficient and effective service.

Accessibility to the building is excellent with dedicated parking, a permanent access ramp, ground-floor meeting facilities and a lift to our main first-floor office. The building is situated 100m from the railway station.

Any mail received at our old address will be collected/forwarded for a limited period, but please ensure all future mail is sent to our new address, as follows:

Chiltern House
45 Station Road
Henley-on-Thames
Oxfordshire
RG9 1AT
United Kingdom

N.B. CMQM applications, which are due by tomorrow, will be safely received at our old address.

All other contact details remain the same:

T: +44 (0)1491 340022
E: admin@rcc-uk.org
W: www.rcc-uk.org

Please bear with us during our move which will take place between Friday 6th and Sunday 8th November; calls may be diverted to voicemail during this period.

Latest Covid-19 Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Guidance

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Latest Covid-19 Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Guidance

New, official COVID-19 guidance for the remobilisation of services within health and care settings: infection prevention and control (IPC) recommendations was issued jointly by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Public Health Wales (PHW), Public Health Agency (PHA) Northern Ireland, Health Protection Scotland (HPS)/National Services Scotland, Public Health England (PHE) and NHS England on 20 August 2020.

This guidance desribes the covid-19 management pathways for the treatment, care and support of patients/individuals and has important implications for the PPE chiropractors need to use at this time.

HPU Bulletin: New Chiropractic Quality Standard for Headache

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HPU Bulletin: New Chiropractic Quality Standard for Headache

HPU Bulletin: New Chiropractic Quality Standard for Headache

The Royal College of Chiropractors’ Health Policy Unit has announced the publication of a new quality standard which covers the chiropractic assessment and management of adult patients presenting with headache.

Headaches are one of the most common health complaints, with most people experiencing them at some point in their life. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that almost half of all adults worldwide will experience a headache in any given year. In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017, headache disorders were the second most prevalent condition worldwide, as well as the second highest cause of years lost due to disability (YLD).

In the UK, migraine headache occurs in 15% of the adult population, with around 200,000 individual episodes estimated every day, resulting in high levels of disability and work absence, as well as having a significant impact on the wider economy. Episodic tension-type headaches affect 80% of people at some time, and are chronic (having more days with a headache than without one) in up to 3% of the population. Medication-overuse headache is the third most common cause of headache, affecting up to 2% of adults. Despite these figures, headache is under-estimated, under-diagnosed and under-treated, and remains a major public health concern.

Chiropractors regularly see patients that present with headache, often having not been seen by any other healthcare professional, and with no diagnosis having been made. Chiropractors have the skills and competencies to assess patients in order to diagnose most primary headaches, identify secondary headaches that require further investigation and, importantly, recognise the red flags that indicate a medical emergency.

As well as having a role in the management of some primary headaches and a few secondary headaches (in particular cervicogenic headaches), chiropractors also play an important public health role in providing support and advice to patients, signposting and making appropriate referrals.

There are a wide range of different patient presentations associated with headache and the management in each case will be different, requiring an individualised approach. The quality statements that comprise the new Headaches Quality Standard are therefore general but, nevertheless, provide aspirational but achievable markers of high-quality, cost effective patient care.

Given the chronic nature of many headaches, where appropriate, the Headaches Quality Standard should be read in conjunction with the chiropractic quality standards on “Chronic Pain” and “Supportive Self-Management in Chronic Care”, both also published by the Royal College of Chiropractors.

All the RCC’s Chiropractic Quality Standards are available for download here in full and abbreviated versions. Note that a  separate copy of the Headache Assessment & Management Flowchart, which forms part of the full version of the Headaches Quality Standard, is available on the same webpage.

Assuring safe chiropractic practice during the Covid-19 pandemic

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Assuring safe chiropractic practice during the Covid-19 pandemic

With the R value of covid-19 falling below 1, active introduction of test, track & trace, and essential PPE becoming more accessible, the RCC recognises that it may now be feasible for some chiropractors to decide that, in their professional opinion and depending on their individual circumstances, they are able to offer face-to-face care, for some patients, that meets an appropriate safety threshold.

The RCC advises that it is important for every chiropractor to engage in a stringent risk management process in order to establish the special culture of safety required in clinics during the covid-19 pandemic, and a new RCC document outlines the key requirements of such a process.