Holy Grail?

An effective way to reduce costs and hospital admissions occasioned by alcohol harm is a bit of a philosopher's stone for the public health world. The South East Alcohol Innovation Programme's final evaluation should therefore be welcome reading. Three of the projects have already been taken up by the NHS as QIPP initiatives. The SHAHRP programme (School Health and Alcohol Harm Reduction Project), devised in Australia, has recently been applied in Northern Ireland with positive results. SHAHRP is also being trialled in Liverpool. In its submission to the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology Inquiry on Alcohol Guidelines, the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) has suggested that government sensible drinking guidelines should be amended, particularly as regards frequency: "the RCP disputes the claim that drinking every day will not accrue a significant health risk." The report also expresses concern about the consistency and effectiveness of the government's communications in this area. The Scottish Government is making another attempt to legislate for minimum pricing, with the reintroduction earlier this month of the Alcohol Bill. And the effort to tackle alcohol harm seems also to extend to the work of Transport Scotland, as a consultation on reorganising rail services includes the suggestion (received with scant enthusiasm) that alcohol be banned on trains.

Lessons learned?

A study from the Department for Education maps Serious Case Review information with other data on the serious and fatal maltreatment of children (from ONS, the Home Office homicide database and Child Death Overview Panels). The majority of violent deaths occur in babies less than one year old, with the next most affected group being the over-14s. This trend is also a focus for a report from OFSTED, covering Serious Case Reviews from 2007 to 2011. The NSPCC report All babies count also emphasises "the disproportionate vulnerability of babies" and the importance of early intervention.

The place to be

The idea that urban green space is connected somehow with better health is a common theme in the literature. But pinning down exactly how this is the case is not easy. A systematic review in the Journal of Public Health attempts to clarify what evidence there is for health benefits from urban green space, finding the proof somewhat unpersuasive. A study from the US looks at the reverse: how far an unhealthy place (with particular emphasis on violence) relates to birthweight. Finally, another look at the Scottish effect, here asking whether it applies south of the border.

Institionalise!

This week the new Institute of Health Equity at UCL was launched. Led by inequalities expert Professor Sir Michael Marmot, the Institute will be funded in part by DH and the BMA. In his first blog post, Marmot expresses some optimism as regards the coalition government's commitment to tackling health inequalities, quoting Don Quixote: "the dogs are barking, Sancho; it is a sign we’re moving."

Deciding to make a difference

As England's public health system is on the brink of enormous change, a timely study of how public health decisions are made comes from a team at Liverpool University. Taking cardiovascular disease as a case study, researchers looked at decision-making by healthcare and public service professionals in an effort to reduce health inequalities. A study in the European Journal of Public Health compares Scotland and Belgium's policies to tackle ethnic inequalities in health, in which Scotland is shown to have played the better game (score: Belgium 1 Scotland 4, the study's authors claim).

Safeguarding

The Safeguarding Children Research Initiative, set up following the inquiry into the death of Victoria Climbie, has issued a report providing an overview of its work. One article in Community Practitioner looks at the health visitor's role in child protection. Another offers an evaluation of the Early Intervention Safeguarding Nurse pilot in North West England, which used an integrated model to address the all too common communication difficulties. NHS Information Centre has published provisional data on abuse of vulnerable adults, the first time this data has been collected on a mandatory basis.

Start right

The Department for Education is consulting on entitlement for free early education for children from age 2, from September 2013. This follows a commitment annouced earlier this year to extend free pre-school education to the most deprived 2 year olds. The consultation paper includes draft statutory guidance for local authorities on delivery of free early education as well as on implementation of the new provisions.

Plain truth

Australia has stepped up its anti-smoking regime, with the passing in the senate of legislation to enforce plain packaging for tobacco products. A close-run thing, the progress of the Australian government has been watched with interest from the UK and elsewhere. The bill returns to the lower house for a vote considered to be a formality, before coming into force in December 2012. Tobacco companies continue to threaten legal challenges to the rules, however. In England, cigarette sales from vending machines were banned from 1 October. The BMA's recommendation that smoking be banned in cars has come in for a some ridicule in certain areas of the press, after its press release somewhat overstated the level of threat from secondhand smoke in cars.

Just not working

What lies behind persistent levels of worklessness in some deprived areas is the subject of research issued by DWP. Using individual level data from the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study (WPLS), researchers look in particular at transition into and out of worklessness and employment and geographic migration. A study in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society also considers trends in worklessness in the weaker local economies and assesses future prospects.