Wednesday 18 July 2012

People being urged to have their say on health

People being urged to have their say on health:
People are being asked their views on a new organisation being set up to improve health and social care services in Northamptonshire. Evening Telegraph

Health boss speaks over ambulance station closures

Health boss speaks over ambulance station closures:
East Midlands Ambulance Service has proposed to close every ambulance station in Northamptonshire, except Kettering and Northampton. Evening Telegraph

Ambulance stations to close in bid for faster 999 call-outs

Ambulance stations to close in bid for faster 999 call-outs:
Northampton is set to move from two ambulance bases to just one, East Midlands Ambulance Service has revealed. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

CCGs and PCTs – not so different after all? | Chris Naylor

CCGs and PCTs – not so different after all? | Chris Naylor: There will be important differences between clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and primary care trusts (PCTs). But in terms of the population size they cover – a hugely significant issue for any commissioning body – CCGs and PCTs look increasingly similar. (Blog, 17 Jul 2012) Kings Fund

Toolkit for doctors and managers to improve quality for patients

Toolkit for doctors and managers to improve quality for patients:
It involves a series of steps each requiring conversations between all parties to identify any development required. NHS Networks

Inactivity 'as deadly as smoking'

Inactivity 'as deadly as smoking': A lack of exercise, contributing to diseases such as diabetes and cancer, is now causing as many deaths as smoking across the world, a study suggests. BBC News

Research backs greater pharmacist role in long-term conditions care

Research backs greater pharmacist role in long-term conditions care: Pharmacists should be more involved in the long-term management of people with type 2 diabetes to improve patient outcomes, researchers say. GP Online

Alcohol-related hospital admissions rise in young

Alcohol-related hospital admissions rise in young:

Data released by public health minister Anne Milton has shown an increase in the number of young people from deprived families who were admitted to hospital because of alcohol.The information revealed that 17.5% of under 18-year-olds who were admitted to hospital with alcohol-associated problems in 2010/11 were from the poorest 10% of families in England.This figure increased from 2009/10, when 16.5% of young p... Healthcare Today

UK has third most inactive population in Europe

UK has third most inactive population in Europe:
Two-thirds of British adults fail to take recommended amount of exercise needed to keep them healthy, research shows
The UK is home to the third most slothful population in Europe, with two-thirds of adults failing to take enough physical exercise to keep themselves healthy, according to research.
Only in Malta and Serbia do the over-15s exert themselves less than in the UK, according to data from one of a series of papers published in the Lancet medical journal.
In the UK, 63.3% of adults (with higher rates in women than in men) do not meet recommended amounts of activity, such as walking briskly for 30 minutes or more five times a week or taking more vigorous exercise for 20 minutes three times a week. In Malta, 71.9% of adults are inactive and in Serbia the proportion is 68.3%.
The most active countries are Greece, where 16% are inactive, Estonia (17%) and the Netherlands (18%). The US scores 41% and Canada 34%.
Inactivity causes between 6% and 10% of four major diseases – coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and breast and colon cancer, reported the Lancet. In 2008, it was responsible for about 5.3 million out of the 57 million deaths worldwide.
Pedro Hallal from Universidade Federal de Pelotas in Brazil and colleagues collected and compared data from 122 countries. Overall, a third of adults, and four out of five adolescents, were insufficiently active.
Hallal added: "Although the technological revolution has been of great benefit to many populations throughout the world, it has come at a major cost in terms of the contribution of physical inactivity to the worldwide epidemic of noncommunicable diseases."
Many different things have been tried to encourage people to walk, cycle or take other exercise more often. One of the most successful is in Bogota, Columbia, reports another Lancet paper. A programme called CiclovĂ­a closes city streets to traffic for the use of walkers, runners, skaters and cyclists on Sunday mornings and public holidays. It attracts about a million people every week – mostly those on low incomes.The Guardian

Schools deny girls cervical cancer jabs on religious grounds

Schools deny girls cervical cancer jabs on religious grounds:
Female pupils not being offered potentially life-saving vaccine at schools that oppose premarital sex
Schoolgirls are being denied a potentially life-saving cervical cancer jab at their schools on religious grounds.
Some schools in England have opted out of the HPV vaccination programme because their pupils follow strict Christian principles and do not have sex outside marriage. The jab guards against two strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) virus – 16 and 18 – which cause 70% of cases of cervical cancer. It is offered routinely to girls aged 12 to 13.
But an investigation by GP magazine found 24 schools in 83 of England's 152 primary care trust (PCT) areas were opting out of the vaccination programme, many of them on religious grounds.
The magazine found the majority of schools opting out did not tell their local GPs, where the girls could be offered the vaccine.
Just two of the 15 PCTs where schools are denying the vaccination course told GPs of their decision.
Only five of the 15 PCTs said they informed pupils or guardians how to obtain the vaccine elsewhere, the figures show.
The reasons schools gave for not giving the jab included "not in keeping with the school ethos", "pupils follow strict Christian principles, marry within their own community and do not practise sex outside marriage" and "the school does not want parents/students to feel pressured by peers or the school setting".
The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) said GPs needed to be informed about which pupils were being denied vaccines at school to help cut cervical cancer deaths.
Every year, 1,000 women in the UK die from cervical cancer.
RCGP immunisation lead Dr George Kassianos told GP magazine: "If GPs are going to be provided with vaccines and there is an agreement that GPs can vaccinate those falling behind, then it is even more important that GPs are informed of who has missed HPV vaccination at school.
"GPs also need to know of completion of vaccination courses.
"No matter which system you examine, here in the UK or abroad, there will be parents or individuals who will refuse vaccination.
"None of our immunisations are compulsory. We therefore must accept that some children or adults will not be vaccinated. It is hard to understand how immunisation against cancer can be rejected but that is how it is out there in the community."
Dr Richard Vautrey, the deputy chairman of the British Medical Association's general practitioners committee, said: "It is a concern that so many areas are reporting that schools have refused to allow their children to receive HPV vaccine on the premises.
"This is placing their children at risk in later life and should be challenged. It is also a concern if PCTs are not informing practices about HPV uptake. Once the responsibility for this activity has been transferred from PCTs to public health departments based in local authorities next year there should no longer be any excuse for failing to protect children in this way." The Guardian

GPs 'too expensive' to run health authorities

GPs 'too expensive' to run health authorities: Bureaucrats will still run local health authorities, despite Government plans to put clinicians in charge, according to GPs who say the money is not there to pay enough doctors to run them. The Daily Telegraph

Andrew Lansley complains 'people always want more'

Andrew Lansley complains 'people always want more': Andrew Lansley complained that "people always want more" after charities and campaign groups criticised him for failing to cut the costs of elderly care.The Daily Telegraph

British Medical Association staff to stage fresh strike tomorrow in dispute over pay

British Medical Association staff to stage fresh strike tomorrow in dispute over pay:
Staff employed by the British Medical Association will stage another strike tomorrow in a dispute over pay. The Independent

Use of deprivation of liberty safeguards shows 59 per cent increase since introduction

Use of deprivation of liberty safeguards shows 59 per cent increase since introduction: The number of Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) applications rose to 11,400 in 2011/2012, says a report out today from the Health and Social Ca... NHS Information Centre