Thursday 16 August 2012

General needs to improve A&E waits in Northampton

General needs to improve A&E waits in Northampton:
A greater proportion of Northampton General Hospital emergency patients wait more than four hours than almost any other hospital. Chronicle and Echo

Consultations launched on sector regulation of health service

Consultations launched on sector regulation of health service:
Two consultations that will help ensure that patients’ interests will be protected throughout the health service are launched today by the Department of Health.
The consultations set out proposals for how Monitor, as the sector regulator for the health service, will ensure that the new system operates in the best interest of patients.
Specifically, the consultations seek views in relation to:
  • Licensing – this covers which providers of NHS funded services will need to hold a licence with Monitor. For the first time, Monitor will regulate private and voluntary providers, setting out the safeguards to ensure patients receive the best quality care possible. These safeguards will also prevent abuses of power, such as providers charging higher prices to boost profits or refusing to cooperate in service integration. Find out more about consultation about licensing
  • Procurement, choice and competition – this covers minimum requirements for commissioners to ensure that they deliver best value for patients. This also explains how, for the first time, patients’ rights to choice under the NHS Constitution will be enforceable wherever they live in England.Find out more about consultation about procurement, choice and competition
Department of Health

Launch of part two of the single operating model for strategic health authority clusters

Launch of part two of the single operating model for strategic health authority clusters:
The guidance for this next stage of the SOM details the rationale for this launch alongside the detail of the model and the associated tools to deliver this.
Editable versions of the self certification templates can be found here. NHS Networks

Why is there variation in the NHS?

Why is there variation in the NHS?:
Author of a recent Kings Fund report on variation in emergency admissions discusses why there is variation in the NHS at all – after being asked why the NHS can't be more like Pizza Express
"When I go to Pizza Express I am guaranteed a good quality pizza, why can't the NHS do the same?" This incredulous question was put by a regional radio presenter who interviewed me about our new report Older people and emergency bed use - exploring variation.
Our report describes a fourfold variation in the rate of hospital bed use by older people admitted as an emergency. This is driven in equal part by differences in length of stay and rates of admission for older people. Our working hypothesis was that we would be able to link the use of hospital beds with other factors like spend on social care, the number of community beds, and the number of GPs, but we couldn't demonstrate a relationship.
The variation in these other factors was just as great if not greater than the variation in bed use and no clear pattern emerged. The only factor that those areas with the lowest use of beds had in common was that a high number of them had a history of joint working between health and social care. Guardian
Candace Imison is deputy director of policy for the Kings Fund, and lead author of Older people and emergency bed use - exploring variation.

 

Four NHS staff to be charged with mistreating patients with learning disabilities

Four NHS staff to be charged with mistreating patients with learning disabilities:
Charges of mistreating and neglecting patients with learning disabilities are to be laid against four health centre staff after a five-year inquiry during which two previous attempts to bring criminal proceedings have failed.
Two men and two women will appear before magistrates in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, in August and September accused of the offences between 2005 and 2007 at the Solar Centre in St Catherine's hospital at Balby, Doncaster.Guardian

 
 

Dementia patients given right to say on end-of-life care

Dementia patients given right to say on end-of-life care: People in the early stages of dementia are to be given a right to have a say in how and where they want to die under guidelines for medical staff and social workers. Telegraph Health News

GP providers win just a fifth of NHS 111 contracts

GP providers win just a fifth of NHS 111 contracts: GPs providers have won just five of the 26 NHS 111 contracts awarded so far, with NHS Direct revealing it has won a further nine contracts covering 30% of the population in England. GP Online News

King's Fund: A guide for commissioners on how to measure for improving outcomes

King's Fund: A guide for commissioners on how to measure for improving outcomes
The King's Fund have produced two slide sets to help clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) make the best use of measurement to support them to commission for improved outcomes.  The slides cover general concepts about approaches to measurement in health care, the uses of structure, process and outcome indicators, how to achieve a good mix of indicators for commissioning and how commissioners can build up sets of measures along whole pathways of care.  Please see the link below for details. King's Fund

Securing best value for NHS patients: requirements for commissioners to adhere to good procurement practice and protect patient choice

Securing best value for NHS patients: requirements for commissioners to adhere to good procurement practice and protect patient choice:
This document outlines proposals for regulations to protect patients’ interests by ensuring that commissioners always deliver best value. The Department of Health are currently seeking views on these proposals and comments will be accepted until 26th October 2012. Kings Fund

The austerity Britain report: the impact of the recession on the UK's health, according to GPs

The austerity Britain report: the impact of the recession on the UK's health, according to GPs:
This report is the result of a GP opinion survey which aimed to better understand the impact that the economic downturn of the last four years has had on the nation’s health, and how this may have impacted on GPs’ practices. It questioned GPs broadly at the impact of the recession on family planning, alcohol abuse, wellbeing, mental health and the impact on GPs themselves. Kings Fund

NICE consults on new social care quality standards

NICE consults on new social care quality standards: NICE has today (16 August) launched a consultation on two new quality standards for social care; one on the health and wellbeing of looked-after children and young people and one on supporting people to live well with dementia. NICE

Four NHS staff to be charged with mistreating patients with learning disabilities - The Guardian


 
Four NHS staff to be charged with mistreating patients with learning disabilities
The Guardian
The original inquiry was reopened after an internal investigation by the Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber mental health NHS foundation trust, and its leader, then acting Detective Chief Inspector, Natalie Shaw, said in September last year: "I can ... Guardian
Four face patient abuse chargesThe Press Association
Solar Centre abuse charges authorisedBBC News
Four charged over neglect of patients at Doncaster hospitalYorkshire Post
Yahoo! News UK -Thorne Gazette
all 131 news articles »

Patient survey suggests benefit from common procedures varies markedly by NHS provider

Patient survey suggests benefit from common procedures varies markedly by NHS provider: Comparative annual PROMs results published for first time The level of health benefit patients feel they gain from common procedures varies markedly b...NHS Information Centre