Updated never events policy framework and data published

Updated never events policy framework and data published:
The never events policy framework has been reviewed and updated in order to address areas of uncertainty and provide greater clarity about never events and the recommended response to them following feedback from stakeholders. It offers a useful reference for boards, clinicians, other staff and patients.
The document also contains data on the number and types of never event reported in 2011/12 and 2010/11, revealing 326 never events were reported to strategic health authorities in 2011/12.
It is recommended that all NHS boards consider this refreshed framework and that medical and nursing directors ensure that work is taken forward to improve patient safety and eradicate these never events from health care. Read the updated never events policy framework Department of Health

VIDEO: Miliband: End mental health taboo

VIDEO: Miliband: End mental health taboo: The issue of mental illness in the UK is the "biggest unaddressed health challenge of our age", Labour leader Ed Miliband says. BBC News

Failure regime in NHS 'unclear'

Failure regime in NHS 'unclear': The way financially-troubled parts of the NHS in England are being dealt with appears to be being done "on the hoof" by the government, MPs say. BBC News

4,000 cancer patients undergo unnecessary treatment as result of breast screening

4,000 cancer patients undergo unnecessary treatment as result of breast screening:
Breast cancer screening leads to thousands of women undergoing unnecessary treatment despite saving lives, according to an independent review. The Independent

See also:

• Breast cancer screening 'harming thousands' The Daily Telegraph
• Breast cancer screening causes more damage than previously thought The Guardian
• Needless cancer therapy for 4,000 women: For every life saved by breast screening, 3 patients undergo unnecessary treatment The Daily Mail
• Breast screening harm highlighted BBC News
• The benefits and harms of breast cancer screening: an independent review Lancet report (Athens password required)

UK must learn from US on sharps injuries, campaigners say

UK must learn from US on sharps injuries, campaigners say: NHS efforts to reduce needlestick injuries must draw on experience from the US, where they have fallen by a third in a decade, safety campaigners believe. GP Online

'NHS could face more data breach fines'

'NHS could face more data breach fines': More data breach fines will be issued to NHS bodies if they continue to fail in their legal obligations, warns ICO Public Service

New fears over vulnerable patients

New fears over vulnerable patients:

Charity attacks ‘warehousing’ of people with learning difficulties Related items from OnMedica GPs have duty to protect abused vulnerable adults Community mental health services failing many users More funding needed for GPs working with students Guidance issued on mental health Childhood abuse linked to depression

Women smokers who quit young cut death risk

Women smokers who quit young cut death risk:

“Women smokers who quit before 30 cut death risk by 97%”, The Guardian reports. It goes on to warn that ‘women who smoke into middle-age have three times the death rate of non-smokers and risk dying at least 10 years early’.
The news is based on the results of an impressive study that followed 1.2 million women aged from 50 to 69 years old, for an average of 12 years to determine the full effects of prolonged smoking and quitting on women in the UK.

Mental health sectioning error - BBC News

Mental health sectioning error - BBC News:

BBC News

Mental health sectioning error BBC News Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says urgent retrospective legislation is needed to correct a "technical error" affecting up to 5,000 patients sectioned under the Mental Health Act since 2002. The error means doctors who sectioned patients in England did ... New mental health scandal as up to 5000 patients were sectioned in a decade ...Daily Mail Thousands sectioned under mental health act following 'technical error'The Independent Action to clarify processes under the Mental Health Actdh.gov.uk Huffington Post UK -Serious Injury Law -The Times (subscription) all 41 news articles »

Hundreds of patients subjected to NHS blunders that 'should never happen'

Hundreds of patients subjected to NHS blunders that 'should never happen': Hundreds of patients had instruments left inside them or surgery on the wrong part of the body. The Daily Telegraph

PFI deals crippling the NHS with £1.5bn of handouts needed: PAC report

PFI deals crippling the NHS with £1.5bn of handouts needed: PAC report: Patients in every part of the country face having their NHS services merged, closed or moved to address the financial crisis, a scathing report warned, as crippling PFI debts mean the government will have to hand over £1.5bn of bailouts. The Daily Telegraph

Winterbourne View scandal: Call for new care home neglect law

Winterbourne View scandal: Call for new care home neglect law: The Winterbourne View scandal has shown the need for a new offence of “corporate wilful neglect” to prosecute care home-owners for allowing abuse to go on behind closed doors, the former care minister has said. The Independent

One NHS trust in five is in bad financial trouble – and Department of Health is failing to plan for bankruptcies

One NHS trust in five is in bad financial trouble – and Department of Health is failing to plan for bankruptcies:
The spectre of hospitals going bankrupt is raised today in a damning report by MPs which suggests that one in five NHS trusts is in serious financial trouble and “there is a real concern that some will fail”. The Independent