Unused drugs cost NHS across Northamptonshire £4.6m

Unused drugs cost NHS across Northamptonshire £4.6m: WASTED medicines could be costing the county NHS more than £4.6 million a year.Northampton Chronicle and Echo

How must we change care systems to meet the needs of the future patient?

How must we change care systems to meet the needs of the future patient?: We deliberately kicked off our Time to Think Differently debate by focusing on the future patient. What could be more important than patient needs and preferences to the discussion about the future of health and social care? We are delighted by the quality and number of contributions to the debate and grateful to everyone for helping to shape our thinking.

GP contract proposals outlined

GP contract proposals outlined: Proposed changes to the GP contract have been outlined by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
The proposed changes will see GPs rewarded for earlier diagnosis and better care of dementia patients and putting a sharper focus on improving the lives of patients with long term conditions.

Funding 'cut' for cancer networks

Funding 'cut' for cancer networks: Clinical networks of doctors and nurses which oversee the care of cancer, heart and stroke patients have had their budgets and staff cut, figures show. BBC News

MPs call for drugs policy rethink

MPs call for drugs policy rethink: A committee of MPs urges ministers to closely consider a system of decriminalising drugs adopted in Portugal, saying the UK must rethink large parts of its drugs policy. BBC News

DNA mapping for cancer patients

DNA mapping for cancer patients: Up to 100,000 patients with cancer and rare diseases in England are to have their entire genetic code sequenced. BBC News

UK reaction to GMS contract changes for England

UK reaction to GMS contract changes for England: GP leaders are warning that practices could close if government proposals to change the GMS contract in 2013/14 are imposed. GP Online

GMC launches confidential helpline for doctors to raise concerns about patient safety

GMC launches confidential helpline for doctors to raise concerns about patient safety: For the first time doctors who are worried about patient safety will be able to contact the General Medical Council (GMC) through a new confidential helpline.

Care for older people: projected expenditure to 2022 on social care and continuing health care for England’s older population

Care for older people: projected expenditure to 2022 on social care and continuing health care for England’s older population: This analysis by the London School of Economics, commissioned by the Nuffield Trust,  projects expenditure on social care and health care for older people in England from 2010 to 2022.

• Analysis
• Press release
• Project page
• The Nuffield Trust - publications

Cancer cases rise, but more people survive

Cancer cases rise, but more people survive: New cancer statistics for the UK have hit the headlines, with most papers reporting that fewer people are dying from the disease, despite a rise in the numbers being diagnosed.

These 2008-2010 figures were produced by the Office for National Statistic (ONS) and show:

• the number of people diagnosed with cancer each year (incidence) was nearly 320,000
• the number of people dying from cancer each year (mortality rates) was about 156,000

The report found that Wales had the highest rate of cancer for men and Scotland had the highest cancer rates for women.

People with diabetes at much higher risk of suffering heart failure than the general population, national audit shows

People with diabetes at much higher risk of suffering heart failure than the general population, national audit shows: Data also shows 330 per cent greater risk of some complications than general population Death rate among people with Type 1 diabetes 135 per cent high... NHS Information Centre

Winterbourne View scandal prompts new care guidelines

Winterbourne View scandal prompts new care guidelines: Report warns that care sector risks slipping back into institutional culture typified by Victorian asylum system
Ministers will on Monday order a programme of action intended to remove up to 1,500 people with learning disabilities and autism from private hospitals such as the Winterbourne View unit where a regime of abuse and humiliation was exposed.

NHS spending has been cut, Tories forced to admit

NHS spending has been cut, Tories forced to admit:
David Cameron's general election pledge not to cut spending on the NHS has been broken, the Conservative Party conceded for the first time yesterday, as new figures revealed the health service is on the brink of a winter crisis. The Independent

Challenges still to be met in reducing occupational exposures to bloodborne viruses

Challenges still to be met in reducing occupational exposures to bloodborne viruses: There were 541 reports of needle stick injuries that exposed healthcare workers to patients carrying bloodborne viruses in 2011, twice as many as a decade ago (2002) when 271 exposures were reported. The figures are published today in the Health Protection Agency’s fourth Eye of the Needle report, which includes occupational exposures to bloodborne viruses in healthcare workers reported by hospitals through the HPA’s enhanced surveillance system. These reports are only a fraction of needle stick injuries that would have occurred.