More pensioners in Northamptonshire putting themselves at risk of flu

More pensioners in Northamptonshire putting themselves at risk of flu: Almost 10,000 extra over-65s in Northamptonshire have put their health at risk this year by neglecting to get the flu jab. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Fall in number of over 65s getting flu jab Evening Telegraph 
• Over 65s encouraged to get the flu jab Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Family “appalled” with NGH care following bath fall

Family “appalled” with NGH care following bath fall: The family of an elderly man, who fell into a bath of scalding hot water were “appalled” with the care he later received in hospital, an inquest has heard. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Training videos on migrant health

Training videos on migrant health: Topics include eliminating barriers to healthcare, interpreting in a health context, catching up immunisations for migrants, TB, HIV, hepatitis and parasitic infections. More …. Health Protection Agency

Department announces pilot projects to improve severe mental illness services

Department announces pilot projects to improve severe mental illness services: Care and Support Minister Norman Lamb today announced that 6 local projects have begun work to help improve access to psychological therapies for those with severe mental illnesses.

Payment by Results for acute and mental health services – road test of the 2013-14 package

Payment by Results for acute and mental health services – road test of the 2013-14 package: The Payment by Results (PbR) road test exercise provides an opportunity for the NHS to test out the new tariff, and supports the planning process. The focus of the road test is to gather comments on the draft 2013-14 acute and mental health PbR guidance documents and PbR code of conduct.

Older cancer patients rethink call

Older cancer patients rethink call: All older cancer patients should get physical and mental health tests to ensure they are not unfairly written off as too old for treatment, a report suggests. BBC News

See also:

• NHS ageism 'stopping elderly getting cancer treatment' The Daily Telegraph
• Older cancer patients are being denied the best treatments due to age discrimination The Daily Mail

Hospital Pathways programme: lessons learned

Hospital Pathways programme: lessons learned: This article tells the story of the Hospital Pathways programme, a collaborative programme in which five acute trusts worked with The King's Fund and the Health Foundation to apply techniques, not widely used in the NHS, to improve both processes of care and interactions between staff and patients. It describes the programme; the method used to evaluate it; what was learned about the approach, and how the lessons have influenced the next programme called Patient and Family-Centred Care.

• Article
• Patient and Family-Centred Care programme
• The King's Fund - articles

Cancer risk in men to rise

Cancer risk in men to rise:
Cancer Research UK has predicted that men's risk of cancer will increase in the next 15 years.The charity said that because people were living longer, the danger of men developing cancer would rise from 44 in 100 to 50 in 100, or a one in two chance of getting the disease.Researchers from the Wolfson Institute of Preventative Medicine at Queen Mary, University of London, and Cancer Research UK made the predicti... Healthcare Today

Paperless NHS by 2015

Paperless NHS by 2015: The NHS Commissioning Board has clarified the position on a pledge for the organisation to move towards being paperless by 2015. In October, the NHS CB national director of patients and information, Tim Kelsey, told the Healthcare Efficiency Through Technology Expo that the government’s mandate to the NHS CB would include a commitment to a paperless NHS by 2015. However, guidance issued by the organisation has ... Healthcare Today

Patient care at risk as GPs are asked to cut services

Patient care at risk as GPs are asked to cut services: While ministers say costs are being reduced via 'efficiency savings', GPs are being asked to cut services to patients
GPs are being asked to reduce or axe activities including childhood immunisation campaigns, out-of-hours care and minor surgery in emerging evidence that £20bn of NHS "efficiency savings" are leading to cuts in patient care.

NHS service providers' financial positions are weak – at best

NHS service providers' financial positions are weak – at best: Ramsay Health Care, Virgin Care, Harmoni, The Practice, Circle and Care UK cannot be treated as going concerns without the financial support of their parent companies
Analysis of the accounts of a number of NHS service providers reveals some disturbing trends.
It is estimated that 37 private healthcare companies bid for almost 400 NHS service contracts worth £262m earlier in the year. The Guardian's analysis looked at six of the biggest companies with a particular emphasis on patient care: Ramsay Health Care, Virgin Care, Harmoni, The Practice, Circle and Care UK.
Without exception, these six customer-facing operating companies admitted they could not be treated as going concerns without the financial support of their parent companies.

Hospice care 'threatened by NHS reforms'

Hospice care 'threatened by NHS reforms': Hospices should be allowed to get on with caring for dying patients with kindness and compassion but face being obstructed by a new layer of burdensome regulation, it was warned today. The Daily Telegraph

GPs have skin cancer 'blackspot'

GPs have skin cancer 'blackspot': GPs are failing to spot serious skin cancer cases, leading to dozens of medical negligence claims where it has spread to other organs, the Medical Protection Society is warning. The Daily Telegraph