Midwife accused of changing records

Midwife accused of changing records: A midwife faces a disciplinary hearing after she is accused of altering the drug records of a patient at Kettering Hospital. BBC Northamptonshire

Hospital at capacity during January

Hospital at capacity during January: The main hospital in Northamptonshire had a bed occupation rate close to capacity for nearly half of January. BBC Northamptonshire

Building the narrative for integrated care

Building the narrative for integrated care: At the beginning of last year, The King’s Fund and the Nuffield Trust published an influential 10-point plan on Integrated care for patients and populations, to support the Department of Health and the NHS Future Forum’s emerging strategy on integrated care. We argued that the first task was to provide a compelling narrative for integrated care: to define its ambitions and set out what it would look like in practice, backed up by specific and measurable objectives to drive quality improvements.

Learning from failure

Learning from failure: Patient safety requires transparency, accountability, and leadership, not gagging clauses or a concern for organisational reputation. Ultimately this is not something that can be achieved by regulation; it needs to be lived at hospital level, says Simon Mackenzie. The Health Foundation

New powers to check language skills of doctors

New powers to check language skills of doctors: New checks are being introduced to make sure all doctors who work for the NHS can speak English well enough to treat patients.
The checks are detailed in the government response, published today, to the House of Commons Health Committee Report ’2012 Accountability Hearing with the General Medical Council’.

'Less than half' of dementia sufferers have 'good quality of life' in care homes

'Less than half' of dementia sufferers have 'good quality of life' in care homes:
Less than half of dementia sufferers living in care homes enjoy a good quality of life, a charity has warned as it revealed that record numbers of people in care homes have the condition. The Independent

See also:

• 'Forgotten scandal' of mediocre care homes The Daily Telegraph
• Dementia in care homes 'more common BBC News
• VIDEO: Rising number of dementia cases BBC News
• Low expectations: attitudes on choice, care and community for people with dementia in care homes Alzheimer's Society

Mobile data services will 'revolutionise' people's lives

Mobile data services will 'revolutionise' people's lives: Reducing health service costs by hundreds of billions and the saving of millions of lives to result from mobile data demand 'explosion' Public Service

Religious Rights in the Workplace

Religious Rights in the Workplace: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published new guidance to help employers and employees deal with the expression of religion or belief at work. NHS Employers

Updated immigration 'quick guides'

Updated immigration 'quick guides': The NHS Employers organisation has published updated versions of three immigration 'quick guides', designed for use when recruiting individuals who require a sponsor to work in the UK. NHS Employers

See also:

• New summary guide to prevention of illegal working

Procurement, patient choice and competition regulations

Procurement, patient choice and competition regulations: These regulations are being put into place under Section 75 of Health and Social Care Act 2012 in order to maintain key existing requirements falling on Primary Care Trusts. This includes establishing good procurement practice, protecting patient choice, and addressing
anti-competitive conduct where this acts against the interests of patients.

• Impact assessment
• Department of Health - news

NHS heading for more competition under coalition

NHS heading for more competition under coalition: Despite the rhetoric around integrated care, the market-oriented thrust of the NHS reforms seems to be the only show in town.
The political battleground over the future of the NHS is now taking a recognisable shape – the coalition supports competition while the Labour Party supports integration.

GP contract changes could damage care

GP contract changes could damage care:
The British Medical Association has warned that proposals to make changes to the current GP contract could impact on the standard of care offered by doctors.The BMA issued their response following the government consultation to implement comprehensive changes to the GP contract in April this year.The association carried out an analysis of how the proposals would affect doctors' work and funding options, in addi... Healthcare Today

Rural GP surgeries at risk of closure

Rural GP surgeries at risk of closure: Smaller rural GP surgeries could be forced to close because of contract changes that will see them squeezed "until the pips squeak". The Daily Telegraph

Tory MPs to demand resignation of NHS chief over Mid Staffs scandal

Tory MPs to demand resignation of NHS chief over Mid Staffs scandal: Conservative MPs will today demand the resignation of Sir David Nicholson, the NHS chief executive implicated in the Mid Staffs hospital scandal. The Daily Telegraph

Turning Readmission Reduction Policies into Results: Some Lessons from a Multistate Initiative to Reduce Readmissions

Turning Readmission Reduction Policies into Results: Some Lessons from a Multistate Initiative to Reduce Readmissions: In this study, researchers examine the early experiences of participants in the State Action on Avoidable Rehospitalizations (STAAR) initiative, a four-year effort begun by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in 2009 and supported by The Commonwealth Fund.