GP idea for hospital A&E department

GP idea for hospital A&E department: A family doctor could be appointed to work in a Northamptonshire accident and emergency department in a bid to free up resources. BBC Northamptonshire

NHS criticised for £500k ambulance fine threat - Northampton Chronicle & Echo

NHS criticised for £500k ambulance fine threat - Northampton Chronicle & Echo:

Northampton Chronicle & Echo

NHS criticised for £500k ambulance fine threat Northampton Chronicle & Echo Papers published by NHS Northamptonshire warned that if the total fines reach £1 million “it will put EMAS in financial difficulty”. Moya McVicar, former chairman of the health group watchdog, LINk, said: “I find the situation crazy that an NHS body ... and more »

Nurses 'drowning in paperwork'

Nurses 'drowning in paperwork': Nurses are "drowning in a sea of paperwork" with more than a sixth of the working week taken up doing non-essential paperwork, a survey suggests. BBC News

See also

• Nursing staff facing paperwork overload The RCN
• NHS Confederation comments on RCN survey on bureaucracy
• Patients denied care as nurses fill in forms The Independent
• Nurses swamped by paperwork The Daily Telegraph
• Too busy for patients... nurses spend FIFTH of their time on paperwork The Daily Mail

Nurses brand reforms as 'stupid'

Nurses brand reforms as 'stupid': Nurses' leaders have branded parts of the government's plans to reform the profession as "stupid", at their annual conference. BBC News

See also:

• Nursing leaders raise major concerns over staffing levels and Government's plan to get trainee nurses working as healthcare assistants The Independent
• Hunt's nurse training plan is really stupid, says union leader The Daily Telegraph
• Nurses spare ministers from annual jeering The Guardian

Labour launching care commission

Labour launching care commission: Labour is to set up an independent commission to look at integrating health and social care, warning the health budget faces a £29bn shortfall by 2020. BBC News

Exclusive: Measles outbreak in London 'inevitable' as practices urged to prepare

Exclusive: Measles outbreak in London 'inevitable' as practices urged to prepare: LMCs have warned GPs in London to prepare for the 'inevitable' arrival of the measles outbreak in the capital and warned it could kill hundreds. GP Online

New guidance on the use of compromise agreements, confidentiality clauses, and the process for making severance payments

New guidance on the use of compromise agreements, confidentiality clauses, and the process for making severance payments: On 19 April 2013, the NHS Employers organisation published new guidance for employers to provide clarity around the use of compromise agreements and confidentiality clauses. NHS Employers

Cancer's hidden price tag: revealing the costs behind the illness

Cancer's hidden price tag: revealing the costs behind the illness: This research was commissioned in order to calculate the financial impacts of cancer, revealing just how hard the costs are hitting patients. It shows that  financial support is not always easy to access or good enough for cancer patients. The benefits system can be complex and difficult to understand. People are not always aware of the financial help available to them, such as free prescriptions.

• Report
• Macmillan - campaigns

The changing national role in health system governance: a case-based study of 11 European countries and Australia

The changing national role in health system governance: a case-based study of 11 European countries and Australia: This study of 12 countries, including England, provides an overview of recent changes in national governments’ role in the governance of health systems, focusing on efforts to reconfigure responsibilities for
health policy, regulation and management; the resultant policy priorities; and the initial impact. The shift in responsibilities shows little uniform direction: a number of countries have centralized certain areas of decision-making or regulation but decentralized others. The study reviews common trends, based on the country cases, and assesses potential future developments.

• Study
• WHO - publications

GlaxoSmithKline accused of paying rivals to delay generic medicine

GlaxoSmithKline accused of paying rivals to delay generic medicine: OFT launches investigation into allegations GSK abused market dominance to keep price of antidepressant drug Seroxat high.
GlaxoSmithKline could face a multimillion-pound fine over allegations it paid other drug companies to slow down production of cheaper versions of its most profitable antidepressant, burdening taxpayers with inflated costs for NHS medicines.

The 8,000 NHS staff on six figure salaries

The 8,000 NHS staff on six figure salaries: Almost 8,000 NHS hospital managers and consultants were paid six-figure salaries last year while nurses were "run ragged" because of dangerously low staffing levels. The Daily Telegraph

More women than men suffer heart disease

More women than men suffer heart disease: 
The stereotype of the overweight, unfit bloke as a heart attack in waiting masks a deadly fact. In fact, more young women suffer from cardiovascular problems than men, heart experts warn. Across the UK, there are 710,000 women, aged 16-44, living with heart disease compared to 570,000 men, according to British Heart Foundation (BHF) research. The Independent

Nurses concerned over staff levels

Nurses concerned over staff levels:
Three-quarters of hospital wards in England are operating with unsafe staffing levels at least once a month, a survey of nursing managers says today. The Independent

See also:

• Mandatory safe staffing levels urgently needed The RCN

Forging Community Partnerships to Improve Health Care: The Experience of Four Medicaid Managed Care Organizations

Forging Community Partnerships to Improve Health Care: The Experience of Four Medicaid Managed Care Organizations: This issue brief explores how four managed care organizations serving vulnerable populations are changing the way care is delivered by investing in a strong community presence. The Commonwealth Fund