Measles jab plan targets 1m children

Measles jab plan targets 1m children: One million schoolchildren in England are to be targeted by a measles vaccination plan aimed at curbing the growing threat of outbreaks.  BBC News

See also:

• NHS England urges parents to get their children vaccinated against measles NHS England
• Measles outbreak: In graphics BBC News
• VIDEO: Overcoming MMR vaccine fears BBC News
• Record measles outbreak triggers national jab campaign GP Online
• Measles outbreak: race to give a million children MMR jabs The Independent
• MMR vaccine 'only way to protect your child', says immunisation expert The Daily Telegraph
• The fight against measles The Daily Telegraph

Can we keep up with the demand for urgent and emergency care?

Can we keep up with the demand for urgent and emergency care?: The urgent and emergency care system is under severe pressure. Performance on a number of important indicators, including the four-hour wait and ambulance handover targets, is heading in the wrong direction. Demand is growing and calls for work to be shifted out of hospital look oddly out of line with a system that cannot even constrain, let alone reduce, the rate of increase in many places. Our recent study for NHS South of England raises some questions about the management of urgent and emergency care and identifies some important lessons.

Guidance: Managing Healthcare Fire Safety

Guidance: Managing Healthcare Fire Safety: Updated: This second edition of HTM 05-01updates the previous edition from 2006 and places more emphasis on the importance of training.

This guidance (HTM 05-01) sets out the Department of Health’s policy on fire safety in the NHS in England. It includes best practice guidance on management arrangements for fire safety.

Living a conjoined life

Living a conjoined life: How do two people inhabit one body and live life to the full? BBC News

GPs face funding cuts as PMS reviews continue

GPs face funding cuts as PMS reviews continue: Practices in parts of England could face funding cuts this year under PMS reviews, despite a commitment from NHS England to 'pause' changes ahead of a wider contract overhaul from 2014. GP Online

The Big EPR Debate: the first 100 comments

The Big EPR Debate: the first 100 comments: The NHS is once again being urged to adopt electronic patient records on an unfeasibly tight timescale. E-Health Insider

Frontline first: nursing on red alert

Frontline first: nursing on red alert: This report from the RCN has found that the number of district nurses in England fell by 39 per cent between 2002 and 2012, while preventable emergency admissions rose by 40 per cent over the same period. It identifies areas for improvement in order to avoid a nursing crisis in the future, including boards regularly monitoring up-to-date information on their workforce and greater investment in community and specialist nurses, who manage long-term conditions and reduce consultant appointments and hospital visits

• Report
• RCN - publications

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 and associated secondary legislation and guidance

The Health and Social Care Act 2012 and associated secondary legislation and guidance: This document is a summary of changes to secondary legislation as a consequence of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and is intended to highlight the relevant provisions.

• Summary
• Department of Health - publications

Commissioning health and social care for people with dementia

Commissioning health and social care for people with dementia: NICE has produced a guide for commissioners on dementia, which aims to help improve the commissioning of health and social care support for people with the condition, and for their carers.

How are hospital managers responding to the Francis report?

How are hospital managers responding to the Francis report?: NHS hospital managers have the most urgent need to change their ways, but are they taking the Francis report seriously?

Bird flu strain in China is ‘lethal’

Bird flu strain in China is ‘lethal’:
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that a new strain of bird flu that has killed 22 people in China is “one of the most lethal” flu viruses so far, and that it is more easily transmittable from poultry to humans than an earlier strain that has killed hundreds around the world since 2003. The Independent

See also:

• Taiwan reports first bird flu case BBC News

Hospital hotels: patients to be cared for by family members under NHS cost-cutting plans

Hospital hotels: patients to be cared for by family members under NHS cost-cutting plans: Family members could be put in charge of caring for sick relatives in hospital if plans to roll out "patient hotels" get the green light. The Daily Telegraph

GPs blamed for crisis in out-of-hours health care

GPs blamed for crisis in out-of-hours health care: Failure of GPs to provide proper out-of-hours care has forced millions of extra patients to attend hospital A&E departments, where they do not get the medicines, checks or support they need, the Health Secretary will warn. The Daily Telegraph

Thousands of hospital patients may have died needlessly, says inquiry

Thousands of hospital patients may have died needlessly, says inquiry: Almost 3,000 people may have died unnecessarily in just one year at the 14 NHS trusts whose excessive mortality rates were reviewed in the wake of the Mid Staffordshire scandal, it emerged today. The Daily Telegraph