Wednesday 8 May 2013

Healthy lives, healthy people: towards a workforce strategy for the public health system: a consultation - summary of responses

Healthy lives, healthy people: towards a workforce strategy for the public health system: a consultation - summary of responses:
This document provides a summary of the responses received to a consultation on ways to support and develop the public health workforce.
The original consultation sought views on recruitment and retention; the role of local education and training boards; and ways to strengthen academic public health and the public health information and intelligence function.
Kings Fund

NHS 111 'shows signs of improvement'

NHS 111 'shows signs of improvement': There are signs the 111 non-emergency helpline is getting better after the bank holiday weekend passed by without major problems, NHS England says.
BBC News

New measures unveiled to protect people if care providers fail

New measures unveiled to protect people if care providers fail:
Care and support minister Norman Lamb announced legislation to give the Care Quality Commission (CQC) powers to oversee the financial stability of the largest and most difficult to replace care providers.

The role of local authorities is also being clarified so that, if a care provider fails, local authorities will have ultimate responsibility for ensuring continuity of care for all people receiving care regardless of who is funding the services.
NHS Networks

Guide to the healthcare system in England

Guide to the healthcare system in England:
The Guide to the Healthcare System in England covers:
  • Providing care
  • Commissioning care
  • Safeguarding patients
  • Empowering patients and local communities
  • Education and training
  • Supporting providers of care
  • The role of the secretary of state for health
The accountability statement explains how decision making works in the NHS and fulfils the commitment set out in principle 7 of the NHS Constitution.
NHS Networks

Final 2012/13 staff flu vaccination figures released by the Department of Health

Final 2012/13 staff flu vaccination figures released by the Department of Health: Figures reveal that a greater proportion of NHS staff than ever before are now vaccinated against flu. NHS Employers News

'The stuff of Nobel prizes': The backache breakthrough? Half a million sufferers 'could be cured with antibiotics'

'The stuff of Nobel prizes': The backache breakthrough? Half a million sufferers 'could be cured with antibiotics':
Up to half a million patients with chronic low back pain may be suffering from an infection that can be treated with antibiotics.
Independent

Dedicated web pages launched for 74 specialised services Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs)

Dedicated web pages launched for 74 specialised services Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs):
NHS England has today launched a series of web pages dedicated to each of the 74 specialised services Clinical Reference Groups (CRGs).
CRGs cover the full range of specialised services and are responsible for providing NHS England with clinical advice regarding these directly commissioned services. The CRGs are made up of clinicians, commissioners, Public Health experts and patients and carers, and are responsible for the delivery of key ‘products’ such as service specifications and commissioning policies, which enable NHS England to commission services from specialist providers through the contracting arrangements overseen by its Area Teams.
National Programmes of Care and Clinical Reference Groups web pages
NHS Commissioning

Mentally-ill patients were 'Tasered' more than 50 times

Mentally-ill patients were 'Tasered' more than 50 times:
Police have resorted to firing Tasers to subdue mentally-ill patients in hospital and care homes more than 50 times in three years, Freedom of Information requests have disclosed.
Independent

New Choose & Book by end of year

New Choose & Book by end of year: NHS England plans to have a redeveloped Choose and Book service operating by the end of this year. EHI News

Is the NHS really that bad – what does the evidence show?

Is the NHS really that bad – what does the evidence show?:
The Care Quality Commission's annual inpatient survey suggests that the negative press is by no means all justified
Judging by recent media coverage, you might be forgiven for thinking that the NHS has become a patient's nightmare, with doctors and nurses routinely mistreating or ignoring those in their care, leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths in hospitals across the country.
What does the evidence say? The Care Quality Commission's annual inpatient survey – looking at the experiences of more than 64,500 people admitted to NHS hospitals in England in 2012 – got precious little media coverage. But it paints a very different picture.
Most of its survey questions give patients the choice of answering "yes, always", "yes, sometimes or to some extent" or "not at all".
In 2012, 80% of patients said they were always treated with dignity and respect in hospital, with only 3% saying they weren't. 80% said they always had confidence in the doctors treating them and 76% always had confidence in the nurses treating them, with only 3% not having confidence in either case. Ninety percent of the patients surveyed said they were always given enough privacy when being examined or treated; only 1% said they weren't.
When asked the key summary question – to rate their overall experience on a scale of 0 to 10 – 93% rated the experience at or above the average score of 5 and only 7% rated the experience below 5.
The 2012 survey shows a range of small year on year changes (usually 1 or 2% up or down) but it's more instructive to look at the 10-year sweep. The period 2002-12 shows substantial and demonstrable improvements across a range of areas that we know are important to patients.
Hospitals are now a lot cleaner: 68% of patients stated that their ward was very clean in 2012, up from 57% in 2002 (and another 33% in 2012 thought they were fairly clean). 92% of patients didn't have to share a ward with the opposite sex, up from 75% in 2002. The proportion of patients who felt that doctors often talked in front of them as if they weren't there decreased from 23% to 5% in 2012.
We all recognise how crucial it is to integrate our health and social care systems for good health outcomes. The survey shows that trusts are forging these important links within their local communities. Since 2002 there has been a marked decrease in the proportion of patients who felt there was a need to discuss further health or social care arrangements after leaving hospital and who would have liked to discuss this with staff but were unable to. The percentage went down from 33% in 2002 to 16% in 2012. Delayed discharges are also on a downward trend with the percentage of patients whose discharge was delayed falling from 48% in 2002 to 41% in 2012.
It's not a uniformly positive picture; there are a number of areas where the NHS needs to do better. No one can be satisfied that 20% of patients didn't feel they were given enough information about their treatment or that 48% of patients felt that they had to wait three minutes or longer for their call button to be answered.
But, overall, this evidence confirms the view that poor pockets of care are exactly that – pockets – and that poor care is not widespread, universal or endemic. We should, therefore, celebrate the successes of the NHS with the same enthusiasm and regularity as we, rightly, criticise the places where care has failed.
Guardian