CQC chiefs admit cover-up error

CQC chiefs admit cover-up error Bosses at England's health regulator admit they "got it wrong" when they blocked the release of the names of officials accused of a cover-up. BBC News

See also:

• Further evidence of NHS cover-up exposed The Daily Telegraph
• CQC whistleblower re-appointed The Daily Telegraph
• CQC chiefs say redacting names from report on alleged cover-up was mistake The Guardian

Herbal stimulant khat to be banned

Herbal stimulant khat to be banned The UK is to ban the herbal stimulant khat, going against the advice of its own drugs advisory body. BBC News

New ESR case studies published

New ESR case studies published Two new case studies from the NHS ESR Central Team are now available including one from HPMA Award winners Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. NHS Employers

NHS England reaffirms its commitment to reducing health gap

NHS England reaffirms its commitment to reducing health gap NHS England has reaffirmed its commitment to reducing the gap in life expectancy. There is more than 11 years for men and 10 for women between the richest and poorest in the country.

Long-term night shifts can 'double' breast cancer risk

Long-term night shifts can 'double' breast cancer risk “Women who work long-term night-shift jobs … are twice as likely to develop breast cancer,” is the story in The Independent, as well as a number of other newspapers.

The report is based on a study which found that women who worked night shifts for 30 years or more were twice as likely to develop breast cancer.

Other studies have previously suggested a link between shift work and breast cancer, but they have mainly been confined to nurses. In this study, researchers looked at women working in many different roles.

Bowel cancer: national audit confirms for the first time huge difference in survival rates between surgery and non-surgery patients

Bowel cancer: national audit confirms for the first time huge difference in survival rates between surgery and non-surgery patients  Patients who have operation almost twice as likely to live two years beyond diagnosis. Health & Social Care Information Centre

NHS Direct pulls out of two 111 medical helpline contracts

NHS Direct pulls out of two 111 medical helpline contracts The new non-emergency NHS phoneline has been thrown into turmoil after a supplier pulled out of two contracts for providing the service.

NHS Direct has said it will be unable to provide the phoneline in two regions - despite winning the contracts to deliver service.

NHS Direct won 11 of the 46 contracts for the 111 service, but it said it could not provide the service in North Essex and Cornwall because the contract terms were "financially unsustainable". The Guardian

See also:

• 'Major' problems for NHS 111 service BBC News 
• NHS non-emergency 111 telephone service crisis deepens as provider warns it is unsustainable The Independent

Hospitals block patient complaints on legal grounds

Hospitals block patient complaints on legal grounds Hospitals are routinely using the threat of legal action to block investigations into medical blunders, patient safety campaigners have claimed, as they threaten a legal challenge against the Health Secretary. The Daily Telegraph

Doctors to monitor NHS patients via video link

Doctors to monitor NHS patients via video link Critically ill NHS patients are to be monitored via video link by doctors in a central contol room for the first time in Britain as part of a new scheme aimed to improve out-of-hours care.The Daily Telegraph

Fears of a care crisis at another NHS hospital

Fears of a care crisis at another NHS hospital There are fears of a new crisis at an NHS hospital after a report found patients are forced to wait for days to be seen and the care is so chaotic they are left in pain. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Fears of new care crisis at NHS hospital The Guardian

Foreigners to be made to pay £200 to use NHS

Foreigners to be made to pay £200 to use NHS Foreigners who visit Britain for more than six months will be made to pay at least £200 a year to use NHS services, under a set of proposals to be introduced tomorrow. The Independent

See also:

• Foreigners to face more NHS charges BBC News
• Charging immigrants for NHS is fair to British taxpayers, says Jeremy Hunt The Daily Telegraph
• New migrants to face £1,000 healthcare levy The Guardian
• Foreign nationals to pay for GP visits under DH crackdown GP Online
• Open consultation: Migrant access to the NHS Department of Health
• Press release: Proposals to reform migrant access to health and housing unveiled Department of Health

'One size fits all' BMI index may be wrongly applied by doctors for ethnic groups, says NICE

'One size fits all' BMI index may be wrongly applied by doctors for ethnic groups, says NICE Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups may be missing out on treatment for weight-related conditions such as diabetes because doctors wrongly using a “one size fits all” obesity measure, NICE has said. The Independent

See also:

• Consider lower BMI risk thresholds for people from black, Asian and minority groups NICE