Mock health inspections aim to boost quality

Mock health inspections aim to boost quality A new scheme of mock inspections of community health services has started in Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in a bid to drive up standards and ensure services are fit for purpose. Northamptonshire Telegraph

999 recommendations ‘need to be backed by cash’

999 recommendations ‘need to be backed by cash’ Recommendations from a new Government report will only bring relief for paramedics and patients if backed by funds and political will, the East Midlands Ambulance Service chief has said. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Ambulance service chief backs call for more community care Northamptonshire Telegraph

St Andrews nurse struck off for using patient's bank card

St Andrews nurse struck off for using patient's bank card A senior nurse who bought herself goods after snatching a mental health patient’s bank card from a hospital safe has been struck off.

Jean Mberi twice withdrew funds from the woman’s bank account while she was being treated at St Andrew’s Hospital in Northampton.

The woman, referred to as Patient A, had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and had her possessions, including her bank card, kept in the hospital’s safe.

But Mberi took the woman’s debit card and withdrew a total of £220 out of her bank account, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard. Northampton Herald and Post

Why are we still using ECT?

Why are we still using ECT? Why are we still using electricity to treat depression? BBC News

VIDEO: UK rejects meningitis B vaccine

VIDEO: UK rejects meningitis B vaccine The only vaccine to protect against a deadly form of meningitis should not be introduced in the UK, the body that advises governments on immunisation says. BBC News

Can surgery help after genital mutilation?

Can surgery help after genital mutilation? Can surgery bring hope to survivors of genital mutilation? BBC News

Professional indemnity - forthcoming changes

Professional indemnity - forthcoming changes Legislation is being prepared by the UK Government to take effect in late 2013. It will require all statutory regulated healthcare professionals to have relevant insurance or indemnity to cover their practice & confirm this to their professional body. NHS Employers

CQC introduces new changes to inspection plans

CQC introduces new changes to inspection plans CQC’s new Chief Inspector of Hospitals, Professor Sir Mike Richards is introducing radical changes to the way hospitals in England are inspected. These are expected to be introduced in August. NHS Employers

Foundation trusts ''to recruit 4,000 nurses''

Foundation trusts ''to recruit 4,000 nurses'' NHS Foundation Trusts have said they intend to recruit 10,000 more clinical staff in 2013/14 Public Service

NHS 111 is a 'sorry saga', say MPs

NHS 111 is a 'sorry saga', say MPs The national deployment for NHS 111 was undertaken prematurely and without a sufficiently sound evidence base, warns Commons Health Committee Public Service

NHS Bed-blockers are taking up two wards in each hospital

NHS Bed-blockers are taking up two wards in each hospital Cuts to council social care have been blamed for restricting care home places and delaying the provision of help for older people in their own homes. The Daily Mail

NHS faces chronic shortage of staff, warns King's Fund

NHS faces chronic shortage of staff, warns King's Fund Deepening gaps in service's workforce so serious that bosses are under pressure to alter pay agreements to attract staff.

Global search for new NHS boss

Global search for new NHS boss Outgoing NHS England boss Sir David Nicholson could be replaced with someone from outside the UK, officials have said.The Daily Telegraph

Anxiety disorders cost £10 billion a year

Anxiety disorders cost £10 billion a year More than eight million people in Britain suffer from anxiety disorders caused by the pressures of modern life, costing the country nearly £10 billion a year, according to a new study. The Daily Telegraph

NHS will not give meningitis B vaccine to all UK's children

NHS will not give meningitis B vaccine to all UK's children

A vaccine that protects against a deadly form of meningitis should not yet be made available to all children in the UK, the Government’s advisors on immunisation have said. The Independent