Thursday 8 August 2013

Press release: £500 million to relieve pressures on A&E

Press release: £500 million to relieve pressures on A&E Department of Health
A&E departments will benefit from an additional £500 million over the next two years to ensure they are fully prepared for winter, Prime Minister David Cameron announced today.
With over one million more people visiting A&E compared to three years ago, last year’s harsh winter put exceptional pressure on urgent and emergency wards.
The new funding will go to A&E departments identified as being under the most pressure and be targeted at ‘pinch points’ in local services.
Hospitals have put forward proposals aimed at improving how their services work. These include improvements to both A&E and improvements to other services away from A&E so there are less unnecessary visits or longer stays in urgent and emergency wards.
The aim will be for patients to be treated promptly, with fewer delays in A&E, and for other patients to get the care, prescriptions or advice they need without going to A&E.

Guy's does e-noting

Guy's does e-noting Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is digitising 130 hospital forms to be made available via a portal being developed by an in-house team. EHI News

IT experts question HES expansion plans

IT experts question HES expansion plans NHS IT directors are questioning whether most hospitals can get the IT in place to allow a hugely expanded dataset to be extracted by April 2014. EHI News

The NHS as a driver for growth

The NHS as a driver for growth This report by the Council for Science and Technology looks at ways to increase innovation and decrease costs in the NHS. It argues that the NHS will need to work with innovative businesses and that cultural change is required in the NHS in order to support innovation.

Systems to facilitate evidence-informed decision-making

Systems to facilitate evidence-informed decision-making "Some of the identified supports may increase the use of research evidence by decision-makers, which may then lead to more informed decisions, and hopefully to a strengthened health system and improved health."

What supports do health system organizations have in place to facilitate evidence-informed decision-making? a qualitative study
ME Ellen, G Leon, G Bouchard, JN Lavis, M Ouimet, JM Grimshaw
Implementation Science, 2013, 8:84

Read more here.

Experts urge caution as junior doctors start work

Experts urge caution as junior doctors start work Research suggests death rates rise by 6% among patients admitted today. OnMedica News

Two dead amid suspicion that bird flu passed between humans

Two dead amid suspicion that bird flu passed between humans Officials in China say the new H7N9 virus probably passed between father and carer daughter. OnMedica News

New test allows surgeons to detect spread of breast cancer tumours immediately

New test allows surgeons to detect spread of breast cancer tumours immediately Thousands of breast cancer patients could be spared agonising waits to find out whether they need follow-up surgery thanks to a new test that can detect whether a cancer has spread during the initial operation to remove a tumour. Independent

Summing up suicide data in bipolar disorder

Summing up suicide data in bipolar disorder People with bipolar disorder are found to be at greater risk of suicide compared to the general population. Clinicians should be more vigilant for signs of suicidality in this patient group. Suicide, the taking of one’s own life, sadly is the cause of death for around 5,500 people in the United Kingdom each year. In [read the full story...] The Mental Elf

Good practice guidance on patient group directions

Good practice guidance on patient group directions The guidance has been developed to help individuals and organisations who are considering the need for, developing, authorising, using and/or updating PGDs to ensure they are appropriate, legal and that relevant governance arrangements are in place within commissioning and provider organisations.
The guidance underlines that supplying and/or administering medicines under PGD should be reserved for situations where this offers an advantage for patient care without compromising patient safety and where there are clear governance arrangements and accountability. NHS Networks

European cross border healthcare

European cross border healthcare NHS England has published new information for commissioners on European cross border healthcare.
The document sets out the associated roles and responsibilities of NHS England, CCGs and CSUs and summarises the requirements of the EU Directive on cross border healthcare, which becomes UK law in October 2013.