Hospital ward staffing levels 'must be made public daily'

Hospital ward staffing levels 'must be made public daily'  The number of nurses on duty in every hospital ward should be collected daily and made publicly available to help prevent a repeat of the Mid Staffs scandal, MPs will recommend tomorrow.  Independent

• Hospital wards should publish ratio of staff to patients every day, say MPs  Guardian
• MPs urge openness on nurse numbers  BBC News

You can't get the staff these days: the shifting NHS workforce

You can't get the staff these days: the shifting NHS workforce  James Thompson

From humble beginnings, the NHS workforce has grown from approximately 144,000 in 1948 to more than 1.03 million in May this year. The NHS is the largest employer in the United Kingdom and is often touted as one of the biggest employers in the world. 

Between March and April 2013 however, the NHS hospital and community health service workforce in England decreased by more than 11,600 full-time posts. Were these reductions in line with previous seasonal patterns or is there something bigger at play in the 'new' health system, which continues to grapple with flat-funding and tough productivity challenges?

NHS set to miss £20 billion savings target

NHS set to miss £20 billion savings target  The NHS will struggle to meet its target of delivering £20 billion in productivity improvements by 2015 according to The King's Fund's latest quarterly monitoring report.

Only 1 in 10 (10 per cent) of NHS finance directors surveyed for the report rated the chances of meeting the target as better than 50/50. The majority (56 per cent) identified a high or very high risk that the target will not be met, while a third (34 per cent) rated the likelihood of success as 50/50.

The survey – which this quarter includes finance leads from clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) as well as trust finance directors – highlights the growing pressures on NHS providers. Only a third (33 per cent) of trusts surveyed expect to meet their cost improvement targets for 2013/14 – a sharp fall on the same quarter last year when nearly three-quarters were confident of meeting their targets. Commissioners are more optimistic, with 72 per cent of CCG finance leads expecting to meet their organisation’s targets.

Analysis of NHS performance data for the first quarter of 2013/14 shows most indicators are broadly stable, although A&E waiting times remain comparatively high. Over the quarter, 241,000 patients (4.3 per cent) spent four hours or more in A&E; although this is back within target range, it is the highest level for this quarter since 2004. With 61 hospitals breaching the government’s target, this reinforces the challenge the NHS faces in managing pressures in A&E over the coming winter, despite the new funding announced last week by the Secretary of State.

• NHS finances, A&E waiting times and bed shortages all worsening - survey  Guardian
• NHS ‘will not make £20bn savings’ say senior managers  Independent

PAC doubts DH can deliver paperless NHS

PAC doubts DH can deliver paperless NHS  The Department of Health has come in for stinging criticism over the way it handled National Programme for IT contacts from Parliament's spending watchdog, which has also cast doubt on its ability to deliver a 'paperless' NHS by 2018.  EHI News

• Abandoned NHS IT system has cost £10bn so far  Guardian
• Health IT 'fiasco' costs rising  BBC News

Mental illness and unhappiness

Mental illness and unhappiness 
Centre for Economic Performance 

This paper is a contribution to the second World Happiness Report. It argues that: mental health is the biggest single predictor of life-satisfaction; depression and anxiety are more common during working age than in later life,  accounting for a high proportion of disability, major economic costs, and financial losses to governments worldwide; in rich countries treatment is likely to have no net cost to the Exchequer due to savings on welfare benefits and lost taxes, and even in poor countries a reasonable level of coverage could be obtained at a cost of under $2 per head of population per year.

• Report
• World happiness report 2013
• CEP - publications

NHS England’s 1st Annual General Meeting: the public’s voice – Olivia Butterworth

NHS England’s 1st Annual General Meeting: the public’s voice – Olivia Butterworth  On a grey September afternoon 250 (ish) people came together from all over the country – people who use NHS services, people who provide services, Carers, volunteers, Drs, Nurses, young people, policy people, people who commission services, people from Healthwatch, voluntary organisations and NHS England – bringing colour, vibrancy and energy to five really important conversations.

NHS England’s first Annual General Meeting was a significant opportunity for us to create spaces for people to discuss issues together that are fundamentally important to all of us. We had two aims for the day: -

• To engage in open and informed debate about our aspirations for the future
• To create space for participation that informs our work, offering different views and ideas

Smoking and mental health

Smoking and mental health  It examines the evidence of what works to reduce harm from smoking for this group and how providers are implementing the smoking ban in practice.  NHS Networks

Optimising medicines use in care pathways using pharmacy support

Optimising medicines use in care pathways using pharmacy support  his document will guide you through the four key questions that should be asked each time medicines are required in a care pathway and why these questions matter. It then highlights how pharmacy services might help deliver a service which is safe, effective and provides the best patient experience.  NHS Networks

'The system needs to get smarter' − achieving 24/7 care

'The system needs to get smarter' − achieving 24/7 care  The NHS fails to meet people’s OOH needs. HSJ Primary Care

Liverpool aims for 1,000 on telehealth

Liverpool aims for 1,000 on telehealth  Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust aims to have 1000 telehealth patients within the next two years.  EHI News

Eight in ten NHS desktops still on XP

Eight in ten NHS desktops still on XP  Microsoft's decision to end support for Windows XP in April next year looks set to cause major problems for the NHS, which still has 85% of its desktops running on the obsolete operating system.  EHI News

NHS Confederation comments on launch of CQC's new inspection programme

NHS Confederation comments on launch of CQC's new inspection programme  The Care Quality Commission's new inspection programme will begin with inspection of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust.

Women who experience domestic violence are almost twice as likely to suffer from depression and vice versa

Women who experience domestic violence are almost twice as likely to suffer from depression and vice versa  In June this year The World Health Organisation (WHO) published a report, which highlighted violence against women as a ‘global health problem of epidemic proportions’. The report detailed the impact of violence on the physical and mental health of women and girls. This can range from broken bones to pregnancy-related complications, mental problems and impaired [read the full story...] The Mental Elf

Mental health team to assess Surrey police custody site detainees - BBC News

Mental health team to assess Surrey police custody site detainees - BBC News 
Mental health workers are to assess people being held at four police custody sites in Surrey. Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust said the £300,000 scheme would cover sites in Guildford, Staines, Salfords and Woking. The team will ...