Head of nursing at Northamptonshire NHS trust has died suddenly - Northampton Chronicle & Echo

Head of nursing at Northamptonshire NHS trust has died suddenly - Northampton Chronicle & Echo  Angela Hillery, chief executive of Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It is with deep regret that we learned of the sad and sudden death of Sharon Dennis, Interim Director of Nursing. “Sharon was a Registered Mental Health Nurse ...

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Lethal discrimination

Lethal discrimination 
Rethink Mental Illness 

This report finds that people with serious mental illness die an average of 20 years earlier than the rest of the population, the majority from preventable causes. It calls on the Government to take immediate action.

• Report
• Rethink Mental Illness - campaigns

Hospitals earning milions by charging for operations no longer available on NHS

Hospitals earning millions by charging for operations no longer available on NHS  Hospitals are earning millions of pounds by charging for operations that used to be free on the NHS but have now been axed on the health service.Daily Telegraph

Concern over premature deaths as millions die early

Concern over premature deaths as millions die early  Every person in England loses a week of their life to illnesses which could otherwise be treated successfully - with those living in the north even more likely to die prematurely, new figures have revealed.Daily Telegraph

MMR vaccine: Biggest percentage of children immunised since vaccine introduced

MMR vaccine: Biggest percentage of children immunised since vaccine introduced  September 26, 2013: The percentage of children reported as immunised against Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) by the age of two is now at its highest level since the vaccine was first introduced in England, new figures show. IC QOF

Breast cancer test may stop un-needed therapy

Breast cancer test may stop un-needed therapy  “
New breast cancer test could spare women chemotherapy,” is the reassuring news in The Guardian.

New tests, approved by NICE (see box), should help better identify which women with breast cancerwould most benefit from chemotherapy.

The new test, called Oncotype DX, is used after surgery for breast cancer. The test works by looking at how active certain genes are in the tumour. Levels of gene activity should  help predict whether the tumour is likely to recur.

The test has now been recommended by NICE for people with a certain type of early breast cancer – specifically the oestrogen receptor positive (ER+) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2-) types of breast cancers. These are cancers that are associated with specific hormones.

AMHP Competency - mapping tool

AMHP Competency - mapping tool 
The College of Social Work 

This tool aims to demonstrate how competencies required by social workers working as Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs) meet professional development requirements for regulatory registration. The tool is designed to enable social worker AMHPs to map their continuing professional development targets within The College’s Professional Capabilities Framework to the standards of proficiency they need to meet for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council.

• Mapping tool
• The College of Social Work - press release

Ethnic doctors far less likely to reach senior posts in NHS

Ethnic doctors far less likely to reach senior posts in NHS  White doctors are three times more likely to be picked for senior hospital jobs than doctors from ethnic minorities, an investigation has found.  Independent

District nursing - who will care in the future?

District nursing - who will care in the future?
 National Nursing Research Unit 

This Policy and reviews data on the district nursing workforce, looks at the issues to be considered in planning, and considers whether the workforce needed to provide district nursing care in the future will be available.

• Report
• National Nursing Research Unit - publications

GMC advises almost 8,000 doctors that their licence to practise is at risk

GMC advises almost 8,000 doctors that their licence to practise is at risk  Doctors who have not responded to requests from the General Medical Council (GMC) to provide information for their revalidation have been told that their licence to practise is at risk. 

NHS England issues user-friendly guidance for public participation

NHS England issues user-friendly guidance for public participation  Transforming Participation in Health and Care is intended to be accessible and user friendly and is published as an interactive PDF on the NHS England website. It includes case studies, tools and links to other user resources.  NHS Networks

NHS England invites specialised services providers to take part in its innovative new programme ‘Commissioning through Evaluation’

NHS England invites specialised services providers to take part in its innovative new programme ‘Commissioning through Evaluation’  NHS England is inviting Specialist hospitals to take part in a new, innovative commissioning approach, aimed at increasing access to services or treatments which are not currently routinely funded by the NHS.

The first treatment to benefit, as part of the Commissioning through Evaluation programme, will be Selective Internal Radiotherapy (SIRT), a form of radiotherapy which uses radioactive beads to treat cancerous tumours in the liver.

SIRT is not routinely funded by the NHS as the current evidence base does not yet demonstrate sufficient clinical and cost effectiveness for its routine use. A number of English patients are participating in an international research trial, which is looking at the use of SIRT as a ‘first line’ cancer treatment. The results of that study should be available in a few years’ time. NHS England’s Commissioning through Evaluation programme, however, is focusing on SIRT as a treatment in those situations where other more routine approaches, such as surgery and chemotherapy, have been tried first but have not been successful.

NHS England’s policy statement, which describes the organisation’s commissioning position on the treatment, can be found here: B01/PS/a Interim Clinical Commissioning Policy Statement: Selective Internal Radiotherapy (SIRT)