Public views invited as NGH welcomes CQC inspection

Public views invited as NGH welcomes CQC inspection NGH response in respect of CQC inspection announcement.

Wellingborough most obese town in England

Wellingborough most obese town in England A report claims that Wellingborough is the most obese town in England. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Hunt 'crazy' to call hospital bosses

Hunt 'crazy' to call hospital bosses It is "crazy" for Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to personally call hospital bosses who miss A&E targets, the health regulator for England says. BBC News

See also:

• NHS chief admits to anger at Jeremy Hunt's 'meddling' The Guardian

NHS 'was too powerful to criticise'

NHS 'was too powerful to criticise' The NHS "became too powerful to criticise" despite many patients receiving a "wholly unsatisfactory" service, the health regulator says. BBC News

See also:

• NHS on brink of crisis because it became 'too powerful' to criticise The Daily Telegraph

Good practice guide to major service change published

Good practice guide to major service change published NHS England has today published a good practice guide for commissioners, to assist clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) should they choose to develop proposals for major service changes and reconfiguration.

This guidance builds on earlier best practice guidance developed prior to the new commissioning system, but has been brought up to date, reflecting the roles and responsibilities of commissioners to deliver improvements in services for patients and local communities.

The new guidance provides a one stop resource for the principles and processes for building proposals for major service change, including how to develop the business case, assess proposals against the Government’s ‘four tests’, as well as how to assure patient and public engagement is at the heart of the process.  The guidance will supplemented by an assurance toolkit which sets out how NHS England will support and assure local commissioning proposals.

Liaison psychiatry for every acute hospital: integrated mental and physical healthcare

Liaison psychiatry for every acute hospital: integrated mental and physical healthcare This report summarises existing evidence of need for liaison psychiatry services in all acute hospitals and then provides evidence for the range of problems addressed, and range of interventions required, to meet core mental health demands in acute hospitals. It also contains case examples that demonstrate the benefit of services; provide detailed considerations for service design, including principle organisational standards, access and response standards, hours of operation, remit and staffing; governance is addressed as a range of clinical and organisational risks and how these can be reduced by liaison psychiatry services are described. Lastly, key considerations required to set local standards for common mental health-related problems that occur in acute hospitals are provided. Royal College of Psychiatrists

Beating the effects of winter pressures

Beating the effects of winter pressures This briefing paper aims to help explain why there is increased pressure on the NHS in winter, the impact this has on NHS services, and sets out why a longer term solution is needed. British Medical Association 

• Briefing paper
• BMA - winter pressures

NHS services, seven days a week - costing seven day services

NHS services, seven days a week - costing seven day services This report looks at the financial implications of seven day services for acute emergency and urgent services and supporting diagnostics. Healthcare Financial Management Association

• Report
• NHS England - seven days a week report 

Using clinical communities to improve quality

Using clinical communities to improve quality This report introduces the concept of the clinical community approach which comprises a core team that supports site teams to make change happen locally. It presents 10 key lessons from the programme about when to use a clinical community, how to make it work, and how to avoid potential pitfalls. The Health Foundation

CQC reveals plans for community health care

CQC reveals plans for community health care Larger inspection teams to include GPs, district nurses and other experts. OnMedica

A&E targets missed by hospitals for second week running

A&E targets missed by hospitals for second week running Latest figures show 95% target of patients being treated within four hours at casualty was not attained again.

Track patients addicted to prescription drugs, home affairs committee tells GPs

Track patients addicted to prescription drugs, home affairs committee tells GPs Report calls for immediate steps as it is revealed there are as many as 1.5 million people dependent on tranquillisers.

The man with a mission to heal the health service

The man with a mission to heal the health service The man in charge of the NHS watchdog calls for radical changes to put patients first, The Daily Telegraph

New EU directives put independent midwives under threat

New EU directives put independent midwives under threat

Like Mary, the mother of Christ, pregnant women may be forced to give birth in unsafe circumstances, independent midwives warned yesterday. EU red tape means mothers-to-be in the UK may no longer be able to give birth at a place of their choice or with a midwife they felt safe with, said Independent Midwives UK (IM UK). The Independent