Hundreds of New Year call-outs for East Midlands paramedics

Hundreds of New Year call-outs for East Midlands paramedics
Paramedics in the region were called to almost five emergencies a minute as people celebrated the New Year in the small hours of yesterday (Wednesday, January 1). Evening Telegraph

Thousands raised from Kettering charity dinner

Thousands raised from Kettering charity dinner
Cheques worth thousands of pounds have been handed over to the Kettering’s Cransley Hospice and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.  Evening Telegraph

Charge £10 to keep timewasters away from A&E units, say GPs

Charge £10 to keep timewasters away from A&E units, say GPs
One in three family doctors supports charging patients £5 to £10 every time they visit A&E and only refunding them if the trip is found to be necessary, a survey has found.  Independent

Schizophrenia: CBT 'little help'

Schizophrenia: CBT 'little help'
Talking therapies have "little impact" on the symptoms of people with schizophrenia, a study suggests.  BBC News

Lack of drug data 'extreme concern'

Lack of drug data 'extreme concern'
The lack of data on the effectiveness of medicines available to doctors and researchers is "of extreme concern" say a group of MPs.  BBC News

Hull triages A&E patients through kiosks

Hull triages A&E patients through kiosks
Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust is using self-check-in and triage kiosks in its emergency departments.  EHI News

Could vitamin E slow dementia?

Could vitamin E slow dementia?

Research suggests that a daily dose of vitamin E could help people with dementia, BBC News reports.

However, high doses of vitamin E are not safe or suitable for everybody and should not be taken without medical advice.

The BBC reports on a US trial with a group of 613 people with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease who were already receiving treatment with widely used medication - acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChe inhibitors). 

Researchers looked at whether adding daily treatment with either a vitamin E supplement, another Alzheimer’s drug called memantine, or a combination of the two, improved the person’s ability to perform activities of daily living.

In comparison with a placebo, they found that during the average two-year study period people taking vitamin E alone showed slower decline on the activities scale than those taking the placebo. They were able to carry out everyday tasks such as washing and their caregivers reported spending less time looking after them.

There was no significant difference between the memantine and combination groups and the placebo groups.

However, the trial had a large drop-out rate which might have affected the results.

It’s important to note that people in the trial took vitamin E in very large doses, which may be unsafe for some people and can lead to adverse interaction with other medications.

Further research is required on both the effectiveness and safety of vitamin E before it can be recommended as a treatment for dementia.

Do not take high doses of vitamin E without checking with your GP that it is safe to do so.

Award-winning training scheme for carers could go nationwide

Award-winning training scheme for carers could go nationwide

Devon NHS Trust's project to train care home support staff acclaimed after halving avoidable hospital admissions

Sir David Nicholson, chief executive of NHS England, is keen to see a national roll out of the training scheme developed by nurses in north Devon, who have been boosting the clinical skills of care home support staff.

At the Guardian Public Services Awards 2013, Northern Devon Healthcare NHS trust won the partnership excellence category.

Chris Thomas, health and social care cluster manager at the trust says: "Sir David singled us out at the awards night and said 'This has to go out across the NHS'. That was quite something."

Nicholson's interest in the scheme, run by nurses Becky Young and Jan Hearnden, is not surprising given that, since it was launched, avoidable hospital admissions have fallen from 109 in April last year to 54 in June 2013. There is also anecdotal evidence that cases of adult safeguarding in the care homes where the scheme has been running have also gone down.

Third of GPs back charges for A&E patients to tackle crisis

Third of GPs back charges for A&E patients to tackle crisis

A&E specialists believe up to 40% of all visits unnecessary, but medical bodies warn charges would penalise poorer patients

One in three GPs want patients to be charged each time they visit A&E in order to reduce frivolous use of the NHS and the growing pressure on emergency departments, a survey has found.

In a poll of more than 800 family doctors, 32% said such fees would be the most cost-effective way of cutting the number of people who go to A&E who could have gone to their GP or a pharmacist instead or did not need medical attention at all.

Charging all patients £5 or £10 would significantly reduce the number of people turning up at A&E, which has been rising so much that emergency doctors have complained that A&E units have become worryingly overcrowded and that they cannot cope with the demand for care. Patients would receive refunds if their condition was shown to need attention.