Tuesday 24 June 2014

One in five hospitals rated 'poor' for honesty on safety risks

One in five hospitals rated 'poor' for honesty on safety risks

Jeremy Hunt is to launch a new transparency drive which will rate hospitals more highly for being honest about their errors.  Daily Telegraph

Fears hospital mistakes covered up

Fears hospital mistakes covered up

An analysis of reporting incidents shows 29 out of 141 hospital trusts in England are not registering the expected number of safety incidents. BBC News - Health

Guidance: UK AMR strategy: measuring success

Guidance: UK AMR strategy: measuring success


Antimicrobial resistance is when infections caused by microorganisms survive exposure to a drug that was supposed to kill them or stop their growth, this is a particular problem with antibiotics.

The measures agreed by the UK antimicrobial resistance strategy High Level Steering Group, taking advice from expert scientific advisory committees including the Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections (ARHAI), cover 4 areas:
trends in resistance
quality of prescribing in primary and secondary healthcare settings
public and professional knowledge and understanding of antimicrobials and their appropriate use.
global security through ensuring global alignment in addressing AMR

These measures apply equally to human and animal health.

Department of Health

Public Health England looks for high tech ways to improve nation’s health

Public Health England looks for high tech ways to improve nation’s health


The competition has been launched to demonstrate the commitment from PHE to identify and support the latest applications and utilities in order to make a difference to people’s lifestyles.

Successful Health X businesses will be offered promotional support through PHE’s Change4Life campaign, a presence on NHS Choices and help with product development. NHS Networks

Helping the NHS to change: Monitor’s annual plan for 2014/15

Helping the NHS to change: Monitor’s annual plan for 2014/15


The way Monitor regulates NHS foundation trusts will be reviewed with the aim of ensuring those organisations which provide healthcare are given room to innovate and take calculated risks, in order to provide better quality services for patients and better value for money.

The move is just one of several actions announced by Monitor in its annual plan, aimed at encouraging the NHS to develop services that better meet the needs of patients whilst doing more with the money it is given. NHS Networks

Mental health services 'a car crash'

Mental health services 'a car crash'

Mental health services in England are "a car crash" and not prioritised by the health secretary, says the Royal College of Psychiatrists' outgoing president. BBC News - Health

Are personal health budgets the solution to integrated care?

Are personal health budgets the solution to integrated care?


The health and social care system is facing increasing pressures that traditional solutions can't address
Health and care integration could prove too costly for the NHS

Integration used to mean common assessments, merged teams and management restructures. Times have changed, and it's no longer just about changing job titles and Tupe Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment). Over the last few years the health and social care system has begun to embrace the idea of "person-centred, co-ordinated care" that shifts the focus from organisations back to the experience of the person needing support.

Some of this has become necessary because people receiving care are no longer willing to accept that certain models of institutionalised provision are right for them just because they have a particular diagnosis. Choice and control, while being policy terms that have been repeated so often that there's a risk of losing the meaning, do resonate with us all personally in the decisions in life that are most important: where we live, who's in our life, and how we spend our time. The Guardian
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Reducing unintentional injuries among children and young people

Reducing unintentional injuries among children and young people


These resources for local authorities cover the prevention of accidents to children and young people in the home and on the road. The reports show that whilst the number of children and young people killed or seriously injured continues to fall in England there are still significant numbers of deaths and emergency admissions from preventable causes. It also highlights actions that local partners can take to reduce accidents including improving safety for children travelling to and from school and using existing services like health visitors and children’s centres. 
Public Health England (PHE) 
Reports and data
Press release

Doctors reject seven-day routine services at BMA annual meeting

Doctors reject seven-day routine services at BMA annual meeting

Doctors have rejected the provision of seven-day routine NHS services after debates at the BMA annual representatives' meeting (ARM). GP Online

Stress 'causes damage to the heart,' study finds

Stress 'causes damage to the heart,' study finds

"Stress is already known to be bad for the heart, but now scientists have discovered why it is so harmful," The Times reports.

A new US study now offers a plausible model of how chronic psychological stress could lead to heart damage. It involved both mice and junior doctors.

Researchers checked the blood of a small group of doctors after a week at work in intensive care. After a week of this stressful work, their white blood cell count had increased.

Similarly, when mice were exposed to chronic stress (tilting their cage for an extended period of time), they also showed increased levels of white blood cells.

This finding is of interest and possible concern. Previous research suggested inflammatory white blood cells might be involved in the process of causing the rupture of fatty atherosclerotic plaques in the arteries of people with heart disease, which causes a heart attack.

However, this research is very far from providing conclusive proof that stress leads to the development of heart disease, or directly causes heart attacks.

Doncaster rolls out iPad dementia tests

Doncaster rolls out iPad dementia tests

An iPad-based test for early dementia diagnosis is being rolled out across 24 GP practices in Doncaster, following a pilot. EHI News