Friday 25 July 2014

Strike action at Northampton General Hospital ends after 27 days

Strike action at Northampton General Hospital ends after 27 days An agreement has been reached between Northampton General Hospital and ‘locked out’ pathologists which will see them back at work on Monday. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

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Health boss: Gluttony and sloth must be addressed

Health boss: Gluttony and sloth must be addressed As a county, we’re too fat, we eat unhealthily and we smoke too much. Now a public health boss says it’s time for change. Northamptonshire Telegraph

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Focus on: A&E attendances - why are patients waiting longer?

Focus on: A&E attendances - why are patients waiting longer? This analysis from the Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation looks at patterns of A&E activity, the nature of the increased demand and what has driven waiting times upwards.

Initiatives to reduce length of stay in acute hospital settings: a rapid synthesis of evidence relating to enhanced recovery programmes

Initiatives to reduce length of stay in acute hospital settings: a rapid synthesis of evidence relating to enhanced recovery programmes This objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of enhanced recovery programmes for patients undergoing elective surgery in acute hospital settings. It aimed to identify and critically describe key factors associated with successful adoption, implementation and sustainability of enhanced recovery programmes in UK settings. It also summarises existing knowledge about patient experience of enhanced recovery programmes in UK settings. NHS National Institute for Health Research

One-shot cancer therapy gets NHS nod

One-shot cancer therapy gets NHS nod A pioneering breast cancer treatment that replaces weeks of radiotherapy with a single, targeted shot is set to be offered on the NHS. BBC News

Government 'loses £700m NHS IT case'

Government 'loses £700m NHS IT case' Taxpayers could be hit with a £700m bill after the government reportedly loses a legal fight with Fujitsu. BBC News

Paracetamol 'doesn't work' for lower back pain

Paracetamol 'doesn't work' for lower back pain “Paracetamol used to treat acute lower back pain is no better than a dummy pill,” BBC News reports. A well-conducted trial casts doubts on the widespread recommendation that paracetamolis an effective treatment for lower back pain.

It reports on a randomised double-blind controlled trial of people with acute low back pain. All participants were told to remain active and avoid bed rest. They were split into three groups and asked to take regular medication and “as required” medication, if needed. This was either paracetamol or a placebo.

The average number of days to recovery for each group was between 16 and 17 days. Sustained recovery by 12 weeks was achieved by between 83% and 85% in all groups.

The severity of acute low back pain in this group was not sufficient to cause anyone to have time off work. This means the results of this study may not be applicable to people with more severe acute low back pain.

This was a well conducted study that would appear to suggest that the advice regarding paracetamol as a first-line treatment may need re-examining. However, as the authors themselves argue, it is too soon to start rewriting clinical guidelines for lower back pain based on this evidence alone.

School pupil survey: smoking, drinking and drug use at decade low

School pupil survey: smoking, drinking and drug use at decade low New figures for 2013 show the prevalence of smoking, drinking or drug use among school pupils is considerably lower than ten years ago. Health & Social Care Information Centre

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Poor GP services do not lead to missed A&E targets

Poor GP services do not lead to missed A&E targets Demand on A&E keeps rising with no extra system capacity. OnMedica

Open access and social media: helping science move forwards

Open access and social media: helping science move forwards How are open access and social media helping science and healthcare move forwards? James Balm from BioMed Central explains. Evidently Cochrane

NHS treats mental health as 'second-class service'

NHS treats mental health as 'second-class service' Shadow public health minister says figures show 67% of clinical commissioning groups spend less than 10% of budget on mental health services

Many parts of the NHS spend as little as 6.6% of their budgets on mental health, even though conditions such as anxiety and depression make up 23% of the service's overall burden of illness.

The disclosure has prompted claims that the NHS treats mental health as a second-class service and that patients in areas where few services are provided locally are receiving poorer care as a result. Continue reading... The Guardian

Antibiotic research funding is 'inadequate', scientists say

Antibiotic research funding is 'inadequate', scientists say Despite the dire warnings about the impact of antibiotic resistance, research in the field receives just 1 per cent of public funding. The Daily Telegraph