Monday, 4 August 2014
Seven-month wait for pain clinic check in Northamptonshire
Seven-month wait for pain clinic check in Northamptonshire NHS staff who treat patients with muscle and joint disorders have said Northamptonshire GPs are often wrongly referring patients to them. Northampton Chronicle and Echo
NHS takes action to tackle race inequality across the workforce
NHS takes action to tackle race inequality across the workforce The NHS Equality and Diversity Council today announced action to ensure employees from black and ethnic minority (BME) backgrounds have equal access to career opportunities and fair treatment in the workplace.
The move follows recent reports which have highlighted disparities in the number of BME people in senior leadership positions across the NHS, as well as lower levels of wellbeing amongst the BME population. NHS England
See also:
The move follows recent reports which have highlighted disparities in the number of BME people in senior leadership positions across the NHS, as well as lower levels of wellbeing amongst the BME population. NHS England
See also:
Competition review of NHS mergers: a short guide for managers of NHS providers
Competition review of NHS mergers: a short guide for managers of NHS providers This short guide seeks to answer the questions merging providers often ask us about the UK merger review process. It is designed to highlight important aspects of the process of merger review and provide an overview of the substantive test. It is therefore not intended to be comprehensive. Monitor
Phone calls 'do not cut GP pressure'
Phone calls 'do not cut GP pressure' GP consultations by telephone, rather than face-to-face, do not reduce the pressures on busy surgeries, a study shows. BBC News
See also:
See also:
- Telephone triage for management of same-day consultation requests in general practice (the ESTEEM trial): a cluster-randomised controlled trial and cost-consequence analysis The Lancet Primary care telephone triage does not save money or reduce practice workload University of Exeter Medical School
- Telephone appointments ‘no benefit’ to busy GPs, claims study The Independent
- GP phone consultations 50% more likely to need follow up The Daily Telegraph
Sperm bank to meet UK donor demand
Sperm bank to meet UK donor demand A national sperm bank, which can be used by same-sex couples and single women, is to be opened to combat a UK-wide shortage. BBC News
See also:
See also:
BMJ 'right' in statins claims row
BMJ 'right' in statins claims row An investigation backs the British Medical Journal's response after it published two inaccurate articles on the harms of cholesterol-reducing statins. BBC News
See also:
See also:
- British Medical Journal 'acted correctly' over statins controversy The Daily Telegraph
Combined Pill may raise breast cancer risk
Combined Pill may raise breast cancer risk "Some contraceptive pills double risk of breast cancer," The Daily Telegraph reports, as a new US study found an increased risk of 50% with use of the combined oral contraceptive pill, commonly called "the pill".
The combined pill contains oestrogen and, as it is known oestrogen can stimulate breast cancer cells to grow, the potential for extra oestrogen to increase the risk of breast cancer has been recognised for some time.
However, any increase in risk needs to be seen in context. The baseline risk of women of a fertile age developing breast cancer is small, so a 50% increase in this risk doesn't amount to a "high" risk.
Also, this risk needs to be measured against the potential benefits of the pill protecting against other types of cancer, such as ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, there are often no easy answers when weighing up the benefits and risk.
What we can say is this was a robust study that included more than 1,000 US women aged 20 to 49 who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and an age-matched control group. The researchers checked if the women used combined oral contraceptive pills in the year before their cancer diagnosis.
Overall use of any combined pill in the past year was associated with a 50% increased risk of developing breast cancer, compared with never using the combined pill or using it more than one year ago. High-strength pills more than doubled risk, but these are no longer prescribed in the UK.
The combined pill contains oestrogen and, as it is known oestrogen can stimulate breast cancer cells to grow, the potential for extra oestrogen to increase the risk of breast cancer has been recognised for some time.
However, any increase in risk needs to be seen in context. The baseline risk of women of a fertile age developing breast cancer is small, so a 50% increase in this risk doesn't amount to a "high" risk.
Also, this risk needs to be measured against the potential benefits of the pill protecting against other types of cancer, such as ovarian cancer. Unfortunately, there are often no easy answers when weighing up the benefits and risk.
What we can say is this was a robust study that included more than 1,000 US women aged 20 to 49 who had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and an age-matched control group. The researchers checked if the women used combined oral contraceptive pills in the year before their cancer diagnosis.
Overall use of any combined pill in the past year was associated with a 50% increased risk of developing breast cancer, compared with never using the combined pill or using it more than one year ago. High-strength pills more than doubled risk, but these are no longer prescribed in the UK.
GPs to foot the bill for texts to patients
GPs to foot the bill for texts to patients Practices could be forced to spend thousands of pounds on replacement SMS texting services under DH plans to phase out central funding for services used by NHS bodies. GP Online
Rise in prison suicides linked to mental health problems
Rise in prison suicides linked to mental health problems Suicide and murder rates in prisons rise to highest level in six years. OnMedica
Jeremy Hunt announces drive to eliminate 12-month NHS waiting lists
Jeremy Hunt announces drive to eliminate 12-month NHS waiting lists NHS to get £250m as health secretary says no patient should wait more than a year unless there is strong clinical justification.
No one should have to wait more than a year for NHS treatment in England unless it is clinically necessary, the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said.
Hunt announced a £250m drive to eliminate "unacceptable" 12-month waits, with more than 100,000 additional treatments to take place in the NHS over the summer. Continue reading... The Guardian
No one should have to wait more than a year for NHS treatment in England unless it is clinically necessary, the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said.
Hunt announced a £250m drive to eliminate "unacceptable" 12-month waits, with more than 100,000 additional treatments to take place in the NHS over the summer. Continue reading... The Guardian
Nurses need to be fitter, to fight for the future of the NHS | Christina Patterson
Nurses need to be fitter, to fight for the future of the NHS | Christina Patterson Big bodies may hold big hearts, but obese health workers are in no shape to tackle the problems of the health service.
If you go anywhere near the NHS, you cant fail to see it. The woman who marches you over to the scales and carefully records your weight, the man who asks you to roll up your sleeve and tells you to expect a sharp scratch: what they often have in common apart from a desire to help is that theyre pretty damn big.
Sometimes, when Ive been weighed by a nurse who looks twice my size, Ive been tempted to ask whether shes ever been asked to step on a set of scales herself. Sometimes, when Ive been quizzed about my lifestyle and seen letters to my GP saying Im a heavy social drinker Ive wondered whether the person who quizzed me has ever been asked to tot up their weekly tally of chips. I dont know if NHS workers are ever grilled about their lifestyle, but if theyre not theyll soon find out what its like. Theyll find out because their new boss has looked at his staff and decided far too many of them are fat. Continue reading... The Guardian
If you go anywhere near the NHS, you cant fail to see it. The woman who marches you over to the scales and carefully records your weight, the man who asks you to roll up your sleeve and tells you to expect a sharp scratch: what they often have in common apart from a desire to help is that theyre pretty damn big.
Sometimes, when Ive been weighed by a nurse who looks twice my size, Ive been tempted to ask whether shes ever been asked to step on a set of scales herself. Sometimes, when Ive been quizzed about my lifestyle and seen letters to my GP saying Im a heavy social drinker Ive wondered whether the person who quizzed me has ever been asked to tot up their weekly tally of chips. I dont know if NHS workers are ever grilled about their lifestyle, but if theyre not theyll soon find out what its like. Theyll find out because their new boss has looked at his staff and decided far too many of them are fat. Continue reading... The Guardian
NHS hospital cafés 'are helping to fuel the obesity crisis'
NHS hospital cafés 'are helping to fuel the obesity crisis' NHS chief urges hospitals to act after Telegraph investigation exposes the unhealthy offerings promoted in scores of hospitals. The Daily Telegraph
Independent review urges NHS whistleblowers to speak
Independent review urges NHS whistleblowers to speak Sir Robert Francis, head of the Mid Staffs public inquiry, calls for an end to a culture of 'denial and fear' as he launches first ever independent review of whistleblowing. The Daily Telegraph
See also:
See also:
- Whistleblowing: Ninth Report of Session 2014–15 House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts
- 'I reported my concerns but was just given the brush off' - NHS whistleblowers tell of being ignored and marginalised The Daily Telegraph
- NHS whistleblowers suffer bullying and harassment OnMedica
No rise in numbers in care homes despite surge in elderly population
No rise in numbers in care homes despite surge in elderly population New figures show little change in the number of elderly people living in care homes over the past decade, even though the number of pensioners has soared. The Daily Telegraph
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