Doctor who treated Northampton toddler who later died of dehydration facing misconduct hearing

Doctor who treated Northampton toddler who later died of dehydration facing misconduct hearing A doctor who treated a 19-month-old boy from Northampton who was discharged from hospital three days before he died of dehydration is facing allegations of misconduct at a fitness to practice hearing this week. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Kettering General Hospital wins £12m in Government funding

Kettering General Hospital wins £12m in Government funding Kettering General Hospital’s chief executive has welcomed the announcement of a Government grant of millions of pounds. Northamptonshire Telegraph

New £1.6m fund to boost health and well-being of Northamptonshire people

New £1.6m fund to boost health and well-being of Northamptonshire people A new fund worth £1.6 million has been created to help improve the health and well-being of people in Northamptonshire. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Ambulance service launches investigation after Northampton man forced to wait two hours in torrential rain for paramedics to arrive

Ambulance service launches investigation after Northampton man forced to wait two hours in torrential rain for paramedics to arrive The East Midlands Ambulance Service has launched an investigation after a Northampton man was forced to wait two hours in torrential rain before paramedics arrived to treat him. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Building improvement capability: 5 ways to maximise your chances of success

Building improvement capability: 5 ways to maximise your chances of success How can you maximise your confidence that the investment your organisation makes in capability building will result insignificant improvement? Penny Pereira shares her top learning from a workshop we held with experts in the area. The Health Foundation

Cardiovascular disease profiles

Cardiovascular disease profiles The profiles highlight important facts about these conditions and include information on the leading risk factors such as smoking and obesity.

Following the recommendations of the cardiovascular disease outcomes strategy to treat coronary heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease and stroke as a single family of conditions, the profiles bring together information about each of these. Public Health England

Four hour strike proposed as the start of potential industrial action in the NHS

Four hour strike proposed as the start of potential industrial action in the NHS UNISON have revealed more detail about their ballot process for the proposed industrial action in the NHS over the pay dispute and provided a description of the action they are likely to ask members to take. NHS Employers

Survey reveals more needs to be done on choice for patients

Survey reveals more needs to be done on choice for patients More than half of patients (51 per cent) were aware of their legal right to choose a hospital or clinic for an outpatient appointment, and a similar proportion (53 per cent) referred for an outpatient appointment first had a discussion with their GP about where to receive treatment.

Fewer than two fifths of patients, however, said they were offered a choice of hospital by their GP when being referred for an outpatient appointment.

These are some of the findings of a survey being published today of over 2,700 patients conducted for NHS England and the health regulator Monitor, which looked at the number of patients being offered a choice by their GPs.

Liberia declares Ebola emergency

Liberia declares Ebola emergency Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf declares a state of emergency as the country grapples with an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus. BBC News

See also:

• 'Ebola victim' dies in Saudi Arabia BBC News
• VIDEO: Ebola drug 'poses ethics questions' BBC News
• WHO starts emergency talks on Ebola BBC News
• Ebola virus: British experts urge US and WHO to ‘give Africans experimental cure’ The Independent
• Experimental drug given to two US aid workers infected with Ebola virus OnMedica

Daily aspirin 'reduces cancer risk,' study finds

Daily aspirin 'reduces cancer risk,' study finds Taking aspirin every day could cut your risk of developing cancer, report BBC News and The Daily Telegraph among other news outlets, after the publication of a large-scale review of the evidence.

People aged between 50 and 65 who take aspirin every day for 10 years could cut their risk of bowel cancer by 30% and cancers of the throat and stomach by 25%, according to the study published in the Annals of Oncology.

Over 20 years, an aspirin a day would reduce people's risk of heart attacks by 7%, stroke by 9%, and dying prematurely by about 4%.

Aspirin is an antiplatelet, which means it reduces the risk of clots forming in your blood. Platelets may also protect cancer cells in the body, and it has been suggested aspirin's effect on them may hinder this process. However, the exact mechanism is not well understood and more research is needed.

Taking aspirin every day comes with a serious health warning as it can cause serious side effects such as ulcers and bleeding from the stomach, particularly in elderly people.

However, the researchers argue the benefits of taking the drug need to be balanced against the harms.

While the findings of this study show promise, it is not clear whether the methods used in compiling it were systematic, so the results may not be entirely reliable.

Anyone thinking of taking aspirin for prevention should talk to their GP first.

Save Our Surgeries campaigners hand 20,000-name petition to Downing Street

Save Our Surgeries campaigners hand 20,000-name petition to Downing Street GPs, patients and supporters from one of the most deprived parts of England took their grassroots campaign against practice funding cuts to the heart of government today. GP Online

See also:

• Patients in peril due to threat of GP practice closures says RCGP Royal College of General Practitioners
• GPs take campaign to Downing Street BBC News
• It's not safe for you here, GP surgery tells patients The Daily Telegraph
• It's not safe for you here, overwhelmed GP surgery tells patients: Letter sent to 10,000 people tells them they will be turned away unless illness is deemed an emergency... Daily Mail

Junior doctors worry about quality of care and long working hours

Junior doctors worry about quality of care and long working hours Many still afraid to voice concerns and concerned by too little time to care for patients properly. OnMedica

See also:

• Junior doctors 'under pressure' BBC News

Privatisation is ripping the NHS from our hands

Privatisation is ripping the NHS from our hands The notion that competition promotes excellence and market forces breed efficiency is a myth

Last year, a majority of new contracts to provide NHS services went to private companies. Most of these private companies hide behind the NHS logo but siphon off a profit. Collectively, such providers received more than £10bn from the public coffers in 2013. And according to the Financial Times, around £5.8bn of NHS work is currently being advertised to the private sector, a 14% increase on a year earlier.

Clinical commissioning group (CCG) leaders do not consider that privatisation is their main agenda. They do admit, however, that they face difficult decisions regarding the need to tender which, in a nutshell, is a tool for commissioners to facilitate competition. Promoters of the concept of Any Qualified Provider who indulge in marketisation do so under the false belief that this achieves better health outcomes, which flies in the face of both the theory as well as overwhelming evidence that equity, efficiency and equilibrium of the NHS are adversely affected. Continue reading... The Guardian

Rise in care home fees outstrips earnings by 54 per cent

Rise in care home fees outstrips earnings by 54 per cent Figures disclose 'cavernous' gap between care home costs and pensioners' incomes. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Councils raise care funding concerns BBC News

Prostate cancer screening could save 20 per cent of sufferers

Prostate cancer screening could save 20 per cent of sufferers A national screening programme for prostate cancer could eventually save one in five sufferers – but would also lead to over-diagnosis and a huge rise in dangerous side-effects to treatment, a major study has concluded. The Independent

Caring for High-Need, High-Cost Patients: What Makes for a Successful Care Management Program?

Caring for High-Need, High-Cost Patients: What Makes for a Successful Care Management Program? In this study the authors compare the operational approaches of 18 successful complex care management programs in order to offer guidance to providers, payers, and policymakers on best practices for complex care management. The Commonwealth Fund