Independent report: Establishing food standards for NHS hospitals

Independent report: Establishing food standards for NHS hospitals

The report looks at standards relating to patient nutrition and hydration, healthier eating across hospitals and sutainable food and catering services.

NHS adoption of the recommended standards will be required through the NHS contract meaning that hospitals will have a legal duty to comply with the recommendations.

The panel, set up by Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter and led by Dianne Jeffrey from Age UK, examined existing food standards, advising on how they should be applied and monitored.

Department of Health

• New hospital food rules introduced  BBC News
• Jeremy Hunt tells hospitals they must serve up better and healthier food  Guradian
• Government promises major hospital food shake-up  Independent

The NHS receives 480 written complaints per day

The NHS receives 480 written complaints per day

· Almost 175,000 reported complaints made in 2013-14. ICQOF

Data factsheets on weight, obesity and physical activity

Data factsheets on weight, obesity and physical activity


These factsheets compile up-to-date key information and data about obesity and its determinants in an easily readable format. The data factsheets will be a useful resource for policy makers, practitioners and anyone with an interest in obesity. Public Health England (PHE)
Factsheets

Spend and outcome tool (SPOT) for local authorities

Spend and outcome tool (SPOT) for local authorities


This tool gives local authorities an overview of spend and outcome across key areas of business for public health and its sub-programmes. The tool is an interactive spreadsheet and is also accompanied by factsheets for each local authority. Public Health England (PHE)
Tool
PHE news

Government told to invest in ambulance services as complaints soar

Government told to invest in ambulance services as complaints soar

Paramedics have called on the Government to urgently invest in ambulance services after new figures revealed complaints about delayed emergency responses have soared in the past year. Independent

Walk a mile a day to beat cancer

Walk a mile a day to beat cancer

Walking just one mile at a moderate pace every day could reduce the risk of death from breast and prostate cancer, Macmillan Cancer Support suggests. Telegraph

Empowering mental health service users to become more involved in decisions about their care: the DECIDE RCT

Empowering mental health service users to become more involved in decisions about their care: the DECIDE RCT

Laurence Palfreyman highlights an RCT of the DECIDE intervention, which aims to build awareness of the service user’s role in decisions about their care including how they can become more involved and seek information from independent sources. The Mental Elf

Electrical stimulation 'aids memory'

Electrical stimulation 'aids memory'

Electromagnetic stimulation of a specific part of the brain may improve the ability to remember certain facts, researchers say. BBC News

Tomato-rich diet 'reduces prostate cancer risk'

Tomato-rich diet 'reduces prostate cancer risk'

“Tomatoes ‘cut risk of prostate cancer by 20%’,” the Daily Mail reports, citing a study that found men who ate 10 or more portions a week had a reduced risk of the disease.

The study in question gathered a year’s dietary information from 1,806 men who were found to have prostate cancer and 12,005 who were clear after random prostate checks. The researchers compared the diets and adjusted the results to take into account factors such as age, family history of prostate cancer and ethnicity.

They found that men who ate more than 10 portions of tomatoes or tomato products per week have an 18% reduced risk of prostate cancer compared to men who ate less than 10.

As this was a case controlled study, and not a randomised controlled trial, it cannot prove that eating more tomatoes prevents prostate cancer. It can only show an association.

Depression therapy aids other cancer symptoms

Depression therapy aids other cancer symptoms

"Depression therapy could help cancer patients fight illness," reports The Daily Telegraph.

The headline follows a study of intensive treatment of clinical depression given to people who had both depression and cancer – delivered as part of their cancer care. It found that not only did people’s mood improve, but cancer-related symptoms such as pain and fatigue were also reduced compared to that seen with the usual care given.

The treatment programme, called Depression Care for People with Cancer (DCPC), involves a team of specially trained cancer nurses and psychiatrists who work closely with the patient’s cancer doctors and GP.