Friday 19 September 2014

Breastfeeding rate fall is unexplained

Breastfeeding rate fall is unexplained A significant drop in breastfeeding rates in Northamptonshire has been described as “distressing” by the county’s director for public health. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Guidance: Progress on premature deaths of people with learning disabilities

Guidance: Progress on premature deaths of people with learning disabilities This report from the Department of Health shows progress against the 18 recommendations in the Confidential Inquiry into premature deaths of people with learning disabilities both locally and nationally.

It also recognises that more needs to be done including all local areas:
  • participating fully in the Self-Assessment Framework and act on its results
  • securing the provision of named care co-ordinators
  • ensuring reasonable adjustments are made and audited

NHS staff vote in favour for strike action

NHS staff vote in favour for strike action NHS workers in England have voted in favour of striking over pay. Two-thirds of Unison members, which include nurses, healthcare assistants and porters, said they were prepared to take action.

Three other unions - the Royal College of Midwives, GMB and Unite - have also balloted their members. The results are expected in the coming weeks. BBC News

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Beginning with the end in mind: How outcomes-based commissioning can help unlock the potential of community services

Beginning with the end in mind: How outcomes-based commissioning can help unlock the potential of community services Commissioning based on outcomes has the potential to facilitate the transformation of care and is one way of overcoming the barrier of current payment mechanisms that do not support integrated care. NHS Confederation

Patients in control: why people with long-term conditions must be empowered

Patients in control: why people with long-term conditions must be empowered This report argues that more should be done to recognise and support the amount of self-management done by people with long-term conditions and their carers, and to enable people to work in partnership with healthcare providers to agree the services that fit their needs. Institute for Public Policy Research

Health services finances 'worsening'

Health services finances 'worsening' Supposedly-elite NHS foundation trusts in England are running up an overall deficit for the first time, the regulator is expected to say later. BBC News

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Alcohol-related liver disease: new map highlights regional hotspots

Alcohol-related liver disease: new map highlights regional hotspots The Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) has today published a regional map of emergency admissions per 100,000 of the adult population alongside new data at national, Area Team and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) level.

The role of hospital managers in quality and patient safety

The role of hospital managers in quality and patient safety This is the first systematic review of the literature that has considered the evidence on Boards’ and managers’ time spent, engagement and work
within the context of quality and safety. BMJ Open (no password required)

NHS must use international IT standards

NHS must use international IT standards The NHS needs to use international IT standards if it is to make the most of the current drive towards more integrated care, the chair of IHE UK has argued. E-Health Insider

Do artificial sweeteners raise diabetes risk?

Do artificial sweeteners raise diabetes risk? "Artificial sweeteners may promote diabetes, claim scientists," reports The Guardian. But before you go clearing your fridge of diet colas, the research in question – extensive as it was – was mainly in mice.

The researchers' experiments suggest artificial sweeteners, particularly saccharin, change the bacteria that normally live in the gut and help to digest nutrients.

These changes could reduce the body's ability to deal with sugar, leading to glucose intolerance, which can be an early warning sign of type 2 diabetes.

Assessments in human volunteers suggested the findings might also apply to people. But human studies so far are limited.

The researchers only directly tested the effect of saccharin in an uncontrolled study on just seven healthy adults over the course of a week. It is far too early to claim with any confidence that artificial sweeteners could be contributing to the diabetes "epidemic".

Deprived women 60% less likely to have any antenatal care

Deprived women 60% less likely to have any antenatal care Maternal public health education should better target poorer women. OnMedica

Better Care Fund fast-track projects: cautious, innovative and heroically optimistic

Better Care Fund fast-track projects: cautious, innovative and heroically optimistic Strategies for five areas have been approved, revealing how local areas plan to meet targets for cutting emergency admissions and saving money

Will new integration fund be a catalyst or catastrophe?

The deadline for submitting redrafted plans for the £3.8bn Better Care Fund is on Friday. But strategies for five fast-track areas have just been approved, revealing what this controversial scheme, the biggest ever push to integrate health and social care, might achieve.

The funds programme team supported by NHS England, the Local Government Association and Department of Health is wary of wildly optimistic claims about what can be done in 2015-16; one of the criteria is that delivery mechanisms must be believable. Continue reading... The Guardian

The 'Angelina Jolie effect': Her mastectomy revelation doubled NHS breast cancer testing referrals

The 'Angelina Jolie effect': Her mastectomy revelation doubled NHS breast cancer testing referrals Angelina Jolie’s decision to go public about her double mastectomy led to a doubling in NHS referrals for genetic tests of breast cancer risk, a new study has found. The Independent

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