Renewed efforts required to create compassionate complaints system

Renewed efforts required to create compassionate complaints system Three out five patients and care users that complain about receiving poor treatment feel that the system is failing to address their concerns – not taking their cases seriously, ignoring them or in many cases bouncing them around the system until they give up. This report calls for a more compassionate system. Healthwatch England

See also:

• Our response to Heathwatch England's complaints system report Care Quality Commission

First nurses and midwives to pilot the system of revalidation this spring

First nurses and midwives to pilot the system of revalidation this spring The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has today announced the organisations it will be partnering with to test the system and processes underpinning revalidation.

See also:

• Revalidation NMC
• Piloting proposed revalidation model for nursing and midwifery critical NHS Employers

Mistakes 'costing NHS billions'

Mistakes 'costing NHS billions' Basic mistakes in hospitals in England cost the NHS up to £2.5bn a year, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is to say. BBC News

See also:

• Jeremy Hunt accused of blaming nurses for NHS staffing shortages The Independent
• Jeremy Hunt: Hospital blunders cost the NHS £2.5bn The Daily Telegraph
• Mistakes cost NHS up to £2.5bn a year, says health secretary Jeremy Hunt The Guardian

Developing supportive design for people with dementia

Developing supportive design for people with dementia This range of resources was designed to enable hospitals, care homes, primary care premises and specialist housing providers to become more dementia friendly. The King's Fund

Ebola spread in West played down

Ebola spread in West played down The World Health Organisation says a major outbreak of Ebola in the West is unlikely, as US President Obama orders a "more aggressive" response. BBC News

See also:

• Ebola risk to the UK Public Health England
• Ebola: How many people have died? BBC News
• New Texas Ebola case announced BBC News
• Ebola advice from NHS 111 must be 100% accurate, warns GPC GP Online
• Skype consultations could help prevent an Ebola outbreak in the UK The Guardian
• Ebola in US: President Obama says chances of a serious outbreak on home soil remain 'very, very low' The Independent

UK tops WHO gullet cancer table

UK tops WHO gullet cancer table The UK has the highest rate in the world of one of the two main types of gullet cancer, according to the World Health Organization. BBC News

Two thirds of staff have considered leaving the NHS

Two thirds of staff have considered leaving the NHS Increased workload, low pay, constant restructures, and the stresses of the job are among the reasons why 66% of NHS workers have considered quitting, according to a new survey. Royal College of Nursing

Hospital refuses to publish report on outsourced eye operation problems

Hospital refuses to publish report on outsourced eye operation problems NHS Musgrove Park states no single cause for dozens of patients impaired vision and pain after treatment by private firm

An NHS hospital where dozens of people suffered impaired vision, pain and discomfort after undergoing eye operations provided by a private healthcare company has been criticised for refusing to publish its report into the crisis.

Patients affected and their families, including that of an 84-year-old man who claimed to have lost his sight following one of the routine cataract procedures, have demanded a full independent inquiry into what went wrong. Continue reading... The Guardian

Tesco should not be responsible for tackling the UKs diabetes crisis

Tesco should not be responsible for tackling the UKs diabetes crisis There must be more to public health policy than supermarket vouchers for free diabetes tests.

Tescos Clubcard is heralded as retails most successful deployment of big data. If supermarkets collect data on their customers every purchase, they can ruthlessly mine it to push them to spend that extra 50p.

Every month or so, Tesco sends me vouchers. Alcohol is profitable, it implies, so wed like to see you buy more of that this quarter 150 extra points should do it; 45p off potatoes; exactly 2.272 litres of milk for free; 65 extra points for coffee; 25p off bread. We have calculated precisely what it will take to make you come back. We have intelligence on your cheese intake and we intend to exploit it. Continue reading... The Guardian

Assisted dying debate: more than 300 terminally ill people a year committing suicide

Assisted dying debate: more than 300 terminally ill people a year committing suicide  Figures disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act suggest seven per cent of suicides in England involve people with a terminal illness. The Daily Telegraph