Thursday 30 October 2014

Further cost cutting would harm patients at Northampton General Hospital as it heads for £14m deficit

Further cost cutting would harm patients at Northampton General Hospital as it heads for £14m deficit More savings at Northampton General Hospital (NGH) are impossible without jeopardising patient care, its chief executive has said. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Plans to close Northamptonshire ambulance stations halted

Plans to close Northamptonshire ambulance stations halted The East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) has dropped plans to close down ambulance stations in the region. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

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Quarterly Monitoring Report

Quarterly Monitoring Report The latest survey of finance directors reveals the highest level of pessimism about the financial position of health organisations since we began surveying in the autumn of 2011. The King's Fund

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Deaths Registered in England and Wales 2013

Deaths Registered in England and Wales 2013 The leading cause of death for males in 2013 was ischaemic heart diseases (15.4% of all male deaths). For females, the leading cause was dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (12.2% of all female deaths). Office for National Statistics

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GPs and Social Workers: Partners for Better Care Delivering health and social care integration together

GPs and Social Workers: Partners for Better Care Delivering health and social  care integration together  GPs and social workers are ideally placed to work together to implement radical solutions to the funding crises facing both general practice and social work, according to a joint report by The Royal College of General Practitioners and The College of Social Work.

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Leading local partnerships: how CCGs are driving integration for their patients and local populations

Leading local partnerships: how CCGs are driving integration for their patients and local populations
This report profiles some of the CCGs across England who, despite still being relatively new organisations, are already driving new and innovative models of care that put the patient at the heart of the system, and are improving the health and wellbeing of their local populations. It showcases twenty examples of CCGs joining with partners, not just from social care, but from the voluntary and private sectors, to improve the health of their populations. NHS Clinical Commissioners 

Care plan 'to ease hospital pressure'

Care plan 'to ease hospital pressure' Vulnerable patients in England will get better support in the community as part of plans to ease pressure on hospitals, ministers say. BBC News

NHS trusts counting on bailouts

NHS trusts counting on bailouts NHS hospital trusts are continuing to draw heavily on government bailouts to plug funding shortfalls - but the cash may not last, the BBC has found. BBC News

Care for military veterans 'flawed'

Care for military veterans 'flawed' The government is failing to abide by its military covenant with armed forces veterans not getting the care they need, medical experts say. BBC News

Mental Health Act: Hospital based Place of Safety orders increase whilst police station orders decrease

Mental Health Act: Hospital based Place of Safety orders increase whilst police station orders decrease  Latest figures on detentions under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act 1983 show that the reported number of Place of Safety Orders made where an individual was taken to a police station has decreased by 24 per cent, from 7,900 in 2012-13 to 6,000 in 2013-14. Health & Social Care Information Centre

Innovator case study: Dementia diagnosis times plummet in ground breaking project

Innovator case study: Dementia diagnosis times plummet in ground breaking project The winner of the 2013 NHS Innovation Challenge Prize for Dementia - worth £80,000 - has reduced the average diagnosis time from three years to four weeks. Here we explore Gnosall Surgery’s ground breaking project. HSJ

New figures show UK increasingly reliant on overseas nurses

New figures show UK increasingly reliant on overseas nurses The United Kingdom has become a net importer of nurses for the first time in eight years, showing the extent of the reliance on overseas staff as hospitals desperately struggle to recruit enough staff to keep patients safe. Royal College of Nursing

Could sex with 21 women 'cut prostate risk'?

Could sex with 21 women 'cut prostate risk'? "Sleeping with more than 20 women protects men against prostate cancer, academics find," The Daily Telegraph reports.

The study in question included more than 1,500 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and a matched group of men without prostate cancer from the general population. Researchers then interviewed the men about their sexual activity.

The study concluded that having more than 20 female partners over a man’s lifetime was associated with a decreased risk of prostate cancer, while having several male partners seemed to increase the risk.

However, studies like this one cannot prove that having several female partners reduces the risk of prostate cancer, or that having more male partners increases risk.

Quarter of CCGs set to miss 1% surplus target

Quarter of CCGs set to miss 1% surplus target Almost 50 CCGs are set to miss the NHS's financial target of being at least 1% in surplus this year, and 18 CCGs are forecast to be in deficit at year end, the House of Commons health select committee has been told. GP Online

How sick are the worlds healthcare systems?

How sick are the worlds healthcare systems? The NHS is in trouble and its chief executive has requested £8bn to save it. But how does Britains system compare with healthcare around the world and what can we learn? From hard-pressed India to highly organised Germany, eight Guardian correspondents report  Continue reading... The Guardian

Ebola rages on, but we are approaching a turning point in this epidemic

Ebola rages on, but we are approaching a turning point in this epidemic New urgency on Ebola from the rich world, major investment and vaccine development suggest we may have reached the end of the beginning.

The news from Guinea and Sierra Leone has been unrelentingly horrific. Despite encouraging signs from Liberia, overall things will get worse. Today the official toll of the Ebola epidemic reached 13,703 cases, though the true figure is higher. By Christmas there may be thousands of new cases every week. More countries will probably report introduced infections, as in the US and, more worryingly, African neighbours. Several bleak months lie ahead.

Yet through this darkness it is finally becoming possible to see some light. In the past 10 days theinternational community has belatedly begun to take the actions necessary to start turning Ebolas tide. The progress is preliminary and uncertain; even if ultimately successful it will not reduce mortality or stop transmission for some time. We are not close to seeing the beginning of the end of the epidemic. But three developments offer hope that we may have reached the end of the beginning. Continue reading... The Guardian

Diabetes 'out of control' in most parts of England

Diabetes 'out of control' in most parts of England Warning that diabetes is 'out of control' in most of England, with 120 amputations a week, and those living in East London and West Suffolk faring worst for uncontrolled disease. The Daily Telegraph

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‘Urgent action’ needed to halt alcohol abuse in armed forces

‘Urgent action’ needed to halt alcohol abuse in armed forces Dangerous levels of alcohol consumption are “the norm” in the armed forces and the link between drinking and higher rates of violence among veterans must be investigated, MPs have warned. The Independent