Who's who in health and social care guides 2014

Who's who in health and social care guides 2014 These guides have been updated to include new and current contact information for key figures within local health economies. Each regional guide contains contact information for representatives on health and wellbeing boards, CCGs, Healthwatch, strategic clinical networks and senates, and directors for adult and child social care. Regional Voices

• Guides
• Regional Voices news

Choice in mental health care

Choice in mental health care This guidance aims to help commissioners, GPs and providers support mental health patients exercising their legal rights to choose who provides their care and treatment. This guidance has been updated to reflect suggestions from consultation which highlighted the need for further clarity and it also includes a set of clinical scenarios to illustrate how mental health patients’ legal rights should work in practice. NHS England

• Guidance
• Clinical scenarios

CCG funding allocations 2014/15 and 2015/16

CCG funding allocations 2014/15 and 2015/16 These documents outline the funding allocations that CCGs will receive over the next two years (2014/15 and 2015/16). The allocations reflect the new funding formula which has been adopted for local health commissioners that will more accurately reflect population changes and include a specific deprivation measure. NHS England

• Allocation data
• Supporting note
• Press release

See also:

• CCGs expected to stump up more for ailing mental health services OnMedica

Tackle loneliness to 'shield' A&E

Tackle loneliness to 'shield' AE NHS leaders warn loneliness could cause a major spike in emergency admissions. BBC News

Researchers: your guide to hitting the headlines

Researchers: your guide to hitting the headlines Boffins, are you having trouble communicating the fruits of your labour to a wider audience?

Have you spent five thankless years going through stool samples in an attempt to find new treatments for giardiasis only to have your work written up as a single paragraph on page 34 of the Rochdale Observer?

Well, worry no more. Drawing on decades of journalistic experience, the Behind the Headlines team has drawn up the definitive guide to getting your work featured prominently on News at Ten. Simply follow the 10 tips below and before you know it you’ll be talking p-values with Phil and Holly on ITV's This Morning. Continue reading... NHS Choices

Exclusive: Huge variation in GP-patient ratio across England revealed

Exclusive: Huge variation in GP-patient ratio across England revealed GPs in parts of England are dealing with twice as many patients as their counterparts in other areas, an analysis of official data by GP magazine reveals. GP Online

Tory Francis Maude says NHS reforms hinge on inclusion of private firms

Tory Francis Maude says NHS reforms hinge on inclusion of private firms Maude wants private firms to get health service work under £5.3bn Better Care Fund aiming to knit health and social care.

A senior minister has criticised the government’s £5.3bn central policy to save the NHS and claimed it will only work if private firms are given a much bigger role. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Francis Maude: give private firms a bigger role in NHS to combat 'endless process and bureaucracy'; video The Guardian

Children under six being prescribed behavioural drugs against medical guidelines

Children under six being prescribed behavioural drugs against medical guidelines Children under six are being prescribed behavioural drugs against medical guidelines as mental health professionals struggle to cope with a lack of funding and short staffing. The Independent

See also:

• ADHD and preschool children in the news British Psychological Society
• ADHD drugs increasingly prescribed to treat hyperactivity in pre-schoolers The Guardian