Care homes shutting at rate of one a month in Northamptonshire due ‘as council payments too low’

Care homes shutting at rate of one a month in Northamptonshire due ‘as council payments too low’ Care homes have shut at a rate of more than one a month in the last two years, new figures suggest. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Your RPS Pilot sites for pharmacists in A&E scheme revealed

Your RPS Pilot sites for pharmacists in A&E scheme revealed Health Education England confirms NHS trusts where pharmacists will be drafted into A&E units as part of a national pilot, which includes Northampton General Hospital. Pharmaceutical Journal

Are we suffering from ‘information underload’ when it comes to quality of care?

Are we suffering from ‘information underload’ when it comes to quality of care? With only seven weeks to go until the general election, political parties are each going to need to attempt to answer the question of how the NHS is performing, and, critically, is it better or worse than five years ago? asks Natalie Berry. The Health Foundation

NHS England launch a new Workforce Race Equality Standard

NHS England launch a new Workforce Race Equality Standard Coming into effect on 1 April this year, the Workforce Race Equality Standard requires NHS organisations to demonstrate progress against a number of indicators of workforce equality. NHS Employers

Vital signs: taking the temperature of health and care services for people living with long term conditions

Vital signs: taking the temperature of health and care services for people living with long term conditions This report analyses the quality of health and care services from the users’ perspective. It shows that there are some worrying gaps in long term conditions care which lead to many preventable problems. Too often people are not supported to look after themselves, and their emotional and practical needs, and those of their carers, are frequently ignored. This not only leads to distress and complications for people living with long term conditions, but also means that avoidable pressures on the NHS are increasing. Richmond group of Charities

• Report
• Infographic

See also:

• The vital signs of patient care The King's Fund

Hospital staff 'act above pay grade'

Hospital staff 'act above pay grade' A BBC investigation finds hospital healthcare assistants are working without proper training or supervision, putting patients at risk. BBC News

Mental health budgets 'cut by 8%'

Mental health budgets 'cut by 8%' Mental health trusts in England have had their budgets cut by more than 8% in real terms over the course of this parliament, research suggests. BBC News

See also:

• Mental health trust funding down 8% from 2010 despite coalition’s drive for parity of esteem  Community Care

NHS finances – a likely headache

NHS finances – a likely headache As the post-Budget debate on the extent of future austerity rages on, there has been a sobering reminder of the financial needs of the NHS next year and beyond.

Whichever of the main parties is in power will be looking for more spending cuts across Whitehall. There will be a continued drive to squeeze budgets. But that task could become even more challenging because of the demands of the health service in England. BBC News

Most health leaders doubt NHS efficiencies possible

Most health leaders doubt NHS efficiencies possible Three quarters of health and social care leaders including GPs are not convinced that the NHS will be able to make the efficiency savings expected of it over the next five years OnMedica

See also:

• Health Leaders Panel Survey Four: Looking forward Nuffield Trust
• Trusts predicted to end year with £800m deficit OnMedica

Hurry up with meningitis vaccine deal, government told

Hurry up with meningitis vaccine deal, government told Charity urges Department of Health to bring negotiation over price of Bexsero MenB vaccine, begun last August, to a conclusion.

A meningitis vaccine that is currently the subject of price negotiations should be introduced as soon as possible “to save lives”, a charity has warned.

It is now a year since the body that advises the Department of Health on immunisation recommended the Bexsero MenB vaccine should be made available to children. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Campaigners make Men B vaccine plea BBC News

Virgin Care among firms with lucrative NHS deals and a tax haven status

Virgin Care among firms with lucrative NHS deals and a tax haven status Richard Branson’s group is one of 10 private health providers that have tax havens as part of their corporate structure

Virgin Care, which has been handed contracts worth hundreds of millions of pounds to run more than 230 NHS and social care services, is one of at least 10 private health firms seeking state-funded contracts whose company structures include tax havens, it can be revealed.

An analysis by Richard Murphy, a chartered accountant at Tax Research UK, has found 13 holding companies, some of them offshore, between Virgin Care and its ultimate parent company, based in the British Virgin Islands. Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS feels the strain as hospital bed-blocking by elderly patients hits record levels

NHS feels the strain as hospital bed-blocking by elderly patients hits record levels Bed-blocking is causing a huge strain on the NHS, with more than one million hospital bed days lost because of delayed discharges in the past year, new figures revealed last night. The Independent

See also:

• Bed-blocking has reached record levels with thousands of healthy people filling much-needed space on hospital wards The Daily Mail

Ebola outbreak: The world has eased up too soon on the battle with the virus, says professor who helped discover it

Ebola outbreak: The world has eased up too soon on the battle with the virus, says professor who helped discover it The end of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa may still be some way off, and the world must prepare for future outbreaks, Professor Peter Piot, the co-discoverer of the virus, has said. The Independent

See also:

• Early call for Ebola help 'ignored' BBC News
• How Ebola changed the world BBC News
• News story: Two Ebola vaccines are being tested in Liberia and Guinea Department of Health