Violet leads mental health campaign

Violet leads mental health campaign A woman from Higham Ferrers is leading a national campaign calling for more funding for mental health services.

Violet Skinner, 31, has shared her own experiences with NHS mental health services in a video produced by the mental health charity Mind as part of the campaign. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Northamptonshire people have helped raise £2million to be spent on improving care for breast cancer patients at county hospitals

Northamptonshire people have helped raise £2million to be spent on improving care for breast cancer patients at county hospitals The people of Northamptonshire have been thanked for helping raise £2 million to improve breast cancer care in the county. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

See also:

• Crazy Hats breaks £2m fundraising barrier for breast cancer care in Northamptonshire Northamptonshire Telegraph

The contracting NHS – can the NHS handle the outsourcing of clinical services?

The contracting NHS – can the NHS handle the outsourcing of clinical services? This report argues that the NHS is poorly equipped
to monitor the quality, safety and value for money of health services outsourced to private providers .

This is further complicated by the outsourcing of contract monitoring from CCGs to Commissioning Support Units, which are themselves soon to be privatised. Centre for Health and the Public Interest

See also:

• NHS struggling to monitor the safety and efficacy of its services outsourced to private providers The Independent

Beyond the manifestos: prospects for the NHS after the election

Beyond the manifestos: prospects for the NHS after the election The deafening silence on NHS funding I wrote about last autumn has given way to a cacophony of commitments and contested claims as election day approaches. The cacophony reached a crescendo this week following the Conservatives’ promise last weekend to find an extra £8 billion a year for the NHS by 2020/21 and the release of the parties’ election manifestos. A discordant note was struck by David Nicholson, who pointed out that even with commitments to spend more money the NHS is still facing unprecedented pressures and financial challenges.

What then are we to make of the commitments made by the three main political parties?

Analysis of the Green Party’s health pledges in the manifesto

Analysis of the Green Party’s health pledges in the manifesto All this week, we have been blogging on the launch of the election manifestos. Last but not least is our take on the Green party manifesto. On Tuesday when the party released its manifesto ‘For the Common Good’ it set out a series of policies that would represent quite a significant departure from the status quo. The Health Foundation

Labour warns of fewer nurses in NHS

Labour warns of fewer nurses in NHS There will be 2,000 fewer NHS nurses in England over the next four years according to projections, Labour says, but the Conservatives say the figures are old. BBC News

See also:

• RCN responds to projection of fewer nurses Royal College of Nursing 
• Labour accuses Tories of secret plan to cut number of NHS nurses after election The Guardian

Survey reveals Parkinson's hostility

Survey reveals Parkinson's hostility A survey of 2,000 people with Parkinson's finds that more than half have experienced rudeness or hostility from the public. BBC News

See also:

• VIDEO: Parkinson's mistaken for drunkenness BBC News
• Rudeness and hostility blight the lives of 69,000 with Parkinson's Parkinson's UK

Discovery could 'boost immune system's cancer fighting ability'

Discovery could 'boost immune system's cancer fighting ability' The media is awash with news of a breakthrough that is "turbocharging the immune system to kill all cancers" (The Daily Telegraph) and a "game-changing new way to fight cancer" (The Independent).

Both of these vivid headlines are debatable – the first because the technique has only been looked at in one type of cancer, and the second because it has only been examined in lab mice.

Researchers were actually looking at a way to overcome "exhaustion" of the body's immune system when its killer cells (called CD8 T cells) have too much to deal with. They wanted to find out how to increase the number of these killer cells, and memory cells that help the immune system "remember" cancers and viruses.

The researchers used genetic techniques in mice to study CD8 T cells. They discovered a protein, lymphocyte expansion molecule (LEM), which helps increase the number of CD8 T cells, improving the mice's ability to fight viruses or cancer cells. The LEM protein is a new discovery, and the researchers hope they can produce treatments for human diseases based on it.

Thousands of patients' data excluded from NHS dementia target data

Thousands of patients' data excluded from NHS dementia target data NHS England says it is closer to its dementia diagnosis target than Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) figures suggest. GP Online

‘Grave concern’ over growing violence against doctors

‘Grave concern’ over growing violence against doctors Incidents reported from every part of the world. OnMedica

See also:

• Growing Violence Against Doctors Alarms Medical Profession World Medical Association

Patients should be able to expect compassion from clinicians

Patients should be able to expect compassion from clinicians Healthcare professionals cannot become emotionally overwhelmed by every case they deal with, but patients and families need support and empathy Continue reading... The Guardian

HIV patients in UK are living longer, new data reveals

HIV patients in UK are living longer, new data reveals Figures released by House of Commons to HIV charity Positively UK show number of people seeking medical care with the virus as secondary diagnosis has risen by 301% since 2003-4

The number of patients with HIV being admitted to hospital in England has more than doubled in a decade – suggesting those with the virus are living for longer, official statistics show.

There were 29,870 admissions in 2013-14, compared with 12,796 in 2003-04, with the rise predominately down to the big increase in the number of cases where the patient’s HIV was not the primary reason for treatment. Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS executives 'earn £35 million in pay rises' despite funding crisis

NHS executives 'earn £35 million in pay rises' despite funding crisis Some hospital bosses took home more than £1 million pounds last year, while others were accused of exploiting loopholes to maximise their pay packets. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Greed of the NHS fat cats: How bosses got £35MILLION in pay rises last year, enjoying champagne parties, exotic holidays and shopping trips to Harrods as hospitals battled to make ends meet The Daily Mail