Thursday 30 April 2015

How can we plan the future NHS workforce with incomplete information?

How can we plan the future NHS workforce with incomplete information? Discussions about the NHS workforce have been prominent in the current election campaign and arose during the recent health debate. The main parties have made various pledges about increasing the numbers of NHS staff. Conveniently round numbers such as ‘20,000 more nurses’ or ‘5,000 more GPs’ have hit the headlines, but is there the money to fund these roles or the eager trainees to fill them?

Before we get to those questions we need to think about whether we actually need more staff on this scale. All of the anecdotal evidence we’ve gathered on access problems and an increasing reliance on agency nurses suggests the answer is a very emphatic ‘Yes’. However, our recent report Workforce planning in the NHS demonstrates that we don’t know nearly enough about the numbers or nature of the workforce currently delivering NHS-commissioned services.

From compliance to commitment: should the NHS look to the Danish on how to accelerate change and improvement?

From compliance to commitment: should the NHS look to the Danish on how to accelerate change and improvement? It’s a time of great change for the Danish in their approach to health care quality improvement and the Danish system has many similarities with the NHS, albeit on a smaller scale. So what can the NHS learn from the Danish approach? asks Clare Allcock. The Health Foundation

Antibiotics 'not being protected'

Antibiotics 'not being protected' Three-quarters of countries do not have plans in place to preserve antimicrobial medicines, the World Health Organization says. BBC News

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More older carers 'risking health'

More older carers 'risking health' The number of older carers in England is rising, with signs the responsibility of looking after loved ones is damaging their health, research suggests. BBC News

NHS close to breaking point says British Medical Journal

NHS close to breaking point says British Medical Journal The leading medical journal said public safety is at risk and the next five years are set to be the ‘most challenging’ the Health Service in England has faced as it is 'stretched to breaking point'. The Daily Mail

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Digital revolution brings data challenges for NHS

Digital revolution brings data challenges for NHS Digital health technology could redefine healthcare for the better, but data security remains the greatest challenge

Alongside its industrial cousin, the digital revolution has created fundamental and irreversible changes to our way of life. Those changes are particularly apparent in the healthcare sector and from a UK perspective, digitally enabled services are a vital element in the strategy that the NHS is using to head off the £30bn black hole that will otherwise exist in its budget by 2020.

While the majority of us expect that goods and services be available within a couple of taps of a smartphone or tablet, in a healthcare context, a sizeable group of the population are either late adopters or remain seriously concerned about data security. Add to that the moral concerns that exist in relation to the commercialisation of patient data and you see the extent of the challenge that the NHS needs to overcome before it is able to realise substantial savings through use of digital health technology. Continue reading... The Guardian

GPs are exhausted, A&E is overrun and hospitals are broke. What went wrong?

GPs are exhausted, A&E is overrun and hospitals are broke. What went wrong? Each day this week we are looking at key election issues. Today we examine the NHS, and the claim that the coalition’s plan for market-based healthcare was based on a mistaken belief that doctors are driven by self-interest.

When Stephanie Di Georgio, a Kent GP, sat down at a medical conference last year in Liverpool to hear the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, she expected to be annoyed. A partner in a busy practice by the sea in Deal, Kent, she had almost given up on medicine because of the stress of dealing with shrinking budgets while the pressure built up to do more.

So much was done so fast in an unprecedented squeeze Continue reading... The Guardian

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British expats from outside Europe must pay for NHS hospital care

British expats from outside Europe must pay for NHS hospital care A bill for 150 per cent of the cost of treatment will be handed to Britons living outside the European Economic Area if they don't have insurance. The Daily Telegraph

Richest one per cent will live over eight years longer on average than those living in poorest parts of UK by 2030, say experts

Richest one per cent will live over eight years longer on average than those living in poorest parts of UK by 2030, say experts People living in the some of the country’s richest areas will, by 2030, live more than eight years longer on average than those living in some of the poorest, leading experts have said. The Independent

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Child becomes first patient to be cured of potentially fatal illness using 3D-printed biodegradable implant

Child becomes first patient to be cured of potentially fatal illness using 3D-printed biodegradable implant A three-year-old boy has become the first patient in the world to be cured of a potentially fatal illness with a biodegradable implant made to the patient’s exact specifications by 3D printing technology, doctors have said. The Independent