Wednesday 27 May 2015

Hospital £21m improvement shortfall

Hospital £21m improvement shortfall Northampton General Hospital, a trust judged in need of improvement will go more than £21m in the red this year to meet its quality and efficiency aims. BBC Northampton

Education, sharing best practice and support: five ideas for building capability in the NHS

Education, sharing best practice and support: five ideas for building capability in the NHS Andrew Constable, a leadership consultant, gives his ideas for building capability in systems, processes and methodologies in the NHS. The Health Foundation

Latest NHS staff sickness absence figures published

Latest NHS staff sickness absence figures published The sickness absence statistics for the NHS up to January 2015 have been published. Read a summary here. NHS Employers

Health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace: a Britain's healthiest company summary report

Health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace: a Britain's healthiest company summary report This report aims to draw upon data collected during the 2014 Britain's Healthiest Company (BHC) competition in order to understand what drives productivity at work in the participating organisations and, in particular, to examine the relation between the health and wellbeing of staff and their resultant productivity. To understand this relationship, the report look at the links between lost productivity in terms of presenteeism (being in suboptimal health at work) and absenteeism in association with a range of factors. Rand Corporation 

Obesity in teen boys may increase bowel cancer risk in later life

Obesity in teen boys may increase bowel cancer risk in later life "Teenage boys who become very obese may double their risk of getting bowel cancer by the time they are in their 50s," The Guardian reports. A Swedish study found a strong association between teenage obesity and bowel cancer risk in later adulthood.

The study involved over 230,000 Swedish males, who were conscripted into the military aged 16 to 20 years old. Those who were in the upper ranges of overweight and those who were obese at that time were about twice as likely to develop bowel cancer over the next 35 years as those who were a normal weight.

This study has a number of strengths, including its size, the fact that body mass index (BMI) was objectively measured by a nurse and that the national cancer registry in Sweden captures virtually all cancer diagnoses. However, it was not able to take into account the boys' diets or smoking habits – both of which affect bowel cancer risk.

VIDEO: Can this app help teach surgeons?

VIDEO: Can this app help teach surgeons? The app which allows trainee surgeons to practice medical techniques. BBC News

NMC to consult on introducing language controls for EU trained nurses and midwives.

NMC to consult on introducing language controls for EU trained nurses and midwives. In June the NMC will be consulting on new English language checks on nurses and midwives who trained in Europe. Nursing and Midwifery Council

Integration vanguards consider pooled budgets

Integration vanguards consider pooled budgets Integrated care vanguards are considering developing pooled funding arrangements, NHS England documents have revealed. GP Online

General practice teaching for medical students 'in decline'

General practice teaching for medical students 'in decline' RCGP slams findings as 'outrageous' given the expectations placed on general practice. OnMedica

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Will Jeremy Hunt be able to join up health and social care? | Anne Perkins

Will Jeremy Hunt be able to join up health and social care? | Anne  The health secretary is not new to his brief, but that won’t make it any easier to bridge the damaging culture gap between health and social care and successfully integrate services

When the Queen delivers her speech from the throne today, the one thing there won’t be is new legislation on health or social care. The word in Richmond House is Carry on Quietly, or as quietly as possible, while trying to navigate through a potentially catastrophic debt crisis among NHS foundation trusts that only adds to the familiar pressures of demography and the need to reform.

But Jeremy Hunt starts with some advantages, not least that for him this is of course not a start, merely a return to business. Not since Norman Fowler back in the 1980s has a health secretarystayed in post through an election. And although he has yet to clock up three full years in the post, Hunt has already served longer than anyone since Alan Milburn set off with reforming zeal in 1999. So at least he knows what he has to do.

Once again the professionals are nervously circling the utopian future of integrated health and social care

Much hangs on the success of the pioneering project to devolve the health budget in Manchester Continue reading... The Guardian

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Reclassify psychedelic drugs so we can properly research them, says leading psychiatrist

Reclassify psychedelic drugs so we can properly research them, says leading psychiatrist Psychedelic drugs including LSD and magic mushrooms are much less harmful than has been claimed, and should be reclassified to make it easier for scientists to research their potential benefits, a leading psychiatrist has said. The Independent

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World first as scientists provide proof that viruses can combat cancer

World first as scientists provide proof that viruses can combat cancer Scientists have the first proof that a “brand new” way of combating cancer, using genetically modified viruses to attack tumour cells, can benefit patients, paving the way for a “wave” of new potential treatments over the next decade. The Independent

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