Fund totalling £100k to help homeless and vulnerable people scrapped by Northamptonshire County Council

Fund totalling £100k to help homeless and vulnerable people scrapped by Northamptonshire County Council Grants to help hospital patients or homeless people live independently have been scrapped by Northamptonshire County Council. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Evolution of care: where will the vanguards be in five years’ time?

Evolution of care: where will the vanguards be in five years’ time? Among all the buzz and excitement of the vanguards, we must take care to not overlook the fundamental reason for them in the first place – to develop new care models which will act as the blue prints for the NHS moving forward and inspire the rest of the health and care system, says Isobelle Anderson. The Health Foundation

Hospital admissions due to dogs and other mammals: new figures released

Hospital admissions due to dogs and other mammals: new figures released New figures on NHS hospital admissions for injuries caused by dogs, rats and other mammals (including horses, foxes and cats) have been released by the Health and Social Care Information Centre

See also:

• Rise in 'dog bite' hospital admissions BBC News

Smoking ban 'improves child health'

Smoking ban 'improves child health' The ban on smoking in public places - which came into force in 2007 in England - has cut child hospital admissions by some 11,000 a year, research suggests. BBC News

See also:

• Almost 90,000 children spared illness by smoking ban: 11,000 fewer a year admitted to hospital with lung infections since law was changed The Daily Mail
• Smoking not only kills, it plunges children into POVERTY because parents 'prioritise cigarettes over food' The Daily Mail
• Smoking parents plunging nearly half a million children into poverty, says new research The Independent

NHS 111 goes online

NHS 111 goes online NHS England is testing an online version of non-emergency phone service NHS 111 that uses a simplified version of the algorithm used by call handlers. E-Health Insider

Eight in ten patients always trust their doctor

Eight in ten patients always trust their doctor But only half feel involved in decision making and many say communication needs to be improved. OnMedica

Mental health groups call for fair funding

Mental health groups call for fair funding Six mental health organisations are urging the government to adopt an action plan for its first 100 days in office, including a commitment to agree to fair funding for services in July’s post-election Budget. Public Finance

Doctors prescribing antibiotics for gonorrhea that no longer work

Doctors prescribing antibiotics for gonorrhea that no longer work GPs give patients ciprofloxacin, which has not been recommended since 2005, raising fears that drug-resistant forms of sexually transmitted disease will spread

GPs are prescribing antibiotics that no longer work for people with gonorrhoea, raising the chances that drug-resistant forms of the sexually transmitted disease will spread.

Antibiotics are losing their potency against many infectious diseases because of inappropriate use or overuse. Gonorrhoea, a serious sexually transmitted infection that is easily passed on and can cause infertility, has for some time been a cause for concern. The bacterium that causes it, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, has developed resistance to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, traditionally used to treat it, so that in a third of cases, it no longer works. Continue reading... The Guardian

Health services should have identified risk of double murderer reoffending

Health services should have identified risk of double murderer reoffending Report says there were many deficiencies and missed opportunities in the treatment of James Allen, who went on to murder two people in 2012

Health services that dealt with a man later convicted of murdering two people should have identified the “significant probability that he would reoffend”, a report has found.

James Allen attacked 81-year-old Colin Dunford in his Middlesbrough terrace home, then three days later stabbed to death Julie Davison, 50, at her flat in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The double killing sparked a huge manhunt which ended in Leeds when an off-duty police officer spotted him. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• An independent investigation into the care and treatment of Mr F by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS FoundationTrust Niche Patient Safety / NHS England
• Murderer James Allen had 'known risk factors' BBC News
• Health care criticised over double murders ITV News

Tory plan for seven-day access to GPs branded 'cloud cuckoo land'

Tory plan for seven-day access to GPs branded 'cloud cuckoo land' Dr Maureen Baker of the Royal College of GPs hits out at David Cameron’s NHS pledge and warns that many GP surgeries are already ‘teetering on the brink’

Plans for seven-day GP surgeries have been described as coming from “cloud cuckoo land” by one of the UK’s most senior doctors.

Dr Maureen Baker, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), labelled the government’s pledge a “political imperative” and warned that many GP surgeries were already “teetering on the brink”. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• GP contract faces radical reform as opposition to seven-day NHS grows GP Online

Elderly face NHS discrimination under new UN death targets

Elderly face NHS discrimination under new UN death targets Elderly people will be treated like second-class citizens and denied medical care under new targets which give priority to saving the lives of young people. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• The UN's suggestion that Britain ration health care is a wake-up call The Daily Telegraph
• 'Unethical' UN health plan to reduce deaths discriminates against old people, claim medical experts The Independent

Study showing that chocolate can help with weight loss was a trick to show how easily shoddy science can make headlines

Study showing that chocolate can help with weight loss was a trick to show how easily shoddy science can make headlines A journalist seeking to lay bare how the research behind fad diets can be “meaningless” and based on “terrible science”, has revealed how he tricked international media into believing that chocolate can aid weight loss. The Independent

Relatives of dementia sufferers who die in care homes having to wait months to bury loved ones thanks to new Government rules

Relatives of dementia sufferers who die in care homes having to wait months to bury loved ones thanks to new Government rules Relatives of dementia sufferers who pass away in care homes are being forced to wait months to bury loved ones because of new rules. The Independent