Friday 5 June 2015

Rise in mental health bed occupancy

Rise in mental health bed occupancy Mental health bed occupancy has hit its highest level in at least five years, the latest NHS England figures show.

NHS Choices data shows acute bed occupancy was 100% at 10 out of 48 trustMental health beds had an average occupancy of 89.5% in 2014-15, the highest level in the dataset’s five year history. The figure marks a rise in occupancy of 2.9% on 2010-11 levels. The number of available beds fell from 23,515 in April 2010 to 21,374 in April 2015, a drop of 9.1%.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists recommends a ward occupancy level of 85% for effective care continue reading Community Care

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NHS England asks NICE to suspend safe staffing programme

NHS England asks NICE to suspend safe staffing programme NHS England has asked NICE not to begin new activity in its safe staffing programme.

NHS England will now take forward the issue of staffing work as part of a wider programme of service improvement. It is looking at alternative approaches to helping NHS providers to achieve the right levels and mix of staff. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence

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NHS facing 'very, very big challenge'

NHS facing 'very, very big challenge' The NHS must stop wasting money if it is to meet the "very, very big challenge" it faces, the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt says. BBC News

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Five Year Forward View: Time to Deliver

Five Year Forward View: Time to Deliver At the NHS Confederation conference on Thursday 4 June 2015, the seven principle national health bodies published Five Year Forward View: Time to Deliver.

Time to Deliver is primarily a tool for NHS managers. It looks at the progress made to date towards delivering the Five Year Forward View, and sets out the next steps we need to take if we are to achieve the shared ambitions within in.The paper kicks-starts a period of engagement with the NHS, patients and other partners on how we can respond to the long-term challenges and close the health and wellbeing gap; the care and quality gap; and the funding and efficiency gap. NHS England

Talent management: developing leadership not just leaders

Talent management: developing leadership not just leaders In light of the high number of board-level vacancies in the NHS and an increasing reliance on expensive locum and agency staff, NHS organisations need to have effective strategies in place to develop future leaders. This paper helps boards and other NHS leaders to decide which processes and systems need to be in place to support the recruitment, development, retention and deployment of an agile workforce. The King's Fund

£200 million lost from public health budget

£200 million lost from public health budget The Government today announced a consultation on plans to remove £200 million from local authority public health budgets. Royal College of Nursing

Five-year 'death test' for older adults launched online

Five-year 'death test' for older adults launched online"Are you dying to know? Scientists develop death test to predict if you'll make it to 2020," The Daily Telegraph reports. The test is based on analysis of data collected from the UK Biobank.

This is essentially a huge ongoing cohort study that collected data from almost 500,000 middle- to older-age adults in the UK over an average of five years. This data was then used to create an online death risk calculator.

The researchers looked at around 650 different measurements, including blood tests, family history, health and medical history to work out which were most strongly associated with risk of death over the next five years.

This was then used to create an online risk calculator of death. For this, the researchers focused on factors that were easy for people to self-report. For example, you probably have no clue what size your red blood cells are or what your cholesterol level is, but you do know how many children you have.

The factors included in the tool do not necessarily cause death, but are associated with an increase in risk. Many of these factors cannot be changed, such as already having a longstanding illness, but some can be, such as smoking – the strongest predictor of death in people with no medical illness.

S Korea doctor deepens Mers scare

S Korea doctor deepens Mers scare A South Korean doctor disobeyed an order to stay away from the public after contracting Middle East Respiratory Syndrome from a patient, it has emerged. BBC News

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Call for blood donors amid stark drop

Call for blood donors amid stark drop A campaign is calling for new blood donors in England and Wales following a 40% drop in fresh volunteers in the past decade. BBC News

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Plan for 'global army' of medics

Plan for 'global army' of medics Plans for a global taskforce of 10,000 medics and scientists to tackle major disease outbreaks will be presented at the G7 summit, the BBC understands. BBC News

'If vanguards work, the return on investment is to the wider NHS'

'If vanguards work, the return on investment is to the wider NHS' As new models of care are set to transform the NHS, Claire Read speaks to three trusts to find out what prompted their bid to be a vanguard site and their journey so far. Health Service Journal

GP flu consultations 'nearly double' epidemic levels last winter, data show

GP flu consultations 'nearly double' epidemic levels last winter, data show The number of GP consultations for flu-like symptoms last winter was almost double epidemic levels, according to data from Public Health England. GP Online

Is letting dementia patients live in the past the best form of care?

Is letting dementia patients live in the past the best form of care? Butterfly Household Model of Care lets patients believe that they are working, getting married or having a family again. The Daily Telegraph

UK has highest rate of cocaine use among young adults in Europe, says new report

UK has highest rate of cocaine use among young adults in Europe, says new report Britain has the highest rate of cocaine use among young adults in Europe, a report indicates. The Independent

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NHS England to scrap key waiting time targets and end weekly reporting of A&E figures

NHS England to scrap key waiting time targets and end weekly reporting of A&E figures The NHS in England is to scrap two key waiting times targets and end the weekly reporting of A&E figures, despite mounting pressures on the health service. The Independent

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