KGH urgent care hub plans on track

KGH urgent care hub plans on track Plans for a new urgent care hub at Kettering General Hospital are on track, the chief executive has confirmed. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Health secretary in talks about expanding Northampton General Hospital

Health secretary in talks about expanding Northampton General Hospital Talks about an “extra investment” for Northampton General Hospital (NGH) have been opened between the town’s MPs and Health secretary Jeremy Hunt. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Improving acute inpatient psychiatric care for adults in England: interim report

Improving acute inpatient psychiatric care for adults in England: interim report This interim report is based on the Commission’s initial observations about acute inpatient psychiatric services for adults in England and its discussions with patients, carers, advocates, health and social care professionals and policy makers. The final report is due in early 2016. The Commission to review the provision of acute inpatient psychiatric care for adults

See also:

• System blamed for mental bed shortage BBC News
• Mental health beds crisis ‘driven by discharge delays’, finds report Community Care
• Cuts in acute psychiatric care may have gone too far, inquiry finds The Guardian

More than 135 diabetes amputations every week

More than 135 diabetes amputations every week New figures have revealed that the number of diabetes-related amputations each week in England has now reached an all-time record high of 135, according to new analysis by Diabetes UK.

See also:

• 135 diabetes amputations every week: Obesity blamed for 17% rise in operations The Daily Mail
• Record number of people undergoing amputations because of diabetes The Guardian

Commissioning and statutory funding arrangements for hospices in England: survey results 2015

Commissioning and statutory funding arrangements for hospices in England: survey results 2015 This report of a survey of 117 hospices found that more than two thirds of the hospices report that their statutory funding was frozen or slashed in 2014/15, largely because of financial restrictions on NHS commissioners or stand still budgets. It calls on the government to set out how it will bring about fair and sustainable statutory funding for hospice and palliative care. Together for Short Lives

750 avoidable deaths a month in NHS hospitals, study finds

750 avoidable deaths a month in NHS hospitals, study finds One in 28 deaths can be attributed to poor care and study says standard death rates should not be used to rank quality of care

About 750 patients a month in NHS hospitals are dying unnecessarily, the largest review of “avoidable deaths” has found.

Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine said one in 28 deaths could be attributed to poor care such as inattentive monitoring of the patient’s condition, doctors making the wrong diagnosis or patients being prescribed the wrong medicine. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Key measure of hospital quality does not give accurate indication of avoidable deaths London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
• Avoidability of hospital deaths and association with hospital-wide mortality ratios: retrospective case record review and regression analysis The BMJ

NHS care of elderly patients often poor and lacking dignity, report says

NHS care of elderly patients often poor and lacking dignity, report says Researchers from LSE find large number of patients treated with insufficient respect in vast majority of NHS England hospitals

More than a million over-65s a year are treated poorly while in hospital, for example by not being helped to eat, according to a new report which has prompted calls for the NHS to improve care of older people.

Elderly patients are confronted with widespread and systematic inadequate care during their stay, which is a significant problem affecting the vast majority of hospitals in England, it says. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Older hospital patients face "widespread and systematic" pattern of poor care London School of Economics
• Older people’s experiences of dignity andnutrition during hospital stays: Secondary data analysis using the AdultInpatient Survey Centre for the Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE
• Patients bewail 'lack of dignity' BBC News

Flesh-eating bug 'kills one-in-four of people it infects in UK'

Flesh-eating bug 'kills one-in-four of people it infects in UK' Deadly new strain of flesh-eating bug that kills one in four of people it invasively infects spreading rapidly, scientists find. The Daily Telegraph

NHS promises urgent action after report reveals extent of 'inappropriate use of psychotropic drugs' in people with learning disabilities

NHS promises urgent action after report reveals extent of 'inappropriate use of psychotropic drugs' in people with learning disabilities NHS England has said it will take urgent action after finding a "high level of inappropriate use of psychotropic drugs in people with learning disabilities". The Independent

See also:

• Urgent action pledged on over-medication of people with learning disabilities NHS England
• Press release: People with learning disabilities over-prescribed psychiatric drugs Public Health England
• NHS told 'stop over-medicating' BBC News
• People with learning disabilities being wrongly given anti-psychotic drugs The Daily Mail
• RCGP responds to NHS England announcement on the use of medicines in people with learning disabilities Royal College of General Practitioners