New glass walkway will connect Northampton General Hospital site to £1.8m radiotherapy machine
Patients having radiotherapy at Northampton General Hospital are to have more available therapies and reduced side effects after a £5.5m million investment in new technology. Northampton Chronicle
Tuesday 15 September 2015
Reducing admissions and care planning
Reducing admissions and care planning
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has published a round-up of local projects to reduce admissions to secondary care and improve care planning. NHS Networks
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has published a round-up of local projects to reduce admissions to secondary care and improve care planning. NHS Networks
Jeremy Corbyn victory could boost BMA campaign against NHS marketisation
Jeremy Corbyn victory could boost BMA campaign against NHS marketisation
New Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn's pledge to reverse the marketisation of the health service if elected prime minister has been backed by NHS campaigners and could bring the party closer in line with BMA policy.
GP Online
New Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn's pledge to reverse the marketisation of the health service if elected prime minister has been backed by NHS campaigners and could bring the party closer in line with BMA policy.
GP Online
Press release: England has the potential to have the lowest disease burden in the world
Press release: England has the potential to have the lowest disease burden in the world
For the first time, a new PHE-led study published in The Lancet ranks the diseases and risk factors that cause death and disability in England compared with other high-income countries. It reveals the nation’s potential to have the lowest total disease burden (years of life lost to death and lived with disability) in the world.
Between 1990 and 2013, life expectancy in England increased by 5.4 years: one of the biggest increases compared with the other EU15+ countries (from 75.9 years in 1990 to 81.3 years in 2013).
This increase was mainly because of falls in the death rate from cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and some cancers (with progress partly offset by increased death rates from liver disease).
South East England has the lowest disease burden when compared to high-income countries, and England as a whole performs better than the EU15+ † average.
Known potentially preventable risk factors taken together explain 40% of ill health in England. If you examine the impact of specific risks on the overall disease burden, unhealthy diet and tobacco are the two largest contributors ‡ (diet accounts for 10.8% of total disease burden and tobacco 10.7%).
Improvements in life expectancy haven’t been matched by improvements in levels of ill-health. So, as a population we’re living longer but spending more years in ill-health, often with a combination of conditions, some of which would have previously been fatal. For example, with diabetes, the years of life lost to the disease have decreased by 56% but years living with disability have increased by over 75%.
Professor John Newton, Chief Knowledge Officer, Public Health England, said:
The findings show the huge opportunity for preventive public health. If levels of health in the worst performing regions in England matched the best performing ones, England would have one of the lowest burdens of disease of any developed country.
And even though there have been big falls in premature mortality, the top causes of early deaths in England and in each English region are still heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which to a greater or lesser extent, are attributable to preventable risk factors.
Dr Adam Briggs, co-author and Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellow, University of Oxford, said:
Life expectancy is increasing across the country but large inequalities still remain. Life expectancy in 2013 for those living in the most deprived areas was still lower than those in less deprived areas enjoyed in 1990. How deprived you are is the key driver of these differences rather than where you live and therefore deprivation and its causes need to be tackled wherever they occur.
Professor Kevin Fenton, Director of Health and Wellbeing, Public Health England, said:
People are living longer, but they are living longer with disability, which will require more integrated models of care spanning health and social services. The other important implication for health services is that it is likely that up to 40% of its workload is due to potentially preventable risk factors. This reaffirms the importance of people taking positive steps today, liking eating well and stopping smoking, to improve their health in the long term.
† The first 15 European Union members apart from the UK (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden), plus Australia, Canada, Norway, and the United States of America [EU15+].
‡ For women in England, tobacco is now the number one risk factor and has overtaken unhealthy diets and high blood pressure since 1990.
Public Health England press office
For the first time, a new PHE-led study published in The Lancet ranks the diseases and risk factors that cause death and disability in England compared with other high-income countries. It reveals the nation’s potential to have the lowest total disease burden (years of life lost to death and lived with disability) in the world.
Between 1990 and 2013, life expectancy in England increased by 5.4 years: one of the biggest increases compared with the other EU15+ countries (from 75.9 years in 1990 to 81.3 years in 2013).
This increase was mainly because of falls in the death rate from cardiovascular disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and some cancers (with progress partly offset by increased death rates from liver disease).
South East England has the lowest disease burden when compared to high-income countries, and England as a whole performs better than the EU15+ † average.
Known potentially preventable risk factors taken together explain 40% of ill health in England. If you examine the impact of specific risks on the overall disease burden, unhealthy diet and tobacco are the two largest contributors ‡ (diet accounts for 10.8% of total disease burden and tobacco 10.7%).
Improvements in life expectancy haven’t been matched by improvements in levels of ill-health. So, as a population we’re living longer but spending more years in ill-health, often with a combination of conditions, some of which would have previously been fatal. For example, with diabetes, the years of life lost to the disease have decreased by 56% but years living with disability have increased by over 75%.
Professor John Newton, Chief Knowledge Officer, Public Health England, said:
The findings show the huge opportunity for preventive public health. If levels of health in the worst performing regions in England matched the best performing ones, England would have one of the lowest burdens of disease of any developed country.
And even though there have been big falls in premature mortality, the top causes of early deaths in England and in each English region are still heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which to a greater or lesser extent, are attributable to preventable risk factors.
Dr Adam Briggs, co-author and Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellow, University of Oxford, said:
Life expectancy is increasing across the country but large inequalities still remain. Life expectancy in 2013 for those living in the most deprived areas was still lower than those in less deprived areas enjoyed in 1990. How deprived you are is the key driver of these differences rather than where you live and therefore deprivation and its causes need to be tackled wherever they occur.
Professor Kevin Fenton, Director of Health and Wellbeing, Public Health England, said:
People are living longer, but they are living longer with disability, which will require more integrated models of care spanning health and social services. The other important implication for health services is that it is likely that up to 40% of its workload is due to potentially preventable risk factors. This reaffirms the importance of people taking positive steps today, liking eating well and stopping smoking, to improve their health in the long term.
† The first 15 European Union members apart from the UK (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden), plus Australia, Canada, Norway, and the United States of America [EU15+].
‡ For women in England, tobacco is now the number one risk factor and has overtaken unhealthy diets and high blood pressure since 1990.
Public Health England press office
Ketamine could be used as anti-depressant
Ketamine could be used as anti-depressant
Ketamine could be used in new treatments for depression, according to scientists. Independent
Ketamine could be used in new treatments for depression, according to scientists. Independent
Child end-of-life care 'needs focus'
Child end-of-life care 'needs focus'
A report into palliative care for children says it needs "strategic attention" and previous lessons remain "largely unheard". BBC News
A report into palliative care for children says it needs "strategic attention" and previous lessons remain "largely unheard". BBC News
Smaller portions call to tackle obesity
Smaller portions call to tackle obesity
Reducing portions sizes in supermarkets, restaurants and at home could help reverse the obesity epidemic, say researchers. BBC News
Reducing portions sizes in supermarkets, restaurants and at home could help reverse the obesity epidemic, say researchers. BBC News
Britain's poor diet more deadly than its smoking habit as alcohol related deaths soar
Britain's poor diet more deadly than its smoking habit as alcohol related deaths soar
Why the nation's love of crisps, take-away meals and sweets is doing us more harm than tobacco. Telegraph
Why the nation's love of crisps, take-away meals and sweets is doing us more harm than tobacco. Telegraph
Patient Safety Alert – Supporting the introduction of the National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures
Patient Safety Alert – Supporting the introduction of the National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures
A Patient Safety Alert has been issued by NHS England to launch an NHS-wide programme of work based around the National Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs) that were published on 7 September 2015.
The alert asks NHS providers to review current clinical practice and ensure the NatSSIPs are embedded into local processes by developing their own local safety standards for invasive procedures (LocSSIPs) in collaboration with staff, patients and the public.
The aim of the NatSSIPs is to reduce the number of patient safety incidents related to invasive procedures in which surgical Never Events could occur. They set out the minimum standards considered necessary for the delivery of safe care during invasive procedures as well as underpinning aspects of education and training.
The NatSSIPs have been set and endorsed by all relevant professional bodies, including the royal colleges, the Care Quality Commission, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the General Medical Council, Monitor, the Trust Development Agency, and Health Education England.
A Patient Safety Alert has been issued by NHS England to launch an NHS-wide programme of work based around the National Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs) that were published on 7 September 2015.
The alert asks NHS providers to review current clinical practice and ensure the NatSSIPs are embedded into local processes by developing their own local safety standards for invasive procedures (LocSSIPs) in collaboration with staff, patients and the public.
The aim of the NatSSIPs is to reduce the number of patient safety incidents related to invasive procedures in which surgical Never Events could occur. They set out the minimum standards considered necessary for the delivery of safe care during invasive procedures as well as underpinning aspects of education and training.
The NatSSIPs have been set and endorsed by all relevant professional bodies, including the royal colleges, the Care Quality Commission, the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the General Medical Council, Monitor, the Trust Development Agency, and Health Education England.
This Spending Review needs honesty and realism, not panic and denial
This Spending Review needs honesty and realism, not panic and denial
The deteriorating state of NHS finances is leading to panic and denial in Whitehall. Panic best describes the mood in the Department of Health, where the prospect of a £2 billion deficit among providers is of growing concern. While some of the forecast deficit may be reduced by commissioner underspends and capital-to-revenue transfers, it is inconceivable that it can be eliminated by the end of the financial year.
Over the road in the Treasury there is denial about the scale of the problem, in part because of a belief that the NHS is receiving more favourable treatment than most other public services. Why, it is argued, can the NHS not get its own house in order when its budget is not only protected but also continues to increase in real terms? Denial is also borne of a belief that the Chancellor is not for turning when deficit reduction is the government’s overriding priority.
The NHS’s national leaders find themselves in a difficult position, with the government having committed to finding the £8 billion additional funding identified in the NHS five year forward view by 2020/21. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has argued, with some justification, that this commitment means the government is willing to fund ‘the NHS’s own plan’. The difficulty with this argument, of course, is that the Forward View is NHS England’s plan, supported by other national bodies, not that of the NHS itself. It is based on the heroic assumption that £22 billion of productivity gains can be made in this parliament.
The deteriorating state of NHS finances is leading to panic and denial in Whitehall. Panic best describes the mood in the Department of Health, where the prospect of a £2 billion deficit among providers is of growing concern. While some of the forecast deficit may be reduced by commissioner underspends and capital-to-revenue transfers, it is inconceivable that it can be eliminated by the end of the financial year.
Over the road in the Treasury there is denial about the scale of the problem, in part because of a belief that the NHS is receiving more favourable treatment than most other public services. Why, it is argued, can the NHS not get its own house in order when its budget is not only protected but also continues to increase in real terms? Denial is also borne of a belief that the Chancellor is not for turning when deficit reduction is the government’s overriding priority.
The NHS’s national leaders find themselves in a difficult position, with the government having committed to finding the £8 billion additional funding identified in the NHS five year forward view by 2020/21. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has argued, with some justification, that this commitment means the government is willing to fund ‘the NHS’s own plan’. The difficulty with this argument, of course, is that the Forward View is NHS England’s plan, supported by other national bodies, not that of the NHS itself. It is based on the heroic assumption that £22 billion of productivity gains can be made in this parliament.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)