Raunds woman to keep fighting for Hepatitis C drug after being given contaminated blood

Raunds woman to keep fighting for Hepatitis C drug after being given contaminated blood A woman has vowed to keep fighting after being told she can’t have the drug she wants after contracting Hepatitis C from contaminated blood given to her by the NHS before 1991. Northamptonshire Telegraph

Focus on Survivors: Identifying barriers to accessing support for those who have experienced childhood sexual abuse

Focus on Survivors: Identifying barriers to accessing support for those who have experienced childhood sexual abuse University Campus Suffolk and Suffolk charity Survivors in Transition present findings from important new research, Focus on Survivors. The study is based on a large scale, national questionnaire with adults who were sexually abused as children about their experiences of services.

See also:

• NHS and social services fail child sexual abuse survivors, study reveals  The Guardian

People-centred health systems in the WHO European Region

People-centred health systems in the WHO European Region This publication is a collection of personal stories describing experiences in health systems associated with improved health and well-being. While these examples are not intended to replace technical guidance on how to organize, finance or deliver health and social services, they emphasize people-centred approaches from the perspective of patients and carers. World Health Organization

Health Secretary outlines measures for greater patient power

Health Secretary outlines measures for greater patient power From next year, for the first time, new ‘Ofsted style’ ratings will show patients how their local area’s health service is performing in crucial areas, including:

• cancer
• dementia
• diabetes
• mental health
• learning disabilities
• maternity care

The new ratings, broken down by Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), will not only be based on local data but will also be verified by experts in each field, including:

• the Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, Harpal Kumar, who will verify cancer ratings
• the government’s Mental Health Taskforce Chairman Paul Farmer, who will lead on mental health ratings

Initial ratings, based on the current CCG assessments, will be published in June 2016. As part of the government’s transparency agenda, this will both spread best practice and help bring about improvement where services are underperforming. This will create a complete picture of care quality in the NHS. Department of Health

See also:

• RCGP response to Health Secretary’s announcement on a more patient-focussed NHS Royal College of General Practitioners 
• Ofsted-style ratings for cancer and dementia services  The Daily Telegraph
• NHS patient healthcare to be given ‘Ofsted-style’ ratings The Guardian

Evaluation highlights areas for improvement in long term conditions care

Evaluation highlights areas for improvement in long term conditions care Older people living with multiple long term conditions are generally happy with the NHS but often find the health and care system is not set up for their needs.

That is the main finding of an ethnographic evaluation carried out by the Ipsos Ethnography Centre of Excellence (ECE) – part of Ipsos MORI – who were invited to undertake the work by NHS Improving Quality.

The ethnographic evaluation is an in depth approach to understanding people and their behaviours over a period of time.

The key findings include:

• People greatly value the care and support they receive from the NHS and the wider health and care sector, and in the main feel the care they receive is good.
• People are trying hard to manage their long term conditions to the best of their abilities, but often feel the system is not set up to cope with their multiple and complex needs.
• People with more than one long term condition struggle to coordinate them all. They can feel there is no support linking all of their conditions and focusing on them personally and holistically.
• People with long term conditions want to have everyday achievable goals and support that fit realistically within their everyday lives.
• People can feel that they are a burden within their home as well as within the health and care system, which can prevent them seeking the help and support they need.
• Too often, there is an absence of discussion about care and care needs, within the home and within the health care system.

The work has been delivered through NHS Improving Quality’s Long Term Conditions Improvement Programme, which is commissioned by NHS England

See also:

• Navigating Health and Care: Living independently with long term conditions Ipsos MORI

Exercise and therapy 'useful for chronic fatigue syndrome'

Exercise and therapy 'useful for chronic fatigue syndrome' "ME can be beaten by positive thinking and taking more exercise," is the rather simplistic message from the Daily Mail following the results of a long-term study involving 481 people.

The study compared four types of treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), a condition where people feel so persistently exhausted they cannot function, also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). Researchers found positive results for two types of treatment lasted for at least two years.

A 2011 study comparing four commonly used treatments seemed to show two types of treatment worked better: cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), a type of talking therapy that aims to help people challenge unhelpful thinking patterns, and graded exercise therapy (GET), where people are helped to gradually increase the amount of exercise they do each day. NHS Choices

Hunt acts on 'time-wasting' referrals

Hunt acts on 'time-wasting' referrals Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt announces plans to stop GPs having to rearrange hospital appointments for patients, in a bid to save them time. BBC News

See also:

• Hunt to announce plan to cut GP bureaucracy and free up appointments GP Online

Junior doctors 'will not lose money'

Junior doctors 'will not lose money' No junior doctors working up to the legal limit on working hours will lose money under a proposed new contract, Jeremy Hunt tells MPs. BBC News

EU doctor suspended for 'poor English'

EU doctor suspended for 'poor English' An Italian doctor has been suspended from practising in the UK after failing an English language test, in one of the first cases of its kind. BBC News

Legal ruling forces NHS England U-turn over GP rent appeals

Legal ruling forces NHS England U-turn over GP rent appeals NHS England has been forced to back down over practices' right to appeal changes to notional rent after 'landmark' rulings by the NHS Litigation Authority. GP Online

Doctor will see you – and you too – now

Doctor will see you – and you too – now Can shared doctor appointments improve patient satisfaction while cutting costs? Some hospitals are finding out

Across Britain talented doctors and management teams are doing their best to deliver world class healthcare to more people than ever before. But is it sustainable?

The NHS in England recently announced a £930m deficit in just three months (April-June) – the worst in a generation – and non-urgent care is being hit hard. The pressure is on to cut costs. But the challenge is how to cut without compromising patient care or over-burdening already hardworking medical staff and making healthcare roles unattractive. Continue reading... The Guardian

Selfish anti-abortion protesters must be stopped from hurting British women

Selfish anti-abortion protesters must be stopped from hurting British women A new report has collated the distressing experiences of women who've visited abortion clinics with pro-life protesters outside. Abigail Fitzgibbon asks what needs to happen for politicians to take the threat seriously. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Aston study finds presence of anti-abortion activists ‘a significant source of distress' Aston University
• 'I was physically shaking': How it feels to be harassed by anti-abortion activists The Daily Telegraph

Hospital to give free food (discreetly) to starving patients due to malnourishment fears

Hospital to give free food (discreetly) to starving patients due to malnourishment fears Staff at Tameside Hospital in Greater Manchester noticed that more and more patients were showing signs of the condition. The Independent

See also:

• NHS hospital to offer food parcels to patients at risk of malnutrition The Guardian