Junior doctors' strike forces Northampton General Hospital to cancel appointments

Junior doctors' strike forces Northampton General Hospital to cancel appointments Northampton General Hospital is preparing for a staff walk-out after almost 100 per cent of junior doctors voted in favour of striking. Northampton Herald and Post

Hospital inpatient care: over 10,000 more admissions a day than 10 years ago

Hospital inpatient care: over 10,000 more admissions a day than 10 years ago Latest figures show that there were 15.9 million admissions to NHS hospitals in England in 2014-15 - the equivalent of 43,500 per day. This is 1,200 more per day on average than in 2013-145 and 10,400 more per day on average than 10 years ago in 2004-05. Health and Social Care Information Centre

Babies born on the weekend have slightly higher death risk

Babies born on the weekend have slightly higher death risk "Babies delivered at the weekend are significantly more likely to die or suffer serious injury," the Daily Mail reports.

However, while the increase in risk is both significant and an obvious cause for concern, it should be noted that it is a very small increase.

Researchers looked at the outcomes of 1,349,599 births in the two years from April 1 2010, and found that an estimated 770 extra deaths occurred each year above what would occur if all babies were born on weekdays.

Obviously, 770 extra deaths is 770 too many, but it is important to put the figure into a larger context. When we look at the actual numbers, 0.73% of babies born at the weekend died, compared to 0.64% of babies born on weekdays.

While it may be tempting to assume that the extra deaths are all down to staffing issues (e.g. consultants not working at weekends) other factors may be involved. For example, most women giving birth by planned caesarean section did so during the week. Babies born this way may be lower risk, which could make the weekday births appear safer. NHS Choices

Junior doctor dispute 'to go to Acas'

Junior doctor dispute 'to go to Acas' The government has agreed to talks at Acas in the dispute with junior doctors - and is now urging the British Medical Association to call off the three days of strikes planned for December. BBC News

See also:

• Imposition threat must be removed to defer juniors' action British Medical Association
• Correspondence: Health Secretary writes to Dr Mark Porter, Chair of the BMA Department of Health
• NHS Employers begins talks with ACAS NHS Employers
• Junior doctors row: A nightmare for the NHS and patients? BBC News
• Jeremy Hunt agrees to talks with junior doctors in bid to halt strikes The Daily Mail
• Junior doctors' strike: Government agrees to talks at Acas in bid to avoid walkout The Daily Telegraph
• Doctors 'naive' to think no harm will come to patients during strikes, says Harvard The Daily Telegraph
• Junior doctors' strike: what should patients do? The Daily Telegraph
• Junior doctor strikes will go ahead unless government drops imposition threat, warns BMA GP Online
• Doctors strike: Analysis finds that NHS patients will not be more likely to die during action period The Independent
• Junior doctor dispute to go to talks at Acas OnMedica

Doctors should exercise caution in prescribing Ritalin for ADHD

Doctors should exercise caution in prescribing Ritalin for ADHD Cochrane researchers criticise quality of evidence supporting use of methylphenidate. OnMedica

See also:

• Methylphenidate for children and adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) The Cochrane Library

Chancellor's 3.8bn cash injection for the NHS comes at a price

Chancellor's 3.8bn cash injection for the NHS comes at a price NHS’s burden could ultimately worsen as budget for recruitment, training health professionals and health bodies is cut by 25% under spending review

The chancellor has done a lot to burnish the Conservative party’s standing on the NHS. He has given the health service an extra £3.8bn for 2016-17 – which is most of the additional cash that its boss had been seeking – and earmarked £600m of the money to fund overdue improvements in mental health care, such as for new mothers and those in crisis.

“As [NHS England chief executive] Simon Stevens said, ‘The NHS has been heard and actively supported,’” George Osborne said after the announcement. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Press release: Department of Health's settlement at the Spending Review 2015 Department of Health
• Professor Ian Cumming statement on Spending Review Health Education England
• The King's Fund's response to the Spending Review The King's Fund
• Autumn Budget and Spending Review NHS Employers
• The spending review Nuffield Trust
• NHS England spending review uplift at expense of other health services, economists warn GP Online
• Spending review 'falls short' for general practice, warns top London GP GP Online
• NHS settlement may not be enough for seven-day service, experts warn The Guardian
• 'We need more hospital beds, not more A&E staff' The Guardian
• George Osborne's lack of ideas means care homes face meltdown, warn industry chiefs The Guardian
• Autumn Statement: Plans to force nurses to pay tuition fees will saddle future generations with even more debt The Independent

Expect more teenage pregnancies and STIs as public health cuts kick in

Expect more teenage pregnancies and STIs as public health cuts kick in Slicing money out of local prevention services is ‘economically nonsensical’, completely undermining the pledge to pump billions into the NHS

The term “false economy” is bandied about a lot in discussions about government cuts, but when it comes to slashing public health budgets it is entirely appropriate. Think for one moment about the point of preventative public health services, such as sexual health clinics, suicide prevention schemes and smoking cessation programmes – to avert serious problems and crises later on – and it really isn’t difficult to join the dots.

Reducing or cutting initiatives that help keep people out of doctors’ surgeries and hospitals stores up future problems for an already stretched NHS, yet this is exactly what is happening.

Every £1 spent on contraception saves £11 in healthcare costs. Cuts to sexual health sector are economically nonsensical. Continue reading... The Guardian

Winter deaths hit 15-year high, shocking official figures show

Winter deaths hit 15-year high, shocking official figures show Last winter saw the highest number of winter deaths since the turn of the millennium as respiratory diseases claimed thousands of lives. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Excess Winter Mortality in England and Wales 2014/15 (Provisional) and 2013/14 (Final) Office for National Statistics
• Winter deaths 'highest since 1999' BBC News
• Ineffective flu vaccine causes the number of excess winter deaths to TRIPLE in a year  The Daily Mail