Aborted doctor’s strike saw 350 cancelled operations at Northampton General Hospital

Aborted doctor’s strike saw 350 cancelled operations at Northampton General Hospital Despite calling off their strike action at NGH, junior doctors still caused 350 operations to be cancelled yesterday. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Allied health professionals are critical to new models of care

Allied health professionals are critical to new models of care Allied health professionals (AHPs) make up 6 per cent of the NHS workforce – the third largest professional group – and still more work in social care, housing, local government, and the voluntary and private sectors. They are highly trained and professionally autonomous practitioners, yet too often their vital contribution is marginalised in a public discourse that tends to refer only to ‘doctors and nurses’. This needs to change. The King's Fund

Filling the gap: Tax and fiscal options for a sustainable UK health and social care system

Filling the gap: Tax and fiscal options for a sustainable UK health and social care system The NHS and publicly funded adult social care will account for £157bn of public spending across the UK in 2015/16 – equivalent to 8.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) and accounting for around £1 in every £5 of government spending.

In this report, economists at the Health Foundation and the Institute for Public Policy Research have worked together to explore:

• how spending pressures on health and social care might increase
• the scope for public funding to match these pressures within current fiscal policy to quantify whether there is a potential funding gap for health and social care 
• the potential revenue that might be raised by different taxes to fill a health and social care funding gap 
• the distributional impact of the different tax options and how they compare to the profile of the ‘beneficiaries’ of additional health and social care spending.

Safer way to do gene editing

Safer way to do gene editing Scientists say they have fine tuned a gene editing method to make it safer and more accurate - vital if it is to be used in humans to cure inherited diseases or inborn errors. BBC News

See also:

• VIDEO: How gene editing works BBC News

Junior doctor strikes could still go ahead in January, BMA warns

Junior doctor strikes could still go ahead in January, BMA warns Junior doctors' leaders have said they remain prepared to take strike action if negotiations with the government and NHS Employers do not work out, after action was suspended last night. GP Online

See also:

• Agreement between BMA, DH and NHS Employers ACAS

Late-night cafe can keep people with mental health problems out of A&E | Nicola Slawson

Late-night cafe can keep people with mental health problems out of A&E | Nicola Slawson Safe Haven project that offers out of hours coffee and support is helping to prevent emergency psychiatric admissions.

It’s nearly 10pm at Aldershot’s Safe Haven cafe and there is a knock at the door. It’s quickly opened and a young man rushes in. He takes a seat in the corner of the bright room and a friendly member of staff joins him. Nearby a young woman is playing cards. She’s laughing softly with her companions, aware that the man is clearly upset.

She knows what it’s like. At age 25, Kimberley Russell (not her real name), who has borderline personality disorder as well as an eating disorder and depression, has had her share of crises. The cafe, which is open every evening to anyone who needs mental health support out-of-hours, has become a lifeline.

In the first six months after its launch, psychiatric admissions from the cafe’s catchment area fell by 33%. Continue reading... The Guardian

How much healthcare policy is based on evidence?

How much healthcare policy is based on evidence? New medicines prescribed by the NHS must pass clinical trials and cost-benefit tests, but not all health policies go through such a rigorous process

The NHS relies on scientific evidence to assess new medicines: drugs are only authorised if they pass clinical trials, and offered only if they pass a cost-benefit test. But similar research into healthcare policy is often used to fuel arguments rather than guide decisions.

The dispute between the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, and the British Medical Association over junior doctors’ contracts is tied to the government’s plan to introduce seven-day working in the English NHS. Hunt justified this with a BMJ paper [registration] that found around 11,000 more people die within 30 days of being admitted to hospital on Friday, Saturday, Sunday or Monday, compared with admissions on other days of the week. (Friday and Monday were included as many hospital services close on Friday afternoon and do not reopen until Monday morning.) Continue reading... The Guardian

Woman, 50, wins right to refuse life-saving treatment because her 'sparkle' has gone

Woman, 50, wins right to refuse life-saving treatment because her 'sparkle' has gone Mr Justice MacDonald said although many would be horrified by the woman's decision, she had the mental capacity to refuse treatment. The Daily Telegraph

Organ donation: Groundbreaking law change in Wales means all adults become donors

Organ donation: Groundbreaking law change in Wales means all adults become donors Revolutionary new system will 'save hundreds of lives' in dramatic departure from current 'opt-in' process and will be closely watched by rest of UK. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Wales introduces ‘deemed consent’ for organ donation OnMedica