Monday 7 December 2015

MRSA fears as patients put GPs under pressure to prescribe antibiotics

MRSA fears as patients put GPs under pressure to prescribe antibiotics

Overuse of antibiotics has resulted in the evolution of new strains of immune bacteria. Independent

Prescriptions affecting GP ratings

Prescriptions affecting GP ratings

GPs who prescribe fewer antibiotics have less satisfied patients, according to a new study by researchers at King's College London. BBC News

Almost half of junior doctors left NHS after foundation training

Almost half of junior doctors left NHS after foundation training


Official figures reveal sharp fall in number of young medics opting to work towards becoming GP or specialist after first two years in NHS

Almost half of all junior doctors are opting not to continue their training in the NHS, threatening a “disaster” that senior medics fear will worsen the service’s shortage of frontline clinicians.

This year only 52% of junior doctors who finished the two-year foundation training after medical school chose to stay in the NHS and work towards becoming a GP or specialist – the lowest proportion in the health service’s history and down from 71.3% as recently as 2011. Guardian

Related: Hundreds of operations cancelled despite doctors' strike being called off

These are disturbing figures. All this is very worrying.

Continue reading...

Ailing NHS leadership needs urgent treatment

Ailing NHS leadership needs urgent treatment


There needs to be the same sense of urgency to improve health service management as there is to sort out budgets

There are too few NHS staff willing to take on the toughest leadership roles, and too few of those that do survive. Successive reviews have exposed the failures in NHS leadership development, but progress in addressing them is a long way from matching the scale of the problem.

The review of NHS leadership by former Marks & Spencer executive chairman Lord Rose, published in June, pinpointed one of the central difficulties facing the health service – the organisation is committed to a vast range of changes but does not have sufficient management and leadership capability to deliver them. GuardianContinue reading...

Government accused of trying to 'cover up' scale of looming NHS winter crisis

Government accused of trying to 'cover up' scale of looming NHS winter crisis

Health service confirms scaled-back bulletins will no longer include A&E waiting times or cancelled-operation figures. Independent

New healthcare watchdog boss 'needs experience on NHS frontline'

New healthcare watchdog boss 'needs experience on NHS frontline'

Exclusive: Health select committee MPs worry Peter Wyman is not yet qualified to chair the health and social care regulator. Independent

GP charges 'for non-EU patients'

GP charges 'for non-EU patients'

Overseas visitors should be forced to pay for using some GP services as well as ambulances and A&E care, the government announces as a consultation begins. BBC News

NHS challenged over new treatments

NHS challenged over new treatments

Leading doctors say the NHS must prepare for much greater use of medicines to prevent rather than just treat disease. BBC News

How well do over-the-counter painkillers work?

How well do over-the-counter painkillers work?

Which over-the-counter painkillers work best for acute pain? Evidently Cochrane

GMC appoints former mental health tsar to improve its support for vulnerable doctors

GMC appoints former mental health tsar to improve its support for vulnerable doctors

The General Medical Council (GMC) has appointed one of the UK’s leading mental health experts to provide independent advice on how it can support vulnerable doctors. General Medical Council

News story: Declining Ebola case numbers, new control methods prompt PHE screening scale-back

News story: Declining Ebola case numbers, new control methods prompt PHE screening scale-back


Other factors influencing the decision include the introduction of new control methods such as a highly-effective Ebola vaccination, the WHO declaring Sierra Leone Ebola transmission free and the continued low risk presented to the UK by the disease.

Under the scaled back operations, from 5 December 2015 screening will stop for travellers from Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. PHE will maintain its monitoring system for high-risk returning workers until the outbreak has been declared over in the affected countries.

The latest risk assessment assessed the likelihood of further Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) cases being imported into the UK as very low and the risk of transmission occurring within the community in the UK as negligible due to the range of robust measures that have been put in place. 
 Public Health England

Diagnosis: overrated - an analysis of the structural flaws in the NHS

Diagnosis: overrated - an analysis of the structural flaws in the NHS


This report looks at NHS performance and discusses the funding structure, patient choice and how health outcomes compare with other countries.

Improving diagnosis of bipolar disorder: can blood-based diagnostic panels help?

Improving diagnosis of bipolar disorder: can blood-based diagnostic panels help?

Can blood-based diagnostic panels help us reduce the misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment often experienced by people with bipolar disorder? Murtada Alsaif reviews a recent retrospective study that has some encouraging findings for biologically identifying the disease. The Mental Elf

E-cigarettes for millions on the NHS - Express.co.uk

E-cigarettes for millions on the NHS - Express.co.uk

E-cigarettes for millions on the NHS
They are now the number one quitting aid in Britain, outranking other products like nicotine gum and patches. In England in 2013-14 there were nearly 1.8 million items issued on prescription to help patients stop smoking. The cost to the NHS in that ...Express.co.uk
E-cigarettes will be prescribed on the NHS - but the Government didn't want

Can overweight men pass obesity risk to their children?

Can overweight men pass obesity risk to their children?


"Are you fat because of your dad?" is the Mail Online's bold question to its readers, explaining that "Men's weight directly affects genes in sperm linked to appetite and brain development".

This was based on a new study that found a man's weight influences the genes in his sperm.
This small study showed that DNA in the sperm of obese men differed from that of healthy weight men. The DNA itself wasn't changed, but modifications affecting how it's used by the body were.

These differences raised the possibility that children of overweight men could inherit genetic traits that make them more likely to be overweight themselves. Health News from NHS Choices