Thursday 21 January 2016

Pressures mount on A&E departments at Northamptonshire hospitals during this cold weather

Pressures mount on A&E departments at Northamptonshire hospitals during this cold weather Health leaders issue a warning urging people to take care in the cold conditions as the county's A&E departments continue to experience extremely high numbers of attendees.

Both Kettering General Hospital and Northampton General Hospital continue to see large numbers of people who are acutely ill and need high priority hospital care.

In addition, residents continue to report to A&E for minor injuries and ailments that could have been treated more appropriately by other NHS services such as NHS 111, pharmacies or their GP. Northants Herald and Post

Berrywood doctors missed Northampton mental health patient’s broken back

Berrywood doctors missed Northampton mental health patient’s broken back A jury inquest into the death of a Northampton woman whose broken back went unnoticed at Berrywood Hospital heard numerous doctors missed signs that her pain was the result of a fracture. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

How does NHS spending compare with health spending internationally?

How does NHS spending compare with health spending internationally? In 2000, current spending on health care in the United Kingdom was 6.3 per cent of GDP, and the then Prime Minister Tony Blair committed his government to matching the average for health spending as a percentage of GDP in the 14 other countries of the European Union in 2000 (8.5 per cent) through increases in NHS spending.

Over the next few years spending on the NHS increased substantially, pushing total (public plus private) spending to 8.8 per cent of GDP by 2009. By then, however, the EU-14 spend (weighted for size of GDP and health spend, and minus the UK) had moved on to 10.1 per cent of GDP. Still, the gap between the UK and its European neighbours was closing.

Since then, however, the gap has started to widen (particularly against countries that weathered the global financial crisis better than the UK) and looks set to grow further. UK GDP is forecast to grow in real terms by around 15.2 per cent between 2014/15 and 2020/21. But on current plans, UK public spending on the NHS will grow by much less: 5.2 per cent. This is equivalent to around £7 billion in real terms – increasing from £135 billion in 2014/15 to £142 billion in 2020/21. As a proportion of GDP it will fall to 6.6 per cent compared to 7.3 per cent in 2014/15. But, if spending kept pace with growth in the economy, by 2020/21 the UK NHS would be spending around £158 billion at today's prices – £16 billion more than planned.The King's Fund

See also:

If it’s about NHS culture, it’s about leadership

If it’s about NHS culture, it’s about leadership There are plenty of issues to keep NHS leaders awake at night: financial concerns, the winter crisis, the junior doctors’ strikes and experiences of poor-quality care are all in the news. But what about some of the underlying issues behind the headlines?

NHS leaders are concerned about staff reporting high levels of bullying and harassment and are considering strategies to deal with this. They are also concerned with high levels of discrimination reported by some groups of staff and are considering strategies to deal with this. The King's Fund

Developing values with staff – case study

Developing values with staff – case study By developing its values and engaging staff in the process, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust has had great success embedding its values and improving its culture.

It’s recent Staff Friends and Family Test revealed that:
  • 98 per cent of staff were aware of the values
  • 84 per cent of staff of staff thought colleagues were successfully demonstrating the values.
The trust’s engagement plan to communicate and embed the values used a variety of different methods such as:
  • focus groups
  • messages from the chief executive
  • booklets
  • awards schemes
Download this case study to learn more about the approaches the trust took to engage staff in this process, the results and what’s next. NHS Employers

Social media and Skype keep young people with diabetes attending, says new advice

Social media and Skype keep young people with diabetes attending, says new advice Advice on using social media, texts and Skype to keep young people engaged in treatment for their diabetes has been published as part of wider information to help commissioners improve care transition. NHS England

Pharma 'cash call' for new antibiotics

Pharma 'cash call' for new antibiotics More than 80 pharmaceutical companies call on governments to develop new ways of paying them to develop antibiotics. BBC News

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Patient deaths trust 'had been warned'

Patient deaths trust 'had been warned' An under-fire NHS trust that failed to investigate hundreds of deaths knew about health and safety failings four years ago, the BBC can reveal. BBC News

Sisters launch 'end of chemo' study

Sisters launch 'end of chemo' study The first patients have had their DNA analysed in a massive study that aims to replace chemotherapy. BBC News

Calls to publish 111 report rejected

Calls to publish 111 report rejected An NHS call provider rejects demands to publish a leaked report that revealed staff had altered records and "significant" safety risks.

Integrated Care 24 (IC24), which handles non-emergency 111 and out-of-hours GP calls in Norfolk and Wisbech, was criticised in an interim report.

Former health minister Norman Lamb has said it was "outrageous" the findings had not been formally published. BBC News

A&E departments are 'significantly understaffed half of the time,' reveal leaked documents the Government didn't want published

A&E departments are 'significantly understaffed half of the time,' reveal leaked documents the Government didn't want published The report into safe staffing levels, from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, was never published following intervention by Government officials. The Daily Mail

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The new breed of paramedics charged with keeping people out of hospital

The new breed of paramedics charged with keeping people out of hospital As a community paramedic practitioner in Kent, Steve Hulks’ job is about advising, reassuring – and easing pressure on A&E

“You do get a rush of adrenaline,” says Steve Hulks as he activates the blue lights and siren and speeds to the first 999 call of his shift – an elderly man has fallen in his bedroom and is unable to get back on to his feet.

“But you have to be careful that the rush doesn’t distract you. You need to drive safely and think of what you need to do when you get there – how to get in, where the key may be hidden, what you may need, what may have happened to the patient. You have to stay calm.”

It’s often as much about mental health as physical health. We try to provide more of a holistic service Continue reading... The Guardian

Ambulance workers let suicidal patient steal vehicle after leaving keys in ignition, inquest hears

Ambulance workers let suicidal patient steal vehicle after leaving keys in ignition, inquest hears An ambulance crew allowed a suicidal mental health patient to steal their vehicle and drive to his death after leaving the keys in the ignition, an inquest heard. The Daily Telegraph