Old Problems, New Solutions: Improving Acute Psychiatric Care for Adults in England

Old Problems, New Solutions: Improving Acute Psychiatric Care for Adults in England The report highlights system-wide problems in mental healthcare in England including variable quality of care on inpatient units, inadequate availability of inpatient care or alternatives to inpatient admission, and patients remaining in hospital for longer than necessary due to inadequate residential provision.

The Commission’s report consequently recommends significant changes to how services are commissioned, organised and monitored across the whole mental health system. It also calls for faster access to acute care and an end to sending severely-ill mental health patients long distances for treatment. The Commission on Acute Adult Psychiatric Care

• Report summary
• Full report

See also:

• The Way Ahead for Adult Acute Mental Healthcare Provision Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Adult acute psychiatric care in England Royal College of Psychiatrists
• Long trips for mental care 'must end' BBC News
• Mental health patients 'should not have to travel across UK for beds' The Guardian

Review of information technology in NHS

Review of information technology in NHS IT expert Professor Bob Wachter has launched a review of computer systems across the NHS. The review, ‘Making IT work: harnessing the power of health IT to improve care in England’, will look at places where IT has worked well and those areas that need improving. It will also look at different ways to implement IT in healthcare as the NHS works towards being paperless by 2020. Department of Health

Precautionary recall - six batches of St John’s Wort Tablets

Precautionary recall - six batches of St John’s Wort Tablets Six batches of St John’s Wort Tablets containing 91,800 packs are being recalled today as a precaution because of product contamination.

These tablets have levels of a toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloid (PA) above the threshold recommended by the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC), a European expert body. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency#

See also:

• Safety recall of St John's Wort tablets  BBC News
• St John's Wort tablets recalled by MHRA over liver damage concerns The Daily Telegraph

Heads warn over pupils' mental health

Heads warn over pupils' mental health Head teachers issue a warning over their struggle to deal with children's mental health problems at primary schools in England. BBC News

Record rise in 'NHS dissatisfaction'

Record rise in 'NHS dissatisfaction' The biggest-ever rise in public dissatisfaction with the NHS was recorded last year, according to a long-running survey. BBC News

See also:

• British public's satisfaction with the NHS falls by five percentage points The King's Fund
• Reasons for being (dis)satisfied with the NHS The King's Fund
• RCGP response to British Social Attitudes survey results Royal College of General Practitioners 
• 12-hour A&E waits on rise in England  BBC News
• General practice tops NHS patient satisfaction rankings GP Online
• Public satisfaction with NHS drops 5% in last year The Guardian

'No safe way to suntan', experts warn

'No safe way to suntan', experts warn There is no safe or healthy way to get a tan from sunlight, new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) warns. BBC News

See also:

• Sunlight exposure: risks and benefits (Guideline NG 34) NICE
• Telling people to avoid all sunshine is very dim The Daily Telegraph
• There is no safe way to get a natural sun tan The Independent 

'Jeremy Hunt personally vetoed deal that would have ended junior doctors strike'

'Jeremy Hunt personally vetoed deal that would have ended junior doctors strike' Officials from both NHS Employers and the Department of Health 'saw the offer as an opportunity to resolve the dispute' The Independent

See also:

• BMA slams Hunt's 'shambolic mishandling' of junior doctor dispute as strike nears GP Online

Cosmetic surgery operations on the rise, with breast enlargement most popular procedure

Cosmetic surgery operations on the rise, with breast enlargement most popular procedure A record number of adults in the UK underwent cosmetic surgery last year, new figures have shown. The Independent

See also:

• Cosmetic surgery ops on the rise BBC News
• Demand for cosmetic surgery rises 13 per cent OnMedica

'Greedy' doctors and nurses are abandoning the NHS to work for 'rip-off agencies', health regulators claim

'Greedy' doctors and nurses are abandoning the NHS to work for 'rip-off agencies', health regulators claim Jim Mackey, chief executive of NHS Improvement, accused some doctors and nurses of 'really bad' behaviour for abandoning shifts at the last minute for a better offer elsewhere. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Locum doctors and nurses rip off NHS, says health service's regulator The Daily Telegraph

This NHS crisis is not economic. It's political

This NHS crisis is not economic. It's political As the health services endures its biggest squeeze, talk of it being unviable is wide of the mark. We cannot afford to do without it.

How many times have you read that the NHS is bust? No need for answers on a postcard: I can tell you.

Over 2015, the number of national newspaper headlines featuring “NHS” alongside the words bust, deficit, meltdown or financial crisis came to a grand total of 80. Call this the NHS panic index – a measure of public anxiety over the viability of our health service. Using a database of all national newspapers, our librarians added up the number of such headlines for each year. The index shows that panic over the sustainability of our healthcare isn’t just on the rise ­– it has begun to soar.

Demoralised staff can resign, go on an agency book, pick their shifts and earn more Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Surge in privatisation threatening free NHS treatment, unions say The Guardian
• US firms look to capitalise as NHS becomes increasingly privatised The Guardian
• Don’t believe the myth that the NHS is unaffordable | Neena Modi The Guardian
• How paying for your treatment would help save the NHS | Christopher Smallwood The Guardian
• NHS: Rules preventing tax-avoiding companies from securing health care contracts scrapped The Independent

Psychiatrist brother of George Osborne admits sleeping with vulnerable patient

Psychiatrist brother of George Osborne admits sleeping with vulnerable patient Dr Adam Osborne admitted engaging in an 'inappropriate' emotional and sexual relationship with one of his patients. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• George Osborne's brother Adam admits having sex with vulnerable patient The Independent