NHS risks winter performance becoming norm in summer, experts warn

NHS risks winter performance becoming norm in summer, experts warn The NHS in England risks its traditionally poorer levels of performance in winter becoming the norm in summer, reveals an extensive analysis of the last five years of data by leading health charities the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation. The report shows that problems that are usually observed only during the winter months are increasingly being seen at other times of year – which meant that the NHS entered winter 2015/16 from a historically poor starting point. The authors argue that this could lead to a ‘downward spiral’ in performance. Quality Watch

See also:

• Winter pressures: what's going on behind the scenes? Quality Watch
• NHS winter pressure 'at risk of becoming the norm all year round' The Independent

The future of child health services: new models of care

The future of child health services: new models of care This report highlights what the problems are in current health care services for children and young people, and investigates how emerging new models of care could provide an opportunity to address these. The Nuffield Trust

Adult social services: number of adult social care staff employed by councils shrinks by a quarter since 2011

Adult social services: number of adult social care staff employed by councils shrinks by a quarter since 2011 The total number of council-based adult social services staff has decreased by 25 per cent over the last five years, according to new figures published today by the Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Exclusive: Thousands of GP partners ready for mass resignation this summer, poll suggests

Exclusive: Thousands of GP partners ready for mass resignation this summer, poll suggests Three out of five GP partners in England are ready to resign en masse if the BMA cannot secure an emergency funding package for general practice in the next six months, a GP Online survey suggests.

Doctors reject 'final' contract offer

Doctors reject 'final' contract offer Junior doctors' leaders have rejected a "final take-it-or-leave-it" offer made by government in the contract dispute in England. BBC News

See also:

• Junior doctor and consultant contract negotiations British Medical Association
• Junior doctor contract negotiations Department of Health
• NHS Employers responds to industrial action NHS Employers
• NHS Providers response as junior doctors begin second 24-hour strike over pay and conditions NHS Providers
• 34 operations cancelled at Northampton General Hospital due to 24-hour strike Northampton Chronicle and Echo
• VIDEO: What options are open to junior doctors? BBC News
• Junior doctors' row: Time for the nuclear option? BBC News
• Junior doctors walk out for a second time as last ditch talks fail AGAIN and 90 per cent of medics warn they might quit if the new contract... The Daily Mail
• 'I am the doctor who...': Junior doctors stage an online protest promoting their work in the NHS on the second strike day The Daily Mail
• #IAmTheDoctorWho: Junior doctors tweet explaining how vital their work is The Daily Telegraph
• Attack on juniors is an attack all doctors, warn BMA leaders backing strike action GP Online
• Doctors' strike turnout much lower than last time, says Jeremy Hunt The Guardian
• Junior doctors face forced contract after rejecting Jeremy Hunt's 'final offer' The Guardian
• NHS employers call on Hunt to impose new junior doctor contracts The Guardian
• Jeremy Hunt: I want to do the right thing for patients – video The Guardian
• Junior doctors offer free CPR lessons during strike The Guardian
• As a doctor, I pledged to ‘do no harm’ – so I must strike against unsafe care The Guardian
• Why are junior doctors striking? - video explainer The Guardian
• Our adoration is killing the NHS. It needs tough love The Guardian
• Junior doctors' strike: BMA offered last-minute improved deal hours before action commenced The Independent
• GPs, consultants and public back striking juniors OnMedica

Interventions cut inappropriate antibiotic prescribing

Interventions cut inappropriate antibiotic prescribing US primary care doctors responded more to ‘socially motivated’ behavioural interventions than suggested alternatives. OnMedica

Woman dies after life support power supply runs out of batteries

Woman dies after life support power supply runs out of batteries Jacqueline Scott died after her ventilator stopped working and the nurses didn't recognise the sound of the alarms, an inquest has heard. The Independent

Many NHS scanners and machines 'out of date'

Many NHS scanners and machines 'out of date' 63% of 111 English hospital trusts have at least one scanner that is at least a decade old, with oldest MRI scanner aged 23, figures reveal

Out-of-date scanners are commonplace across England’s hospitals, new figures suggest. Many machines that are used day in, day out for diagnostic tests and to deliver cancer treatment to patients are years past their “best before” dates, the statistics show.

Experts recommend that radiotherapy machines, as well as MRI and CT scanners, should be scrapped after 10 years, but English hospitals are using some that are as much as 23 years old, officials have admitted. Continue reading... The Guardian

Department of Health receives £205m emergency bailout

Department of Health receives £205m emergency bailout Treasury forced to top up £116.3bn budget when it became clear Jeremy Hunt’s department would not balance its books.

George Osborne has been forced to give the Department of Health an emergency bailout to stop it busting its budget for this year, in a further sign of the intense pressures on NHS finances.

The Treasury has given the DH an extra £205m on top of the £116.3bn it was originally allocated in its 2015-16 budget. It handed over the money when it became clear that, in a serious breach of Whitehall protocol, health secretary Jeremy Hunt’s department would be unable to balance its books by the end of March. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• How does money flow through the health service in England? The Guardian

Zika virus in UK: Four cases of bug that could harm unborn babies in Britain, health watchdog reveals

Zika virus in UK: Four cases of bug that could harm unborn babies in Britain, health watchdog reveals A Public Health England official told a committee of MPs that four 'travel-associated' cases of the virus have been detected in this country in the last six weeks. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Clinical advice on Zika: assessing pregnant women following travel; symptoms, transmission (includes sexual transmission), epidemiology Public Health England
• Guidance: Mosquito bite avoidance for travellers Public Health England
• Zika virus confirmed in the UK: Four cases of pandemic that affects pregnant women found in the last six weeks, health watchdog reveals  The Daily Mail
• U.S. to study Zika link to Guillain-Barre in Puerto Rico The Daily Mail
• Four UK cases of Zika virus reported since January The Guardian
• Zika virus in the UK: Four cases of pandemic linked to birth defects confirmed in Britain The Independent