Tuesday 23 February 2016

Research and analysis: Northamptonshire: diabetic eye screening programme

Research and analysis: Northamptonshire: diabetic eye screening programme This document sets out observations and recommendations from the quality assurance (QA) visit to Northamptonshire. Public Health England

Making it safer to cross professional boundaries

Making it safer to cross professional boundaries The evidence is clear: NHS organisations that are enthusiastic about co-operation and team-working, both within and across boundaries, are more likely to deliver compassionate, high-quality care. Successful teams take the time to stop and ask themselves what they could change and do better. But few teams in the NHS – at all levels – take the time to reflect. With the pressure they are under, it’s simply seen as a luxury.

However we believe it’s not a luxury but an essential, basic requirement of high-performing teams – especially when team members come from very different professional backgrounds.

A new toolkit, commissioned by NHS Future-Focused Finance and developed by The King’s Fund, aims to help address this by supporting collaboration between finance and clinical staff.

Maternity review sets bold plan for safer, more personal services

Maternity review sets bold plan for safer, more personal services Maternity services in England must become safer, more personalised, kinder, professional and more family-friendly.

That’s the vision of the National Maternity Review, which  publishes its recommendations for how services should change over the next five years.

The NHS England commissioned review – led by independent experts and chaired by Baroness Julia Cumberlege – sets out wide-ranging proposals designed to make care safer and give women greater control and more choices. NHS England

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Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution

Every breath we take: the lifelong impact of air pollution The report starkly sets out the dangerous impact air pollution is currently having on our nation’s health. Each year in the UK, around 40,000 deaths are attributable to exposure to outdoor air pollution which plays a role in many of the major health challenges of our day. It has been linked to cancer, asthma, stroke and heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and changes linked to dementia. The health problems resulting from exposure to air pollution have a high cost to people who suffer from illness and premature death, to our health services and to business. In the UK, these costs add up to more than £20 billion every year.

The report also highlights the often overlooked section of our environment - that of indoor space. Factors such as, kitchen products, faulty boilers, open fires, fly sprays and air fresheners, all of which can cause poor air quality in our homes, workspaces and schools. Royal College of Physicians

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New Winterbourne View report reflects on progress made and challenges ahead

New Winterbourne View report reflects on progress made and challenges ahead Sir Stephen Bubb, tasked with leading the work into establishing stronger safeguards and support for adults with learning difficulties after the scandal of abuse at Winterbourne View, has published his latest and final report: Time for change: the challenge ahead.

In the report, commissioned by NHS England, Sir Stephen acknowledges the progress made in the last year by the transforming care programme, but speaks of significant challenges ahead and expresses views on how best to meet them. Department of Health

Tax rises 'will not cover' care costs

Tax rises 'will not cover' care costs Planned council tax rises will not bring in enough money to cover the rising cost of social care, local authorities in England warn. BBC News

Junior doctors are planning the first full walkout in the history of the NHS

Junior doctors are planning the first full walkout in the history of the NHS Junior doctors are preparing to stage the first full walkout in the history of the NHS.

According to leaked plans drawn up by the BMA, the medical union’s Junior Doctor Committee is planning a string of crippling strikes. Metro

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European advice launched on heart failure

European advice launched on heart failure Acute heart failure carries a higher risk of death than heart attack, but care lags 30 years behind.

This is the conclusion, of the first European advice on emergency care for patients with acute heart failure published this week. OnMedica

Homeopathy 'quackery' should be cut from NHS, campaigners urge after study finds it ineffective

Homeopathy 'quackery' should be cut from NHS, campaigners urge after study finds it ineffective Campaigners have welcomed the latest study to show that homeopathy "treatments" are no more effective than a placebo, and called for the technique to be cut from the NHS. The NHS spends £5 million a year on homeopathy. The Independent

North London hospital tells patients in A&E to 'go home unless their condition is life-threatening'

North London hospital tells patients in A&E to 'go home unless their condition is life-threatening' North Middlesex Hospital in Edmonton says it received 450 admissions in just one Friday night shift. The Independent

FGM is 'akin to male circumcision, breast implants and designer vagina ops': Gynecologists argue genital 'nicks' that don't harm girls should be legalized

FGM is 'akin to male circumcision, breast implants and designer vagina ops': Gynecologists argue genital 'nicks' that don't harm girls should be legalized Milder forms of female genital mutilation should be classified in the same way as male circumcision and breast implants to stop it being 'demonised,' a controversial new report has claimed.

Changes to the way female genital mutilation is defined and viewed are needed to protect young women from more serious forms of cutting, a team of experts argued.

The gynaecologists suggest a small surgical 'nick' - a minimal procedure they compare to male circumcision - that slightly changes the look of a young woman's external genitalia should be legally allowed.

In a paper published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, they say mild forms are no worse than cosmetic procedures such as breast implants or 'designer vaginas' western women pay for.

But the experts stress the procedure should not alter the function or the sensory capacity of a young woman's genitalia. The Daily Mail

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Campaign to raise awareness of sepsis 'could save 14,000 lives a year'

Campaign to raise awareness of sepsis 'could save 14,000 lives a year' Thousands of lives could be saved each year if more was done to combat sepsis, a charity has said. The UK Sepsis Trust said 14,000 lives could be saved across the UK each year. The Daily Mail

The spirit of healthcare: the NHS's £25m brigade of chaplains

The spirit of healthcare: the NHS's £25m brigade of chaplains Nowadays they can come from any religion or none, but some say health service money is misspent on the 900-strong force.

The NHS spends millions each year on employing more than 900 hospital chaplains to provide religious and spiritual care to patients even though the proportion of the population defining itself as non-religious is growing.

There were 916 NHS chaplaincy posts in 2015, according to new data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre. The number has fallen almost 20% in the past five years, down from 1,107 in 2010. Continue reading... The Guardian

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MPs 'to debate meningitis B vaccine within weeks'

MPs 'to debate meningitis B vaccine within weeks' Members of Commons committee tasked with discussing record-breaking petition acknowledge that subject cannot be ignored. The Daily Telegraph

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