Friday 26 February 2016

Hospitals in East face £441m deficit

Hospitals in East face £441m deficit The deficit facing hospitals in the east of England has increased by 70% in a year to £441m, the BBC can reveal.

How does the public think we should fund social care?

How does the public think we should fund social care? There is general agreement that the success story of our ageing population comes at a price. We face the prospect of devoting a larger proportion of our national wealth to paying for good health and social care that more of us will need.

But agreement about how this should be done has been elusive despite the best efforts of numerous independent reviews, commissions, White Papers and Green Papers over the past two decades. England remains one of the few advanced western countries that has not grasped the nettle of reform, and recently there have been calls for another independent commission with all-party support. The King's Fund

Offer end-of-life choices, report says

On the brink The future of end of life care A report from The End of Life Care Coalition which says that 48,000 people experienced poor care at the end of life and details how people are being failed by the system.

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The vanguards summed up and explained

The vanguards summed up and explained With March marking a year since the first wave of vanguards were announced, a new animation and suite of factsheets shine a light on what the sites are up to and what's in store for patients and communities across the country. NHS Confederation

Guide for health professionals on special educational needs and disability

Guide for health professionals on special educational needs and disability The Departments for Health and Education have issued a guide for health professionals on the support system for children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND).

Time to Change launch tools to support mental health professionals tackle stigma and discrimination

Time to Change launch tools to support mental health professionals tackle stigma and discrimination Time to Change has worked with mental health professionals, practitioners and people using services to develop new training materials and tools to specifically encourage open dialogue amongst mental health teams about the positive changes. NHS Employers

Maternity matters: what does a great service look like?

Maternity matters: what does a great service look like? Healthwatch Cumbria has worked in partnership to find out the views of women and their significant others regarding their maternity services. The survey took place in Cumbria and North Lancashire during November 2015. There were 1234 respondents. The survey found there were generally high levels of satisfaction with the care received at all steps of pregnancy and after the birth of the baby. However there were comments about how services could be improved.The themes of most significance were; the importance of continuity of care, consistency of information, postnatal support for breastfeeding, support to make informed choices and accessible, local services.

Neurological patient care 'lacking'

Neurological patient care 'lacking' An MPs' report says health services for people with neurological conditions in England are patchy and poorly co-ordinated. BBC News

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New NHS cancer drugs fund approved

GP rescue package could be two months away, admits NHS England chief

GP rescue package could be two months away, admits NHS England chief A promised package of support measures for general practice could be another two months away, NHS England's chief executive has said. GP Online

Junior doctors: New contract 'risks disrupting medics' sleep patterns'

Junior doctors: New contract 'risks disrupting medics' sleep patterns' Expert assessment submitted to MPs says excessive working hours could put the safety of patients at risk. The Independent

Cash-strapped hospitals ask for a £1.5bn rebate

Cash-strapped hospitals ask for a £1.5bn rebate 80 NHS trusts in England have written to local authorities claiming they are eligible for an 80% discount on business rates

Cash-strapped hospitals are trying to avoid paying taxes and win a £1.5bn rebate in a move that could have a major impact on the finances of local authorities.

At least 80 NHS trusts in England have written to local authorities claiming they are eligible for an 80% discount on business rates through a loophole in the tax system. The number of applications represents roughly half of the NHS acute trusts in the country. Continue reading... The Guardian

How much choice do NHS patients really have?

How much choice do NHS patients really have? Provider choice, personal health budgets and birth budgets mean patients increasingly have a say in their care, but there is still a long way to go

The days of “doctor knows best” when patients had to accept, unquestioningly, the decisions health professionals made for them are long gone. These days, the emphasis is on helping patients make informed decisions. But how much choice do patients really have?

The idea of patient choice has started to gain traction in the past two decades, with the gradual introduction of options relating to place and time of appointments: one notable milestone was the launch in 2006 of the Choose and Book electronic appointment system, which enabled patients to make outpatient appointments by phone or over the internet. This was replaced by the NHS e-referral service in 2015. Reorganisation of the NHS extended patient choice further(pdf), to the extent of giving patients the ability to choose a GP anywhere in the country. Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS staff survey reveals pressures and positives of work on the frontline

NHS staff survey reveals pressures and positives of work on the frontline Latest findings from annual survey show engagement and cohesion among staff but highlight challenges facing system and areas most in need of improvement.

What’s it like to work in the NHS? Read any newspaper, watch any news programme, and any casual observer would likely form a singular impression: it’s rough out there. Coverage of the NHS of late has been dominated by two towering issues that are hugely important to staff and patients alike: pressures on the system, and junior doctors’ pay and conditions. We have already seen strikes and with the prospect of a new contract being imposed, there is now the unprecedented threat of a full walkout of junior doctors.

With workforce issues taking centre stage, this week’s publication of the 2015 NHS staff survey is particularly timely. The NHS staff survey is the foremost source of evidence about what it’s like to work in the health service in England. Covering 297 participating NHS organisations and collated from just under 300,000 responses, it is understood to be the biggest workforce survey anywhere in the world and offers unparalleled insight into staff experiences. Continue reading... The Guardian