Friday 1 April 2016

More beds 'would save hospital money'

More beds 'would save hospital money'

Northampton Hospital chief executive Sonia Swart says more beds will address deficit and help staff facing a 'battle every single day'. 
BBC News

Temporary changes to access at KGH to allow for extension to A&E department

Temporary changes to access at KGH to allow for extension to A&E department

Kettering General Hospital is putting in place a new extension to its A&E department to improve urgent care facilities. 
Northampton Telegraph

Fit for purpose: workforce policy in the English NHS

Fit for purpose: workforce policy in the English NHS


As modern health care becomes ever more complex, designing effective ‘workforce policy’ - how the health service plans, trains, regulates, pays and supports its people to ensure affordable, good quality care - is one of the central challenges facing the system today. This report gives an overview of the components of workforce policy in the English NHS and the bodies which shape it. It argues that government and national leaders need a radical new approach to inspire an NHS workforce that is too often stressed, stretched and disaffected. Health Foundation
Report
Press release

NHS England publishes Business Plan 2016/17

NHS England publishes Business Plan 2016/17


Today (31 March) we published our Business Plan for 2016/17 which builds on three guiding principles which will shape our work in the year ahead:
Constancy of purpose and priorities
Coherent national support for locally led improvement
Solve today’s issues by accelerating tomorrow’s solutions
NHS Commissioning

Bringing together physical and mental health: A new frontier for integrated care

Bringing together physical and mental health: A new frontier for integrated care



The report identifies 10 areas where there is particular scope for improvement. These span the full range of health system activities, illustrating that change is needed across the system. Commissioners and providers can use these 10 areas as a guide to identify where some of the most significant opportunities for quality improvement and cost control lie. QIPP Alert

Bringing together physical and mental health: A new frontier for integrated care
C Naylor, P Das, S Ross, M Honeyman, J Thompson, H GilburtThe King's Fund March 2016 Read more here.

Ministers 'letting down mentally ill people' by not collecting data

Ministers 'letting down mentally ill people' by not collecting data


Shadow mental health minister accuses government of negligence in failing to record waiting times, suicides and deaths

Ministers have been accused of letting down mentally ill people by failing to collect basic data about waiting times, suicides and deaths, which would allow them to secure more funding to tackle the crisis in mental health.

Luciana Berger, the shadow mental health minister, has accused the government of “negligence” after having more than 50 freedom of information requests dismissed with the response that the data is “not collected centrally”.

The number of questions ​​ministers cannot answer is staggering. 

BMA launches legal action against junior doctors' contract

BMA launches legal action against junior doctors' contract


Doctors are challenging legality of decision by Jeremy Hunt to impose new terms and conditions on 45,000 medics

Junior doctors have begun legal action against the government to try and stop it imposing its unpopular new contract on 45,000 medics working in the NHS.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has launched a judicial review which challenges the legality of the decision by the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, to force the new terms and conditions on all junior doctors in England. 

GPs should write up individual care plans for patients with multimorbidity, says NICE

GPs should write up individual care plans for patients with multimorbidity, says NICE

GPs should establish the 'treatment burden' of patients with multimorbidity and draw up a tailored approach to their care that takes their preferences and priorities into account, NICE guidelines on treating multiple conditions say. 
GP Online

NHS Improvement publishes agency rules

NHS Improvement publishes agency rules

Consolidated guidance has been published by NHS Improvement setting out the rules around the procurement of agency staff, the use of approved framework agreements and introduction of maximum hourly wage rates. 
Latest NHS Employers News

Health and social care staff: share your views on training in our survey

Health and social care staff: share your views on training in our survey


What can leaders do to create a culture of lifelong learning in the two sectors and offer training in the most convenient and accessible formats?

Excellence in the education, training and development of NHS employees is one of the guiding principles of the health service, as set out in its Constitution.

Leaders across health and social care want to create a culture of lifelong learning in their sectors.
Guardian

NHS bosses promise crackdown on conflicts of interest following scandals

NHS bosses promise crackdown on conflicts of interest following scandals

NHS England chairman, Sir Malcolm Grant, will draw up rules to be adopted across the healthcare system. 
Independent

How are NHS financial pressures affecting patient care?

How are NHS financial pressures affecting patient care?

The NHS is experiencing increasing financial pressure, but what does this mean for patients? This is a difficult question to answer because, while evidence on the extent of the NHS’s financial problems is piling up, information on the impact on patients remains scarce for a number of reasons.

First, across the country patient care varies for many reasons beyond the size of the local NHS budget: decisions about the care available to individuals are influenced by national bodies, local commissioners and providers, and clinicians at the bedside. Unlike health services in some other countries, the NHS does not specify a list of treatments that it will provide. Instead, patients have a series of broad legal rights (laid out in the NHS Constitution) and their care is influenced by a wide range of factors such as national policy initiatives, clinical guidelines, what’s been available locally in the past and current local priorities and needs. While decisions made by national bodies, commissioners and providers play an important role, clinicians’ decisions ‘at the bedside’ and the discussions they have with patients ultimately determine the care that each individual receives. So if an individual’s care differs from recommended practice or from the care someone else received, it may not necessarily be the result of financial factors.

More obese than underweight, says study

More obese than underweight, says study

There are now more adults in the world classified as obese than underweight, a major study suggests. 
BBC News

Health spending devolved in Manchester

Health spending devolved in Manchester

Greater Manchester's £6bn health and social care budget is to be taken over by regional leaders on Friday, as part of an extension of devolved powers. 
BBC News

Public awareness of link between alcohol and cancer 'worryingly low'

Public awareness of link between alcohol and cancer 'worryingly low'


Nine out of ten Britons do not associate drinking with cancer, according to research by Cancer UK

Only around one in 10 Britons knows that drinking too much can cause cancer, according to new research that has provoked calls for cans and bottles of alcohol to carry health warnings. 

Confirmation of the national tariff payment system 2016/17

Confirmation of the national tariff payment system 2016/17

Following the conclusion of the statutory consultation, NHS England and Monitor have published the 2016/17 national tariff payment system in final form. 
NHS Networks