Wednesday 25 May 2016

Mental health problems in the LGBT community

Mental health problems in the LGBT community A case study describing how Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust introduced better mental health support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. NHS Employers

Mental health pilot scheme doubles numbers getting key physical health checks

Mental health pilot scheme doubles numbers getting key physical health checks Four mental health trusts almost doubled the number of people getting five key physical health checks during a pilot scheme now being shared for adoption across the NHS. Hundreds of patients with serious mental illness (SMI) were part of the two-year improvement programme to improve physical care in mental health inpatient units. NHS England

Preventing prison suicide: perspectives from the inside

Preventing prison suicide: perspectives from the inside This report, written in conjunction with the Howard League for Penal Reform, argues that prisons need to change to enable staff to build relationships with prisoners and reduce the risk of suicide. It focuses on the views and experiences of current and former prisoners about what contributes to vulnerability and what increases or reduces their risk of suicide. Prisoners described a culture where distress was often not believed or responded to with compassion. The report concludes that change needs to happen across the system to recognise the influence of the prison environment on people’s vulnerability. Centre for Mental Health

E-cigarette use in UK almost doubled in two years, says Europe-wide study

E-cigarette use in UK almost doubled in two years, says Europe-wide study The number of people in the UK who have tried e-cigarettes has almost doubled in just two years, according to a new study.

The research, from scientists at Imperial College London, examined e-cigarette use - and attitudes to the devices - across Europe between 2012 and 2014.

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Challenges, solutions and future directions in the evaluation of service innovations in health care and public health

Challenges, solutions and future directions in the evaluation of service innovations in health care and public health Policies and interventions in the health-care system may have a wide range of effects on multiple patient outcomes and operate through many clinical processes. This presents a challenge for their evaluation, especially when the effect on any one patient is small. This essay explores the nature of the health care system and discuss how the empirical evidence produced within it relates to the underlying processes governing patient outcomes. NHS National Institute for Health Research

'Big cut' in antibiotic prescriptions

'Big cut' in antibiotic prescriptions GPs in England have "dramatically" reduced the amount of antibiotic prescriptions they prescribe to patients, latest figures reveal. BBC News

Bursary cut 'may worsen NHS staff gaps'

Bursary cut 'may worsen NHS staff gaps' Plans to scrap student bursaries and charge nurses and other health staff for their degrees in England could backfire, unions are warning. BBC News

Teen pregnancy rate has halved in England

Teen pregnancy rate has halved in England The teenage pregnancy rate has reached a record low, according to new findings published this week.

Rates of teenage pregnancy in England have halved since the implementation of the Government’s Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS) in 1999, and the greatest effect is seen in areas of high deprivation and areas that received the most TPS funding, according to the study published in The Lancet. OnMedica

Lariam should be ‘drug of last resort’ for troops, Committee rules

Lariam should be ‘drug of last resort’ for troops, Committee rules UK troops should only be given the anti-malarial drug Lariam as a “last resort”, the Parliamentary Defence Committee has ruled.

Lariam (Mefloquine) is one of a number of anti-malarials used by the Ministry of Defence to protect military personnel against malaria.

“Lariam has a high risk profile and a minority of users experience severe side-effects. These side-effects are clearly highlighted by Roche, the manufacturer of Lariam. OnMedica

Surgery should be used to treat type 2 diabetes, say international experts

Surgery should be used to treat type 2 diabetes, say international experts Guidance says operations to shrink stomach should be offered to anyone with condition who is obese if other methods have not succeeded

Stomach-shrinking surgery should be a routine treatment for people with type 2 diabetes, international experts say, recommending it be offered to as many as 100,000 people in the UK.

A mere 6,000 people with the condition have surgery at the moment and the numbers have dropped from 8,800 three years ago as the NHS has comes under increasing financial pressure. But experts say more operations, costing £5,000 to £6,000 a time, would save money in the long term on diabetes medication and the cost of treating complications, which include heart attacks and strokes as well as blindness and foot amputations. Continue reading... The Guardian

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Back-office staff have a role to play in improving NHS care too

Back-office staff have a role to play in improving NHS care too Too often dismissed as pen-pushers or bureaucrats, non-clinical staff can make a significant contribution to patient care, as a project in Northumbria demonstrates

For many years, NHS managers and corporate staff have been characterised in the press as pointless “pen-pushers” or “faceless bureaucrats” – to the point where it has become conventional wisdom that tackling waste must require another round of back-office cuts.

Few would disagree that the design and delivery of our health services should be led by the needs of people who use them, or that frontline staff should be empowered to deliver effective care. But something that gets said far too rarely is that this can be enhanced by harnessing the skill and commitment of corporate staff in multi-professional teams. Continue reading... The Guardian

UK's child mental health provision alarming, says UN committee

UK's child mental health provision alarming, says UN committee The state of mental health services for children in the UK is "alarming", a UN committee has told Government officials.

Waiting lists are too long, leading to an unacceptable situation, a member of the Committee on the Rights of the Child said as she questioned UK representatives in Geneva. The Daily Mail

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Hospitals are still overspending £3m a WEEK on agency staff - with most locum doctors being overpaid for every shift 

Hospitals are still overspending £3m a WEEK on agency staff - with most locum doctors being overpaid for every shift Liaison, a company that manages NHS finances, show hospitals overspent a total of £26.6m on temporary staff in just nine weeks from 1 February to 31 March this year. The Daily Mail