Challenging traditional relationships and embracing shared decision-making

Challenging traditional relationships and embracing shared decision-making The NHS Confederation conference last week was a busy affair; quieter, I’m told, than previous years but nonetheless a meeting place for reconnection, sharing and networking.

For me the most impact was made by the personal story told by a truly extraordinary lady: Kate Allatt. Her story touched me, stuck with me and points the way towards a new and powerful relationship between patients and the services they receive. It also points the way to a new and important leadership model for every aspect of health care and its delivery. The King's Fund

Commissioning through competition and cooperation (final report)

Commissioning through competition and cooperation (final report) This project investigated how commissioners in local health systems managed the interplay of competition and cooperation in their local health economies, looking at acute and community health services. Policy Research Unit in Commissioning and the Healthcare System

Funding for mental health

Funding for mental health The Mental Health Network has produced an infographic highlighting the need for government funding and depicting the current financial position of NHS mental health trusts. NHS Confederation

Embrace the new hub culture – Dr Mark Williams

Embrace the new hub culture – Dr Mark Williams A Staffordshire GP explains why Clinical Hubs are vital to the future of primary and urgent care: Urgent care is the term usually given to work that takes place in emergency departments, Out of Hours, minor injury units and walk in centres. NHS England

E-cigarettes should not be banned in public, medical experts warn

E-cigarettes should not be banned in public, medical experts warn 'A ban on using e-cigarettes in public places could be damaging, as it may put off smokers from using e-cigarettes to help them quit,' says Rosanna O'Connor from Public Health England. The Independent

BMA: Junior doctors' strikes significantly improved Hunt deal

BMA: Junior doctors' strikes significantly improved Hunt deal Johann Malawana tells annual conference that strikes led to recognition of weekend work, fair pay and safeguarding of hours.

Strike action by junior doctors had forced “significant improvements” to the government’s proposed changes to their NHS contracts, the medics’ leader has said.

Dr Johann Malawana, the chair of the British Medical Association’s junior doctors committee, said trainee medics would have had “completely unacceptable proposals” imposed on them by the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, if they had not staged walkouts. They included the first all-out strikes by doctors in the NHS’s history. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Junior doctors' contract deal: what was agreed The Guardian

'Give patients 30-minute appointments': Spending more time with a GP 'is more cost effective than many prescription drugs'

'Give patients 30-minute appointments': Spending more time with a GP 'is more cost effective than many prescription drugs' Glasgow patients living with chronic conditions like diabetes who had appointments of 30 to 45 minutes were in better health a year later than those who spent 10 minutes with their GP. The Daily Mail

Why I fear for NHS cancer patients: Doctor says we are no longer getting the best treatments available – and those who go private are more likely to survive

Why I fear for NHS cancer patients: Doctor says we are no longer getting the best treatments available – and those who go private are more likely to survive Cancer care is heavily affected by NHS budgets, and expensive drugs are a large proportion of the concerns, Dr Ruth Kagan, a GP in London, told The Hippocratic Post. The Daily Mail

Nigel Farage: £350 million pledge to fund the NHS was 'a mistake'

Nigel Farage: £350 million pledge to fund the NHS was 'a mistake' Nigel Farage has admitted that it was a "mistake" to promise that £350million a week would be spent on the NHS if the UK backed a Brexit vote.

Speaking just an hour after the Leave vote was confirmed the Ukip leader said the money could not be guaranteed and claimed he would never have made the promise in the first place. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Nigel Farage disowns Vote Leave '£350m for the NHS' pledge hours after result The Independent