New guidance for creating workplace e-cigarette policies

New guidance for creating workplace e-cigarette policies Find out about PHE's new guidance on workplace e-cigarette policies and how to help your staff stay smoke free. NHS Employers

New report warns of shocking diagnosis failings for people with incurable breast cancer

New report warns of shocking diagnosis failings for people with incurable breast cancer A new report on diagnosis for people with incurable, secondary breast cancer exposes shocking failings – patients being diagnosed in A&E, facing avoidable delays and having concerns ignored by healthcare professionals.

The charity warns this could mean thousands of patients with incurable breast cancer across England, Scotland and Wales are receiving second-rate care. Breast Cancer Care

See also:

• Secondary. Not second rate. Secondary nreast cancer part 1: diagnosis Breast Cancer Care
• GPs 'dismiss' 1 in 3 women with incurable breast cancer The Daily Mail

National training survey 2016

National training survey 2016 These four reports details the results of an annual survey into medical education and training across the four nations in the UK. The survey seeks the views from around 55,000 doctors undergoing postgraduate training. In addition around 44,000 trainers - senior doctors responsible for developing the next generation of consultants and GPs - were also surveyed for their views from the education frontline. Among issues raised by doctors were the pressures of dealing with high workloads, and the fact that there were not always enough experienced staff to ensure patients received the treatment they needed. General Medical Council

State of the nation 2016: time to take control of diabetes

State of the nation 2016: time to take control of diabetes This report brings together evidence from recent national diabetes audit reports covering care processes and treatment targets, inpatient care, pregnancy and foot care. It sets out actions to improve the delivery support, care and prevention of diabetes in England. Some of the recommendations include greater support for lifestyle and behavioural changes; for CCGs to develop an improvement plan to tackle variation in treatment outcomes; and greater patient education to enable self-management. Diabetes UK

Adult social care 2016: funding, staffing and the bottom line

Adult social care 2016: funding, staffing and the bottom line Using the results of a survey of nearly 200 care providers, this report examines the pressures on funding, staffing and the bottom line impact on adult social care in the UK. It aims to place the issues of funding and staffing into context, assess the changes over the last year and provide answers to pivotal questions around this area. Christie & Co

Public health cuts 'could hamper anti-obesity effort'

Public health cuts 'could hamper anti-obesity effort' Local councils in England are warning that government cuts to public health funding could hamper their efforts to tackle obesity. BBC News

Specialised commissioning spend threatens financial stability of NHS

Specialised commissioning spend threatens financial stability of NHS Disproportionate spending on specialised services is threatening the financial sustainability of the wider NHS, an influential panel of MPs has concluded in a new report published today.

NHS England will have to take some “tough decisions" if it is to stay within the budget it set for itself for these services, says the Public Accounts Committee report. OnMedica

See also:

• NHS facing tough decisions over spending on specialised services Public Accounts Committee

Bedfordshire trials new response team for mental health emergencies

Bedfordshire trials new response team for mental health emergencies A new emergency response team is being introduced in Bedfordshire that will see a police officer, a paramedic and a mental health worker working together.

The Mental Health Street Triage is the first of its kind in the county. They will respond to calls together in one car.

The year-long pilot is designed to make sure people going through a mental health crisis are given the right care. ITV News

NHS hospitals borrowed record £2.8bn from government last year

NHS hospitals borrowed record £2.8bn from government last year Two-thirds of hospital trusts needed emergency bailouts to pay wages and bills

The government had to lend cash-strapped hospitals a record £2.825bn in the last financial year so they could pay staff wages, energy bills and for drugs needed to treat patients.

The Department of Health was forced to provide emergency bailouts on an unprecedented scale to two-thirds of hospital trusts in the 2015-16 financial year because they were set to run out of money, the Guardian can reveal. Continue reading... The Guardian

As a mental health nurse, people don't realise I'm more soldier than nurse

As a mental health nurse, people don't realise I'm more soldier than nurse They imagine me making up beds and giving out medication. They don’t see the steel behind my eyes

When I tell people I am a nurse working on an acute psychiatric ward they often say, “That must be hard”. They imagine something quite different from reality. They see me by the bedside of a crying woman, gently squeezing her hand as she tells me how sad she feels. They do not realise that our depressed service users stopped speaking long before admission, and stopped eating and drinking for that matter.

They see us, mostly young women with kind faces, and imagine us making beds and giving out medication. But what they do not realise is that we are more soldiers than we are nurses. If they looked closer they would see the steel behind our eyes, and a hardness to our faces that was not there when we qualified. Continue reading... The Guardian

NHS England struggling to meet cancer waiting list targets

NHS England struggling to meet cancer waiting list targets More than 2,000 people waited more than two months to start treatment in May, new figures show

The NHS is under fire for leaving cancer patients facing stressful delays before starting treatment because hospitals cannot cope with the growing number of people suspected to have the disease.

New NHS figures show hospitals in England failed to ensure people with suspected breast cancer were seen by a specialist within 14 days and that enough cancer patients had their first treatment within 62 days of referral by their GP. Continue reading... The Guardian

Gonorrhea 'could soon be untreatable': CDC warns sexually-transmitted disease is rapidly becoming resistant to antibiotics

Gonorrhea 'could soon be untreatable': CDC warns sexually-transmitted disease is rapidly becoming resistant to antibiotics Antibiotic-resistant cases of the sexually-transmitted disease in America rocketed more than 400 per cent between 2013 and 2014, according to new data released by the CDC on Thursday. The Daily Mail

See also:

• Antibiotic resistance threatens gonorrhea treatment Centre for Disease Control and Prevention

Health fears mount over rocket consumption as deadly e-coli strain kills two and dozens are rushed to hospital

Health fears mount over rocket consumption as deadly e-coli strain kills two and dozens are rushed to hospital Warnings have been issued over rocket leaves sold to supermarkets and restaurants which may contain a deadly strain of E.coli that has so far killed two people and left dozens needing hospital treatment.

Authorities have ordered wholesalers supplying UK restaurant chains and supermarkets to stop importing rocket from the Mediterranean, where the infected leaves are thought to have originated.

However, rocket infected with the E.coli strain “0157” could already be on retailers’ shelves and in shoppers’ fridges. More than 150 people have become infected with bacteria. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Update as E. coli O157 investigation continues Public Health England
• Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157 NHS Choices
• 'Wash salad' advice after two die from E. coli BBC News