Spending Review does not meet funding commitment for NHS's vision

Spending Review does not meet funding commitment for NHS's vision The scale of the funding challenge in health is colossal and whilst spending on health is increasing, the service is under unprecedented strain and struggling to keep pace with relentlessly rising demand, says the Health Committee in its report on Impact of the Spending Review on health and social care.

See also:

• Health budget rise 'less than was promised' BBC News
• New prime minister must address NHS funding challenges, says BMA GP Online
• Jeremy Hunt has broken NHS funding pledges, report finds The Guardian

Audit of early intervention in psychosis services

Audit of early intervention in psychosis services The Royal College of Psychiatrists College Centre of Quality Improvement has published a baseline audit showing variation among early intervention in psychosis (EIP) services in delivering National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended interventions.

Thousands to benefit from kick-start of mental health services transformation

Thousands to benefit from kick-start of mental health services transformation Thousands of children and adults of all ages with conditions such as psychosis, depression and anxiety will be among the first to benefit from improved services as work starts on a major transformation programme for mental health care. NHS England

Delivering an equal right to sight

Delivering an equal right to sight This report examines current evidence and examples of good practice to advocate for people with learning disabilities about what is important to them in the provision of eye care and sight tests. It finds that people with learning disabilities are at high risk of developing sight problems but that support is lacking in assisting this group in accessing the services needed to prevent sight loss. The report highlights examples of projects and initiatives to improve access to eye care for those with learning disabilities. SeeAbility

Elderly perpetrators of NHS assault

Elderly perpetrators of NHS assault Patients over the age of 75 are responsible for more than half of all physical assaults on NHS staff in hospitals across England, figures show. BBC News

Exclusive: Systematic underfunding of GPs is driving up the NHS deficit, new research shows

Exclusive: Systematic underfunding of GPs is driving up the NHS deficit, new research shows Systematic underinvestment in general practice and district nursing, coupled with deep cuts to social care, are the main factors driving financial meltdown in the NHS, according to landmark research by primary care academics. GP Online

Seven-day NHS unachievable for 20 years, expert claims

Seven-day NHS unachievable for 20 years, expert claims Prof Julian Bion, who is researching how services can improve at weekends, says much more money is needed

The government’s pledge to deliver a seven-day NHS will remain unachievable for 20 years because of underfunding and chronic understaffing, a leading expert has said.

There are also fears that providing more NHS services at weekends could increase the risk of death facing patients who are in hospital during the week, because fewer doctors will be on duty then. Continue reading... The Guardian

Tasers have no place in mental health care

Tasers have no place in mental health care For more than 10 years, Tasers have been used against patents in locked psychiatric settings, without monitoring or investigation. This practice must end

An amendment to the policing and crime bill tabled by former health minister Norman Lamb in support of Black Mental Health UK’s campaign for an outright ban on Tasers against patients in psychiatric hospitals has broken the silence on a hidden human rights abuse.

The unequal power balance between those subject to such treatment and statutory providers and the police has silenced public debate around this issue, until calls to ban the use of Taser or any other conductive electrical device against detained patients was debated in the House of Commons during report stage of the policing and crime bill. Continue reading... The Guardian

How the UK halved its teenage pregnancy rate

How the UK halved its teenage pregnancy rate Political support at all levels, long-term commitment and changes to social norms behind success of public health strategy

Rates of teenage pregnancy in the UK have halved in the past two decades and are now at their lowest levels since record-keeping began in the late 1960s.

It is a dramatic turnaround: in 1998, England had one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates in western Europe. Last week, the Office for National Statistics released data revealing the fall in the conception rate among females aged 15 to 19 as the standout success story in the public health field: just 14.5 per 1,000 births were to women in their teens, with drops in all age groups under 25. Continue reading... The Guardian

Exposed, the scandal of agency nurses who earn £2,000 shift and drain the NHS of millions

Exposed, the scandal of agency nurses who earn £2,000 shift and drain the NHS of millions Despite a recent cap on the amount that can be spent on ‘rip-off’ agency fees, we’ve found that the agencies continue to rake in tens of millions from hospitals struggling to cope with staff shortages. The Daily Mail

The radical blueprint the NHS needs to survive life after Brexit - Simon Stevens

The radical blueprint the NHS needs to survive life after Brexit The NHS wasn’t on the Brexit ballot. But it often felt as if it was. Emblazoned on the Battlebus, both Leave and Remain wrapped themselves in the mantle of a strong and better funded health service.

This was curious, as on the NHS there is no overriding need to 'take back control’. We already make the big decisions about our health system largely as we please, as do the Germans, the French and the rest.

But if the referendum result revealed a country divided, on the NHS it confirmed a nation united – by deep pride and genuine concern for our most important social institution. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• NHS chief sets out blueprint for 'bold and broad reforms' The Guardian

Hospital issues warning after becoming Pokémon Go hotspot

Hospital issues warning after becoming Pokémon Go hotspot The staff at a hectic Accident and Emergency department might be considered busy enough with patients without also having to cope with an invasion of cartoon animals.

That, however, is precisely the situation a Midlands hospital has found itself in after becoming a focal point for players of the new craze game Pokémon Go.

Managers of Royal Stoke University Hospital were horrified to discover that their A&E department had become a “gym” for the augmented reality creatures, causing players to enter the unit in order to “train” their characters. The Daily Telegraph