HEATWAVE: Health leaders in Northamptonshire support Public Health England advice on keeping cool

HEATWAVE: Health leaders in Northamptonshire support Public Health England advice on keeping cool GPs in Northamptonshire are supporting a heatwave campaign launched by Public Health England, as temperatures continue to rise. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

Victim in triple shooting was 'studying to be a midwife at University of Northampton'

Victim in triple shooting was 'studying to be a midwife at University of Northampton' A 19-year-old woman believed to have been shot dead by her father was studying to be a midwife at the University of Northampton, according to reports. Northampton Chronicle and Echo

'Disabled are treated like second class citizens'

'Disabled are treated like second class citizens' David Isaac the new chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission has described disability rights in the UK as a badge of shame. BBC News

Research exposes flaws in ‘weekend effect’ argument

Research exposes flaws in ‘weekend effect’ argument Analysis of patterns of stroke care across a whole week reveals that the often repeated simplistic criticism that the "weekend effect" has a deleterious effect on care should be seriously challenged.

Writing in The Lancet,* researcher by Dr Ben Bray, public health registrar and research director of the Royal College of Physician’s Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) set out to describe and quantify the magnitude and pattern of variation in healthcare quality across the whole week, not just between weekdays and weekends. OnMedica

Lords to investigate NHS sustainability

Lords to investigate NHS sustainability The House of Lords Committee on the Long-term Sustainability of the NHS wants to hear submissions to its inquiry which hopes to identify what the NHS of the future may look like.

The Committee's inquiry is set against the backdrop of an annual deficit of £1.85bn, imminent demographic changes that promise an older population and more patients with increasingly complex long-term health needs.

These challenges come alongside changes in healthcare and medical technology which may lead to more personalised prevention and treatment of diseases. OnMedica

Patients could be struck off GP surgery lists after five years of no contact

Patients could be struck off GP surgery lists after five years of no contact NHS England bid to save money on ‘ghost patients’ criticised by GP leaders saying key groups could lose access to a doctor

Patients face being removed from GP surgery lists if they do not contact their doctor for five years as part of an NHS drive to save money.

A patient who has been out of touch for that long will receive two letters, and if they do not respond, they will be taken off their GP’s list. Continue reading... The Guardian

Report strongly criticises NHS investigation into boy's sepsis death

Report strongly criticises NHS investigation into boy's sepsis death Ombudsman finds organisations unwilling to accept views other than their own after 2010 death of three-year-old Sam Morrish

Hospital bosses and doctors have been strongly criticised in an ombudsman’s report for their “total unwillingness” to accept that any view apart from their own could have been correct following the death of a three-year-old boy from sepsis.

The report concluded that those involved leapt to the conclusion that Sam Morrish’s death was rare and unfortunate rather than being open to what turned out to be the truth – that his death was avoidable. Continue reading... The Guardian

See also:

• Learning from mistakes: An investigation report into how the NHS failed to properly investigate the death of a three-year old child Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
• Ombudsman calls for culture change in how NHS investigates avoidable deaths Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman
• NHS investigation 'failed' over boy's sepsis death BBC News
• 'We were told not to pick a fight with the NHS': Parents of three-year-old who died needlessly from sepsis were made to feel like the tragedy was 'just bad luck' The Daily Mail

Thousands of student nurses cheating their way through training, universities reveal

Thousands of student nurses cheating their way through training, universities reveal Thousands of student nurses have been caught cheating amid what experts fear is a hidden wave of plagiarism with potentially lethal consequences for patients.

More than 1,700 nursing students have been disciplined by their university over the last three academic years, freedom of information documents reveal.

Offences include submitting essays commissioned from bespoke plagiarism websites, colluding with other students and even impersonating each other in exams. The Daily Telegraph

See also:

• Thousands of student nurses CHEAT in exams and coursework - with potentially lethal consequences for patients The Daily Mail