Friday, 29 July 2016

Almost 20,000 medical appointments wasted by Corby patients who fail to turn up

Almost 20,000 medical appointments wasted by Corby patients who fail to turn up Close to 20,000 medical appointments in Corby were wasted last year after patients didn’t turn up to them. Northamptonshire Telegraph

KGH rated country’s best for equality and fairness

KGH rated country’s best for equality and fairness Kettering General Hospital has been nationally recognised for the work it does to provide fair and equitable services for the diverse communities it serves. Northamptonshire Telegraph

The consequences of living within your means

The consequences of living within your means The technicality (or ‘administrative error’ as the National Audit Office described it) that enabled the Department of Health to avoid breaching expenditure controls set by parliament may have spared it from the full wrath of the National Audit Office, MPs and the Public Accounts Committee; but it did little to hide the bottom line – a serious financial crisis engulfing the NHS.

In 2015/16, NHS providers overspent by an eye-watering £2.8 billion (reduced to £2.5 billion by one-off measures). Although a commissioning underspend of £700 million helped to offset this figure, the NHS (commissioners and providers in aggregate) still ended 2015/16 with the largest deficit in its history. The King's Fund

Annual hepatitis C in the UK report

Annual hepatitis C in the UK report The annual hepatitis C 2016 report has been published with latest figures suggesting improved access to treatments may be having a positive impact.

Treatment rates saw an increase of around 40% in 2015, up to 8,970 from an average of 6,400 in previous years. This is likely to be the result of access to new hepatitis C drugs that came online in 2014 to 2015, and offer improved cure rates, fewer side effects, and are easier to administer. Public Health England

Listen to the end-of-life care webinar

Listen to the end-of-life care webinar Listen to our end-of-life care webinar which shares best practice examples of how organisations are improving end-of-life care for patients through the education and training of staff. NHS Employers

Hospital admissions for poisoning by illicit drugs up by more than 50 per cent in a decade

Hospital admissions for poisoning by illicit drugs up by more than 50 per cent in a decade There were 14,280 hospital admissions with a primary diagnosis of poisoning by illicit drugs in 2014/15 - a rise of 57 per cent since 2004-05. Health and Social Care Information Centre

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'We want women to feel safe'

'We want women to feel safe' The UK's first maternity service for victims of rape and sexual abuse, which opens today at the Royal London Hospital. BBC News

Southern Health NHS Trust 'paid millions' to Katrina Percy's associates

Southern Health NHS Trust 'paid millions' to Katrina Percy's associates A troubled NHS trust has paid millions of pounds to companies owned by previous associates of its embattled chief executive, BBC News has learned.

One firm received more than £5m despite winning a contract valued at less than £300,000, while another was paid more than £500,000 without bidding at all.

Both are owned by former acquaintances of Southern Health NHS Trust's chief executive Katrina Percy.

The trust said it took its financial responsibilities "very seriously". BBC News

Stepping Hill Hospital cuts jobs as it loses £75 a minute

Stepping Hill Hospital cuts jobs as it loses £75 a minute A hospital losing £75 a minute is to close a ward and axe 350 full time posts, an NHS trust reveals. BBC News

NHS England announces 'immediate action' to fund rises in GP indemnity costs

NHS England announces 'immediate action' to fund rises in GP indemnity costs NHS England will introduce new funding 'to fully offset the rising cost of GP indemnity' in the short term while it works on wider plans to reform current indemnity arrangements, it has announced. GP Online

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Creeping privatisation of healthcare is damaging the NHS, study finds

Creeping privatisation of healthcare is damaging the NHS, study finds The creeping privatisation of healthcare under the guise of "patient choice" could be damaging a central concept of the NHS, leading to worse treatment for the old, the poor and the sick, a new study suggests.

Researchers warned that the Government’s sudden shift to the widespread use of private healthcare firms in England was a “radical” experiment that could go “catastrophically wrong”. The Independent

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Women's prison suicide rate soars as charity warns of 'horrifying' self-harm

Women's prison suicide rate soars as charity warns of 'horrifying' self-harm The number of women killing themselves in prison has “risen alarmingly”, new government figures have revealed - prompting warnings from top charity leaders over unsafe jail conditions.

Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) show the total number of deaths classed as “self-inflicted” rose by 28 per cent over the past 12 months compared with the previous year. The Independent

Can the NHS really not afford second transplants for cancer patients like me?

Can the NHS really not afford second transplants for cancer patients like me? | Hannah Partos NHS England has stopped funding stem cell transplants for relapsed blood cancer patients. Experts have condemned the decision and it’s left me reeling.

If I had not been given a stem cell transplant, I would be dead by now. At 22, I was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, an aggressive form of blood cancer. Doctors told me a transplant of healthy stem cells from an unrelated donor was my only hope. Last month, I was thrilled to celebrate three years in remission. I hope the cancer never returns, but if it does, my only chance of survival will be another transplant. Except this time around, I might not be given that chance.

Two weeks ago, NHS England announced it would stop routinely funding second stem cell transplants for patients who have relapsed more than a year after their first transplant. NHS England, the body which oversees the budget for commissioning NHS services, has ruled that the treatment is “not currently affordable”, even though it was widely available in England before 2013, and is routinely given to patients in Europe and the US. Continue reading... The Guardian

From ketamine to cupboard therapy: the future of mental health treatment

From ketamine to cupboard therapy: the future of mental health treatment Once upon a time, the future of mental health treatment was drugs. The advent of Prozac and whole class of similar medication in the 1990s gavedoctors an easy option and big pharma easy money.

But 20 years on, the problems have not gone away. In fact, mental illness is much more pervasive, with depression now the world’s second biggest cause of disability.

Moreover, a dramatic reduction in drug research and development suggests pills will not be the only – or even the primary – answer to mental health problems in the long term.

But what will be? Continue reading... The Guardian

Cancer sufferers risk losing access to effective drugs, says support group

Cancer sufferers risk losing access to effective drugs, says support group Medicine regulator Nice will act as gatekeeper for new treatments, leading to fears NHS patients may be denied them on cost grounds

Cancer patients in the UK will miss out on drugs available in other countries under new arrangements for deciding which expensive medicines the NHS will pay for, according to a charity.

Breast Cancer Now has criticised the relaunched Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), which was originally a pot of money to pay for costly new medicines not considered cost effective or not yet assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). Continue reading... The Guardian

Three in four NHS trusts deny life-changing cataract surgery finds Mail probe

Three in four NHS trusts deny life-changing cataract surgery finds Mail probe The life-transforming procedure costs less than £1,000 per eye – yet it is being rationed by NHS managers in the UK so that even those in direst need are being subjected to humiliating tests. The Daily Mail

Britain 'grinds to a halt' with average person walking half a mile a day

Britain 'grinds to a halt' with average person walking half a mile a day Britons are being urged to take to their feet after official data showed walking levels have fallen by more than a third in three decades.

Jeremy Hunt last night called on the public to make lifestyle changes to stop Britain from “grinding to a halt” after statistics showed the average person walks less than half a mile a day.

The Health Secretary - who wears a fitness tracker, in a bid to ensure he manages 10,000 steps daily – said small changes could help people dramatically boost their health. The Daily Telegraph